There was another wind advisory today, but I only had 25 miles to cover between Conrad and Valier, MT. It wasn’t a terrible ordeal to make it that far in spite of the strong headwind. I arrived before noon and was able to check in to my motel early. Here are a couple of photographs I took as I headed north and west from Conrad. You can see the Rockies in the distance, and they loomed larger as I traveled west into Valier.

I passed Windblown Rd. as I got close to Valier. Such a fitting name for this part of the country!

Here is a view of Valier as I approached the town from the east. You Francophones out there need to know that the town name is pronounced “Vah-LEER,” not the way you might think. The town was incorporated in 1909 and was named after Peter Valier, who supervised the construction of a railroad line between Conrad and Valier. My Adventure Cycling map shows the population to be 509, but according to the 2020 census, it is now 530.

The Valier Public Library is directly across the street from my motel, so I decided to stop in. The Mission Statement for the library is “to ensure the freedom of self-expression through free and convenient access to all forms of literature, technology and continuing education for our patrons.”

I met the librarian, Cathy, who has worked there for 23 years. Prior to that, she worked for five years as a butcher.

Cathy said that traffic has been down a bit since school let out, but she has a reading promotion underway that includes prizes for kids who meet their summer vacation reading goals.

Next door to the library is a car wash that has a mural painted on the side. I learned from Cathy that the artwork was created by a group of junior high students and won $30,000 in a contest sponsored by the State of Montana. The kids decided to use the prize money to buy new exercise equipment for their school. Cathy said the students worked on the mural on a very hot day and she served them ice cream to help them cool off.

This is the front of the car wash building.

Tomorrow the winds are finally supposed to die down a bit, which will make my 30-mile ride to Cut Bank (pop. 2,869) a lot more pleasant–even though I understand I will be encountering a few hills along the way.