2015-07-18 Day 20: 1000 Miles, Dillion to Wisdom, WY

Miles today: 78. Total Miles: 1016

Let me start by saying how awesome it was to have Teresa and Marion drive all the way over from Portland to Dillion, MT just to spend the day with me. It sorta was a recharge for me and a bit of a hard goodbye this morning.

Jon and I had heard that "Bannack Days" was being celebrated today. So we rode just 4 miles off the route to visit the very first gold strike town in what would later become Montana. That strike occurred in 1862. Bannack Days proved to be a collection of food booths, individuals dressed in costumes from the period, and some reinactments of events like a shootout in front of the saloon. We attended that one - honestly, only the little kids left satisfied. Overall the experience was good family fun. I am glad we went.

After Bannack we rolled to our highest single day mileage of the trip and passed the 1,000 mile total this summer. It is hard to believe that we have already had our butts in the seats for that many miles. But like many big goals in life, you just have to tackle them in little pieces- then keep at it day after day.

Tonight we are sharing our campsite with a couple from Amsterdam, Tom and Eva, that I met yesterday walking the streets of Virginia City. They also ended up camping at the same KOA as Jon last night in Dillion. So, Jon and I both met them indepedently. They are pedaling from Denver to Vancouver, B.C. We saw them along the route and we all agreed to push to Wisdom today. Really a fun couple. In fact, there are now 9 west bound Transamerican riders on the route all riding within a day of each other. We of course keep crossing paths. This includes Ceila who we first met way back in Guffey, CO on Day 2 and Lisa who we first met in Yellowstone.