Day 49 - Llama Ranch - Ovando

Llama Ranch is the sort of place you can easily spend a couple of days but I opted to keep moving forward. Said goodbye to Zach who was having to change the wheel of the truck which would be his lift to town. 

Straight into the big climb which I’d avoided yesterday. It was nice and smooth at the bottom but got pretty chunky towards the top and over the other side. The rest of the way down was much better and I had a pretty fast run in towards Lincoln. 

No cathedral or champion football team to be found. Instead, Lincoln, MT seemed to consist mainly of hunting lodges and cabins and casinos - Montana has pretty relaxed gambling laws so there’s lots of small casinos and betting shops dotted around. There was a decentish grocery store where I was able to get some lunch and stock up on supplies. 

Another climb and descent before a final flat stretch towards Ovando into the dreaded Westerly headwind. There was also a forest fire burning on one of the nearby hillsides as a helicopter dropped water on it. 

Ovando is another notable stop on the route, both for its hospitality towards cyclists and as the location for a tragic incident a few years ago where a cyclist was killed in her tent by a bear. It felt pretty chilling to be in the spot where that had happened. 

I opted not to camp but to sleep in the church hall who kindly let people stay, as well as use their showers and kitchen. There were seven of us staying there tonight - the rest all heading south. Went to dinner at Trixi’s saloon with two guys a similar age from Long Island. Interesting place - a bloke was getting thrown out just as we arrived. Alan’s snoring kept me up for a while (sorry Alan).