ESCAPADES

Exploring on our own…

GREAT ESCAPES

Jo and I also team up for our ‘great escapes’ or what we call ‘alternate routes’.

Our first great escape is from Helena, Montana. The designated route is through a particularly difficult terrain involving a riverbed. My bike still has the skinny tires which are not up for the challenge, so we take our own route on a frontage road to Basin. We then take a dirt road towards the Merry Widow Campground, which is our destination.

We let some of our teammates know of our plan, head out on the established route behind the team and then take a quick turn off to our alternate route.

LEISURELY LUNCH

We aren’t discovered and half the fun is the feeling of being on our own even though we have cell phone service and a Spot. As we ride out of town, we see a ‘road closed 6 miles ahead’ sign.

We continue on. After 6 miles, there is no road closure, just another sign saying, ‘dead end’. We continue on. The ‘dead end’ road ends up being a great dirt road where the downhill carries us to the next uphill: what a great ride! It takes us to the town of Basin where there is a farmer’s market.

We pick up lunch at the market, stop at the convenience store for a cold coconut water and sit on a bench in the park to enjoy our break. A local woman joins us sharing the history of Basin. After our leisurely lunch, we stop at the historical museum to see the local artifacts. Our turn off after town is onto a lovely flat dirt road next to a river.

COMING CLEAN

Just before camp, the team comes off their route and we fall in behind them to arrive at camp together. We hear about their difficult route and try not to feel too guilty about our fun, easy peazy day!

Over dinner, we come clean about our adventure and our leaders gently admonish us to let them know about alternate routes in advance.

We are liberated for more fun adventures…