I'm in Lima, Montana looking at the mug of Pete Basinger just getting ready to head out. We rode a little bit together last night as misery loves company. We were both a little cold and very weary. Long miles yesterday with 185 miles from Butte to Lima. I am definitely feeling it as my legs are tired. My knees are really sore and stiff so I'll probably end up walking a bit today just to loosen up.

High points of yesterday was the scenery. Primarily big rolling trees with lots of sage, almost no trees and lots of elk. As I was cruising along the trail I could hear them singing and barking.

One of the low points was coming across a family riding ATVs. Kids had no helmets riding down and as I waved to the father, he just shook his head at me. As I came upon them on the trailhead, I saw a smoldering cigarette on the trail left by them. That really pissed me off as I know a good portion of Montana burns every summer from wildfires. I'm just apalled by how irresponsible these folks were.

I'm really bummed to hear about Steve Fassbinder. Steve, if you're reading this, my thoughts are with you as I've been there as well.

By: Mike Curiak - Island Park, Idaho 5:00pm, Tuesday

I am in a town called Island Park, Idaho. I entered Idaho 2 hours ago and hope to get to Wyoming by sundown. I'm having a rough day. Yesterday was a big mileage day and I'm paying the price today. I just cannot get a rhythm as the sun beat down on me. The road was filled with imbedded river rocks and there was no escaping the pounding. My hands are just hamburger right now. Any body part that had contact with the bike is just screaming out for relief right now.

I hope to get to a good campsite by dark and get some good rest and sleep. I only got 3 hours sleep right now and that's definitely not enough. I desperately need to get some momentum back that will carry me through the next couple of sections.

There's a lot of strategy right now as I try to guage the terrain, the space between towns and services. I've put in about 710 miles and I haven't made any huge mistakes yet. Obviously, I have a lot more miles to go so I have take it a step at at time.

Everyday, there's an ache or pain that dominates. The first day, it was my knees adjusting to the high mileage and intensity. The second day, it was my achillees tendon and the third day it has been my left I.T. I've made adjustments to the bike but it still bothered me today.

As Pete was leaving Lima, he put on his Ipod music player. I was happy not to have a music player since I like to hear the trail and my bike and be more aware. Today though, this song from Friends, 'Smelly Cat' popped into my head and I could not get rid of it all day. Man, I sure wished I had one of those Ipods to rid me of that stupid song.

One funny story as I was crusing along the trail, I was eating cheetos with one hand and steering with the other. A technical section suddenly appeared and I needed both hands on the brakes. I shoved the bag in my mouth and rode down with a bag of cheetos in my mouth and hikers on both sides of the trail. I tried to mumble a 'hello' but these folks were just slackjawed and in shock looking at me 'riding' down the trail.

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Gary Dye in Butte at 1:50am June 22

Pete and Mike in Lima at 7:30 am June 22

Jan leaving Wise river at 10am June 22