August 4: Shelby, MT

     Coincidentally, I walked out of my motel room this morning just as another bike rider was getting ready to leave.  We introduced ourselves, talked for a minute and agreed to ride together.  He had a road bike and was very lightly packed as he is riding from motel to motel, 100 miles per day.  With my touring bike and 35 pound load I was sure I would not be able to keep up and I urged him not to let me slow him down.  We ended up riding together for about 50 miles.
     I think he said his name was Mustaf.  He immigrated from Pakistan with his family when he was very young and he said his father was very worried about him riding through the "red states" given his brown skin and the anti-Islamic tone of our country right now.  He's had no problems so far.  He was on a trek from Oakland, CA to Worcester, MA.  He was smart, friendly, and I enjoyed riding with somebody again--if only for a day.  I had to use the gigantic restroom that is the Montana plains and from there he continued on by himself. 
     Too bad for him because he missed the two coyotes I saw trot across the highway.  I also saw many hawks today.  And I sang praise to the perfect weather, the little cottonballs of clouds in the blue sky, the straight, level roads, and my first full day on America's Great Plains.
   
     I am encamped at the Lake Shel-oole Recreation Area, a city park on the north edge of Shelby, Montana.  It is small, quiet, and set among a few shade trees, with barren mounds and hills of tall grass and sagebrush in the distance.  As the sun lowered in the sky, that scene became enormously satisfying.




Bicycle camping--Great Plains style.