July 4 Day 34 Sidney, MT 75 miles 6:10 riding

We were expecting the road to be pretty flat. Instead, it was more of the usual rolling terrain except for the first and last ten miles. I wanted to stop at Lambert to see what's doing there on the Fourth. Michele and Roy didn't want to stop at Lambert because it is a little off the road. "Nothing will be open." was Michele's argument. "I want to go get a beer and a cold shower." added Roy. Okay, we'll skip Lambert. Ten miles later, a lady stopped her car to offer us the benefit of shade at her house a little farther on. Michele asked why there were so many cars going to Sidney. The lady replied that there was nothing doing in Sidney - all the cars were leaving Lambert after the Air Force fly-over and the Lambert music festivity! Probably had a firemen's bar-be-que besides!

There seems to be a Montana state law that every person over the age of eight must be possessed of a load of fireworks on the Fourth. There are sale stands everywhere. In the Bay Area, we feel like felons for setting off a fountain of sparks in the driveway. We're not talking sparklers in Montana. We're talking the sorts of rockets they set off over the Coliseum after a night game - rockets exploding into spheres of colors, cascading gold bursts - all over town. There was an official fireworks show at the edge of town as well. We decided it might not be a good idea to bicycle home in the dark with a bunch of drunk celebrants so we contented ourselves with a stroll around the neighborhood and still had a great show.

I updated a few of my recent postings with photos if you are motivated to see the photos.