Safe Return Doubtful

81 miles (130 km) – Total so far: 647 miles (1,042 km)

Plains is a very good place to stay. I had dinner and a couple of beers at Simons Pizza Place which is the only bar in town. It is changing its name, but with decent IPA at 2.75$ a pint it was popular with me. Camping at the Fairground is good value at 10$ and a mile from town, and quiet. Lots of Horse and rider activity in the evening. Breakfast at the Bistro this morning was excellent also.

This last part of the Northern Tier ride has not been anywhere near as good riding as the Cascade passes, that is from Sandpoint. It is very scenic, less so with the smoke of course, but there is too much traffic. It’s better early in the morning and for the first few hours today it was good riding, slightly uphill following the Clark Fork river, and fast. The 200 has no shoulder in many places. At Ravali it is joined by highway 93 and gets very busy, 3 times so I would estimate. The ‘Arlee hill’ starts going up very steadily, but over 15 miles rises 400 metres, some at 5%. We really don’t get hills like this in the UK, they are much shorter and steeper. As the heat grew this became the least attractive part of the ride so far. It’s a 70 mph speed limit and although the shoulder is wide here the fun from this section was limited to the speedy descent.

The route then crosses I-90 then head into Missoula which is a quiet city at this time of year. It is one of the fastest growing cities in the US with a population of 75,000, a fifth of which are students. I am going to take a day here to sort a few things out.

rough the smoke on Clark Fork river in Plains

Recommended Bistro for breakfast – when you’re next in Plains

Any place of business in Paradise along the main street has closed down long ago

“Call some place Paradise, kiss it goodbye”

It would be great to see more passenger trains. This is the main line across Montana and I have seen none. And get ride of the diesel. It would be a major tourist attraction I am sure. Maybe in the next Presidency…

Typical scene from the first half of the day, two horses by the river.

The catchphrase is Big Sky Montana, unfortunately at the moment Big Smoke Montana. Still beautiful.

The Junction with I-90. You need your wits about you at these junctions. Good job there aren’t many of them on my route.

The Shady Spruce Hostel, let the tent have a break for a couple of nights, freshen it up a bit.

Flathead Brewery – some decent stuff – main board at 4$

Beers

I have just realised that many of these stories involve Nigel, myself and friends drinking beers, whether following rugby, soccer and cricket matches, during his visits around the world, or during my visits to Houston. Times have changed for many of us, and though in recent years we still enjoyed a few beers it was not in anywhere near the quantity that we did when we were younger.

I would report back to my parents after my Christmas visit as we celebrated the holiday and the New Year. Talk was of how we had lunched out most days, dined in with friends in the evening, and watched sport in the rest of the time.
“I don’t know how Americans can live like that,” was my mother’s response.
I did point out to her that it wasn’t normal family life in the Nigel Weston household, but a celebration of the time of year and friends with us. More about Christmas visits in future stories.

If the reader is not already aware, there is something you should know about Nigel and beer / wine. As good as he was at selling it, he wasn’t very good at drinking it. Fortunately he realised that from a relatively early age, and moderated his consumption. But difficult when you’re in the wine trade.

Beers in the US have changed incredibly in the years I have visited. In those early days Nigel would drink Bud Light. I would drink the only thing that wasn’t ‘lager’ which was Shiner Bock. Craft beer came along and has gradually taken over. I expect there are more options in most grocery stores than there are in most other countries in the world these days. Nigel graduated to Blue Moon, but even then would only have a couple and move to a glass of wine. The craft beer in the US can be strong, and my tendency is to go for stronger IPA’s, porters, imperial stouts, a range really, and take it slow.

We went to many pubs and breweries during my visits. I remember all fondly. One of the last times we were out was to World of Beer, a bar with thousands of bottles and a hundred keg beers. Nigel knew it was right up my street. Order by iPad even. His industry magazine “Wine Enthusiast” would publish the 100 Beers of the Year in the December edition and he would strive to get as many in as possible for my visit.

This last Christmas he wasn’t mobile enough to get out, but really hoped to. One afternoon he was feeling relatively well we went to Clancy’s, an Irish bar just up the road from his house in Richmond. A memorable time, and we were joined by Jeremy and Gill. Just before I visited at Easter we spoke on Skype of all the things he wanted to do during my visit. I knew how ill he was then and that it would be incredibly difficult. Amongst those things he wanted to take me to Karbach brewery, a local and relatively new company with very good recommendations. He never got out of the house, but we still managed plenty of good hours of conversation and even beers. I will go to Karbachs though and raise a glass.