We are enjoying being on our friend Wanda Wilcox’s ranch. Leaving our bikes there we took a six mile hike up the canyon of the Stillwater River where it comes out of the Absaroka-Beartooth mountains, the tallest in Montana. Tonight we have a celebration dinner at the Grizzly Bar in Roscoe. Tomorrow, after a morning horseback ride, we head to Billings for our flights to Minneapolis and Vermont.

On our hike Chris, Mary Ann and I came up with some fun facts about our journey which is still so fresh in our minds, among them:

• 1,248 miles

• No flats or bike breakdowns

• No accidents or injuries. Two brief Emergency Room visits, one minor surgery without anesthetic outside at a picnic table when we were in remotest Idaho.

• ~21 days of the total of 25 with the wind at our back for at least most of the day.

• At least 50 separate renditions by Chris, while pedaling, of “Up on Cripple Creek” by The Band. The lyrics “When I get off if this mountain / you know where I’m gonna go…” resonated well with all of us. Other numbers in Chris’ rolling repertoire were selections from “Blonde on Blonde” and “Blood on the Tracks”, as well as “Carol” and “Little Queenie” by Chuck Berry.

• On the subject of Chuck Berry, Joe’s internal soundtrack often played Chuck Berry’s “Maybelline”: for example “As I was Motorvatin’ up over a hill / I saw Maybelline in a Coup de Ville” and “Rainwater flowin’ all under my hood / Knew that was doin’ my motor good” when riding was easier, “Ford got hot and wouldn’t do no mo’” when it was not.

• Perhaps 50,000 feet of cumulative vertical climb. There’s really no way to know, but the big climbs were followed by long downhills, and we were getting better at these climbs as the trip progressed. The climb after Wild Bird

• At least five visits by angels flying, luckily for us, close to the ground. These included the nurse practitioner who performed the above-mentioned medical procedure, and “Who was that man???” who appeared from who knows where with a pick-up and a seemingly bottomless supply of ice cold Gatorades just when we needed him most.

• Perhaps 50,000 feet of cumulative vertical climb. There’s no way to know, and the big climbs were followed by long cooling descents. We felt we were getting better at these as the trip progressed. Did we miss having a mountain pass to overcome today? Maybe a little! And the early morning climb all by ourselves out of Wild Bird was so gorgeous I don’t think any of us will ever forget the views from those switchbacks…