Day 19
   
   5/16/01
   Mile 1980
   Roundup, MT
   
   I left Laurel and headed into Billings.  The skies began the day dark,
   and got worse.  It became obvious I was going to have to move fast to
   stay ahead of it, and I barely got to the edge of Billings when it
   started to rain.  I hung out at Cracker Barrel about an hour, until
   the rain
   passed.
   
   I had finally gotten a call back about my tent.  The manufacturer had
   shipped a different model (a Zephyr) to Gart Sports here.  So I picked
   up my replacement, bought some goggle-type sunglasses to protect my
   eyes from the wind that had been bothering them, got food, and waited
   around for the weather to clear to the north, where I was headed.  I finally
   took off about 1pm, went a few miles, then held back a while, waiting
   for the storm cloud which was dumping rain to pass in front of me.  I
   would later find out that three road construction workers were hit by
   lightning in a nearby town.  Luckily for them, the bolt had struck
   their truck first, then arced to them, causing only electrical burns instead
   of fatalities.
   
   The wind, which had previously been a serious impediment, increased to
   the point of absurdity.  I reached for the lever to downshift - hey,
   whadda ya mean I'm ALREADY in the lowest gear?  This is like sticking
   your head out the window while driving down the highway, I told
   myself.  The bike was difficult to control; I had to lean at a noticeable
   angle to the left just to maintain a straight line.  Any millisecond-interval
   of slackened wind caused me to practically fall onto the pavement, and
   gusts blew me off into the grass.  Biking in this bordered on silly.
   I pulled out my solar-powered radio, which has weather band, and tuned
   into NOAA.  The automated voice spoke:
   
   "High wind warning is in effect."
   
   Well, that didn't surprise me.
   
   "West winds 30-45mph with gusts to 55."
   
   Fifty-five?
   
   I got back on the bike, and kept going; this was laughable, and more
   amusing than anything else to me.  After all, the storm clouds had
   already passed by me, and I was in no real danger.  With my goggles
   on, I felt impervious to the wind, so I just had fun with it.
   
   "Do your worst!", I muttered into the air.
   
   It was obvious that it was impossible to get my 100 in today.  But I'd
   just keep going, no matter how slow, and do whatever I could.
   
   The Bull Mountains area to the east is a beautiful area.  Parts of the
   areas I passed seemed more like a remote mining colony than a ranch, a
   hodgepodge of metal buildings set into the windswept hills.
   
   Arriving at Roundup about 8pm, I sat stuffing a couple of chicken
   fajitas in my face at Taco John's.  A voice called out, "Hello and
   welcome to Roundup."  A woman introduced herself as Jo Larsen, and said her
   son (who was about the same age as me) had biked across the U.S. some
   years ago.  Incredibly, she invited me to stay at her house for the evening.
   I was taken aback, but finally consented - when fate smiles on you,
   smile back.
   
   I met her husband Ernie, a Lutheran Minster (Jo was a nurse).  We
   talked for hours.  They were extremely kind and trusting, and I can't
   say enough good things about them.  I got to sleep in a bed for the first
   time in weeks.

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