Arriving in Billings, MT

Arriving in Billings late Saturday afternoon, I had to satisfy my unsatiable need for ice. With two coolers and a multitude of warming groceries I stopped at a Wendy's, hoping to get a freebie from their ice machine. Apparently not all fast food places have a drink machine in the foyer with ice in the middle. This one had it behind the counter which just made the request too difficult. As I was heading out I spotted a "hut" in the parking lot next door - not so many of these in the South, they're a small 8 x 8 sized building with all variety of retail items - selling coffee and ice-creams. With nobody else around I pulled up and asked the girl (Sam was her name) if she would mind filling my ice bag. She obliged and also gave me some great information on places to stay and things to do. My plan was to spend a day in the area and continue on to the Tetons.

I found the Yellowstone River campground where Sam had told me and took their last tent space. Being a mostly RV park it didn't exactly grab me but I figured where else would I find a campground on a Saturday night in a city. Just as I was walking out of the office a girl came in dressed in bicycle garb and asked how much for a tent space. She was clearly suprised to hear the $30 which is sort of steep for a tent and even more so when they said there were none left. I told her I'd share the space happily and after extracting another $5 from us for the third person (her boyfriend Matt) th three of us headed off to find the space.

Meeting Anna and Matt has turned out to be one of the best experiences of this trip. Not only were they very interesting people, cycling from Portland to Maine, but they told me about a website called http://www.couchsurfing.com/. It provides exactly what I had been trying to achieve randomly. It's like a social networking site for travellers. People who host provide cultural and personal experiences about their town (plus of course a place to stay) and surfers can give back the same. It's a fantastic idea and it's all non-profit. It may help to make our world a smaller, more understanding place. I created a profile that night and decided to see if I could find somewhere in Billings to stay an extra night to see some of the interesting sites in the area.

Sunday morning as Matt and Anna were heading out a guy walked over and said he'd noticed my motorcycle. He told me about this amazing hill climb area just outside town. After accidentally riding down a hiking trail and asking a few hikers I found the area and WOW ! A very cool space with varied riding and much fun. A couple of hours of challenging myself and the bike and I felt the rear tire slipping, thinking I had a flat. It wasn't so I figured I was just getting tired and decided to head back to camp. Picking up a little speed on the dirt road it felt very unstable. Looking down I discovered the rear wheel had chewed up a bearing. Not so good for riding and of course it was Sunday. A couple of young guys I'd been riding with were kind enough to give me a ride back to camp to pick up my truck. Now would be the fun part, how to fix it ?