On the 7th Day, the Brooks Brothers did NOT Rest

To beat the extreme heat, we started climbing at 6:30am. We crossed the Divide twice this morning on our way to Helena.  After the first crossing we went down into Dago Gulch. The cattle ranchers have taken over this area and it was unpleasant.  Trees cut down everywhere and runny cow shit all over the road.  It was disgusting. The cattle seemed very surprised by us and were very leery. At one point I rode within 10 feet of a big bull and hoped he wouldn't charge me.

Once we cleared the drainage, conditions improved.  We headed towards Blossburg and then climbed up Priest Pass for our 3rd crossing of the CD.

From there it was a long descent to the 12 and then 7 miles on the road into Helena.

Doug's gears were acting up so we decided to stop and get the adjusted. We first went to to Great Divide Cycles. With a straight face they told us they were backlogged 3 days and could do it until then.  I said "you're kidding right?" But he wasn't.  There is a practice/credo along the route to help the Divide riders. These guys are shameful. As my The Cycling House friends would say,  "not cool, dude."

We instead went down to Big Sky Cycles and they were terrific! They fixed Doug's gears, strung new cable, and straightened out his rear derailleur--all while we ate at the bagel shop next door. Great shop. Nice guys.

From Helena we took the alternate route to Basin. We hoped to make Butte but the heat was too much. We stopped several times in the shade to get relief.

After a long climb we descended into Boulder. We saw a "milkshake" sign and headed straight for it, but it was closed. :( The owner saw us and came out and invited us in and served us some delicious black raspberry shakes.

(We've met some really nice people along our route).

At that point we decided we were finished for the day. It was 95! 

The name of our hotel is OZ Motel. I wonder how they came up with that name?

About 35 miles to Butte tomorrow.  We'll leave at 6am to beat the heat and make it a short day.

Day 7 and we're at about the 400 mile point.