In Memory of Warmer Summers

*This post was written June 30, but I was unable to post until July 1 because of signal availability*

Twin Bridges, MT to Bannack State Park, MT

Rude horn honks: 2

Miles: 54

Total so far: 3,613

Nice background for a video shoot, yes?

We had some special visitors this morning. ABC World News News Correspondent Ron Claiborne, and Associate Producer Bradley Blackburn met us at our camping spot in Twin Bridges to do an interview about the ride, the blog, and what all this means. The intended purpose is for airing on ABC World News sometime in the next two to three weeks.

Sallie negotiates some camera angles

Let me say this right off the bat. These fellows drove up from Denver, and I hope they had another story to cover, because that is a long haul. Regardless, I know they had not had much sleep, but you couldn’t tell – their enthusiasm was remarkable. They were concerned about the time an interview would take and how it may affect the outcome of our day’s journey, so after introductions, Sallie and I started our ride on the bikes down State Route 41 and they shot background footage for about an hour.

Shooting background footage from a rental car

More background shots by Bradley Blackburn of ABC World News

The day couldn’t have been better in terms of weather. The sun was out, there was barely a cloud in the sky, the air was cool, maybe in the mid-sixties. At that point in the ride, the terrain was level as we moved south-west through a green valley dotted with ranches on either side, and bordered in all directions by gorgeous mountains (thank you once again, Montana).

After the background footage, I was interviewed at roadside for about 45 minutes to an hour. The interview was not easy, as it seems two things were going on simultaneously. One: We have been on the road now for over two months, and despite my willingness to try, it’s difficult to suddenly put together my best thoughts for this purpose. My thoughts are still there kind of percolating around all the time, but conclusions haven’t been drawn yet about the effect the ride has had on me or the work we do. Two: One of the effects I have noticed about the ride is that emotions are very close to the surface. We are engaged in an athletic activity that takes enormous amounts of stamina, our diets are not the best, we’ve been dehydrated, exposed to all kinds of weather, and we are sleeping the best we can  in tents on the ground in conditions that often require earplugs and eye shades. There were some questions that I tried to answer but my emotions almost overtook me, as they now lie so close to the surface. None of this is a bad thing, it is what it is, after two months on the road.

Negotiations continue about bicycle use

After the interview, a surprise – Mr. Claiborne donned a pair of shorts, a helmet, and some running shoes and asked if he could ride Sallie’s bike. This gave us both a little bit of pause, because these heavy monsters just do not handle like anything the average person has ridden. It turns out Ron Claiborne is anything but average. Along with his irrepressible enthusiasm, he’s apparently logged some serious mileage in Africa on a touring bike loaded with gear.

With my caution of, “The first hundred yards can be dangerous, but after that you’ll be OK”, he took to the bike like a natural. They wanted to an introductory shot with the two of us riding down the highway while he gave some opening remarks for the camera. We managed to do a few takes, a few U-turns on the highway without crashing or causing a traffic tie-up. It was indeed a good morning.

My hat is off to ABC World News for sending such an enthusiastic crew for the interview, and as always, please be kind to us in the editing room!

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Tomorrow’s ride is dedicated to Bronson David Parsons

Bronson David Parsons

Bronson Parsons, from Troy, Montana was walking home with his best friend. He was a half a block from home when he was struck down by a hit-and-run drunk driver. Bronson was 25 years old.