Day 15 - Wise River to Wise River with over 80 miles traveled.

The title of today seems to be a paradox.  We decided that since the next bikeshop is over 300 miles away, and cam is riding on a punctured tire, it was best to backtrack to Butte and get it fixed right away.  It hasn't been long enough yet that Geoff despises Cam, so he was nice enough to join him on the (for him) pointless trip to Butte and back.  We started pedaling down the highway and noticed lots of big trucks passing us.  We both looked at each other and just said "yup...".  We knew exactly what the other was thinking.  We both stuck our thumbs out and continued to pedal.

The site of brake lights and a flicker was far better than the pasty farts. A nice man driving a Dodge Ram signaled and slowed down - never really coming to a stop.  We thought he may be toying with us, but luckily he was just finding a safe spot to pull over.  We threw our bikes in the back and he drove us to the interstate where he was headed in the opposite direction.  We hopped back on the bikes, and pedaled for 5 mile or so giving every passerby an encouraging thumbs up.  Eventually, Kevin, a nice veterinarian/farm owner from Idaho picked us up on his drive back from Utah where he bought the truck (another Dodge).  He was nice enough to detour into Butte and drop us off in the store.  A quick repair and we were back on our way.   We weren't so lucky on the return trip.  We pedaled for about 25 of the 40 miles and eventually got picked up by another dodge/jeep owner.  We like their demographic.  This guy was a real life maniac who was about to race a ONE HUNDRED MILE TRAIL RACE (on foot) ALL ABOVE 8 000 FEET.  FOR FUN!  Kudos to him.  And thanks for the lift, too!

All in all, we made it 90 miles or so with only 30 miles of pedaling.  We fixed the tire, and met three very nice people.  If in the future you decide to hitchhike, you're probably better off posing as a cyclist.  We had great luck.

Thumbs up for fun!