The morning was very damp and cold, so I got going as soon as I could swallow some granola and get my things together.

I’m in Aspen Grove Campground, about 8 miles east of Lincoln, MT.  About 40 miles today for a total of 828, making this my longest bike-packing adventure.  I had the legs to ride a bit further, but the next campsite is almost 50 miles up the road.

I stopped in the town of Lincoln for lunch in the shelter in the town park, which also doubles as a campground.  Just when lunch was done, it started raining, so I figured I would do some bike maintenance.  I’ve had an annoying slow leak develop in my front tire and also figured I’d rotate my tires since the rear is wearing  faster than the front, as is normal for bicycles.  I have Continental Gatorskin tires, and considering all the glass and crap I haven’t always been able to avoid, they have held up remarkably well.  The only problem with them, is that they are wicked hard to get on and off my rims.

Turns out the tire rotation took longer than expected as one of my spare tubes had two holes in it. I tossed it, figuring the one with the slow leak would be a better bet.  The second spare looks like it’s holding air fine.  Then I put the other tire on backwards.  Since the tires have been performing so well, I decided that I couldn’t risk running one of them backwards and redid it.

I suspect the slow leak was caused by a failing patch.  I put those tires on a few years ago and had apparently used a patched tube.  It’s rare that a properly done patch fails over time, in fact this is the first occurrence that I can remember.  If a patched tube gets a second leak, it gets tossed.  So now my only spare tube has a slow leak.  I’ll have to find a couple of new tubes as soon as I can.

As I was riding around the campground looking for a campsite, when I met two fellows.  John was especially concerned about grizzly bears and lent me his old can of mace, as he had two fresh ones.  

They also have a bear box here in which I can store my food overnight.  The men told me  a cyclist was killed by a grizzly right  in the town of Ovando a few years ago.  Last night I wasn’t camping far from there.  The other fellow invited me over for burgers at 5:30.

I will put all my food in one pannier and will deposit it in the campgrounds bear box when I go for my hamburger and when I sleep.