Another Tuesday means another 7 miles run in the morning. It was Jerry, Shelley, and me this time doing the Myers trail loop. It’s pretty dark at 6:30am and this is our last morning doing this as we’ll switch to afternoons next week. I felt pretty good considering I got my Covid booster shot yesterday and we finished the 7.29-mile loop in 1 hour, 41 minutes.
The weather today is looking great, in the upper-80s but coming up is a drop in temperature and a possibility of snow in a week so I want to get in another ride while I have a chance. I decided to grab two more courthouse photos, hitting both Treasure and Rosebud counties and then riding Hwy 12 from Forsyth to Roundup, a route I haven’t been on before in any vehicle.
I gassed up the bike and headed out a little after 11am, taking Hwy 312 out of Billings, through the east end of Yellowstone County. It’s a nice, 2-line ride through farmland with very little traffic. I stopped just outside the Pompey’s Pillar National Monument for this photo, framing the rock between the two signs.
Here’s looking the other way.
From here I take the frontage road for 25 miles to Custer, MT where I turn north and cross the Yellowstone River on Musselshell Trail Road. Just a half mile up that road I turn right onto Pease Bottom Road. The last time I rode this, a few months ago, it had some serious potholes but it appears that they’ve been working on getting most of them patched. The road winds through more farmland and past, or through, the occasional rimrocks.
Fall colors are making an appearance.
It is a really nice ride.
I pulled into Hysham and found the courthouse. Very utilitarian.
I shot a few more photos as I headed out of town.
I turned onto Hwy 311 and headed east to Forsyth, MT, the seat of Rosebud county. It’s a 55-mile ride an a good 2-lane road through flat farmland. The courthouse is worth the drive.
I didn’t stick around long and went back through town to catch Hwy 12 which would take me to Roundup. This is US 12 which goes all the way to the Pacific Coast, ending somewhere in Washington. From the looks of the map, much of its route looks more interesting that the next 100 miles I will be riding on.
Here, the road is flat, with the occasional hill, and its treeless view shows the expanse and remoteness of this part of the state. One upside is that it follows the route of the now-defunct Milwaukee Road railroad which can be seen just to the south of the highway. The rails and ties are gone but the earth work that supported them is still there.
I made stop just outside Ingomar for a drink and a few photos. There isn’t much to the town and I didn’t want to ride down the quarter-mile of loose gravel to see it. The sign pretty much explains it.
A ways up the rode I passed the village of Melstone and from there it was on to Roundup. I needed gas and stopped for a fill up and a snack. I didn’t want to eat and drink at the station and remembered there was a city park at the Mussellshell River where I’d run a 5K race years ago so I rode there, parked, got out my stool, and took a break.
After the break it was back to Billings, a ride I’ve done quite a few times in the past 3-4 months.
It was a good ride. The weather was great, mid- to upper-80s and no wind. 277 miles total.
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