Camping free and getting clean.

Roadhat! I found a Cummins Diesel roadhat with flames on the brim. Looks boss.

I didn't pay for camping last night. Tall weeds under the picnic tables, and the placement of the campground in the center of nowhere told me that probably nobody notices or cares. It was a National Forest campground. The asking price was $10. I hate to say it's not in budget - I spent $36 on a bar tab last night (elite cheeseburger, delicious local IPA, plus tip.) But it's not in the budget. Neither thing is in the budget - but I only skipped out on the campground bill. $10 is steep to sleep on the god-given earth. No shower; no potable water. Is it $10 to use a nasty pit toilet instead of the woods? I'm not buying it... but I'm using it because it's some of the rare land that's not surrounded by barbed wire.

Tailwinds in the morning. Then coffee. Then headwinds as I climbed and cussed over a challenging pass between Ennis and Virginia City, MT.

I took a bench and an opportunity in Viginia City to make PBJ sandwiches and ask about free camping possibilities. I got some tips from a guy who seemed to know his science. I rode to the town of Sheridan Montana, where I later found sleep behind a dugout.

In the town of Sheridan I bumped into some of the group of 26 cyclists who I first met in Lander Wyoming. They have a bus and a van following them, and they're riding long distance for cancer. They each raised enough money to get themselves their own Jamis Aurora or Jamis Satelite. For cancer. The better their vacation, the faster we find a cure. I'm going to find a place to jerk off so we can all solve the diabetes riddle. Don't get me wrong: if I found the guy who invented cancer, I would punch him right in the face.

They were eating ice cream, so I got myself some pecan ice cream. They slept at the high school, and I slept behind a dugout in the town park.

I got a free shower at the pool. I was going to ask, but nobody was looking. It was the kind of shower where you press a button and warm water shoots out of the wall. I pushed the button many times. And nobody was still looking as I left.

I had warm (warm) booze and pretzels. I had a PBJ. My sleep was punctuated by high winds and animal noises.