Hail in Harlowton!

I suppose that was a catchy titile for the blog. Truth is, from the safety of the public library in Harlowton, Montana, a hail storm just came through about 15 minutes ago...these hailstones were BIG..marble-sized! Glad our ride for the day was done. Actually, Zach got caught in some rain and hail today as he was in the last group to finish. My group had some very stiff north winds. Since we were cycling east, we had to sort of lean over at about a 70-degree angle from the road so that the wind would not blow us over! Before, that, we actually had a good day of cycling, with some tail-winds and very low amounts of traffic. We have another church dinner tonight at the Assembly of God church here, with a presentation to follow.
Yesterday's ride into White Sulphur Springs was a bit more difficult than expected. We had an eleven-mile climb through the Big Belt mountains between Helena and White Sulphur Springs. We also were racing against a thunder and lightning storm yesterday afternoon to get into town. After the ride yesterday, we actually got to enjoy the sulphur springs- geothermally heated water, before another hail storm forced us inside. We then did a presentaion in a Lutheran-Presbyterian Church. After that, most of the team was given a private "tour" of the museum in WSS...very interesting histroy in this part of the country!
I reckon the key is to get the riding done as early in the day as possible. Tomorrow we have a 90-plus mile ride into Billings. They had a tornado there a couple of weeks ago...we have been told that is a very rare thing!
Altogether, we have now cycled over 850 miles. The group has been very supportive of each other, and we manage to have a lot of fun, as well. Thanks for reading...we have a "system" down now...I write most of the words, and Zach posts pictures on Facebook.
Thanks to all who are thinking and praying for us!
Tim