Rest Day #5 in Helena

July 5, 2026 was our fifth rest day. 

Helena is the capital of Montana. We’ve ridden almost 3400 km and climbed over 40,000m. The end in Banff is in sight but we’re not there yet.

We had the hotel breakfast at 8, then did laundry. I was glad to have an actual washing machine because the last time I hand washed no matter how many times I squeezed and rinsed, brown water always seemed to come out of my riding clothes!

After that we walked to the nearby State Capitol. Everything seemed sleepy and quiet on Sunday morning. The Capitol was open but didn’t have guided tours. The building is really impressive, especially from the inside. Mining must’ve really generated a lot of money back in 1889 when Montana became the 41st state! We marvelled at the art work and checked out the Senate and House chambers.

Then we continued to downtown and had lunch at Ten Mile Creek Brewery. Beer, salads and a delicious pizza to share. After that, I was feeling a nap coming on so we ubered back. I know I was not the only one snoozing!

I booked us the next two nights in motels along the route and we started working on our stay in Banff and a shuttle to the Calgary airport.

For dinner we ubered back downtown to find the fancy Italian restaurant we picked out was full. We walked down to a steak house and got a table outside. We all had tasty arugula and mushroom salads and I had a lentil dish with a ton of lion’s mane mushrooms! I had been wanting to try these for a long time. Just delicious! We had various beers and then walked up the street to the ice cream shop. After a giant double cone of huckleberry and espresso/heathbar, we headed home. I had a nice call with Beau then got ready for sleep. A side benefit of hard biking trips is definitely the food!