We woke in Choteau to the warmth of another generous host's house, which was especially pleasant after the bad-weather riding we all endured yesterday. Although, I think we might have slept a little too well because it seemed particularly difficult to get out of our sleeping bags this morning. We eventually managed to wake ourselves up, and had a very in depth discussion with our host, Eric Bergman, about ecosystems and how they are being impacted by climate change.

After our discussion, we hopped on our bikes to head out of Choteau, passing through a small town called Bynum. In Bynum, we had a chance to visit the Two Medicine Dinosaur Museum, and speak with the owner, Dr. David Trexler. A dinosaur museum might seem a little out of place in a course focusing on energy and climate issues, but it proved to be very valuable to hear about climate change from a paleontologists' perspective.

Trexler spoke with us about the Earth's climate history, and the number of shifts in climate which have previously occurred. He explained that in the past, about every 200 million years, the Earth has experienced a major shift in climate (from 10-20 degrees F) which has, in some cases wiped out the majority of species on Earth. The only survivors in mass extinctions such as these are species who are capable of adapting to the new climate. All of these historical climate shifts have been linked to CO2 in the atmosphere, dubbing climate change as an inevitable natural occurrence.

The recent climate change we have been facing, however, are far from natural, and are mainly due to humans upsetting the CO2 balance. Trexler explained that within 10 million years (a relatively short period of time from a paleontologists point of view) a methane catastrophe may well occur naturally, releasing huge amounts of permafrost and seafloor methane into the atmosphere. But he believes that, if we continue down the path we're going by upsetting the carbon balance and warming the planet, we will expedite the process to 150 years, and he believes we have 40 years to reverse the situation before those changes become inevitable. These numbers seem a little scary, but I think sometimes it’s good to get scared. Discussions like the one we had with Trexler can be a very good wake up call, and serve as a good reminder as to why we have been spending so much time biking across Montana learning about these issues.

As we continued our journey north to Dupuyer, we rode toward threatening storm clouds, which, fortunately, didn't catch up to us until we were four miles from our destination. That being said, it was the longest four miles of my life. In a matter of seconds we found ourselves soaking wet and freezing cold struggling against a strong headwind to push up a very steep hill. When we got to Dupuyer, we found ourselves desperate for shelter and fled to the local restaurant where we ate our dinners, and met yet another generous local who was willing to give us shelter for the night. Taking into consideration all the different perspectives on climate issues in combination with the generosity of the local Montanans, and I'd say it was a pretty typical day with the Cycle the Rockies gang.

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