Coming from Illinois, I am not used to hills. I look ahead of my spinning front tire as the gravel road looms in front of me. From a distance, the

Sitting in a rodeo box in Augusta, Montana, I am reflecting on the juxtaposition of cultures we’ve experienced on our ride across Montana so far. This morning we spoke with

Though I am originally from a beach town, riding into the Bonogofsky ranch immediately felt like home. As the late afternoon sun began to slowly descend, I sat in a

It’s Day 15 of our 2021 Cycle the Rockies course. The heat bounces off the paved road as we pull our bikes off the street to lock them up. The

Standing on top of the Signal Peak coal mine tipple—the 10-story chute that loads coal into train cars—you could see almost the entire production area: the mouth of Montana’s only

The house at the corner of 7th Avenue and 23rd Street looks like a 2,400-square foot lunch box with a brilliant tin roof and desert-like landscaping. Mellow, yellow sunlight bounces

The harsh light of the Exxon Mobil conference room is unforgiving. I try to focus on the company spokesperson’s overview of the refinery’s production. The Billings refinery turns crude oil

After I arrived in Augusta, MT, I received a text message from my brother who lives in Okayama, Japan. During this bike trip from Billings, MT to Glacier National Park,

Not In My Backyard, not through the oak trees and my childhood playground, not through my favorite fig tree that produces fruit in August, not through the grass that stains

After riding nearly 500 miles thus far on my touring bicycle from Billings to Dupuyer, Montana, I have seen countless ranches, sherbet sunsets, mountain ranges, and other features that make