6323 Foot Behemoth

 We had begun the day sober and quiet.  A grim reality unspoken, hovered over our heads.  The behemoth awaited us.  McDonald Pass rises up to 6,320 feet in elevation and lives just west of Helena on top of the world.

For two weekend bikers--non-pedal professionals--ascending such a mountain on two fully-packed recumbents is formidable.  Almost impossible.

Would this winding, curving, twisting, climbing road ever end, we wondered.  As if to add drama to the climb, stoom clouds formed and drops began pebbling our sweaty bodies.

At 3.7 miles per hour, overloaded recumbents heave from side to side, shimmying and causing heel to wheel collisions.  Yet at 1:39 pm two beleagered 'bent riders stood proudly by their metal steeds realizing that the behemoth that first begins in our minds must be confronted and defeated before engaging and conquering the behemoths that lives at the top of the world.