Beers and Gears Blog

On the Road to Belt

By Bill Schneider, 6-01-10

	Will racing down Belt Creek to find the Harvest Moon. Photos by Bill Schneider and Will Selser.

When we rolled into Belt, we went right to the Harvest Moon Brewery, already aware of our mistake, but hoping--dreaming?--somebody might be there. Wrong. We thought about breaking in, but figured the owners wouldn’t understand. 

The road from Choteau to Belt, all 78 miles of it was a pleasant ride today. It’s a lot of flatness, and we had a nice tailwind. (Yes, it does happen once or twice per year.). The road was in great shape, and we loved the long ride through Freezeout Lake after leaving Choteau and seeing all those golden eagles and other raptors feasting on all those ground squirrels.

When he gets there, OMG, it’s closed. He claws and scratches and begs at the door, to no avail. “Is this Memorial Day?” he asks.

The only problem we had was getting through Great Falls. If you don’t know the town as well as Will does, well, map it out before you get there or you’ll get lost. 

Bill and one of his new favorite signs.

The road from Great Falls to Belt is a sweet-and-sour experience. The first half (ten miles) has a great shoulder, which you really need on a high-speed road like this, but the last ten miles to Belt has a tiny shoulder and turned into nerve-whacking experience. Turning down precipitous and beautiful Belt Creek for three miles into Belt was a pleasant change of pace.

I hope Harvest Moon is worth the time and effort it takes to get there on a bicycle, but having tasted the beer, I’m sure it is.

So, no brewery tonight, but we grilled salmon and washed it down with microbrew and wine, and it all turned out just fine.

Footnote: Just in case you’re wondering why you didn’t see this last night, May 31, well, it actually wasn’t my fault. There is no WiFi in Belt, America, and when you think about it, it isn’t so bad. So, tomorrow, Junwe 1, you can get a double dose.

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