Riding the (former) rails: Cruising down the Route of the Hiawatha

TAFT, Mont. — For most of the ride through the Taft Tunnel, there’s no light at the end.

Damp, dark and echoey, biking through the 1.66-mile hole in the Bitterroot Mountains would have been disorienting if it weren’t for the dozens of other riders pedaling through last Saturday morning, lights glowing from their handlebars.