Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Ride Day 99
Today I rode from Hamilton to Wisdon Montana, 74 miles and 4500' of climbing in cool overcast to partly cloudy conditions that threatened rain all day but never let loose. Last night I stayed with a family in Hamilton and really enjoyed my stay. They served pizza for dinner which was good since I need calories. We talked a lot about biking and life in general then I camped in the back yard although I could have slept inside I wanted to camp. In the morning they offered me breakfast but I just had a cup of good coffee and hit the road. The ride was not too hard starting out mostly flat while climbing 1000' without a hill. Then came the big grade to 7241' Chief Joseph Pass. That grade was gentle, long and slow. I was surrounded with snowy mountain tops and big black clouds were threatening me but I just spun along not worrying about the weather or anything else. I was going slow so I was looking for wildlife by the side of the road but other than eagles and hawks and songbirds there were no big game animals to be seen for me. Lots of beaver dams along the creek/river that ran along part of the road but beavers are nocturnal so I did not see any. Just near the end of the ride I had an antelope run right at me as I was riding along. It stopped short of ramming me on my bike and then ran along beside me and just in front of me for a long ways before it turned around and ran away. I don't know what that was all about. I think it had a fawn and was trying to get me to chase her or something like that. Then I started to see some other birds that I do not know the name of that had a yellow head, black body and some white colors on the wings. The males were showing off for the girls and it was very entertaining to watch them jump around and shake their feathers and tails while chirping loudly. I looked the birds up and they were called yellow headed blackbirds. Next I saw some sandhill cranes that were also very noisy. I watched them for a bit then went on my way to Wisdom where I had a good juicy burger and a couple of brewery beers to wash it down. Now I am off to do some free camping tonight. Spent too much on dinner to pay to camp. More later...
Monday, June 3, 2013
Ride days 96 97 and 98
My rides for days 96 and 97 were just short connector rides to keep my Garmin map complete. They were really days off as far as I am concerned. But today was day 98 and I rode from Missoula to Hamilton Montana 48 miles and only a few hundred feet of hills. The weather was light showers rolling through so I took a couple of breaks at the casino Hay Loft in Lolo Montana to wait out a couple of heavier showers. I had a cheeseburger while I waited. I had no problems riding cause I just paced myself with an easy slow pace only intending to go about 50 miles when I left Missoula because I got a late start. There was a bike path for most of the way today that was right next to the highway. The only advantage the path gave was that there was no broken glass or any shredded tires on it to blow my tires. Otherwise the roadway had a good shoulder for most of the way making the path a bit redundant. They need to make the paths in places where they are needed, that are dangerous or something.
My time off in Missoula was very good for me. I ate and ate and ate. Then I ate some more. I am concerned about the amount of weight I have lost already so I will probably start having shorter rides and more rest days to let my body catch up to my calorie burn. I do not want to weigh in at 120 pounds at the end of this ride. Jeff and Shalene were great hosts. Shalene took me to a Clay Studios woodfired kiln firing that was entertaining for me. There were lots of nice people there and the kiln was huge. They burned 8 cords of wood in it over a weeks time to fire almost 3000 pieces of clay art. There must have been about 50 clay artists there from all over the area. Watching them stoke the fire and the obvious excitement all the artists had was also good to see. I took a few pics but they aren't that great. I also went to Adventure Cycling Association to visit and buy some more maps. I hung out there for a couple of hours looking at their pics and reading some of their materials. The rest of the time in Missoula I pretty much hung out at coffee shops and breweries. There are five breweries in Missoula and I was going to hit them all but I only made it to three of them. I did notice while sitting in the coffee shops watching the people walk by that there was a lot more females than males on the streets and I mean a lot more. I talked to a few of them and they all complained that there aren't enough men around in Missoula. I felt real sorry for them so maybe I will move here some day just to try to help out a bit. more later...
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Ride Day 95
Today I rode from Colgate Licks campground in Idaho to Lolo Hot Springs in Montana going over Lolo Pass at 5235' and the continental divide. The ride was a lot of climbing but it went easily because the grade was not too steep. I rode it alone as my friend Mark left earlier than I did because he wanted to ride al the way into Missoula but I did not want to get to Missoula until Friday so I took it easy. I had two breakfasts at Lochsa Lodge before going over the grade with two other riders I have been running into a lot since we are going the same direction. We had a good time together. Although we rode separately over the grade we met up at Lolo Hot Springs and shared a campsite and hung out in the hot pools together. The weather here has been scattered showers that have not been real heavy so they are ok to ride in. I am taking the day easy again tomorrow so that I don't arrive in Missoula until Friday. More later...
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