Traveling at Mach 0.012

Saturday June 28

Start: Lolo
Destination: Eagle Mountain Bridge
Day miles: 71
Journey total miles: 3113

Towns passed through:
Lolo
Lolo Hot Springs
Powell

As I left Lolo, the road began a gradual climb towards the pass. Cloudy weather, but no rain (yet). Passed many farms and some evidence or a not to distant past forest fire along some of the mountains.

Here is one hillside that has many charred trees left.

I pedaled along thinking, this is not too bad for a climb to a peak. Reached Lolo Hot Springs, contemplated stopping for breakfast, but instead kept going. Then, the grade picked up a bit and the climb began. Still not awful, but definitely a long climb. The mile marker was 6, so, hoping that there would be a level spot at the top, i kept good spirits for the long climb ahead. Slowly the miles ticked away, life goes by much slower at 8 mph rather than the 12-15 on the flat spot. Along the road about halfway into the climb, there was a van parked along the road with the company logo for a business that measures race times accurately. My thoughts were that they were out for a bike ride in the national forest and that was a good parking spot.

The climb continued, 4, 3, 2, and finally 1. Excitement built as my legs started to get a little weary from the long slow ascent. Soon, I would be able to check another state off the list and add a new one. THe sign ahead said rest stop 1/4 mile. Great, i thought, there will be a rest stop before i get out of Montana. Then, another sign about 1/4 mile later… Rest Stop 1/4 mile. Cruel.

Finally the summit. Ok you would think I just scaled everest or something. Off to the left was a rest area with lots of cars (i wondered why all of the cars passing me were of the Subaru, and Prius variety. This is what I saw:

That is right, some kind of race finish line. Heard the familiar cow bells too. It was the Mountain to Meadow Half Marathon. And it started to rain. Great day for a run.

Wait, before the finish line, there was:

and then:

and finally:

This is the way to travel.

Took a short break, and then prepared to descend down the mountain. Put on the rain coat and hopped on. Planned to meet EK at Lochsa Lodge down the mountain. Ok, was I ill prepared for this descent. The road was rough and wet, it was raining, and i did not have enough gear on to stay warm. The sign said winding road next 99 miles. OK…

At times, i was shivering so much that i had to stop to warm up. While a fast descent, it was a bit scary given the conditions. Around a turn I go and here is what greets me:

He did not seem to care that i was there and looked bigger than the picture makes him to be. After a few car approached, he ducked into the woods. I rode by to see him standing in the trees waiting for the traffic to pass.

Made it to Lochsa Lodge, shivering and wet but in one piece. Coffee and breakfast. Yeah. Lots of coffee. The breakfast was good too Now I have an idea about how to make corned beef hash the right way.

While drying out, met a couple from Winchester VA who rode a tandem bike. They planned to ride over the pass, but the rain damped their spirits. We had a wonderful conversation about their rides and adventures and shared some of our as well. With at least 26 more miles to go, I headed out into the wet dreary day again. But this time, had my rain pants and stayed mostly dry. The grade wasn’t as steep, so I had an easy ride down the mountain.

Well, it was goodbye to Montana; the state I spent the most time enjoying the good and bad parts of this ride. The road from Circle to Jordan with its corresponding headwinds is forever a horrifying memory of how hard this trip could be at times. Then there were the many beautiful days with sun, clouds, and cool breezes to make the ride enjoyable. Won’t be in Idaho for long, so I guess the rain and cold are only fitting to remind me that this is the northwest.