Day 64: 67 Miles

Dillon, MT to Wisdom, MT

Lots of climbing today. There were two large climbs that took me from 5,000 feet elevation in Dillon, MT to 7,400 feet at the highest point. I knew today was going to be tough and was happy to be in a motel last night so I could get a good night of sleep. That sleep was interrupted for a few seconds by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake about 100 miles away. I woke up and it felt like I was all of a sudden sleeping on a waterbed. It didn’t last long though and I fell right back to sleep.

The motel had complimentary breakfast starting at 7:00, so I slept in late. I got out of bed to get downstairs right when they put the food out and was of course disappointed by the breakfast offering. I had a PB&J on a bagel but needed to go to McDonald’s for the rest of my breakfast calories.

After breakfast I headed out riding on my own. There were a few flat miles to warm up but after that I got right into the first climb. The climb wasn’t too steep, but it was long. I again relied on some music to help me get through it. Something about riding 10+ miles at 7 mph just makes me lose all focus on riding. The music is a good distraction. I got to mile 18 and took a quick break before the final push to the top. Noah had started riding after me today and caught me at this point. Two miles later we were up at the top where we met a group of cyclists heading in the opposite direction. We talked to them for a bit and then headed down the quick decent. Noah flew ahead of me at that point. I decided to rest my legs and not push the downhill.

I felt like I only had a few minutes of rest before I was back into climbing mode again. Another 13 miles of uphill and the rest of the day would be easy. I was in an area with no radio coverage, so I had to get through the second climb without the help of music. I’ve put in more mileage than usual over the last few days, so my legs weren’t fresh to start the day and after the first climb I was really not happy to be climbing again. I took it slow and steady and made it up the second climb in what felt like 2 hours. As I got over the pass I ran into another eastbound cyclist. I stopped to talk to him for a while and then had 10 downhill miles to the town of Jackson.

When I got to Jackson I found Noah, Mike, Liz and Dave all sitting together at a cafe. I joined them for a half hour, but they were ready to move on to the next town. I ordered some food and told them I would meet them 18 miles down the road in Wisdom, MT where we would be stopping for the night. After the long day of climbing I decided to take a long break in Jackson to rest my legs for the final 18 miles. I had originally planned to stop in Jackson and was only pushing on because of the group.

I left Jackson around 3:30 and made it to Wisdom just before 5:00. The 18 miles were slightly downhill and took zero effort. When I arrived in town I found the same group at a cafe, this time joined by Camille. Camille has been riding at a very fast pace, so I haven’t seen him at all when everyone else meets up at a stopping point during the day. I guess leave it to the Belgian cyclist to show up all the Americans. I walked in and mentioned that the final 18 mile stretch was a nice and easy way to end the day. They all looked at me and started laughing. Apparently they had all decided to go another 18 miles. After getting to Wisdom they did not find the free campsite that was supposed to be there and instead wanted to go further to get to another campsite. There was another group of cyclists in town as well, so the outside of the cafe looked like a bicycle gang had rolled into town.

After leaving the cafe we went to a bar where everyone got pizza. I had eaten just 1.5 hours ago, so I passed on food and got a beer instead. I knew there was a motel in town and having already pushed 18 miles passed my original plan, I decided to call it a day. Noah and Camille were planning to get to Missoula tomorrow, so the extra 18 miles today made tomorrow’s ride much shorter for them. Mike, Liz and Dave were not planning to get all the way to Missoula tomorrow, so I may catch them during tomorrow’s ride.

I checked into a motel after everyone headed out to continue their riding. The mosquitoes have been so bad the last 2 weeks that I’ll take any opportunity I can to be inside for a night. I’ve got bites and scabs all over my legs and arms. The motel room was reasonably priced and much nicer than expected. I was very happy with my decision once I got into the air conditioned motel room. I took a quick shower and then went to grab dinner before the only restaurant in town closed. Tomorrow I’ll try to catch Mike, Liz and Dave and hopefully be in Missoula by Saturday.