Every morning when I wake up I have been telling myself – “All you have to do today is ride your bike!” That usually gets me in the right frame of mind. That mindset was important today given we had 116 miles and almost 5,000 feet of climbing in front of us at 7:30 AM when we kicked off.
It was a rather cool morning at 52 degrees and we were all in arm warmers and light jackets at the start. We took a few side roads out of Missoula and spent some additional time on their bike path system to ease our way out of town. By the first SAG stop at the top of a climb at mile 17 most of the cold gear was coming off as the sun started heating us up as it rose over the mountains that had us cast in their shadows.
Soon, however, we found ourselves riding on the shoulder of the Interstate Highway again – this time I-90 headed to Helena. In many western states, riding on the shoulder of the interstate is allowed given the less developed road systems from some points to another. All tolled today, we probably rode maybe 20 miles or so on I-90 in 2 separate segments. But the bulk of our riding today was on side roads that went in the general direction of I-90 to Helena.
Our lunch stop was actually at a truck parking rest area off I-90 at Mile 66. By lunch time, the temperature was well into the 80’s and all the climbing and a sustained headwind had drained us of a lot of the energy we had after a good day of rest. But we pressed on to the next SAG (supply and gear) stop at mile 84 as we prepped for the big push into Helena.
Today’s ride profile was somewhat similar to the profile of our ride into Missoula – about 90 miles of a slow general climb with a series of rolling climbs and then a big climb at the end with a descent into town. This time we started the big climb at mile 96 for about a 4 mile climb of about 1200 feet. The good news for us was that by then the wind had shifted and he had a slow tailwind up to McDonald Pass where we were greeted by one our guides to refill our now drained water bottles. It was a tough climb as we crossed the 100 mile mark right at the summit.
The descent was nothing less than holding on tight and braking wisely as we hit speeds of up to 40 MPH – for me, on a bike, I just keep thinking that if I have a front tire blowout at 40 MPH, I might soon be greeted by Saint Peter at the pearly gates. My hands were hurting after braking for that 5-6 mile descent, but soon we were on the outskirts of Helena, MT – the State Capitol.
We quickly freshened up and had dinner in different groups at The Windbag Saloon in downtown Helena. This place was formerly a brothel that operated all the way up to 1973. One of the appetizers on the menu was “Brothel Bites”, and they were quite tasty after a 7+ hour ride today. Tomorrow we head to Three Forks, MT – an 88 mile ride with about 3,500 feet of elevation gain – seems easy compared to what we did today!
Another quick P2P rider profile for you is Doug, a 70 year Financial Advisor from Indiana. Doug is actually one of our stronger cyclists and a great climber. I aspire to be like him when I am that age!