jim left on the 5:30am shuttle for the airport. i went down to catch the 6:00 am breakfast. as amazing it might sound, i actually left half my pancakes uneaten. i believe i was nervous about my first day on my own.
but once out the door and a few miles down the road, the rhythm falls into place. i've always had a bad habit about pushing myself to a goal and not taking enough time to slow down and enjoy the trip. i believe it's called 'goal oriented'. jim helped me control that, but since he was now gone, today became an individual time trial. the result was a 100 mile day in 10 hours and a fairly sore body. the roads were not the most enjoyable. us rte 93 from missoula to polson, often 4 lane highway, sometimes two. pretty unspectactular for the first 30 miles or so, then it cuts up over a ridge and drops into mission valley at st. ignatius. now that is a pretty valley. mountain range defines the east side, but it opens up wide and expansive to the west. this is also the flathead tribal lands. the signs are in english and the native language, which has some very odd characters. part of this land is wildlife preserve, and though i had my head down most of the time, i did see my first magpie, i think: black body with white belly and white wing tips. also saw an old favorite of mine, a red winged blackbird.
when the valley finally ends, the road cuts up over a ridge to the town of polson. as you crest the ridge, layed out in front of you is the 30 mile long flathead lake. its that beautiful deep, rich blue that mountain lakes have, especially when surrounded by fir trees. i managed to buy a nice juicy peach and eat it while sitting on a little patio overlooking the lake. (that sounds a little nicer than it was, but, hey, it was good.)
unfortunately, the 32 mile road around the east side of the lake was not alot of fun. 2 lane, no shoulder. it was hot and i was getting tired, so of course i pushed myself past the originally targeted campground and went the additional dozen or so miles to bigfork, at the top of the lake. the one pleasant part of that ride was going past all the cherry orchards in the area called yellow bay. there was a spot where i could pull up and pick a few cherries, marachino's i believe, without getting off the bike.
the campground was full, but what's nice in the western state parks is that they have one or two spots reserved for cyclists. i managed to get one of those. unfortunately, there were no trees or shade on the cyclists tent areas. my neighbors saw me sitting in the sun, took pitty on me, and invited me over to sit in the shade. before the evening was out they had served me two beers and dinner. judy and wayne from denver. wayne just retired from denver's civil engineering dept, judy teaches 3rd grade and is on summer break.
before the night was over, i also ended up sharing my area with 4 canadian motorcyclists who were heading to yellowstone. engineer types driving bmw's, not harleys. in the evening, the four of them pulled out a deck of cards and started playing scat.
i didn't go swimming, but i did go over and sit by the lake for awhile. saw my first bald eagle of the trip. still haven't seen an elk or a moose.
the plan was to get up today and ride to glacier and camp at avalanche creek campground. then ride the road to the sun in the morning. i was a little sore and tired in the morning, but i got started early. riding 2 lanes hjighway with early traffic. when i got to columbia falls, the sky in the west was threatening, and i was working hard trying to beat the headwinds coming out of the north. a couple of miles down the road, at hungry horse, i was almost standing still and i did get hit by a dozen drops. when i made it through the pass to west glacier, everything turned sunny, the wind disappeared, and i entered into the national park. there, the road is smooth, freshly paved, shaded, and flat running around lake mcdonald. because of traffic, the road is closed to cyclists from 11-4. the same for the 13 mile climb past avalanche.
turned out, i'd made such good time that i was able to get all the way to avalanche before 1:00. so, being me, i thought, 'hey, might as well climb to logan pass this afternoon'. rest till 4pm, till the road opens to cyclists, then start the climb. should take 2-2 1/2 hours. so rather than start rested and in the cool of the morning, i started at 4, in the sun, after riding 55 mi. fits, doesn't it?
i started out with my heart pumping, very excited, 14 miles to the top. the first couple were a low grade, then the grade shifted up to the 7+% that it would remain. all i can say is it was incredible, trully awesome. At the 180 degree switchback, i was still pumped. at that point, i could see almost the whole 8 miles up to the top. maybe not the most encouraging thing. then at some point i started getting tired and instead of magnificent, it slipped to great. that is a ride to never forget. being on a bicycle has the advantage that, especially going up hill, its easy to stop and take pictures. i had to fight the urge to constantly stop, but there are plenty of pictures.
the downhill wasn't as bad, but there was one point, the 180 swithback, where the wind blew me across the road. i had to stop. cross winds are a bitch. i did make it down to the campground at st marys. that shower felt great.
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