Day 7: Going the distance

Bike Distance	Avg Speed	Total Ascent	Saddle Time	Calories
81.88 miles	15.41 mph	721 ft	05:17:43	4979 cal

The plan:

Last night I was exhausted but having trouble falling asleep. I knew I was a bit dehydrated as I had dark yellow urine and was constantly thirsty (I know.. TMI) . This was a result of poor water break management on my part and I should know better! And when I did break I didn't eat enough which eventually brought my energy levels down. In fact, I totally skipped lunch which is a no- no. So, I decided that starting tomorrow I was going to diligently break every 15 miles. During that break I was to consume some water, Gatorade and food whether I wanted it or not. This should keep everything running smoothly and avoid the crash toward the later stages of the ride.

I then started thinking more about this Sundays 71 mile ride to Wisdom. It has 3000 ft of continuous climb. Today's ride to Anglers Roost in Hamilton was 51 miles of relatively flat road. Perhaps I can push on further today to reduce Sundays ride mileage? I really want Sunday's climb to be first thing in morning so adding 30 miles to today's ride would be put me in excellent position. In fact, while planning this tour I researched a campground that is exactly 30 miles further from Hamilton "Sula Country Store and Campground". If when I get to Hamilton and I feel like I can't go further then I can always stick to the original plan. Happy with my new plans I quickly dozed off to sleep around 12:30am.

Top 'o the morning:

Who needs an alarm clock when you always wake up before it goes off? I set the alarm for 8:00am hoping to "sleep in". Instead I was up at 7:15am. What gives!? I ran across the street to Burger King for a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit sandwich meal to go. I then grabbed some free coffee from the hotel lobby and returned to my room. I ate my breakfast while watching CNN. After eating I then called Amtrak and reschedule my train ride for the 20th. It only cost me $34 more! Not too bad eh! I then called the campground in Sula to check availability. Plenty of room. Wanting to depart by 9am today I packed up and rolled my bike outside when I noticed my rear fender was wonky and almost rubbing on the tire. I investigated further and noticed my lower rear rack mounting bolt was loose. This also secures the fender. Problem solved with a quick adjustment with an Allen wrench. I finished loading the bike and checked out. Just as I was getting ready to leave a woman asked if she could take a picture of me with her nephew standing next to the bike. How funny! Maybe a future cyclist? She snapped the photo and I left the Motel 6 parking lot at 9:10am.

Goodbye Missoula:

My route took me through to the southern most edge of Missoula. There were the typical stores and restaurants one would find in any suburban neighborhood. The town was teeming with people sitting at cafes which made me realize that today is Saturday! Doah! As I made my way I noticed a shoe store that had a giant silver pump shoe out front. Anyone who knows Swati knows she is a shoe- aholic so I had to snap a photo just for her. As I approached Lolo pass on highway 93 I said my final goodbye to Missoula.

Hello Hamilton:

The ride to Hamilton will have me pass through several small towns separated by open road. The first" big" town I encountered was Florence. It was nothing spectacular but larger than most towns I've encountered. As I exited the city I noticed a paved pedestrian trail running alongside highway 93. While up to this point 93 has had a nice and large shoulder I noticed that it was rough and likely increasing my rolling resistance so I moved onto the path. It was nice and smooth! My speed increased by 0.5 mph. Sweet!

Victor was the next "big" town I had my sights on. It was about 18 miles from Florence. Amazingly the path continued all the way! In fact I encountered several locals on bicycles using the path. Good to see people taking advantage of such a useful resource.

18 miles more and I would arrive in Hamilton. This time, the path ended about 2 miles outside city proper. I officially crossed into the northern edge at 12:28pm. Perfect time to get out of the heat and access my next move. I saw a Dairy Queen and figured I would try that. We have them back in Chicago but I've only ever had their ice cream. I must say the double cheeseburger was quite delicious. Fortunately, I had edge service so I pulled up Google maps to plot my course to Sula!

Sleeping in Sula:

The route from DQ was 36 miles with the town of Darby smack dab in the middle at 18. I essentially divided the route into two 18 mile chunks. I left DQ around 1:45 and reached Darby at around 3:15. While on the way I encountered my first moose! Holly Holly crap was it huge! Problem was it was dead on the side of the road. Semi 1. Moose 0. Bummer.

I stopped at a small grocery store and bought an Arizona tea, king size fast break candy bar and a peach. I then sat outside in the shade to" fuel" up for the last leg. BTW: fast break candy bars are terrible. I definitely had to choke that one down.

As I left Darby the scenery changed from open valley to surrounded by mountains. A small river ran along this portion of highway 93 which made the route more enjoyable. The road twisted around the rocky edges of mountains. It was the prettiest scenery of the day. Eventually as I rounded one of bends I could see my destination on the left. Woo hoo I made it and my body actually felt pretty good. Much better than yesterday.

I strolled into the well stocked store around 4:50 and asked the raspy voiced woman about a tent site. She was very nice but two cigarettes short from losing her larynx. She said to go and look around but rv sites are off limits. I took a quick look and realize all the rv and little cabins are in the shade while the tent sites are in the blazing hot sun. I guess that is why I see no tenters here. I went in and explained the situation. She offered a cabin at a discounted rate of $30. Only $15 more than a tent site. I immediately handed her my credit card with a big smile on my face and said "deal". She then told me where the men's shower room was. What? Showers too? Another bonus I wasn't even aware of. I purchased some things for dinner and went to my fancy cabin.

The cozy cabin sleeps 4 as it has a double bed and bunk bed. It is really clean much nicer than I expected. It backs to a small river so I can here the flowing water through my window. How tranquil! I smelled to high heaven so I decided to take hot shower. Afterwards I prepared my dinner and ate outside at the picnic table. Some firewood was left behind by the previous people so I felt compelled to build me a fire! I had that baby rip roaring in minutes as the wood was really nice and dry. I sat there enjoying my creation for nearly 1.5 hours before all the wood was used. It was starting to get dark and a chill was filling the air so I went inside to make some tea and eat my fig Newton dessert.

It is peaceful here... I sense a good night's sleep is in my future. :)

PS: Urine looks nice and normal this evening thank you very much! :D