The Final Stretch

So it's been several days since my last posting and for that I apologize. Last time I wrote I was in North Dakota traversing the grassy plains; now though the terrain has changed completely. I suppose I wasn't writing because there wasn't really much to write about - western North Dakota and eastern Montana are fairly banal. The first two days it was a nice change of scenery from the cornfields of the Midwest, but by day 10 or 11 I had lost interest. Within that stretch of time though we did come upon some interesting things. Other than the number of ridiculously small towns that eastern Montana has and the relentless wind, we also managed to ride through Glasgow, MT whose claim to fame is that their mosquito population is more dense than anywhere else in the world. 50% deet did absolutely nothing and some riders on the trip had bites on their necks the size of golf balls.

On Monday we finally crossed out of the plains and into the Rockies. What a site too. Pedaling along in the flat country of the plains only to be hit with a view of the Rockies was a site that could easily have been a painting on a wall. Absolutely incredible. The morning consisted of intense head winds, but by the time we got into the range the wind had dissipated and the only thing to worry about was the climb.

That evening we pitched camp right outside of Glacier National Park. Yes another camping night, but no horror stories like Teddy Roosevelt. The pass through Glacier, known as Logan's Pass, is a 7,000 ft monster with one road that goes through it - Going to the Sun Highway. The highway was constructed during the works projects era of the 1930s and has had little work done on it since. So we learned upon our arrival to the campsite that the road going down the other side of the mountain would be closed from 10am-4pm to cyclists because it was a one lane dirt road with no shoulder. So the options were this: get up at 5:15, make the 50 miles out of the park by 10am and have the rest of the day to do whatever or wake at 6:30am and wait until 4pm to finish about 55 miles. Well I opted for the first option and several of us woke at 515 to some pretty intense wind. We were on the road by 6am and manged to make it to the 7,000 foot summit by 8:15. During this time we were also able to watch the sun rise over the Rockies which was incredible. Being way up in the mountains on a bike is a pretty humbling experience.

By the time I got to the summit the group had broken apart and I was by myself. I got to the top without knowing fellow riders were in the lodge so I started the journey down, stopping though to take a picture of the Continental Divide sign and the 6% downhill for 12 mile sign as well. It should also be noted that the temperature at the peak was about 39 degrees and though I was all dressed up in long spandex pants and a shirt, when you've hiked 7,000 miles up and are really sweaty and then take a 30 mile ride downhill not needing to pedal, sitting on that bike gets really cold.

So I made it out before 10 and the group rejoined to take the 26 mile ride into White Fish, Montana. We were in by about 12 and the entire day laughed at the fact that even the first riders who had waited wouldn't arrive at the church until almost 7. So the few of us showered, hit the library for computers, ate several times, watched the Olympics, napped, ate dinner at the church, you get the idea. It was a fantastic idea to wake an hour early and save 7.

Since our Glacier Climb we have been in the mountains which words don't begin to describe. Riding a bike in the Rockies is something everyone should do.

So the clock is ticking and we're almost finished. Tonight is the last night in Montana and tomorrow we're going to Idaho. 2 build days leaves us with 8 more days of riding (not including today's).

I will blog again when I get a chance and again, comment or email, always good to hear from you.