July 24, 2006
Day 53: Wisdom, MT to Darby, MT
56.97 Miles, 4:04:05 Ride Time, 14.24 Average Speed, 36.0 Maximum Speed
I woke up with much more energy this morning than yesterday, for some reason, and was riding out of the motel parking lot by 7:30. I didn't see anything open for breakfast, so I bought some snacks at the grocery store.
It was a little cloudy as I left town, but as usual, the clouds had mostly disappeared within an hour or two.
As I rode West toward Big Hole National Monument, the scenery started to change; yesterday it had been high plains, with snow-capped mountains in the distance. Now it was hillier, with lots of evergreen trees and greener grass; it was a welcome change from the last few days, but I suspected that after several days of this scenery, I would be ready for yet another change - that seemed to be the pattern on my trip.
As I climbed to Chief Joseph Pass (elev. 7,241 feet), I began seeing lots of cyclists coming down. They were riding unloaded bikes, and at one point I met a van which appeared to be a support vehicle for the riders. I puttered along at 5.5 mph as they came racing down.
The climb to the Pass wasn't too difficult. After I took a picture of my bike leaning against the sign, I walked over to a couple of cyclists who were stopped on the road. They explained that they (and the other riders I had been seeing) were on an Adventure Cycling "Cycle Montana" trip - over 140 riders in all were travelling from Missoula to Bozeman, and had left Darby (my destination for the day) this morning. I told them what I was doing, and they seemed suitably impressed; the older guy told me he was envious of me. I thought to myself that I was envious of the support vans that were carrying all their stuff ahead of them...
They told me that they had been climbing since leaving Missoula a few days ago; that meant, of course, that I should have a couple of easy days ahead of me.
After we all wished each other luck, I turned onto US 93, where I saw a Montana state sign and took the picture that I didn't get when I first entered the state, back in Yellowstone National Park. (Had I actually been riding in Idaho for a few feet this morning? I looked at my maps later, but couldn't figure it out...)
As I started a long, long descent (the longest of the trip) into the Bitterroot Canyon, I saw lots more of the Cycle Montana people as they struggled (well, some of them seemed to be struggling, anyway) up to Chief Joseph Pass. As I coasted down I heard "You'll love it!", "Enjoy the Gravity!" and similar expressions from the more cheerful climbers. One poor guy, huffing and puffing, was only able to grunt out "How far to the top?" I yelled back "You're almost there" (he actually had another two and a half miles to go...)
The Bitterroot Canyon had a completely different feel than anything I'd seen in weeks. It reminded me of Eastern Kentucky, although the trees were mostly evergreen, not deciduous. Some of the hills were almost stripped bare, evidence of heavy logging, I assumed.
I stopped at the little store in tiny Sula (pop. 50) for a Gatorade, where I talked to a guy who was vacationing with his family in an RV. He was one of those people who seemed astonished at the concept of riding a bicycle thousands of miles across the country, and had lots of questions, including my motivation for doing the trip - "Did your wife leave you?" was his initial guess...
It was a more gradual descent from Sula to Darby. There was no shoulder on US 93 now, and the truck traffic was a little scary, but I reached Darby without incident.
Darby was a neat little town, reminiscent of Ennis. After a Gatorade stop, I found Bud and Shirley's Motel, where I had reserved a room yesterday. My room was on the second floor, unfortunately, and I had to take my panniers off the bike, and make three trips up the steep stairs to my room. While I was carrying things up, I had my first encounter with a group of several middle-aged motorcyclists who had just rode into town, and were staying in rooms adjoining mine.
My room looked like it hadn't been remodeled (or redecorated) since the motel was built in the mid 1970s, and it looked none too clean. I turned the air conditioner on high, took a shower, and lay down for a few minutes, while the air conditioner failed to cool the room. I fiddled with it, then decided to check out the town while my room hopefully cooled down. As I locked my door, I saw one of the motorcyclists leaving his room. "How is it?" I asked; "Hot as a pig in there", he replied.
The motel didn't have internet access, so I walked over the library, and found that it didn't open for another hour. I decided to get a late lunch at a cafe, where the air conditioner worked fine. My burger, fries, soup and especially the milkshake, were above average. As I walked out of the cafe the group of motorcyclists from the motel, who were now sitting in front of a saloon across the street, yelled out "How was it?" I told them it would make a fine dinner choice. They were a jolly group: Four men and one woman, who was the sister of one of the guys and the husband of another (I never did work out who was who). I talked to them for a while, and learned they were on a several-day trip, going the opposite direction from me. Interestingly, they appeared to be doing about the same number of miles a day as me - It seemed like a short day of riding to me, but I guess they were in no hurry.
I walked back to my motel and found that my room was no cooler. I sat around and sweated for a while, then went to the motel's lobby (which was actually in the adjacent Bud and Shirley's Restaurant), and told the girl there that the AC wasn't working. She said I could move to another room, and gave me a key to check it out.
Room #16 was incredibly nicer - was it reserved for visiting dignitaries or something, I wondered? It was freshly painted, was decorated semi-tastefully, had a comfortable bed, a refrigerator, a jacuzzi, had far fewer mysterious stains on the carpet, and - most importantly - had a working air conditioner! I rushed back to tell the girl I'd take it. Before I had a chance to ask, she volunteered that I could have it for the same price as the other room... I couldn't believe my good luck, and had soon moved all my stuff into the new room.
Later I took my computer to the public library, where they had wireless internet access, and worked on this journal for a while. This was the nicest public libary I'd seen on the trip.
After the library closed at 8:00, I walked back to the motel and had a late dinner at Bud and Shirley's Restaurant. I decided to splurge on the $4.95 huckleberry milkshake, which was prominently advertised on a sign outside, but I'd waited too long - all the huckleberry ice cream had been sold...
I saw the motorcycle people again, and couldn't help but boast a little of my good luck in getting the great room. When they heard about the jacuzzi, they threatened to move in with me.
This was one of the most enjoyable days of my trip.
Today's ride: 57 miles (92 km)
Total: 3,363 miles (5,412 km)
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