July 13, 2020
Island Park, ID - Cameron, MT
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1,595 elevation gain
I'm ready for a rest day already - but not here. Dinner last night was $69. before tip. We ordered mid-priced meals. We can't afford to stay here, we have to keep moving!
Today is a longer mile day, 62 miles, with a downhill tilt. That's positive. The wind forecast is from the north, a headwind. It could be a long day. When I checked the weather right now, it said raining here, although I don't see any rain. It is overcast. High for the day is 71 degrees . . . we are headed for Cameron, MT - which has one place to stay. The Blue Moon Saloon. They have cabins, so it won't be a repeat of our Hanna Hilton stay. They were so difficult to get ahold of this winter that Jim reserved all three cabins. He canceled two, with the owner's protests that COVID is no big deal here, come and stay anyway. When Jim said they definitely weren't coming, she said the third cabin would be billed even if no one stayed. I have contacted Darcy recently about food, explaining we are cyclists and zipping down the road to the next place isn't an option for us. Her replies have been brusque and rude. She says their cafe has been closed on Mondays for the past three years. Jim said when he was making reservations, he was told they were open dinner only. I believe Jim. Food is important when cycling! If riding the 10 extra miles to Ennis wouldn't have been on the far edge of my fun factor, I would have skipped this place and kept moving.
Jacinto is in charge of buying us food for dinner and carrying it to Cameron. There's a Mexican restaurant 5 miles away and a Chinese restaurant 7 miles away from Island Park. Which is bad placement. They both open at 11 AM and today is a long day with a headwind. Usually Jacinto wouldn't mind hanging out and leaving late. Today is not that day. It's possible he might buy a can of chili for me and a sandwich for him at the store here. I told him whatever he buys, I will eat.
I didn't sleep real well last night and got up early. I hope to beat my usual 8 AM departure time because of the wind. I didn't even ask the delightful Darcy for an early check in. She said she would text me the door code at 3 PM. That was my clue not to ask . . .
Let's see how the day goes. Good news is my legs feel ok this morning. At least they feel good walking around the room!
Later - Let's just say that today was a lesson in perseverance. I had a good first seven miles to the Robbers Roost store. Then I entered a valley and that gave the wind a chance to ramp up. This was really early to be so windy. I wrote Jacinto a text and told him to forget the restaurant, he'd better get on the road and just stop for a couple of cans of chili.
I struggled on, going 6-8 mph when I would have expected 12-14 mph. I hoped for plenty of vehicles to pass me, but there weren't enough to suite me. How ironic, after all of the traffic the past couple of days.
We still have the annoying rumble strip placement, but at least the shoulder was wide, so I could avoid it. I kept my eyes on the white line and felt sorry for myself. I kept calculating how far I had to go and my average speed. There was no way I could make it to town. I decided to try and get at least half way before sticking my thumb out. The wind was just too fierce to ride all the way. It was similar to riding into Alamosa or Gunnison. Or Kayenta! But there was 50 more miles to go in these conditions . . . I was glad that we didn't try to make it to Ennis. I really would have stuck my thumb out.
I started looking over passing vehicles, deciding which ones would be appropriate. A truck, obviously. There was one problem. It seemed that a majority of the trucks passing me had a bed topper that was flush with the top of the bed. I don't know what those are called. They seem pretty limiting to me, as you can only put things in the truck that are bed height or lower.
We had two turns today, left at 87, and right at 287. There wasn't a whole lot of traffic, but what there was all turned right towards West Yellowstone. All of those nice, big RV's that block the wind are now gone! What a shame. I struggled mightily on 87. There was no traffic at all to block the wind and the road was high enough elevation, out in the open to catch all of the wind.
Even if I had wanted to thumb a ride here, there were no vehicles to flag down. My last hope was the turn onto 287. That should be more of a problem because the wind had been mostly from the side, but taking the last turn will give me a direct headwind. Perhaps compensated by more traffic?
I made that turn at mile 33. I was a little happy - I had ridden half of the miles and there were more cars. I was riding along the Madison River. There were many fishermen wading in the river. There were a few places to stay along here, cabins and fishing lodges. The very best part is the wind seemed to go away. What? Dare I even think this? I pedaled mightily, hoping to get as many miles in as possible before the wind remembered I was out here.
Looking at the map, I'm going to guess I had 13 reasonably wind free miles, as long as I was by the river I was somewhat protected by trees and the hillside. Then the road took a curve away from the river and the wind picked up. I started playing number games with myself again. The most important part was knowing that I was going to ride the entire distance. I haven't ridden all the way from Mexico to give up now!
I've eaten so many Perpetuem tablets, Anti Fatigue capsules, I even had a Gel today. That tells you how much fuel I needed. I ate my apple very early in the day. I was a little worried about that. Usually my apple is eaten in the last stretch before town. Today I ate it about mile 20. I finally admitted I needed real food. I stopped at the top of an incline by a guardrail and had a few bites of last night's expensive left overs. They were delicious! Even cold.
Four more miles to go. I could see many, many cottonwood trees along the creek, on both sides of the road. I didn't consider that it might be a landmark for me, but sure enough, the Blue Moon Saloon was just on the other side of the trees. It's a roadhouse/RV Park/cabins. There's also a post office here and a weigh station. That makes up the town of Cameron. The roadhouse is closed tonight, which is why Jacinto is carrying food. Tomorrow we could stop in Ennis for breakfast, before attacking the big climb. I hope it has a name also. Probably neither of us will stop to eat in Ennis . . . I'm interested to see what Jacinto bought. I told him, whatever it is, I will eat it. I'm not as hungry as I expected because I have those leftovers. I know he has chips and salsa.
I think he's had a better time with the wind than I did. He seems to be moving much faster, according to Strava. ridewithgps gives an estimate of ride time. I took a full hour longer riding time than they estimated for me. It was a tough day. But I'm proud I made it in and in pretty good shape. I whine a lot, but I can get it done when I have to.
Evening - Jacinto arrived about 4:30. He had a headwind the entire distance, but still managed to average 11.1 mph. He stopped at the grocery and bought me a can of chili and a bag of frozen broccoli beef, along with bananas, and apples. The broccoli beef was thawed out by the time he arrived. Jacinto showered and we ate right away. Jacinto mixed our two entrees together. I had a serving of one and then of the other. Not that it helped the flavor a whole lot . . . . dinner was less expensive than last night. It wasn't as tasty either.
Jacinto just noted that here it is after 9 PM and it is still very light outside. I can tell we are getting further north.
Wind tomorrow still isn't in our favor, but the forecast says it shouldn't be too bad. We shall see.
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Today's ride: 62 miles (100 km)
Total: 1,814 miles (2,919 km)
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