June 11, 2024
To Swan Lake, MT
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This has been quite the day. Jacinto is rubbing off on me about the relaxed start times. 55 miles would typically mean I'm on the road at 7 AM. Instead, I was out the door after 9! A big piece is waiting for it to warm up. Tucson is 107 today. We are not in Tucson!
We had a gentle climb to start, and then an extended descent. Our B&B serves diner, but not tonight. Have we heard this story before? They do have breakfast. Our plan was to pick up dinner at the Trading Post, located about a mile from the B&B. Google showed they had a nice selection of food stuff. Hold that thought.
Today was my sort of navigation day. One turn out of the parking lot, stay on the same highway all day, and make another turn into the next motel. I love simplicity!
This is our third time down Highway 83. It was by far the best trip. Mid week is the best time to ride here, even with the food availability issues. Traffic was pleasantly light. I had a vehicle on my side perhaps every five minutes. Every so often a string of 4-5 would pass by. This was good mountain riding. I spent the whole winter giving a mental sigh when thinking of riding 83 again. No! This is excellent riding. You just have to time it right.
Mostly I was riding through rows of tall pine trees, with occasional mountain and lake views. There were sparsely spaced homes and businesses along the road. Just enough for photo opportunities.
I tried to pay attention to services along the way. I was watching, but did not see the B&B George Hall found. I found the Swan River Lodge, which was close to the Hungry Bear Grill. There are quite a few places to stay along here, but it's a tourist area with multi night stays almost everywhere.
Riding was lovely. I keep trying to reconcile in my mind why I wasn't excited about this area the first two times through. How much better does it get? What is it that I'm looking for? A better cycling experience than today would be hard to come by.
I passed a big gas station/mercantile at mile 29 for the day. I debated stopping, but really didn't need anything. This was splendid riding day. Did I really want it to end? Perhaps I did, 55 miles is enough seat time for me, even on a recumbent seat.
There were road construction signs by the side of the road, almost to Swan Lake. Then I saw fresh pavement. I just don't understand why they are replacing pavement along here. I haven't seen a single pot hole. I've hardly seen a crack in the road. The cracks I did see where filled. I don't know where their budget is coming from, but these roads don't need replaced from my point of view! Which isn't to say I didn't enjoy the four foot shoulder the last few miles to town. The other side of the road (southbound) had perhaps 12" of shoulder.
I passed the closed bar/grill. We had eaten there once. They weren't friendly, the food wasn't very good. The next time we came through, we splurged on dinner at the B&B. It was fine dining, which isn't our usual. But it was delicious. Unfortunately they are closed today. We needed to pick food up at the Trading Post. I pulled into their parking lot. It was empty, and there was a sign on the door. Not open for the season yet, only camping. Darn, darn, double darn. Would would we eat for dinner tonight? My phone didn't have service. I pedaled down the road to the B&B. I hoped my phone remembered the password. No, it did not. I wondered how far away Jacinto was, if he was past the mercantile already. As I came into the courtyard, two golden retrievers started barking, that brought Kathleen outside. I told her my food story, and that I hoped I could catch Jacinto. She volunteered she would be willing to make us dinner, but it would be an imposition. I told her at this point we would be willing to take a peanut butter sandwich!
I did get ahold of Jacinto, four miles before the store. He stopped in and bought me a reuben sandwich. He had enough leftovers for dinner. Jacinto did not buy a pop, but he bought a giant bag of tortilla chips. They are light weight! It's a good thing he has these large panniers that aren't full. They can absorb extras.
Kathleen and I had an extended chat while she was working on the irrigation system. She's owned the B&B for 25 years. She had it for sale in 2022, but had only two interested buyers. Someone who only wanted the restaurant, and someone who wanted to turn it into a casino. She traveled 25,000 miles last winter in a Sprinter van with two dogs, two cats, and a cockatoo. That's a full house.
I've already eaten half of my dinner. There's no TV in our room, but Jacinto has movies on his iPad. It looks like an exciting evening. Jacinto pointed out that we are going lower in elevation, but the temperatures are getting colder. How does that work? I'm happy that there is no forecast of rain on our route for the next ten days. Rain and cold make me an unhappy cyclist!
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Come to MI - they're all over the place! I saw 2 today and was going to mention it in my post today but forgot. I'll be sure and get some photos soon.
Kerry
2 months ago
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Today's ride: 55 miles (89 km)
Total: 368 miles (592 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 8 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 3 |
2 months ago
2 months ago