Up Going to the Sun Road
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Today was an epic, bucket list ride! If you are at all physically capable, riding the Going To The Sun Road before it opens to car traffic needs to be at the top of your list. I told Oren if he is still upright next year, he needs to ride this. His only excuse is not being upright. Seriously! I would ride this again next year. Jacinto initially agreed, then reminded me we are supposed to ride in Europe. Damn, too many plans!
The California crew went to breakfast and took off riding around 9:30. I didn't even try to leave with them, I'm a slow climber. Jacinto and I left 15 minutes later. I told him let's ride together just far enough to get one good photo, then you can go. I know he was itching to chase those California rabbits (that's his word for the bike riders in front of him that he needs to catch).
We rode five miles to the Avalanche Trailhead. Cars were allowed that far. There weren't many. We did see a couple of company van/trailer combinations, full of rental bikes and customers to drop off for the ride.
After several miles of tall trees on both sides, I took pity on Jacinto and cut him loose. Right around the corner was a view point, and we took a photo. Then he was really gone.
We stayed at our overpriced lodging only so we could cut the miles/climbing to the top. From the Motel Lake McDonald, it was 12 miles of fairly level riding, then 2 more miles to the loop (a big hairpin turn). At that point I thought I'd ride to 1,500 feet of elevation gain and 15 miles. The road was a fairly steady 5-6%. I kept going, talking myself into going a little further, a little further. I mostly saw the same people. They would pass me, then stop for a rest, and I would pass them, only to have them pass me once again after they started riding. I don't think I passed a single rider. But, I progressed just fine!
Jacinto thinks that 80-85% of the riders had e bikes. He was quite unhappy about being passed by other bicyclists.
It was difficult to progress on the climb. It seemed as if every corner had a photo worthy opportunity.
Then I started thinking about the 3-6 PM no bicycles rule. I had talked myself close enough to the top, I thought, what the heck, I should go for it. But, there was no way I could get to the top and be out of the no bicycle time zone by 3 PM. I had stopped for a photo, the one with the mountain sheep. Jacinto pulled up next to me! He said the California crew was within a mile of the top. We shared a Salted Nut Roll (small size, on sale at the grocery in Hungry Horse), and headed down.
The wind had started gusting then, depending which way the road curved, it was a problem. Genny said on their downhill, the wind stopped her completely, and she had to pedal on a 7% section! Jacinto and I didn't have that bad of wind. Thankfully.
As we continued downhill, we saw all types of riders on the way up. Obviously they weren't worried about the 3 PM deadline. I hadn't seen any riders with kids until we turned around. We saw a mom with a trail a bike. Another one towing their child's bike with a rope. Several riders with kid trailers. One man we saw with a tandem, stopped at the bathroom. His small child was in a child seat on the back of the tandem, parked. The child was asleep, with their head completely back, and mouth wide open. The dad must really trust that kickstand, and that the child wouldn't wake up and wiggle!
We saw three different Park Rangers heading up. We speculated that they were going to ticket all of those riders, but how? There were so many riders. Dozens and dozens. Genny speculated that perhaps one of the inexperienced e bike riders had an incident in the strong winds and that's why the rangers were headed up. The California crew got back after 3 PM, and weren't ticketed. Perhaps that rule doesn't apply until after the road is opened all the way? So much of this is speculation. I thought that the road was supposed to open to cars tomorrow, but there is still equipment at different parts of the road. Plus, there's a storm moving in, it could well bring snow at that altitude.
Speaking of the storm. If my hair weren't already gray, it would be now. There's two systems moving in. A small one Saturday, with good weather Sunday, and then another one Monday/Tuesday. Monday looks better than Tuesday, but not great. Cold is tolerable. Rain is tolerable. Rain (snow!), and cold is no fun at all. This made me think of our Arizona tour in the snow. That time we had means to go back for our vehicle. I have to admit, I did look for a uHaul rental truck. I thought we could jump ahead of the weather and continue on. Wrong - we could get a rental truck in Columbia Falls - but there was nowhere to drop it off!
Cutting much of the thought out. We ended up skipping our day off tomorrow, and pushing it to Babb. Hopefully that ends up being a good decision. Jim said that we made the best decision we could with the information we had at the time. It's ironic that when I checked the weather again, being sure to look at the wind, our previous island of good weather on Sunday now says 30-50 mph winds! Holy, moly. Wind decreases during the day. I told Jacinto since it doesn't get dark until 10 PM, we can ride late. Let's see how that plays out. More gray hair for me?
One thing is for sure, we aren't sad to be leaving this motel early. Abigail is the ideal front desk employee, with great customer skills. There's a $30. charge for canceling our room a day early. I shifted the other three days with no problem. One happy almost problem that was corrected is that the motel in Babb had us written down for the incorrect day!
We've been to dinner. We ate in the lounge this time, because we had seen hamburgers going past the dining room last night. They were served in the lounge. The burgers were fine, not great. The fries were cold. My pasta last night was tastier.
The California crew is taking off early in the morning, preferring the cold over the afternoon rain. It was a short visit, but nice to see Jim and Genny again, and to meet Rich and Amber.
| Heart | 6 | Comment | 1 | Link |
https://fieldguide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=PDSCR1L6Q0
5 months ago
| Heart | 9 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Today's ride: 37 miles (60 km)
Total: 476 miles (766 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 11 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 9 |
5 months ago
5 months ago
5 months ago
5 months ago
5 months ago
Today we saw two fully loaded guys, they were going the other direction. None of us stopped. Weather wasn’t friendly. I did stop and talk with a 68 y/o woman on an e bike, riding the northern tier with her husband and a friend. I think we are going to dinner tonight.
5 months ago
5 months ago
5 months ago