July 7, 2005
Missoula, MT - Powell, ID: Moose!
I was very happy to turn right at the town of Lolo and escape the increasing commuter traffic. Give me the quiet country roads any day. Hwy 12 was just the antidote I was looking for. I was riding a gentle grade back up into the forest. Lolo Pass was today's objective at 5,235 ft. Ryan caught up with me somewhere on the climb and we chatted for miles. The conversation was stimulating enough to force me out of my usual cruiser pace. Ryan always seemed to show up right at the climb to distract and entertain me until I couldn't keep the increased pace any longer. When I encouraged him to go on, Ryan said it was good for his bike handling skills to go so slowly. (!) I must admit that Recumbent John had admired my ability to hold a line while going very, very slowly. I regularly climb at three miles per hour on the steep inclines. I don't know that there's a secret to going that slow. I just do it. It's probably not a skill most people desire.
Somewhere on the climb the Adventure Cycling staff caught up with us and did interviews and took photos. Several of our group were featured in the Fall 2005 Cyclesource Catalog! Modeling contracts anyone?
At the top of Lolo Pass was a very fancy ranger station that showed informative videos, sold tshirts, and gave out coffee. Several of us were there at the same time and we sat at the outside picnic table and ate our lunches.
Ryan was ahead of me on the descent and motioned to me to stop. There was a moose feeding in the river. I had never seen a moose before and rather rudely leaned my long rig against Ryan while I hurried over to photo the moose. The moose would submerging his entire head under water, coming up with some tasty river greens to eat and then lowering his head underwater for another bite. It was quite a sight. We were the only ones in our group to see him.
We stayed at a very nice state campground in the group area. No showers, pit toilets, running water hauled over from the spigot. Christian caught up with us here. He announced after dinner that our pace was too fast for him. He would continuing riding, but at a slower pace. We were sorry to see him go, but we knew he would be more comfortable setting his own pace. Now we were down to ten people from twelve.
Our next day was the longest of the trip 87 miles. I was quite apprehensive about the miles. I typically average 10 mph and 87 miles makes for a long day. I lobbied quite hard to divide the day in two. It was a no go with Ryan. We had one extra day in the schedule and he didn't want to use it so early in the trip. I vowed to get up extra, extra early in the morning.
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Today's ride: 57 miles (92 km)
Total: 503 miles (810 km)
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