July 31, 2008
Day 80: Eureka, MT to Libby, MT
82.99 Miles, 6:17:07 Ride Time, 13.20 Average Speed, 35.20 Maximum Speed
My fears of noisy trains were unfounded, and after a good night of sleep, I was up early, shocked to discover it was 39 degrees - in July. Rather than stay in my sleeping bag and wait for it to get warmer, I got up, made a trip to the grungy, dimly lit park bathroom, and promptly lost one of my contact lenses. I'm now down to three old, probably mismatched lenses, and my rarely-worn glasses are badly bent.
It was a short ride to a nearby gas station, the only place open so early, where I almost immediately regretted eating a gray, odd-tasting sausage-egg-biscuit. I can usually eat anything, but this time I felt queasy.
I was feeling worse a few miles down the road as I left town, and missed my turn onto State Route 37. In a few minutes when I got back on the route, I stopped at a Subway, where I had the quickest "second breakfast" (only ten minutes after the first) on record. Most people would not combat food-induced nausea by eating more food, but that's just how I roll.
I felt better after the Subway stop, and soon arrived in Rexford (pop. 151), which would be, except for a few cars, almost the only evidence of human activity for the next 60+ miles. There wasn't much to see in Rexford - just a few homes and RVs, the store not open yet this morning - so I quickly got back on the route, rode a few miles on SR 37, then crossed a bridge over Lake Koocanusa onto a forest road.
I was on this road, which followed the lake, most of the rest of the day, and saw only a handful of cars the entire time. This was one of my favorite days of riding in a while - the scenery didn't vary much for hours, but it was pleasant, if a little hilly, and I was in the mood to ride by myself for hours today under the hot sun (it quickly warmed up after the cold start to the day).
The morning and afternoon passed pleasantly as I climbed up and coasted down the hills, stopping occasionally to eat a snack or ponder the occasional sign warning me that "This is Grizzly Bear Habitat."
Eventually I reached Libby Dam, where I stopped at the visitor center to fill up my now-empty water bottles, then got back on the busier State Route 37. It's always a slight shock to get back on a busy highway after hours on an empty country road or a bike path, and the ride to Libby (pop. 2,626) was only OK.
I arrived in Libby and, after failing to find a Dairy Queen and settling for a Smoothie, located the cheapest motel in town, and waited while they cleaned the last available room. I had ambitions of getting caught up on this journal, which I was now ridiculously behind on, but as usual, those plans didn't work out. Instead I lay on the bed in the air conditioned room (by now it had gotten very hot), drinking chocolate milk and later eating a large pizza. Thus I celebrated surviving, unscathed, today's nice, long ride through Grizzly habitat.
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Today's ride: 83 miles (134 km)
Total: 5,851 miles (9,416 km)
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