In the groove

June 17, 2021

I read a lot of journals of people who do long bike tours. They always say it gets much easier after 2 weeks on a trip. We are in the middle of the third week and I would agree that it is a bit easier going, we are starting to get into a groove. I used to think that it gets easier because the muscles get more toned and are able to handle the bike riding. While I do feel I am in better shape than when I started, I think that a more significant factor is that we have gained more experience and know how to manage and preserve our energy. We have learned to manage our energy at both an individual and group level. Individually, we have now biked many miles over many different terrains. We have learned how fast we can ride our loaded bikes under many different conditions. What I mean is that we know how to efficiently use our gears to match our physical abilities to efficiently and effectively cover many miles in a day. The key is not to waste energy sprinting up hills or on flats and still be able to cover the planned miles for the day and have energy to be able to do it all over again tomorrow and the next day. Each of us has found the gear and cadence that will minimize the amount of force we use to pedal (and we love the granny gear). We don’t go fast but we also need to get to camp in order to do all the necessary chores, make dinner and then get ready for the next day. After a couple of weeks, we all are very in tuned with our bodies and know how fast we can go without expending so much energy that we cannot do it again the next day. We have also learned how to eat to keep up our energy levels without feeling nauseous or like we have to poop all the time. This took us some time to figure out and we are still working on it, but, we have gotten a lot better. As a group, we have understood the group capabilities and can plan our daily route so that we can all reach camp with enough energy to do it again. We find that we can pretty easily cover 40-50 miles for several days in a row. We generally have a rolling 3 day plan, where we only plan for the next 3 days. We try to plan for consistent miles per day which is a bit difficult because we are in very remote areas that only have services (like food and lodging) every so often. We are getting much better at scheduling the days so that we can manage our energy. All these little things add up and enable us to do this day after day and have a great experience while doing it and make it a bit easier trip.

Today’s ride started in Libby and we headed north on hwy 37 toward Eureka. Our maps warned us that there are no services for 70 miles. We started at our favorite breakfast spot, McDonalds. After a quick breakfast, we started the first phase of our ride. It was 15 miles along the Kootenai river. The road was fairly flat and the weather was excellent; sunny sky’s and gradually warming temperatures. After 15 miles the road crosses the river and there’s a 3 mile climb to the Libby dam. At the Libby dam we stopped for lunch. Behind the dam is the Koocanusa Lake. This lake is a long thin lake that goes for miles, up into Canada. We sat in a picnic area above the dam enjoying the view and ham sandwiches. After lunch we had a 25 mile ride along the shore of the Koocanusa lake on hwy 37. Hwy 37 was an excellent bike riding road. Traffic was minimal, about one car every 30 minutes. The terrain along the lake was rolling hills, where we would go down for a mile or two and then climb for a mile or two. The ride was great, not easy, and we took several breaks for pictures or just to rest for a few minutes. About 3:30 we rolled into our destination, Rocky Gorge campground. There is only one other camper in the campground, a retired forest ranger who was born in St. Charles, Mn (small world). The campsite is excellent, about 50 feet up a bluff overlooking the lake.

Tomorrow we are planning another 40 something day, hitting the town of Eureka for lunch and then ending up at a remote campground.