June 14, 2024
Going to the Sun Road
Amber, Jim and Genny make it to the top
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Upon awakening, I checked the Accuweather forecast for Lake McDonald and it pops up as raining! As in right now. So I took a peak through the curtains and while it was overcast, it was not raining. And not very cold either-Upper 50’s with chances of rain greatly diminishing after 1 hour, then partly sunny with wind for the rest of the day. All in all, a great day to tackle Going to the Sun Road.
All four of us along with Kelly and Jacinto are riding today since it is an up and back; up as far as we can go, which, as I noted yesterday, is not really known since we have received discordant information on the road’s status.
As is our style these days, we had a good breakfast at the Lodge before leaving. All 4 of us had the 2 scrambled egg breakfast which came with meat potatoes and toast. 3 of us wanted over easy eggs and our waitress actually told us that she would ask but that some of the chefs didn’t like to or know how to cook eggs. “They don’t pay enough to get chefs that can cook” she said. In the end we did get pretty decent over easy eggs though. And when we left the lodge, the sun was shining and the sky was clear.
We left the motel at 9:30 am. It was 21 miles to the top, although at this time we did not know if the road was open to the top.
The first 6 miles to Avalanche was open to car traffic but was just a gentle roll uphill. The next 6 miles were more of the same but accented with incredible alpine views on all sides. Jacinto caught us here; he and Kelly left a few minutes later than we did.
Roughly 1 mile below the tunnel, the road turned up to a 3-5% grade which continued to the Loop. Jacinto continued on when we stopped for photos. We saw him coming down when we were about 1 mile from the top. We never saw Kelly on either the ascent or the descent.
At the Loop we were starting to see people coming down and so I asked one of them how far up the road was open? “All the way to the top”, he said. Woo hoo I thought, we are going to the top! Above the Loop the grade was 5-7% on average and unrelenting. Rich turned around about a mile above the Loop but the rest of us pushed on. Past Birdwoman Falls, past the Weeping Wall, up and up we continued to steadily climb, stopping for a few minutes every mile or so for photos and a respite.
The wind picked up the higher we went; sometimes a tailwind, or a headwind, depending on which way the road took us. Between 1-2 miles from the summit, we were riding between 3-5 foot banks of snow and the wind gusts were seriously hard; so hard that when coming from behind, it felt like someone had a hand on my back and was pushing me up the hill. Not entirely unwelcome at this stage of the climb. Finally there was a the final push to the top and we were there. All in all it was an Epic climb!
After celebrating our accomplishment with summit pictures we began our descent. We rode into a strong headwind with stronger gusts. At one point, near the top, the headwind brought me to a standstill, and I had to pedal down a 7% slope just to keep moving. Between the wind, the runoff water on the road and the sheer number of bike riders both coming up and going down, we had to ride somewhat cautiously until we got below the Loop, where the “traffic” seemed to lessen and the road was less steep.
I noted that at least 75% of the bikes up there were e-bikes. Those of us riding under our own power were a minority. Some of those e-bikes were really mopeds as well and they flew by us like we were standing still. This is probably a fairly recent trend.
The rest of the descent was uneventful and we arrived back at the motel about 45 minute past the 3:00 bike curfew, but we didn’t get caught.
As I write this I am very sleepy. This is the most climbing I have done in awhile. I remember just above the loop, realizing we were going for the top and that meant 6 more miles of climbing, I thought, “Damn I didn’t train enough for this.” But I am happy and gratified that I went for it anyway. And very grateful that we were lucky to ride it on the first day of the season that it is open to the top.
Now about the Jersey…I think it is a lucky jersey. Last year Janice wore it to the top on the first day the road was open to do so and this year that happened to me. I had one person ask me if I did this often because of the Jersey so I explained that it is a traveling jersey.
So I am asking, is there someone out there who would like to join the Sisterhood of the Traveling Jersey? I want to pass it on. Please contact me through this website. BTW, it is a Voler woman’s medium- I think it would fit if you wear a small or medium.
Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 83 miles (134 km)
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