June 27, 2014
Day 29 - Ennis to Driftwaters Fishing Resort: Spinning Wheel....we did the same mile 39 times! Says Jack
This morning seems like a thousands miles away. So much has happened and yet so little. Checking the weather this morning on the internet and seeing the radar we were not sure what to do. There was this big storm coming right where we were headed....on the radar it was in the dark green and yellow going towards orange, however it wasn't supposed to hit until 1'ish. Looking out the window it was beautiful. A few clouds and some sun coming. We decided to go. Remember yesterday when I mentioned our friends Janet and Steph caught a tailwind all the way to West Yellowstone? Well we had hope/dreams of this. By The Way...they have been sidelined in West Yellowstone for two days because of storms....just an FYI.
Leaving Ennis you start an immediate gradual incline. It doesn't let up until you reach West Yellowstone...72 miles away. I hope this is the 70 mile steady uphill I have read about...that would mean we are half done!! We were hoping for a tailwind but noooooooo we were given a headwind from mile one. The wind was blowing a steady 10-15 mph and then increased steadily as the day went on. We checked the map and looked for a camp about 40 miles out. We saw that there was this fishing resort at just about forty miles.....that was our target.
Riding into the wind at a steady incline is a bit like being a hamster in one of those balls. You are constantly working and doesn't seem like you are going anywhere. This and the fact that you can see 25-30 miles down the road it seems like you are doing the same mile over and over all day. Now they were beautiful miles but...........at just about noon on the nose we had the added pleasure of rain. We stopped and put on our rain gear (did I mention that Jack replaced my rain pants back in Hamilton! While looking for fuel he found some snowboard pants on sale. They worked great) and headed into the last ten miles of the ride.
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The wind increases the rains increase and finally we reach the Driftwaters Resort. It took five hours to ride 39 miles. ;( There was no one in the office so we went to the restaurant The Cove had great soup for lunch and waited for the resort owner to return to the office. We waited several hours and during that time the storm turned into a terrible rain/slight snow storm!! We just hoped that we could get a room and NOT have to pitch a tent in the storm...by now it is only 40 degrees. Rachel the bikers road angel returns and we can stay and in the rec room! For $5 ea! We don't have to sleep outside......do you know how great this was?!
We set up our our camp....took really warm showers and then went back to the Cove for dinner. The best burger of the trip and amazing Brussel Sprouts...wish I could make them like this.
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While we were waiting for Rachel to return we watched the Titanic the movie in the bar..I had never seen it. Then when we went to dinner they were very busy and we watched a lot of another movie. This and a glass or two of wine for the first time in a couple of weeks and I have forgotten the day it seems so far away........I know it was beautiful and it was work. Just now a young man came in on his bicycle to share our 'camp' he did 80 miles today in the storm. I think he is asleep already. Me too....I am gone. Sorry I didn't work on the photos today. Straight from the camera. It was a day! We hope it clears tomorrow so we can get to moving down the road.
Spinning Wheel...
Today's ride: 39 miles (63 km)
Total: 1,071 miles (1,724 km)
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