Ride Report: 73 Miles, 1,117 Total Miles, 14.1 Avg mph, 4,314 Ft. Climbing, 6,125 Calories. Susan is working on dinner right now. We have guests coming over to the house for dinner tonight. Apparently dinner won't be served till they get here. Continue reading for more on this exciting development. God Lord but I'm hungry...
AND - we're about 1/4 of the way thru The Thin Blue Ride. Actually just a little over. Seems to be going both well and quickly thus far. Here's hoping for more of the same...
It was really a pretty good day today. Even considering that right out of the chute Sig and I had to climb up to Chief Joesph Pass - Elevation: 7,241 ft. Yowza. And it all comes at once. We overnighted in Darby which is right at 4k. So, by my math that's 3,241 ft. of climbing. We got a bit of a late start today, but it went really well. The steep part of the mountain ran at 6-7% for seven miles. But I was feeling comfortable and made what is, for me, excellent time up the mountain. Even got there soon enough for an early lunch. Then down the other side to Jackson. However, this is the first mountain we've climbed in which the descent was pretty minimal. Recall that we started at 4k - the descent only went down to 6.2k. This from a peak of 7,241. So - most of the "mountain" is on the side we climbed. Again - Yowza. But enough of this blather - this is what the day looked like. Lotsa cool pics today...
It was a slow but steady climb up to Sula,where the real climbing would start. But it was pretty. Except for this part. A forest fire ran thru the area and its ill intentions are still apparent.
As usual, we were following a river that kinda shrunk to well... nothing by the time we reached the summit. Which, by the way, was 21 miles from the day's starting point.
There were also the unsightly remnants of past mining operations. This stuff showed up periodically most of the way up. Those grey piles are mine tailings. Bah!
But there were some really scenic spots as well. I chose this one because it looks kinda cool, it shows the grade (this was a 5% section) and because I'm in it. Apparently Delta is rubbing off on me.
Oh yeah - this was kinda cool. I was passed by what had to be a Corvette Owners Club on the way up. Thirteen late model Corvettes that crept by Sig and me as they worked their way up the mountain. We were working thru a 7% section at the time and I didn't ever bother to try and catch a pic. Used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.
Then it was time for a short break and some chow. Kelsy and Parker were right about these darn avocados. They're good on just about anything.
After my Oreo cookie garnished with avocado snack, it was back on the road - where I captured this shot. Check out the road just above and right of center in the pic. We just came from down there. I'd love to get a shot from directly above, but I guess that's what Google Maps is for...
Now we're talkin. Rest area. I need me some rest.
But as it turns out, the rest area was for Lost Trail Pass. We had to turn left on highway 43 and go another mile to get to Chief Joseph Pass. How does that happen? Did the guys on the Idaho side not talk to the guys on the Montana side before deciding what mountain they were gonna go up? OK - what's another mile of 6% grade. Oh - and ya know you've ridden up hill when you arrive at a SKI AREA!
And while standing in that very same spot, I observed that the Idaho tourism people do actually welcome some people to Idaho, just not me. Recall the "Idaho State Line" sign I got when I rode out of Hell's Canyon. Bah! I've shaken the Idaho dust off of my proverbial sandals and shan't be returning to Idaho. Chiefly because the route doesn't go there anyway...
Regardless, a mile later we made it to the top. I think that deserves a thumbs up. I felt really good for the whole climb and ready to take on the next 45 miles.
Sig, "This is what I came up here for? This? Let's go."
I couldn't resist. A good way to show my softer side. If you're a lady who likes flowers ya better post on the blog or ya won't see any more of this stuff... I'm such a softie.
WOW - just...WOW. I can't believe I took this pic. And no, its not hanging over the dryers in a RV laundromat somewhere, its the real thing!!!! After going over the mountain this was pretty much my view for the rest of the day. Gorgeous. Good thing, because we had to fight a headwind for the last 45 miles.
Susan was there as always taking care of us. This is her flagging Sig down at the Big Hole Battleground National Historic site. Good place for a break.
As far as Sig is concerned, I'm apparently just along for the ride.
I've heard that Montana is called Big Sky Country. After seeing this I understand. Here's my theory. The Travel and Tourism people came up with this as a way to take a rider's focus off the pavement seams that assault one's posterior with the regularity of a metronome. Highway 41 was filled with these seams. For more than 20 miles. Big Sky only goes so far - and it doesn't go 20 miles, I can assure you. But it was a sight to see.
Another one! Holy cow, the scenery around here is to die for. Unfortunately the mosquitoes were less interested in the scenery than they were in my anatomy. There is actually a goodly bit of standing water in those lush green fields. There were clouds of them around. On one occasion I pulled up to The Rig to pick up some food and water. Susan had a sign she held up against the window that said something like, "Mosquitoes are BAD here". (slap) No (slap) kidding (slap). She rolled the driver's side window down long enough to hand me some consumables and water, then roared off down the road. It's a rough life, I guess, driving the rig... I wasn't troubled by this problematic behaviour as I was the one getting chewed on by mosquitoes and needed to move along as well.
And then there was this. I'd never seen such a sign before. So when I got there I pulled mine out. Not much happened. There was a pick-up truck in the same pullout with either Georgia or Florida tags. The guy had his cell phone out. We looked at each other and I moved on. Hey - when in Rome...
And this was the highlight of our day. Susan found Sam (in blue) and Paul - both from Seattle - as they were leaving their overnight stop in Sula, MT which happened to be just as I was arriving in Sula from Darby. Since they're loaded tourers and I'm not, I caught up with them in short order. We chatted a bit before I went on down the road. But we saw them again at the Battlefield Historical Site and took the opportunity to invite them over to The Rig for dinner when they got in to Jackson. They showed up at The Rig at about 6:00 and Susan had made a great dinner for all of us. They were grateful since for most loaded tourers it's difficult to get something close to a home cooked meal while on the road. We traded cycling lies for almost 2 hours and then said our goodbyes. They're not riding the same route I am and their route will diverge from ours after tomorrow. So - we may run into them in Twin Bridges, MT - but maybe not. That's the way it goes on the open road...
Till next time...
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