Sat. 6/9 : Missoula
Woke up early, but it was raining... so after a delay of about 45 min, set out for an easy 39 mile ride to Missoula.
First stop was the Bicycle Hangar to have the tire I ordered from Amazon put on the back wheel, and have the new tire I got in Spokane put on the front. Eric did the job efficiently and so far, it looks like my tire woes have been solved.
The rest of the day was spent with my cousin Bert and his family, which is where I stayed on Friday night.
Sun. 6/10 : Ride to Darby - 64 mi, 1000 ft
After breakfast with Bert and a family history discussion with his mom, Florence (my mother's first cousin, who is now 97 years old!!), I headed south along US 93 to Darby. Most of the way was on the Bitterroot Bicycle path. Stopped for Strawberry pie at Glen's Cafe in Florence, about 20 mi. south of Missoula. A very homey place just off of US 93
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| I like pie!! |
Sun. 6/11 : Ride to Salmon - 78 mi, 3500 ft
The first 32 miles are all uphill. At the summit, there's a rest stop that straddles the Montana Idaho border. For the last few miles the sky was dark, and there was a lot of lightning and thunder. When I was about 200 ft. from the summit rest stop, the rain started. After I arrived, 3 more guys on bicycles, who were doing a race across the US, arrived. They headed back out in the rain after about 1/2 hour.
I waited about an hour, and the rain was still coming down, so I started asking guys who had trucks who were heading south for a ride towards Salmon. Dan, who is with the US Dept. of fish and wildlife, gave me a ride down the mountain to Salmon. I was sad to have worked so hard to climb the 3500 ft up and not be able to enjoy the ride down. but I was grateful to be in a warm truck.
Was able to get a minor stampede going along the way. It was way cool.
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