2015. 09. 16. 1117 Costco and Other Treats

Movin' to Montana soon

Gonna be a mennil-toss flykune

When I left the Super 8 on the bike this morning around 9, it was spitting rain and cold so I just signed up for another night in Happy Helena!

Two hours later (official check out time), it is completely socked in, but it's not raining ... at the moment. Security Bank reported that it was a steamy 48 degrees andweather.com corroborated this number.

But I may never leave Helena ...

THEY HAVE A COSTCO!!!!

It's only 3.3 miles (as the bike flies) from the Super 8! I went in (yep, my Thornton Costco card works in Helena) and bought a 56 ounce bag of peanut M&M's. Sure, it's a lot to haul up and over various hills/passes/mountains, but think of the potential energy packed in that resealable bag!

And, hang on to your hats, boys and girls ... THEY HAVE A PANDA EXPRESS!!! Just across the highway from the Costco ...

Costco pizza! Pseudo Chinese food! Come on. You might have to pry me out of Helena ...

And, saving perhaps the best for last, there's a mini-casino on nearly every street corner! While the Super 8 is a "slot machine free" zone, right across the street, the Howard Johnson's hosts The Longhorn Bar and Casino. The scrolling banner outside the building suggests "Drinks ... Hot Machines ...".

Right across the street! Why didn't I stay there? They have a hot tub! This place only has a laundry room and a surly front desk clerk ("G").

Do you get the sense that I'm slowly going crazy?

Here's hoping that tomorrow morning dawns rain free and I'll be putting in miles to Lincoln, MT, the next big town ...

JK

2015. 09. 15 1900. Plans

Oy ...

... skies cleared this afternoon (after the 11 AM check out time so I had to commit prior to the skies clearing ...) and at the moment, clouds are scattered, but ...

... prediction is for 80% probability of rain at 7 AM, diminishing to a mere 60% at 11 AM check out and finally dropping to a manageable 15% at 5 PM. I may play this right up to check out time: head out at check out time if the weather looks reasonable. If I do that, I'd try to hit a bike only camp about 40 miles out from Helena. Southbounders have said that there's actually a FREE cabin available for riders. If that is the case and it does rain I could hang out there.

If the weather sucks at check out time tomorrow, I'll sign up for another glorious night in Helena. Weather is supposed to be clear Thursday morning, showers Thursday night, decent weather after that.

This is really the first time on the trip that I've bothered looking at weather predictions. Maybe "Holing Up in Helena" makes me less adventurous?

I'll let you know tomorrow morning on my decision ...

JK

2015. 09. 15. 1140 The Line, The Zone, and Other Topics

At the Helena Library ...

"She's closing up the library!!!"

On the bike ride over from the Super 8 (2.3 miles), it was spitting rain AND the sun was casting shadows as the clouds thinned above me. All of this just reflecting my uncertainty about not riding today.

But, dammit, I'm not riding so get used to it, John!

I stopped at the Great Divide bike shop and bought some toe covers; hopefully, they will keep my toes a smidge warmer in the morning. The good news is they aren't very heavy ...

And that's it for today's journal entry!

In lieu of not having much to report in the way of activity, I thought I'd address some themes that have surfaced during the ride.

Southbounders

I have encountered many riders cruising south as I've struggled against the wind, going north. Uniformly (a couple exceptions noted below ...) they are happy to talk for a few minutes about their trip and share any information that I might ask about. I feel like I've encountered more foreigners than US citizens ...

Many, many people from the Netherlands. I asked the self-identified "Richard from the Netherlands" why that might be  the case and he said that there had been an article about the route in some adventure magazine. When I brought this up to other Dutch riders, they pooh-poohed this hypothesis, generally saying that they had been thinking about doing the ride for years.

Richard from the Netherlands was very concerned about bear encounters. When I assured him that it would be unlikely he would actually encounter a bear, he practically yelled at me in a sort of Nazi-like command voice:

"I HAVE SEEN THREE OF THEM!!!!"

Oh, sorry ...

Other nationalities include France, Australia, New Zealand, England, Belgium. No Germans? No Asians? No Africans?

I've encountered only two women riding solo. As a matter of fact, Amber was the first southbounder I had met. She was from Philly and had started riding with another woman but that woman couldn't continue. The other solo woman was the only person who did not stop and talk to me. Recall from a previous update that I had a hellacious tailwind (really? Does that happen?), meaning that as a southbounder, she had a hellacious headwind. As she rode by, she yelled out (facetiously?), "Lucky you!" and did not stop. So I didn't get her life story ...

Many men riding solo. Tom from Alaska had been riding with two fellow Alaskans, but when I ran into him just west of the wildlife refuge in Idaho, he had ditched his buddies. Later that day I went to dinner with those very same buddies, but it wasn't exactly clear to me why Tom from Alaska had split. Ostensibly, I felt like the others were going too slow, but I think there was something else going on under the surface.

Yesterday I ran into Sanjay from SoCal. He had hiked the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) south to north then had turned around and started to ride the mountain bike route north to south back to New Mexico!  Really???? He's a former downhill mountain bike racer and hopes to do 100 miles a day.

Speaking of which, when I encountered Chris from SoCal he had completed a 120 mile run the previous day and had slept in the Moran Junction post office because it was so cold the previous night.

My record daily distance on this trip has been 77 miles. I could not even imagine adding another 50% to that distance. Got to hand it to these kids for pushing so far.

I met Stephan from France yesterday and he was clearly shaken by the difficult, mountain bike trail he had just ... ridden(?) (unlikely, given his complaints). He was so discouraged by the experience that he was going to ride on I-15 to bypass the route I had taken the previous day, but I assured him that the roads weren't all that bad. Based on my assurances he decided to not do the bypass. I hope he's not mad at me ...

I have encountered a few married couples and, in spite of all of the hardship and worry associated with doing this trip, they seem to be getting along. Just one exception to that, Frank and Bridget(?)- from the Netherlands; seemed like there was something bubbling below the surface that just didn't feel right.

Many men riding as a duos. I particularly liked meeting James and Dave from Australia a couple days ago who were riding with ear buds and wearing Hawaii shirts. Dave said he was listening to Spanish language tapes because they intended on riding all the way to Mexico City.

I've only run into two sets of duo women: a pair from (you guessed it) the Netherlands and Belgium and a couple Americans, Sabrina and Kayla, who I just met yesterday afternoon. Their bikes were laying on the side of the road and Sabrina was stretched out on the road. I thought at first she had had an accident, but turns out she was just stretching ... out ... on the road. They said they've had a great time meeting lots of people and really weren't making much daily progress.

The Great Divide Mountain Bike Party Route!

Some trios. Sam, Andy and Claire from England stopped by when I was fixing my broken derailleur cable. They were in a very happy mood and Sam and Claire were going to ride through Central and South America. Andy had other obligations, I guess?

I think Shane and Rachel from Australia were "saddled" with Chris from Missoula who somehow glommed on to the couple. I felt a bit of "this wanker really isn't with us" when I visited with Shane and Rachel.

Yesterday I ran into Max, Reiner and Tina from Switzerland. The men were more than happy to talk about anything I wanted to know, but I got this sense that Tina didn't want to stop. Maybe she was hoping to get to a hotel somewhere later that day?

My favorite trio were Seth, Matt and Wes whom I camped with on Wildlife Night at the wildlife refuge. They ate A TON of food (including a pizza slice from me): ramen noodles, cookies, some surplus food they got from Seth's grandparents the night before, pizza slice. They were very easy going and we traded stories back and forth until it was clear that it was time to turn the camp over to the moose and deer and ????.

The largest group (which I didn't really meet) was a group that had signed up for a supported tour. The previous day my favorite trio had encountered this group and the company gave them each a beer! When I encountered the shag wagon (i.e. the support vehicle), out in front of the others the next day, I asked if it were true that they were handing out beers to unsupported riders. Yes, IF I wanted to turn around and join them for lunch a few miles back down the road on which I had just fought the wind to gain a little mileage.

Sorry, not worth the effort riding backwards. Plus, really, I don't drink all that much ...

As I passed on the order of 20 riders, I would raise my hand in the air and do a sort of "tomahawk chop" gesture, yelling out "To Canada!!!!" Only a few of the riders got the point and yelled back, "On to Mexico!".

The Line

[Editor's note: John senses that he's talked about "The Line" before, but he couldn't find the discussion when he went over previous updates. He wants to apologize in advance if this is ground he has already covered.]

I had mentioned in a previous update that the only thing I can control is "seat time", i.e. the amount of time I spend pedaling. I can't control the weather (clearly not the wind), I can't control the topology, I really can't even increase my power output for any appreciable length of time. Thus, if I want to go further, I have to pedal longer.

Well, I forgot one other important thing that I can control that affects how far I can go:

Riding The Line

At any given instant there is an optimal location to ride your bike on the road. String together a series of these locations and you have "The Line", i.e. the best route to bike to minimize the work you have to do to get from point A to point B. Mountain bikers are very familiar with this concept and choosing the wrong line could be the difference between safely riding down some gnarly trail or ... a broken collarbone.

So, when I'm on a dirt road, I spend a lot of time, looking for The Line. I know when I'm riding The Line because suddenly the pedaling will become easier, there will be less sound of gravel being ground under wheels, less bouncing of the wheels and frame.

But The Line is a very dynamic thing. It might be on the left side, then on the right, then in the center. If I didn't follow The Line wherever it went, I'd be working too hard. So, my job is to A) find the line and B) ride the line.

I've heard a few complaints from southbounders that the roads are in terrible condition, but, with rare exceptions, I did NOT find that to be true. We start with the fact that many roads are unimproved or unmaintained, yes, but inevitably there is A Line through all of it that makes the ride bearable. I suspect that those who were complaining have never ridden a mountain bike and were not seeking out The Line. Why are you on the Great Divide Mountain Bike trail???

As noted above, Stephan didn't like the mountain bike trail nor did a woman from Belgium. Me? I really enjoyed finally doing some mountain biking ...

... and finding The Line through all of the roots and ruts and sand and rocks. It's there, baby. Believe me!

BTW, I believe there is A Line as we go through life: at any given time, there is something that we should be doing to optimize our lives. Some people are living The Line, but others either can't find The Line, won't look for The Line or, seeing the line, refuse to take it. At Colter Bay I met some folks camping out and each of them talked about what they wanted to do (The Line), but then had a bazillion excuses for not doing them (Not riding The Line).

Concrete

Related to looking for the line on dirt roads is looking for concrete on dirt roads.

John, there is no concrete on dirt roads!!!

Yes, I realize that, but sometimes the road surface can be so compressed by the traffic that sections are nearly rock hard, forming a concrete like substance. In areas of high winds (er, almost everywhere on this trip), the sand is blown off these strips of concrete so when I ride, this concrete it is almost like riding on asphalt. The bonus for me on any dirt road is finding concrete.

Food

Shouldn't surprise anyone that I'm not eating healthy so here's what's going on with respect to food.

I decided NOT to bring a stove because of the added weight (stove, fuel, matches, fire extinguisher). Cooking ... out. So, I've hit on bringing deli sandwiches. Depending on the size of the sandwich I'll ask the sandwich creator at the deli to half or quarter the sandwich so that I'll have a portion for lunch then a portion for dinner.

Breakfast consists of a power bar.

During the course of the day, I'll have a "snack" of beef jerky: protein, salts, jerky. Walmart sells these "jerky-ettes" which are quarter ounce strips that are just enough to give me a little energy boost when I need.

Totally psychological, I'm sure ...

Lately I've been adding Mountain Dew to my diet, having Mountain Dew and power bar for breakfast, the remaining portion of the breakfast Mountain Dew and deli sandwich portion for lunch. I think this makes me feel better about pedaling and pedaling and pedaling ... especially when going up steep hills against the wind.

The Zone

Sometimes I'm just looking at the scenery and not even noticing that I'm riding a bike. I'm not thinking about the next turn, I'm not thinking about how long I've been pedaling, I'm not thinking about if I'm tired or hungry or anxious about whatever the next problem is about to occur.

I wish I could be in The Zone more often. I have about a week to sort it out.

I will send an update tomorrow with a proposed itinerary.

I hope all is going well for you and your loved ones.

JK

It's a wonderful life

Tomahawk Chop

2015. 09. 15. 0908 Helena --Rain Day

Where the hell is the Spot Tracker data this morning?

Hangin' in Helena today. 

It was raining this morning when I walked over to the Walmart Super Store (open 24 hours for your snacking needs),  but at this exact moment, it is not raining, *just* densely socked in from Big Sky horizon to Big Sky horizon. *Might* be OK to ride, but since I'm in an actual town with an actual dry motel room, I'm going to laze out today and rue my choice if it's glorious later today. 

Supposed to rain tomorrow and Thursday, too. Maybe that's why I took that wrong turn a couple days back so I'd be in Helena when the weather turned bad? 

I'm going to mail my "obsolete" maps and journal pages to Vance, check in at the bike shop for some sort of handlebar map holder, maybe get some sort of bear deterrent (Walmart's lowest price on pepper spray was $30...what price pseudo safety?) then spin my wheels at the library (WARNING: rambling update expected later today). 

I'd like to be on the road, but I don't want to be miserable. Hopefully this is the right choice, but, regardless, 

It is what it is...

JK

2015. 09. 04 Plans and Pics

And, just after I praised the weather ... it's raining!
 I was going to spend a little time tomorrow in Helena, improving my gear (I want a handlebar map holder like all of the other cool, southbound riders so I can follow the map without digging it out from my left pannier every few miles), leaving around noonish, but if the weather is bad, I may spend an additional delightful day in Helena, doing whatever makes sense to do.

I will let you know tomorrow morning ...

Meanwhile, there has been a request for pictures of me on the bike so I have attached some.  I also attached a photo of last night's campsite so you can see what the bear, moose, coyotes, wolves, falcons, eagles, pronghorn, deer, field mice, chipmunks, squirrels, etc. see ...

JK



 

2015. 09. 14. 1711 Helena

Never in my life would I have thought that I would ride my bike to Helena ...

... yet alone be using their computers at the library ...

... but, here I am. I don't know t the actual distance I've ridden (I'll try to sort that out in the coming months) but Google Maps says it would be 782 miles to drive. The shocking part of that web page is that The Goog suggests that it would only take 11 hours to get here from Thornton ...

... it has taken me 22 days on a 26" mountain bike with some driving assistance in Steamboat Springs, Pinedale and Moran Junction.

I need to pick up the pace!

So, what's been happening in the past couple days?

Well, it's the continuing story of slogging up hills then flying down the backside. It took me nearly 45 minutes just to climb out of Butte, Montana, the San Francisco of the Mountain West(TM). After the climb, though, it was a short downhill then an unbelievably pleasant ride up a picturesque valley, following a burbling creek the whole way. Aspens, pine trees, rolling hills, the works.

Except ...

... I was in the wrong watershed. I had missed a turn just out of Butte and, 10 miles later, I finally realized that the map and GPS were not happy. I confirmed this with a family that happened to be enjoying the creek nearby. I politely thanked them for verifying that I was in the wrong place, but you didn't want to hear the vitriol that was going on in my head while smiling at the family. See, the thing is, it's all about "seat time" and I had just blown 2 hours of seat time. OK, yes, it was a lovely valley, but it did NOT get me any closer to Canada. I want Canada. Now!

The only good thing about the return trip to fix my blunder was that it was downhill. Ironically, the wind was in my face ...

Back at "the" turn, I ate lunch and repeated my "It is what it is" mantra to try to calm down. There's a reason for everything, right?

Back up the correct watershed, the results were similar in that I was following a stream all the way to the Continental Divide. Aspens, pine trees, rolling hills, the works EXCEPT this route was MUCH steeper. As is my usual reaction, I just drop down to sub Granny 1 gear (i.e. I'm in the lowest gear, but pedaling slower ...), don't look up the hill, pray that the pain will be over soon. You can imagine my relief when I reached the Continental Divide and saw the CDT Blaze for the trail that crossed the road. I thought it was very cool that my path was crossing this path where so many others had hiked the CDT.

For every climb, there is a decent ...

Nice ride down through the aspens, pine trees, rolling hills, the works, following a different stream (this one heading to the Atlantic ...). I went by an old mine and, realistically, there was a mile of tailings spewed out along the road. A lot of mining was done in this area, but I sure didn't see many places where the men might have stayed.

 I reached Morman Gulch Campground "early" in that it was only 4 PM and I could have ridden 2 more hours, but the next campground was beyond reach. The wind was howling as I rode up the steep, narrow valley where the campground was located.

It was like a ghost town. There was no sign for the campground at the road entrance and it looked like the campground hadn't been tended to in years with picnic tables half destroyed, weeds/grasses growing up everywhere. With the wind roaring through the narrow valley, various parts of the 3 outhouses creaked and moaned. The door on one actually banged in the winds, just like an old west movie.

I had stopped there, figuring that I would be joined by other campers who would be the bear bait while I slept peacefully, but, turns out, no one else wanted to stay in a ghost town campground: it was just me, the birds, the howling wind and the howling coyotes.

The tent had some moisture on it from the Butte dew and water that a body gives off so I just held each damp piece in the wind and they flapped like a flag, drying out in certainly less than a minute. If only there had been water at the site, I would have washed my clothes, but it was bone dry and there wasn't a pump.

I put my gear in the men's pit toilet (not in the toilet!), hoping that the suffocating odor of that thing that hadn't been tended to in decades would mask the delicious odors of the meat sandwich I bought at the Safeway in Butte earlier that day.

I hit the hay early after not sleeping well under the security lamp at the Butte KOA, hoping to get recharged for the next day (that would be today) on the challenging and confusing climb to Park Lake then on to Helena. The wind finally died down and it was dead silent, save for the gurgling of my stomach and the distant howling of the coyotes. Just keep your distance, boys, I've got a small knife ready for any eventuality.

I was surprised when I woke and the sky was glowing softly in the east: I had "slept in" until about 6:45, one of the latest mornings of the trip. I'm happy to announce that no one ate my Safeway sandwich. I was on the road at 7:30 under skies that were completely covered with high clouds, first time in a while to have that much cloud cover in the morning.

This was my potential nightmare day. Why? Because for all of the "rehearsal" I had done for this section, reviewing the route on Google Maps, following the guides from the Adventure Cycling Association, I still wasn't sure that I knew which way to go. Demonstrating this point, as I climbed out of Basin (thriving mining ghost town), I actually rode up someone's driveway.

This isn't going very well ... already.

But just as I started on the correct road, I ran into Stephan from France who advised me that there were blazes on the trees that marked the main route. Sure enough, here and there, tacked to trees was a yellow blaze with a red box in the middle. At least I wouldn't get off the main road.

The climb up Cataract Creek was difficult because the creek dropped dramatically over the course of its run. I changed from my "get up in the morning and it's cold" ensemble (down jacket, thick jersey, poly pro face mask, poly pro gloves, leg warmers) to my "damn, it's too hot to bicycle today" ensemble (light jersey, fingerless biking gloves) before it was even 9 o'clock because I got so hot on the climb.

That's the way, a huh, a huh, I like it ... I'd rather get too hot on a climb early in the morning than freeze to death on a fast downhill run before the sun has heated the chilled morning air.

I ran into a Swiss trio who gave me some more advice and, before I was ready, I had reached the route of confusion and realized why all my rehearsal was for naught: this route didn't really follow maintained roads. Rather, it seemed to follow a short cut over to the Lava Mountain Trail which was not a road either. I had been warned that the Lava Mountain Trail was impossible to ride, but, guess what?, it was only the second real mountain biking I had encountered on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. There were just a couple of steep uphill sections that I couldn't ride (one of them took me 5 minutes to go 50 feet up the trail and I was exhausted ... how did my bike get so heavy????) and I rode all of the downhill. I had a fun time zipping through the trees on a badly rutted and lined with roots trail. Some of the southbounders had complained about this trail, but it was fun in my direction!!!

The map descriptions and the GPS way points just didn't match up with the real trail, so I figured I would just follow the bike trails in the dust of the route, assuming they came from the southbound riders. Eventually I got spit out to a real road and, sure enough, I was back on track again.

I HADN'T GOT LOST!!!!!!!!

I rode by Park Lake, a beautiful high alpine lake in a bowl, where I had wanted to camp the previous night but couldn't reach yesterday. Damn that missed turn yesterday morning ...

It was still a climb out to a high point before the delicious downhill to Helena. I followed Travis Creek up and up and up and up. How long is this creek???? Look, I like riding next to creeks, especially when you can hear them babble and burble, but do you really have to be so long????

Reached the crest, followed another creek down to Helena. No pedaling required ...

I was surprised when Helena just suddenly appeared. I didn't think about it, but the narrow canyon I was riding down prevented me from seeing the capital city.

I went right by the library so I stopped in to use the computer. The woman at the desk gave me an hour and has been sneaking in extra half hour segments ... I'm on hour two with 2 minutes left ...

All in all, a very good two days!

Just some general comments and I will go before my last half hour is used up ...

The weather has been fantastic. I think the last time I got wet was in the sleet storm up on Union pass a long, long time ago. The past couple days in fact in might have been just a smidge too warm on the climbs. That being said, 40% chance of rain tomorrow. If it's bad, I may "Hole Up in Helena" (if it's not a country western song, it should be) for another day. Staying at the Super Duper 8 tonight ... 

My gear has been doing a great job. Ever since the tire and tube change in Jackson, Wyoming, I haven't had a flat so that seems to be under control. I did break a derailleur cable (did I mention that?) and did a roadside repair. I had failed to lube the cable (bad bike technician) so that evening I flipped the bike over and poured oil into the end of the cable housing; this seems to have improved the rear derailleur shifting.

Tent is fantastic! Thanks, Matt! There is a lot of room in there for everything I take to bed with me (sweatpants if too cold, the "get up in the morning and it's cold" ensemble, maps packet, headlamp, bear fighting knife, Camelbak (a man's gotta drink, doesn't he?)). I can sit up to dress/undress which is orders of magnitude better than a bivy sack. Good decision to use the tent.

As of yesterday, I had 417 miles left to go. I should be under 400 when I "run the numbers" tonight. At 50 miles/day, my end date will be 9/21. The plan is to hitch a ride back to Kalispell, ship bike, fly body back to Thornton.

Another long update ... don't give me a keyboard and limited library time ... I may never stop typing ...

I'll send a plan update later from the luxurious Super Duper 8!

Now I'm gonna get me some of that popcorn chicken ...

JK

2015.09.12. 2224 Butte, Montana

Special camping next to the highway edition...

It's late so I'll keep this update relatively short...

After leaving Lima at 7AM I was pretty discouraged that it was cold, windy and the road was a gravel filled washboard.

Then, a miracle happened (Mountain Dew kicked in?) and biking up Big Sheep Creek was fantastic: following the rapidly flowing steam, huge scree covered hills rising from the river bed, the sun warming me, the wind stilled, the trees burst forth in pine green and aspen orange. One of the best mornings on the trip.

But the afternoon was back to sage and grasses very similar to the Great Basin on Wyoming. Enough sage already!

In spite of my recent bear scare, that night I camped solo with only one incident: I thought I heard a huge growl from the bushes!!! Turns out, it was just the guy in my tent snoring.

Next day dawned clear and sunny and cold. I rode through a wide valley with irrigated fields of hay growing bright green, abutted against the arid sage landscape. With enough distance behind me, that afternoon I finally returned to the high country forests which psychologically for me is much more enjoyable than the near desert isolation that is sage country.

But, man, what a climb into the hills. At one steep point I stopped and chatted with a 12 year old boy who very sagely advised me that I could go faster if I would switch to a higher gear. I explained to him that if I did that I would bog down and start crying.

For the first time on the trip, I could smell smoke from forest fires...

I finally cleared the crest after an hour of slogging and suddenly biking was fun again as I raced downhill, reaching my 50+ miles  for the day campground in no time. I was joined by a nice local couple in an RV who tried to scare the **** out of me with bear stories. I asked them to refrain: the wife stopped, the husband just had to throw in a few more stories.

I put all of my bags in the pit toilet rest room to keep them from attracting bears to my camp. It worked, but I did notice that the bears used a lot of toilet paper last night.

I was up early today and froze everything as I continued to follow the drainage downhill: the windchill factor is pretty high going 30+ MPH on paved roads.

To my great relief I opted NOT to try Fleecer Ridge, one of the hardest sections of the route. The southbounders all suggested it would be suicide for a northbounder. So I took the official alternate route, still on pavement, following the river as it grew ever wider. Very picturesque and very easy, downhill riding.

Somehow I missed a turn and ended up riding *on* I-15 rather than the frontage road as suggested. Wasn't any worse than biking US-20 in Idaho. The highlight of that segment was getting psyched to use the restroom only to crest the hill and find it was completely torn up and being rebuilt. Being a biker, though, I slipped around the closed signs and found the inevitable construction porta-potties. OK, not as nice as a real rest stop, but at least I didn't have to flush.

The 2500' climb from the I-15 valley to the divide before Butte was one of the toughest yet. If I looked up the road I just freaked out at the long, long, and longer steep climb on very poor, rutted dirt roads. When I'd crest a section, thinking that, aha! I've finished the climb, there would be yet more steep hill just around the bend. Ultimately, I just lowered the brim of my hat so I could only see 10 feet ahead of me and tried to sneak in a miniscule pause on each power stroke of the pedal to allow my muscles to get some tiny amount of recharge. While I had to stop numerous times before I reached the top, I only walked 30' of the 5+ mile climb.

The climb took me from sage on I-15 back to alpine meadows in full fall regalia at over 7000  feet. Numerous high hills enclosed this park. Very rugged country.

When I reached the divide, I once again turned it loose on the downhill. You'll be surprised to learn that I don't hold the handlebars very tightly when downhilling on washboard, dirt roads; rather, I let the bike "float"  over the ragged surface, steering away from the holes and letting the shocks and my legs absorb the chatter from the stones and washboarding. My head is amazingly still through the whole process.

When the road finally flattened out for the final approach to Butte, the SW wind I was counting on shifted to the NW and, riding north, I was, once again, fighting the wind. I can't seem to catch a (wind) break.

Oh, and I missed my turn to go directly to this KOA Campground (45.99356 , -112.53181) , doing a 5 mile tour of the greater Butte metroplex. And, very disappointingly, this KOA is next to the highway AND there's an orange security light 30' away from the tent. Quite the contrast to the previous night's isolation.

It will probably take more than a couple days to get to Helena before I can send another update. Tomorrow is Day 21, about 10 more days left in the tour.

One more thing: I figured out why my phone is reading 1% battery in the morning. It's frozen! If I let it warm up, the battery level is restored. I guess I'm going to have to put the phone in the sleeping bag with me...

Well, time to hit the hay with all of the 18 wheelers rolling by.

I hope all is going well for you and your loved ones.

JK