I had one of those low energy days today, and my knees were a bit cranky. It was hard to get moving this morning, and I wasn't looking forward to the two passes today and one tomorrow that were on my route. I figured I had two options - ride my planned route, or take the interstate up to Butte and then west to Missoula. Either way it would take me 3 days of cycling. Of course if I was planning to go to Butte it would have been more efficient to head up there yesterday instead of riding southwest to Dillon. No matter, it was a beautiful ride! The planned route had 2 days of serious hills on back roads, and the interstate route had one day of serious hills. What to do...
I had breakfast, thought about my ride for the day, and still didn't decide. It was not only a low energy morning, it was a wishy-washy one too! I headed to the Chamber of Commerce in Dillon to see if it is legal to ride a bike on the interstates here. I thought it was, but I wanted to make sure. Judy - the director of the C of C didn't know, but she called the Montana Department of Transportation for me. The answer she got was that bicycles are allowed on all federal and state funded highways in the state, including the interstates. I finally decided it was going to be an interstate day, so I headed north on I15. ( I told you a while ago that I'm dangerous with a road map in my hands...) The big plus of the interstate is that it has a really wide paved shoulder with a nice road surface. That was a far cry from the road I was on yesterday afternoon. It seemed like there was less traffic on I15 than there was yesterday on the 2-lane roads, and the speed limit on the interstate was only 5 miles per hour higher than on the back roads - 75 vs. 70. I actually found the riding very pleasant, at least at the beginning of the day. Guess you've got to pick your interstates if you're going to cycle on them. This one was a gem!
It was another very windy day. The wind started out of the southwest, but switched pretty quickly to west. It would have been a headwind on my planned route, but since I headed north instead of west it was a cross-wind. I was fighting with the wind gusts, and almost got blown off of the road several times. I guess I was lucky that the wind was coming from the west. At least when I was blown around out of control it was toward the right edge of the road and not into traffic. It was still a bit freaky - there were a couple of times I stopped just before getting pushed into (and maybe over) the guard rail. Headwinds are hard, and I have to admit I was very happy not to be riding into that one today. But the strength of the cross-wind was pretty hard to deal with too.
Ignoring the wind, it was another drop-dead beautiful day. The mountains continued to be awesome, and ever-changing. I rode through a wide valley, across rivers, and up into the mountains. I was able to stop and talk with some llamas on a farm on the side of the road. I also saw a beautiful hawk sitting on a fence post right next to the road. It was another picture that wasn't meant to be. It's so hard to catch wildlife with my camera. I'm collecting two sets of pictures on my trip - one with the camera, and the other in my head.
It was interesting heading north out of Dillon on the interstate. Yesterday I road southwest into Dillon, and my route today passed some of the same territory, but I saw it from the other side. There were quite a few things that I recognized from the other side.
I had a good ride this morning in spite of my weird start, but by the afternoon the wind was really getting to me. The last straw was when I got a flat, in the rear tire of course. I pulled the panniers off of the bike, unhooked the trailer, and pulled out a spare tube and my tools. Then I decided I wasn't having fun, and I decided to try to get a ride to Butte. I figured I'd fix the tire after I found a place to stay - if I could get a ride. Maybe I should subtitle this trip as the "the summer I learned to hitchhike". (And no, I'm not going to start hitchhiking as a normal mode of transportation!)
I was lucky, and I did get a ride. Erv had delivered some kitchen cabinets to Jackson, WY, and was on his way back to his home British Columbia, east of Vancouver. Since he had already made his delivery, he had an empty truck, plenty of room for my bike and trailer. When he picked me up I asked for a lift to Butte, but when I found out he was going through Missoula I decided to go there. He would have dropped me anywhere - the Oregon Coast, Vancouver, Idaho, Washington. What a nice man! We spent a couple of hours talking and driving, and he told me about another cyclist (Scott from the UK) who he picked up a couple of weeks ago. Before he dropped me off he told me that yesterday as he was driving south he had the thought that if he saw a woman looking for a ride as he headed north that he would stop and give her a ride. Maybe it was fate that made me head north on I15 this morning, and made Erv drive home by the same route. I'll make sure to repay his favor by helping someone else in need.
The first thing that I noticed about Missoula is that there are bicycles all over. Wonderful!
At the end of the day I decided to continue my lazy day by having my flat changed at a bike shop. Missoula Bicycle charged so little for labor that it was more than worth my while to have them change the tire. And surprise, surprise, they even had a 20" tube with a presta valve. They said they try to stock many different tubes because of all of the touring cyclists who come through here. And although mine was the first Bike Friday that they'd seen, the front wheel of some recumbents is the same size as my tires.
I wanted to stay close to downtown, and my patience for the little mom & pop motels is growing thin. There were a lot of motels to choose from here, but as usual most of them are on the outskirts of town. There were only a couple of non-mom & pop hotels in the downtown area. I ended up at the Best Western. When I first saw the hotel I had a hard time figuring where the rooms were. The hotel looks like a faceless block. It turns out that the rooms are built around an outside central courtyard. The first floor houses the pool, and the rooms are all on the second and third floor overlooking the pool. It's an interesting design - it blocks the noise from the street, but I can still walk outside from my room. I checked out a couple of other hotels before I landed here, so it was after 6 when I checked in, and almost 7 when I went to look for some food. I asked the woman at the front desk where I could find a cafe, and she suggested the Hob Nob Cafe across the street. I never would have found the place on my own because the front of the place was a tacky bar, and the back was a really nice cafe. It just wasn't obvious from the street. The food was really good. I started with fresh gazpacho, good tomatoes and spiced really well.
In spite of the odd start, it turned out to be a really nice day.
I'm going to hang out here in Missoula tomorrow, and hopefully recharge my energy stores.
