Distance: 106.7 Miles
Climbing: 3,278ft
Ride Time: 6:30
Temp: 56-97
We have completed the first full week of the tour. Making progress. Next week will be the biggest physical challenge as we ramp up the miles and have the huge climb over the Little Big Horn Mountains (Thursday)
Today's start was an adventure. Because of the road construction zone (new chip & seal), we took a hard packed hiking trail to avoid the zone as much as possible. Still ended up on the chip & seal for a few miles, then took a side road deviation to avoid the rest, ultimately rejoining Route 200 East.
We continued following the Clark Fork River between the mountains all the way to Missoula. The mountains slowly changed from evergreen forests to more open grass lands.
I made a common rookie mistake today. I felt really good starting out, so I stayed with the lead group for the first 30 miles. I had to push from time to time to stay with the group on the hills. It was much fun, but I paid for it by the end of the ride - generally felt wiped out the last 15 miles. Hopefully I will recover tonight and be ready for the 133 mile ride tomorrow. This is a classic trap that I knew better than to fall into, but decided I felt good enough to enjoy the moment. Won't do that again.
We also had some unwelcome excitement after lunch. I was riding with Jim, Lynn, Jim & Anni. We hit a section with freshly applied road sealant. Rocks started sticking to our tires at times with some hitting the brake calipers. As we were riding, suddenly, without warning, Jim's rear derailleur flipped up and into his spokes. It was like a sudden explosion went off, his wheel locked for a moment and the derailleur was ripped off. Both Lynn and I had to suddenly swerve to avoid crashing into him. I have never seen anything like this before. The thought was that one of the rocks must have somehow jammed his derailleur. Fortunately, Pac Tour has great support, sending a van to help. One of the crew gave Jim his bike to complete the ride.
Pictures from today:
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| Making Progress |
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| The hike path deviation |
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| Hard to tell, but descending into Missoula |
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