Daily Summary

This Is Summer???

I am not a cold weather guy. That’s why I live in Atlanta. My biggest fear coming into this trip was an unusually cold and rainy day. Well, today we had that to the max! We started out with temperatures barely 40 degrees and rainy. It felt colder than that. It got colder as we went! You can see the screen shot from lunch time where the effective temperature was 26 degrees and that’s before you’re moving along at 15+- miles per hour.

It rained for a while, it sleeted a bit, it even snowed several times. This was by far the coldest ride I’ve ever done. Ironically, I wasn’t too cold because I layered up with 4 top layers and 3 bottom layers. I even almost enjoyed the ride (almost). So, I conquered my worst fear and also made the expense of buying winter gear for a summer tour worthwhile.

Better yet, I’ll be willing to ride in colder temperatures back home next winter. But, only when it is dry!

My Outfit

You can see it in the photo. For the younger readers, it is clear that I low key lost any chopped unc or cringe vibe. In fact, I was rizz maxxing for sure. No cap. I was giving max aura. Bet. (For older readers, ask a young person to translate that).

It was a pain getting ready. I wore a head cover under my helmet. A thermal undershirt, with a cycling jersey over that, with a winter windproof jacket over that, with my rain jacket over that. I had on my winter gloves. I had my shorts on with winter leg warmers. I had my compression socks with tube socks over that. On top of that I had my frog tog rain pants. I also had winter shoe covers over my shoes. It was a pain to get dressed and undressed. But, it made the ride bearable.

The Ride And Sights

The ride was again a heavy uphill bias all the way like 2 days ago. But, the slope was gradual. There were so many low clouds that most views weren’t that great. You can see a couple illustrative pictures. I did pass some cool old buildings visible in the one picture. There was also a huge field with yellow and purple flowers as far as you could see. If you click on that picture and zoom in, you’ll see better.

We were on the main road again with the really wide shoulder the first 35 miles. Then we were on a road with limited shoulder, but less traffic for 30. I always feel ok on a road with no shoulder as long as cars coming from behind never really have to slow because there will be nobody coming the other way 99% of the time. That’s how this stretch was.

I actually felt pretty good and energized, even coming into lunch at mile 66. After getting warmed up at lunch (see below), I decided to bail on the last 30 miles. For one, my leg held up well today and the last major hill for a few days was coming up (5.5 miles at 6% grade). I wasn’t sure my calf / achilles could handle it. Then, after the summit, there was a 6 – 7 mile steep downhill before the final few miles into town. 

I am not a fan of steep downhills. Especially not when it feels well below freezing to begin with and then you add the wind chill from moving fast down the hill on top. So, I took the win at 66 miles and called it a day. I even got a nap in waiting for the riders at the next rest stop. Only 5 of the 9 of us did the whole thing today. 

The Food

We packed up the van and left the hotel by 5:45. We had breakfast at a local place in Missoula that opened at 6:00.  

Lunch is typically sandwiches by the van. Due to the weather, the tour director found the first restaurant in 66 miles was within a mile or so of our planned rest stop. So, he diverted us to the restaurant to warm up.

The food at Avon Family Cafe was awesome. I had a chili cheese omelet with hashbrowns and gluten free toast. The picture doesn’t do justice to how huge it was! Everyone got warmed up and fed.

An Odd Trend

There are TONS of casinos in Montana. Most aren’t much bigger than a large convenience store. Most are also a liquor store and casino combo. What could go wrong with that combo?