Overall, the last few days have been relatively uneventful. We crossed the Continental Divide for the third and final time on Tuesday over Flesher Pass on our way to Lincoln, MT. It was only around 6,000 feet, but the climb was a pretty steady one that lasted a few miles. I was trying to chase down Jake (probably one of our 2-3 best climbers) throughout the climb; I couldn't quite catch him but I sure made it up faster than I thought I would. I'm getting to the point where I'm relishing the climbs and I'll be pretty sad when we crest the Cascades. I spent the entire morning riding with Ariela and Lauren, which was a lot of fun. They'll keep you entertained all day long.
We camped for the first time on the trip that night, and I took the opportunity to sleep outside under the stars. I guess it rained on us for about a minute that night, but I never woke up and I found myself dry the next morning. Had a few bug bites and was a little cold, but still an enjoyable experience.
The ride to Missoula yesterday was a solid downhill; I cranked with Beth, Natalie, Kristie, Kyle, and Erika most of the morning probably around 20 mph as we moved downhill with a slight tailwind. We were cooking and it was oodles of fun. At lunch Natalie met up with a full-time ranch-hand that took us up to A Bar L Ranch, where Natalie worked for a summer after she graduated from Cornell in '06. It was cool to see Natalie so excited and see what a guest ranch looks like. The ride after lunch started with a long uphill, but once we summitted we had 30 miles of downhill into Missoula. Now, the quality of a town is directly related to the quality of its ice cream, and I can attest to Missoula's attributes after eating two double scoop cones in one sitting after the ride at The Big Dipper (Vanilla & Reese's on the first and Maple Walnut on the second). I then went for a solo evening on the town and attended a Missoula Osprey minor league baseball game, which was a treat. I've been missing live sports this summer.
Anyway, that takes us to our last few days before Washington. We'll be in Coeur D'Alene on Sunday and do our final build day there. Then I'll be in Spokane on Tuesday, which I'm looking forward to. I started my undergrad career at Washington State University in eastern Washington (Pullman, about 80-90 miles south of Spokane), so I still have old roommates in Spokane that I'll hopefully get to see. From there, it's a straight push to Seattle. Most of us are starting to realize the end is near, but we are handling it pretty well. There will certainly be a lot of sadness when we leave, but right now we are all looking forward to making the most of the rest of trip.
Alright, hope you guys are doing well, and thanks for the comments. Alison, sounds like your brother did RAGBRAI in Iowa; we heard about that ride from about every other person we talked to when we went across the state. Very cool that your brother did it. It's huge there.
Hey Justin!!! This bike journey of yours has sure gone fast for us!! HAHA!! Enjoy your camping over this next week -- another of your favorites that you have not gotten to do much of over the past few years! Forgot to tell you when we talked that as we were out driving around NOLA we drove past a Hands On location. Not sure if that was Blue 2's location or not, but we were excited to spot it! We'll be thinking about you as usual as you pedal ever closer to Seattle! Hope you get to connect with your buddies in Spokane! You and Cassie looked to be having fun on your rendevous in West Yellowstone -- thanks for the pictures! Keep on having fun! Love, Mom :)
ReplyDeleteHey Justin,
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed your blog again. Glad things are going so well.
We're in New Orleans and having a fun time. Met all of Aaron's teammates the other evening and had a really good time exchanging stories. Great group of kids.
Love, Pops