Rain has been following us around for a couple of weeks now. It caught up with us once again in Missoula. We woke up to a downpour and much cooler temps. So we decided to punt. Ethyl graciously let us spend another night at her house. Another cyclist, Ben, arrived which made it even more fun. We decided to ride down to a Great Harvest Bread. So we put on all our rain gear and headed out into the storm. Good choice! When we walked in someone said would you like a free sample? Our kind of place ! We had some great coffee too. I discovered their monster cookies and it was all over for me. Hap had a cheesy bread.
After eating we set off to find the REI. Did I mention it was raining? It's always fun to walk around a REI. At least it's not raining on the inside! We had quite a time finding the REI. Traffic was terrible. Missoula has done a great job with bike trails and bike lanes. And a lot of people commute to work. So it's not like the cars had never seen a bike. Not sure what was going on but it was Alittle tricky staying safe even in the bike lanes. Maybe someone forgot to tell the drivers about the bike friendly town?? Not sure.
We stopped by the grocery on our way back to Ethyls house. Like I said it was Alittle "tricky" but they all missed! Ethyl fixed dinner for us and Ben. We had a great night of sharing biking stories. Ethyl was really fun. She's a 76 year old cyclist. That spends a lot of cycling in Europe by herself. Wow! Impressed. I hope we can still ride at age 76!
When we woke up the next morning. Mr rain Cloud was still there. But it was time to move on. Sure glad we have good rain gear. We left Missoula planning to ride to Lolo Hot Springs. A very short ride but at least we are moving forward. I made a reservation at the campground at the hot springs for a cabin. At least we were going to be dry at the end of the day.
The ride was beautiful. Even in the rain. We followed route 12 along a river. It was a good ride even if it was wet. We left most of the traffic in Missoula which was a plus. We got to the hot springs early afternoon so we went to the bar/restaurant for a snack. Then we went to the hot springs to enjoy the hot water. Boy did that feel good my back really appreciated it! After our soak we cooked baked beans and peas for dinner. Mmmmm good. It was nice to be warm and dry.
In the morning we woke up to cooler temps but no rain. Finally! We had to climb over Lolo Pass first thing. But it was an easy crossing up a gorgeous tree lined road we saw what looked like a large black dog crossing the road. Then we realized what we actually saw was a black wolf! Wow. Beautiful. Sorry no pics. At the Visitor center at the top of the pass we stopped for some free hot coffee. It was chilly but no rain when we headed down the other side. The downhill was awesome. I wish I could show how pretty this road is. Low traffic. What a great biking road.
When we got to Lowell we stopped at a hotel hoping that finally the rain would stop. The weather is supposed to get better tomorrow. The next morning we woke up to sunshine. Yeah! Finally! The waitress at breakfast said there was a forest fire bout four miles away. The smoke had been pretty bad but was better now. The first half of today's rise was mostly downhill along an amazing river with
low traffic and no rain. A perfect ride !
But then it happened. One of those times in cycling when you can go from a perfect day to a "less" than perfect day. We stopped for lunch in Stites. After lunch we followed the ACA route across the river and then made that fateful right turn. There was some road construction going on just as we turned. I wondered why one of the road crew was laughing. He said its a good climb but it's all flat at the top. Good luck!
We climbed for seven miles up Lame Grade Road. Most climbs we have been doing are around 6-7%
grade. Except for Teton Pass which was 10%. This climb ranged from 7-15% continuously. No let up at all. Whew. What a climb. But there was still hope. The worker told me it was flat on top. Guess what!? NOT. We were up and down. Steep ups! We were now riding in huge wheat fields and farm land. All the way to Grangeville. At least it was challenging and not boring. We were pooped when we got to the Bears Den RV park. I got our laundry done and we cooked supper (green beans with chicken and mashed potatoes ). Two tired puppies!
This am we left Grangeville in beautiful sunshine and perfect temps. We turned off route 95 onto a narrow back road White Bird road and started climbing. The grade was only 4-5% which seemed easy after yesterday. A fun pretty riding road. We had a great view do huge wheat fields across the valley. We are riding across the Nez Pearce Indian reservation. We made a left turn back onto route 95 and headed back down the mountain. Incredible downhill with beautiful views. Wow!
We stopped for lunch in White Bird. Our goal today was Riggins. Route 95 ran along beside the Salmon River. There was some traffic and the shoulder was sparse. We had a really close call with a car that was passing a car coming toward us. Hap yelled at just the right time. And the car barely missed. Makes you wonder why you are doing this. When we got to Riggins we opted for a hotel. Ordered a pizza and headed for bed.
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| My favorite ! |
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| Great Harvest Bread in Missoula |
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| What?? |
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| Riding up Lolo Pass |
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| Lolo Hot Springs campground. A dry spot! |
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| Dinners ready. Baked beans, peas, tomatoes, tortilla |
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| A treat in the rain |
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| Is it rainin Hap? |
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| Ethyl our warm showers host |
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| Yep still raining on Lolo Pass |
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| A chilly morning climbing Lolo pass |
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| What do two hungry cyclists eat? |
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| Nope don't need any help Hap. It's all gone! |
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| The sun came out going down the pass |
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| Almost to Lowell ID |
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| Leaving Lowell ID |
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| Lamb (or is that LION) Grade Road |
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| Should we just stay on Rt 95 or follow ACA route? |
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| What's that sign say? Uh oh. Here we go again |
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| The view from top White Bird road |
