Day 5: Three Rivers Resort-Missoula

Today we had a almost 200 kilometer long trip ahead of us with a big climb over Lobo Pass, about 1600 meters high. The peak was around 100 kilometers away and was a bit steeper then yesterday, but still manageable.

At a certain moment I wanted to shift to a higher gear when there was a small descent coming. But when I shifted the chain went 'clunk' and got stuck. Fortunately it was a descent and I could let it roll to the next parking lot. A elderly couple stood there waiting to get a glimpse of our bikes and take our picture, but they couldn't. Now they could! After I put back the chain on the rear derailleur and cleaned my hands on the grass (which works fine by the way), the lady gave me a moist napkin. I even got one extra (just in case).

Every now and then we get passed by a SAG vehicle and suddenly we see Harry's bike on top of the car. Some time later the car was parked, the bike was taken off and Harry wanted to join with our group. He had some problems with his front derailleur and the SAG team didn't want to wait for him to fix it and fall back. Just down the road there were people reapplying asphalt to one site and so we had to wait a bit. Harry and I got a chance to catch up. He told me that the Schwalbe Tryker tires we received for testing were not quite right. I could abort the test and put on my own tires but I want to wait for a few days. Thus far we only have had mountains and no flat land so I have no reference how these tires compare to my own ones. We'll be out of the mountains in a few days and then there will be only flat and straight roads.

At almost exactly half way there was a little place called Lochsa Lodge where we ate. It's very nice place by the river. I had a very tasty big burger with curly fries.

After lunch came the hard part of this day, the final climb to 1600 meters over Lolo Pass. In lowest gear, I call it the coffee grinder, I went up that mountain around 7-8 km/h. All day the temperature was manageable (partly clouded and cooler than the days before), but during the final climb I still got hot. I wasn't the only one who was very hot. Harry poured a big jug of water on his head to cool down. The descent was very nice, 40 kilometers downhill.

When we crossed the Lolo Pass we entered a different time zone and we 'lost' a hour. The clock had to be set one hour ahead. This means we gradually have to get up earlier and arrive later. But the difference is only noticeable on the clock. As we head for Washington DC we have to do this about three times.

Big parts of the ride I took my shirt of to get a little tan. Of course I applied sun screen but the 'experiment' didn't work out quite well. That piece of skin usually does not see sunlight and by the end of the day it was a bit read. Except for the part where my heart rate monitor was.

Tomorrow is a rest day. In the morning some students from a massage school come to give us a free sports massage. We did however had a idea to create a pot for donations. Also do some shopping, wash my cloths and do a bit of general relaxing. At the end of the afternoon we go to a nearby park and meet bikers from around here. First I have to clean my bike though, it's a bit dirty.

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