We got a late start from the Amber Bear Inn after helping feed the animals (actually following Mike around as he did all the work) and having a leisurely breakfast. He also helped me pick up a baby duck (not so easy when the mommy duck and two adoptive aunts--a goose and another duck--were protecting them)!
The pendulum has swung from extremely hot only 3 days ago to cold and rainy. No sun visible or available--it was VERY overcast and cloudy. So we started out and clothing changes became a theme:
Mile 0: Long sleeved jerseys and shorts
Mile 0.5: Added a fleece vest
Mile 5: The mist started: added rain jackets
Mile 15: Getting wet: Added rain booties
Mile 25: The rain truly began
Mile 30: Freezing to death: Added every warm cycling item under some trees (tights, goretex pants, hats, long fingered gloves)
Mile 55: Started removing assorted clothing--the rain let up and we were traveling uphill
We saw lots of wildlife on this scenic ride: three wild turkeys, a golden eagle, and lots of deer. We also had to backtrack for the first time due taking a wrong turn on an unmarked road. I hate doing that! But we only lost about 2 miles, so that wasn't too bad. This was our most scenic ride yet--up Rt. 56 on a road with a good shoulder the whole way. Too bad we could barely see through the raindrops on our glasses! We rode through a gorgeous river canyon--the Bull River--on a fairly level road we didn't have to share with very many cars.
It was also very remote! Not many houses and NO shelters when it came time to try and hide from the rain. We turned off at a sign for a campground only to find it was 4 miles down the road--just a hop, skip, and a jump in a car, but about 45 minutes of extra riding on a loaded bike.
David (Mr. Wilderness) found us a canopy of trees to hide under where we had lunch and put on every stitch of warm clothing we had. We looked like cycling Michelin Men! We made slow, soggy progress, but finally started to warm up at about mile 45. At mile 50, we were at the intersection of Rt. 2, our main road to the East! We decided not to backtrack to Troy to camp, but to head to Libby which was 15 more miles away. Why not? We were finally warmed up!
Then I had one of those "longest mile" times (it seems like I hit the wall once every day like this). Suddenly we were on a false downhill--it looks like it is downhill, but is actually uphill. So your brain says the pedaling should be easy, but it is very difficult! At this point, the pedaling became hard just as BOTH of my knees decided to hurt! When only one hurts, you can compensate with the other leg--but what do you do when both of them hurt??? I struggled mightily for about a mile--and since I struggled, David did too because he was trying to stay with me. It's difficult for my gazelle hubby to go that slow! I re-grouped at the top of that hill, and we found a beautiful stream. David stopped to take a picture and I went ahead so that he could ride at a normal pace until he caught up with me.
Then the miracle occurred! A huge tailwind came up, and I rode like a fiend toward Libby! I was going very fast; both knees decided they were going to be OK; and David had a hard time catching up with me! I knew I had it in me--I just had forgotten during that longest mile.
The wind blew us into Libby, MT--a town with some of the nicest people we have met so far! We stayed at a little motel called "Mountain Magic Motel" and met some very nice folks at dinner. The man recognized David from his blaze orange jacket--and said David had waved to him over by the Troy mine earlier that day! We had a nice dinner and slept on a very squeaky bed (Mountain Magic is having new ones delivered next week), but it didn't bother us one bit!
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