When I woke up, my legs and knees felt the best they have since we started. We ate some high calorie food we bought from a gas station yesterday before beginning the 40 mile ride with 2 climbs to Helena. The road was steep and washed out in places, so we had to choose our lines carefully, especially descending. We had mostly blue skies but at one point we were hailed on for a few minutes. The last 8 miles or so into Helena were downhill with a strong tailwind on the highway. We were spun out in our hardest gears.
We found some pizza in Helena and made another convenience store run since we ate almost all the food we were carrying. Our stop in Helena was quick, but when we got to the edge of town we had to wait for a pilot car to go through a construction area. They required cyclists be in the car so we put our bikes in the bed of the pilot truck and drove half a mile through the construction.
We began a climb that was gradual at first and we were making good time. We turned onto an ATV trail and continued up the rugged trail. It was ridable most of the time, but we also had a good amount of pushing. The hiking slowed the pace quite a bit.
We rode back down the mountain along a river into Basin for dinner at 80 miles for the day. I saw some other cyclists eating a chimichanga and thought that was a good idea. It wasn't. I was pretty nauseous riding after that. We made it 20 more miles before dark when we set up camp for the night. It was a big day with over 10,000 feet of elevation.
Way to go guys! Really glad to hear your knees are feeling better. Almost through Montana! That's just crazy. Keep it up :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the updates Katie. What an awesome adventure. We will continue to pray for your safety and good knees. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteThe crackle of gravel, crunch of snow, snapping of twigs, this is my longing.
ReplyDeleteGreat majestic peaks, vast and calling, moving through winding trails, forever rolling.
Pedal. Breath. Be.
This is what it means to be free.