Sisters To St. Paul
Day 2
A Cyclist’s Paradise
Date: July 26, 2005
Route: Libby, MT to Eureka, MT
Distance: 68 miles
Ride Time: 5h 20m
Elevation Climbed: 3400’
Weather: 42 to 91 degrees
Log
After a fitful night worrying if I would wake up in time to get an early start, I arose to a glorious morning. I took my time making sure I had everything I needed --- sun block, water, Gatorade, money, ID, camera, phone, tubes, tools, and bandaids. I wanted to be on the road by 7AM. I was feeling pretty smug about being right on schedule when I realized I had not reset my watch. It was actually 8:00 not 7:00! Oh, well.
I left Jon in Libby to buy an alarm clock and additional hardware for the bicycle rack. He also intended to find a café and enjoy some of the local food and chat with the local folk. He would find me on the road later in the day.
I headed up the Kootenai River on the sweetest road you can imagine: clean and smooth with a wide shoulder and very little traffic. For 15 miles I pedaled beside the river on a gentle ascent. I dawdled taking pictures and enjoying the serenity of the river. My coat came off at mile 5, my t-neck at mile 10. I had previously studied the excellent map Montana publishes for cyclists. It shows shoulder width, slope angle, and traffic patterns. I love to study and dream over maps, and this is one of the best I’ve ever found. I wish all states would compile this data and make it available to cyclists. [put Montana map link here] Therefore, I knew the climb was coming. At mile 15 I started up ... a slope of mostly 7%-8% with a few stretches of 10%. By mile 17 I was at the dam. I took 10 minutes to explore and had the dam completely to myself. Not even a car passed on the road! For the next 45 miles I traveled above Koocanusa Lake either climbing or descending ... level road nowhere to be found! There was only one more really steep section, but it didn’t last long. At mile 60 Jon passed me in the car, drove 10 miles further to Eureka, and cycled back to meet me.
We drove to Whitefish (after finding a Diet Coke and SunChips for me) and arrived in time to get to a bicycle shop. I’m still having trouble with my chain and I have to avoid using my smallest cog in both the middle and large chain ring. The mechanics at Glacier Cyclery were extremely nice and looked at my bicycle immediately. They fussed and adjusted and tested but were still unsuccessful at finding a remedy. I have a master link in my chain (so I can unlink it for packing) and they think that is causing the problem. I’m going to replace it tonight with a new one and see if that helps.
All the clocks are set correctly, everything is organized for an early morning departure. We will drive to Glacier Park and I will finally get to ride the famous Going-To-The-Sun Road.
