Day 17 - July 28th, 2010 (Route: Rest Stop to Ennis, MT) REST DAY!!!

Day 17 - July 28th, 2010 (Route: Rest Stop to Ennis, MT) REST DAY!!!

Technical Data:
Distance, miles: 34.39
Ride time: 2:05:14
Average power, watts: 105
Normalized power, watts: 125
Work, kJ: 797
Average speed, mph: 16.3

A much needed day of rest today. Woke up in the bathroom and felt pretty good but new that I was going to shut it down at Ennis, MT and force myself to relax and enjoy the day! The ride was down hill and I know that a two hour is by no means a recovery ride but when I'm riding this type of mileage day after day, 35 is a good day of rest!

The ride was cool as I started at 6AM and headed into town around 8:30 or so and just tried to enjoy myself! First stop was the convenient store to fill bottles and start rehydrating for the day! I asked around about showers and laundry and settled for the RV park where I could wash my clothes which needed it, and grab a shower which I needed worse then washing my clothes. I'm trying to look presentable on the road to ensure any help if needed from complete strangers. After washing and drying my clothes so I could have a clean small towel to dry off. I took a long shower and made sure to try and clean as good as possible, still difficult without a wash cloth and soap. I borrowed the hand soap from the sink next door to wash with...

After my shower I headed into town to get some breakfast, since it was a rest day I figured I could spend a little money on food today so I had some large pancakes and eggs! The diner was empty when I came in, however lunch was just around the corner and tourist were filling up the booths! After downing breakfast I headed to the library to the library to attempt to write my post, however the sofa in the teen section was a little too comfy so I took about an hour nap or so! I needed it after last nights attempt of sleep in the bathroom.

After my nap I thouht I would check out this small town (Ennis, MT - Home of 1000 people, 11,000,000 trout) a small mountain fly-fishing town! I really like this small town after walking around it! Little cafes, tourist shopping traps, fly fishing shops but what I liked most was the views! Just perfect...and the small park down by the river was so beautiful! Couple ball parks and the freshest looking river I have ever seen with a nice backdrop of the Madison Range!

Sleep and eat was the plan for today! So I did and just enjoyed the day! I did have thoughts of feeling lonely today as I usually do on rest days! It's so easy to keep the mind busy when your riding 6-10 hours a day, but when you take the work away I sometimes fail to relax and just be! Living in the moment is what I try to do but sometimes when I'm living in that moment its tough emotionally. Seeing couples walking around holding hands, kids playing on the swings, kids eating ice cream (makes me think of my nieces!) and the thought of having someone with me gets to me sometimes!

I did what I should do today, rest and eat! For dinner I ate at this little cafe and enjoyed watching the people of this little town! (mostly tourist though) - After dinner I headed back to the RV park and grabbed a spot in the tent camping area and called it a day. I really wanted to sleep in the local park but there was a sign that stated $100 fine for overnight camping, and I'm don't have that type of cash with me so I headed to the RV Park where I could sleep and get out of there before anyone woke. I talked with guy earlier and he allowed me to shower for free and I figured he would do the same on the camping as no one was there in the tent area.

Off to sleep I go...