Day 21: August 1st, 2010 (Route: Lolo, MT to Kookias, ID)

Day 21: August 1st, 2010 (Route: Lolo, MT to Kookias, ID)

Technical Data:
Distance, miles: 135.87
Ride Time (Time Moving): 8:57:17
Work, kJ: 5122
Average Power, watts: 158
Normalized Power, watts: 180
Average Speed, mph: 15.08

Forecast - Storms have passed, nice days to come. High mid 80's with some light winds with partly cloudy sky's!

Woke up this morning in a pool of water! Gotta love it...okay I hated it!!! The storms last night were not too bad, actually I think the storms that were heading out way didn't even make it. However the sprinklers did make it! The sprinklers went off all night long on Jordan's tent and mine. This sucked, and I couldn't really do anything about it besides just wait it out! Around 5:30 I really had to go to the bathroom so I just decided to get up, I was cold and my tent leaked a little so I was ready to get up as I don't like to sleep in a pool of water, okay I'm sure noone really likes this! So I got up, grab the book I have been reading. "To a God Unknown" by Steinbeck. I read his book 'The Pearl" when I was in high school so when I saw it in this free box of books I grab it and figured it might read like The Pearl and it would be good to have another book along this journey...

Heading over to the store, I'm shivering as I'm sure I'm down to less than 5% of body fat. I have lost a lot of weight on this trip. Along with shivering I'm sore from my tumble the day before, my right quad is pretty narled and my right shoulder that I landed on is pretty sore. Once into the store I buy some hot chocolate to warm up, grab a sit and read, I figure I would do this until the sun came up becuase the boys were sleeping in there warm sleeping bags and I was going to have to wait to dry all my stuff out before heading out for the day. Once the sun came up I started to walk back to my tent to start hanging things up so they would dry out! Almost everything I didn' put in the dry bag were wet, not soak just a little damp, however my tent appears to be more like a swimming pool!

Hanging everything up on this fence right next to the fire house I decided to change out that tire I wanted to yesterday. I moved all my things down on the bleachers where I was going to change the tire. About half way into changing the tire the sprinklers on the field come on and soak everything that has almost completely dried out for the last 45 minutes. I wasn't too happy about this, however thinking about it now I'm laughing! I was a little cranky this morning, odds are due to the lack of sleep I had gotten and the wreck from yesterday. Maybe the town of Missoula, MT was out to get me!

So I have about another hour and a half to wait before all my things are dry, so I eat a little breakfast and lie down and read! I was anxious to get on the road today though as I wanted to make up for mileage from yesterday and prove I can keep the rubber side down today. Time passed, packed things up and got on the road. Stopped to fill my nutrition bottle and water. The highway out of Lolo, MT is a steady 30 mile climb up to the summit. It's a nice slope, really nothing over 6% at the top of the climb, however it is a long pass! The scenery though was serene! I have to say this part of MT is beautiful and the part of Idaho I'm about to venture into is supposed to be amazing as well.

I wasn't feeling really good heading up the pass, the wreck the day before was mentally bothering me, I knew the shoulder and leg were sore however I didn't know how long they would last today. Climbing up the pass was great, however mentally draining as this is really not a way to warm up the legs with a 30 mile climb. I knew that once over the pass the water services were bare, meaning a 65 mile stretch without any services so I wanted to fill up on water every chance I got and get as much liquids in me today to ensure a nice speedy downhill to ensure I had plenty of fluids in me going into Lowell. The ride was steady and as time passes I start to feel pretty good about the shoulder and hip. I stop for water at a couple of places and on the last place before the last push to the summit I stop at a restuarant where I see a large group of Adventure Cyclist, a group of 10 or so heading to Oregon on a guided trip. Didn't talk long as I wanted to get a move on and with starting around 10:30 I was certain to have a long day if I was going to cover the mileage I wanted to cover.

Heading out of the restaurant it didn't take me long to catch the cyclist up the road, 5 of them all spinning up the pass. I have been kinda jealous of all those gears as many are pushing three rings in the front with over a 30 in the rear while I'm pushing a typically road racing group with nothing more than a 25 on the rear. I thought about this for a little while and sure wish I was able to spin at 85+ up theses passes versus the 50-65 I am having to push, however I know I'm getting stronger as I can feel the transformation in the quads. After passing the group I unzipped my jersey and just took it too the summit at a steady clip. Once at the summit where there rested many motorcycles and tourist I grabbed some water, chatted with one other cyclist that didn't appear at all up stairs and headed out.

The sign for the decent said 99 miles of curvy roads head, now I know why the Fire Fighters at the station mentioned they pull motorcyclist off this pass all the time. It's the adrenaline rush they get when traveling on this winding highways. Dressed in full racing gear some, with metal knee pads and skid jackets (really not sure what they are called), full leather and helmets. I wonder what its like traveling at 100+ down these winding roads, I get the rush on the bicycle at 50-60 mph and extremely narrow tires compared to the wide tires and horsepower they are pushing. Maybe someday I'll ride on of those, howeve for now I'll stick to the pedal power as I get more enjoyment out of all the health benefits it provides.

The decent was about 5-6 miles of 6% grade and it went pretty fast, I had one of the guys in the touring group pass me on the downhill with his paniers. The BoB can get a little squirrelly going downhill, and after yesterday I was planning on taking it easy. I took the Ironman mentality here, the one I use when I'm just starting the bike, "Let him go, he'll come back to you!" and he did! To the flats (which was a slight grade downhill) I pulled him back in and he drafted off me for the longest time. Stating you just too areo, I thought "right" if I was too areo you wouldn't have passed me on the downhill. It was power that kept him from passing me on the flats, reason for him drafting. I haven't drafted on this trip because I want to ride the coast to coast trip by means of my own power.

After the decent there is a little town of Powell, which just really a restaurant and a little store with some cabins around along with some camp sites. I stop and refill my bottles, use the restroom and grab a snickers bar along with down a few begals I purchased the day before. Once back to the bike, I noticed I didn't have my phone with me. I hadn't been carrying it all day as the service in the ClearCreek National Forest doesn't exist, which I like sometimes! I backtrack and sure enough I left it in the bathroom on the sink while I was washing my hands. Back on the road I had about a 60 mile downhill (slight downhill) and I planned on taking it to Lowell and determining how I feel if I want to do the next 23 miles into Kooskia, ID. The scenery is the best part of this trip!!!

The headwinds were still unforgiving today, a downhill into the wind is not all that pleasant!

Landscape on the other day is serene. Picturesque!!! River flowing downhill on my left, rolling terrain blanketed with lush green forest. Timber so think you can't see 5 feet into it. I often wonder if some of this land has yet to be unexplored? Visited by humans only on occasion, 60 mile stretch of this beautiful river and the open road! Thoughts were every where on this section as it was relatively easy riding but I did have my patches of low energy, howeve I have been fueling extremely well today. I was hoping to see some wildlife in the area today, however it was later in the afternoon when I hit this stretch due to the sprinklers earlier in the day. Funny how the day started out so bad, sprinklers, being cold, and sore! The day was getting better and better, the sun was shining and the air was fresh! The more I pedaled today the more I felt stronger and stronger, true I was going downhill but the wind was not letting up so I was having to work a little. The black top through this section is something else, like riding on glass its so smooth.

I thought this would be a great century ride for all those cyclist out there. A nice easy 30 mile climb then a huge downhill of 60 so miles with the most serene part of Idaho I have scene! Missoula is where they shot "A River Runs Through It" according to my sister-in-law to give you a since of what this part of the country looks like.

Still with all this beauty surrounding me I was feeling pretty lonely today. Funny how all those questions leading up this point hae been "No, I haven't felt lonely much", well the rest day was a huge day of feelings and emotions. This day had a lot of thoughts in it, like what am I doing out here? Will I ever meet the right one? Have I met her? Really haven't had much communication with people back in the midwest but the one I have I really enjoy spending time with and talking too. I've prayed everyday on this trip that she'll be the one but only God knows who is meant for me, so I walked away. I left when I didn't want to, so much momentum lost in building a relationship but I needed to. Getting away was needed as she's dating someone else, funny how I have the worst timing when it comes to dating and relationships, but I was really hoping and praying this was the one. Thoughts like this going through my head, taking me out of the moment all day. I'm not sure where this relationship will go but it has been on my mind a lot today as I had a dream about her last night. A pleasant dream of being at peace, not confused and knowing what God wants for me and her. Maybe it will be, maybe it won't, however I do know I'll love her no matter what.

I often think of what its going to be like when I'm married, sharing a life with someone. I would love to be sharing this experience with someone as its what many say a "Once in a Life Time" experience. It has been so far, all the great people I have met, all the great scenery the United States has to offer. I have to question why Americans travel out of the country when we have this vast supply of scenery to enrich our sites. Pictures are one thing, howeve no camera lens produced by any human will ever outdue what can be scene by the naked eye! Photos and pictures may paint a picture of a thousand words, however what is viewed in person is priceless and makes many speechless!

The ride was going as planned and I was progressively getting stronger as the day went on! Once into Lowell, ID a town of 23 people I decided right away that I was going to push on to the next town of Kooskia, ID to set up camp. The town is a little bigger and has more services so I could get some chocolate milk. The next 23 miles was so easy, it wasn't downhill any more but more flat and rolling. I love this type of terrain as I love rolling over hills and using my power and momentum to roll up the next and push the flats. The ride didn't take very long, homes in this area where really interesting as there was no bridge across the river. Most homes on the other side of the river used a pully system to cross, what an adventure every day to wake up and cross a beautiful river in a cable car, I would like to just do it once to see what its like and pause right above the river and wright, imagining what type of thoughts would come to fruition out there suspended above the trout and flowin water.

Once into Kooskie, ID I hit up the local store for some water as I am hungry and will need it for cooking then hit the grocery where I grab some milk (chocolate of course) and some bananas for breakfast. All they had was a gallon of chocolate milk so I went for it. I thought about the gallon challenge however I didn't want to waste it by puking it all back up so I opted out. I sipped on the milk pretty much all through the night and boy did it sure taste good! Asking the clerk at the grocery about local camping she mentioned a local park just a few blocks down so I head in that direction to check it out.

Perfect! The park was ideal, right next to the river, bathrooms, water, and power to charge my electronics. The power was a plus as both my phone and computer were dead to the world. First thing I make up some pasta and down some more chocolate milk and get things plugged in before setting up camp. Park is filled with birds and the dogs across the street won't stop barking, just picture three little dogs (and when I mean little, I mean little) and they won't shut up! After a couple of hours they settle which is nice! After downing my pasta and milk I settle in to start writing and try to capture most of the day.

I know that many thoughts have been lost along this journey as the mind fills with millions a day, some useful some not! It's up to my memory to try and capture the useful ones letting the others just float to another day.

As I sit here this morning finishing up this post I'm thinking what everyone else is doing? Its Monday morning and people are headed or currently at work and I'm sitting in this park in Kooskia, ID eating some peanut butter bagels and enjoying a hot cup of hot cocoa. Listening to the birds chirp and watching them peck for their breakfast. The river is calm, sky blue but not as blue as in Colorado or at altitude, the sun warms my body and the foothills are something. Kooskia, ID is nestled in the this mounds right outside the national forest. Very clean and small, I think the populatin is close to 700 people or so. Thinking do I sit and enjoy the day or get on my bike and ride. I'm less then 1000 miles to my destination in Oregon and I hope to be there within the next 10 days so I have a lot of work ahead of me. Then it's down the coast to San Diego before I catch a flight to Yorktown or some where close to finsh the trip to Missouri.

I've had thoughts of getting through as I would love to see this girl I have been thinking about the entire trip. To catpure just one more hug from her! I have only been hugged once on this trip and it was from Cookie at the small cafe in Wisdom, MT and it was much needed. I hope to see her and Carl again in LA if the timing is right and they are in the city and not out exploring, however if they were I would completely understand! To be hugged by this girl would be nice, to arrive back into Missouri and have someone waiting for me would be something special. I used to travel alot with work and never really wanted to go home because there was really never a reason to. Wanting this has been somethign I have dreamt of for some time. Reading Steinbeck's book as made this desire stronger too after reading "a man has to have something to tie to, something he can trust to be there in the morning." I have the Lord and I will always have him however someone to interact with on a daily basis, someone to care about and receive that love is something I desire so...