Day Fifty-nine (57.5 miles, 2767.3 total): Old Faces, New Places

6:00AM. I am already awake, staring at the ceiling, when my alarm finally goes off. I quickly shut it off and slip out from between the covers. Ella stretches out and rolls around the bed. Nothing was really unpacked, so I take a shower and quickly get dressed for the day. By 6:35AM, I am out the door and on the road again. I pedal down the sleepy streets of Missoula, making my way past the dark windows of closed stores and early morning joggers. The occasional local coffee shop sits open with short lines of regular customers on their way to work. The sun hides its bright face behind the early morning curtain of fog and clouds. At the edge of town, I stop at Starbucks for breakfast (giftcards, thank you!). I take my time and enjoy my breakfast sandwich and extra hot mocha. When I am finally finished, I slip back on the Land Yacht with Ella at the Helm. By the time we reach the main drag of highway, the wind has picked up considerably.

I power through the wind and slowly work my way around the curve of the mountains. The roads are filled with construction traffic and I slip between the neon orange cones to create my own bike lane. Leaving the last of the farmland behind, I worked my way up into the winding roads of the foothills. I made a push up one last big hill before I arrived in the small town of Lolo. Once again, every other store was some kind of casino or lottery vendor. I stopped in a gas station to fill up my water bottles with ice cold water before heading into the mountains.

I made my way through a pretty level stretch of forest, towering trees lined either side of the narrow road. The forest looked as though it had been recently burned, but the homes nestled within, looked like they could have been 30 years old. I realized that the forest fire must have happened before the homes were built and the damage just became apart of the new growth. As I cruised my way out of the burned forest, I spotted a few cyclist about a quarter mile ahead of me. I worked my way through the winding road to catch up with them. A few miles passed, before I was finally able to catch up with them. As it turns out, it's the same cyclists I had run into back in Yellowstone at Old Faithful! I didn't think I would ever see them again with my multi-day detour! We road along together all the way to Lolo Hot Springs. They stopped at the Hot Springs to check it out, but I headed on unwilling to pay the entry fee.

As soon as I passed the Hot Springs, the headwinds I had been fighting, doubled. It was like riding against a brick wall as I struggled up the mountain. There wasn't much shoulder to ride on, so I had to keep a close eye on traffic as I worked my way up Lolo Pass. I dropped into my granny gear and crawled against the wind. Mile after mile slowly passed by while I worked to reach the top. The crawling wasn't so bad because of the absolutely beautiful scenery all around me. Towering trees and trickling brooks distracted me from the constant struggle against the prevailing winds.

At last, as I climbed the final stretch to the top, I crossed the Missouri/Idaho border. I stopped for my obligatory picture, almost wiping out in the process, before cruising to the top and into the Lolo Pass Visitors Center. Relaxing out front, the other cyclists finally caught up with me and we all went inside to enjoy complimentary hot chocolate, coffee, and tea. Lolo Pass Visitor's Center is by far the most spectacular and welcoming State Park Visitor's Center I have ever been in.

We all stayed for about an hour or so to recover from the wind and the climb. The rangers let us know that no cell provider had signal for the next 107 miles to Kooskia. They provided cyclists with a WiFi password so we could contact friends/family before we made the 107 mile trek to Kooskia. I talked to my mom for a while and then headed back down the road. Fortunately for us, the next 107 miles were either all downhill or level ground. It was a major stroke of luck and I was ready to bomb it and make it to Kooskia in two days.

I started my charge down the mountain, quickly reaching 35mph+ whipping around every corner and leaning over every straight away. I was making great progress until the winds hit. I went from 37mph to 6mph in one single gust of wind. I felt utterly defeated. It was a contest just to keep a steady 11mph as I powered my way down the mountain. All downhill and I could only reach 11mph, how sad is that?? On the plus side, Idaho is one of the most beautiful pristine states I have even seen, especially the Clearwater State Park. I cruised next to the Clearwater River for the rest of the day. On my way down the mountain, I rode right into a forest of Giant Cedar trees. They were absolute beasts of trees, some had to be a good 8-10ft in diameter. It was a stunning sight to see.

When I reached Lochsa Lodge, I followed the road around back into the state park to camp for the evening. The Adventure Cycling group also happened to be in the same park and invited me to stay with them. It was a blast hanging out with my new friends. I got a sweet campsite and they invited me to dinner that night as well. They were an awesome group of people and I was glad to have met up with them. I spent the evening talking with everyone in the group and hiding from the rain under a massive fold out gazebo. When the sun finally set beyond the mountains and the dark veil of night filled the sky, I crawled into my tent, buried myself into my sleeping bag and went to sleep. I hope you are enjoying our adventures and continue to follow us as we head for the Left Coast!