Day 8 (6/12): The long and sorta windy road

Dawn...like everyday on this race it showed up cloudy and cool. Unlike other days though I was actually happy for the overcast and cooler weather, given the task ahead...a 90 mile climb up and over Lolo Pass and into Montana. This is one of the bigger climbs on this course and while I hoped I didn't rain on us a cloudy and cooler day would be beneficial.

As we got all of our stuff together and did our pre-ride maintenance it occurred to me that this might be the last day...at least for awhile....that we would be riding together. Stuart wanted to get some distance in to try and work his way back up to the middle of the pack. Rodrigo, being a strong rider, would likely do the same. Although a decent night's sleep had refreshed me I was still being hampered by my backside issues and knew that I would not be able to keep up with these guys in my current state. Nothing at this point was helping with my now fairly involved saddle sores and I was starting to worry about secondary effects if they got much worse. The constant need to switch up riding positions was dramatically impacting my performance and my daily mileage had been suffering for several days now...was starting to get concerned about the longer term problems that would bring with getting the race done in the amount of time that I had available to complete it.

breakfast in Syringa

As we pulled out onto the course and they pulled ahead of me I waved goodbye and settled in to what I figured was going to be an all-day effort. The first 80 miles of the climb up to Lolo Pass is an easy if somewhat boring segment. More of a false flat than an actual ascent, the route meanders along the Lochsa River which appears to be very popular for rafting and kayaking. It is very cold though and everyone that I saw on the river appeared to be in full dry suits with other snivel gear to ward off the river's icy water.   

There are a few facts that become apparent early on when riding this part of the route. First fact is that if you didn't plan effectively back in Kooskia you could get into trouble, supply-wise, really fast. There is nothing on this segment once you go past Syringa and to be honest I don't think that there was much of anything in terms of supplies past Kooskia. As we had spent some time getting supplies and doing some planning back in Kooskia I felt that I would be ok. I was greatful to have been with Stuart and Rodrigo when we went shopping - more ideas on what would work better for food, etc. during the climb.

The second fact was that like much of the other remote areas cell service was non-existent. It's so bad up there that they still have emergency call boxes at certain spots along the route. As such, anything that needed a data connection was out of luck. I had pre-downloaded an audio book and had ensured that I had the current and next course segments downloaded so at least I wouldn't get lost. I spent a moment talking with a kayaker and asked him about cell service. He shrugged apologetically and said that there was no service for any carrier all the way into Montana. I resisted asking him how they lived up there like that - figured that would be rude but I do wonder in this day and age how folks go without these types of services...services that many of us take as essential day to day utilities. 

The third fact is more of a personal observation...this segment is boring. It's miles and miles of essentially the same thing, at nauseum. While beautiful in general... mountains, trees, and a swiftly flowing river...the constant repetition just gets tedious. This is especially true if you are not making good time...which I wasn't...and even with the audiobook to occupy my mind I found myself hoping for something, anything different to shake the tedium.

pretty but 80 miles of this...

Relief of the constant copy/paste scenery came in the form of a sign showing distance to several upcoming towns, including Lolo Pass.

ok, making progress

About the same time as I came upon this sign I found Rodrigo taking a break on the side of the road. A quick check back and forth to make sure we were both ok...he validated my feelings that this segment was zzzzzz.... We would see each other from time to time for the next 30 miles or so before he pulled away.

As the ride went on, I sort of settled into a routine; ride 10 miles, stop and eat/drink, rest for a couple of minutes, and then repeat the cycle. In doing this I felt that I was keeping a steady flow of calories/fluids coming in while giving my mind something to work with, structure-wise. This helped a lot in blunting the monotony...every mile I would call out "another mile down!" - this really became important near me the end of the first 80 miles, mentally. I know 80 miles isn't really all that far but being 8 days into this, out in the isolation of this segment, and mostly by myself...having short-term goals made a huge difference, especially when I found myself having to ride in a standing position or in some other creative posture to keep off of the saddle - was really starting to hurt.

Just under 80 miles in there is a small climb and at the top there is a sign that tells of a C-store to the right. I don't know if that store is further down the road than I wanted to go but I never did find it. I didn't need supplies per-say but I would have been more comfortable with another bottle of water or Gatorade just in case. I spent about 5 minutes looking for the Sinclair store and then turned back to the course. At this point I got a little bit of a scare; a descent that I didn't think should be there. As I rolled down the hill, the fear of having missed a turn prickled at me for a few minutes - was my map wrong? How far back was the turn? Oh please, no, no, no...

However, within a few miles it became apparent that I was on the right road. The reason it became apparent was that just as I had seen on the map elevation profile the road suddenly veered upward into low Earth orbit...the actual climb to Lolo Pass had begun 😵‍💫. If it had just been me and a slick bike...no bags, no extra weight, etc. then it probably would not have been as tough as it was...it's only about a 6-7% grade for 4.5 miles. But...after an 80 mile effort at 1-2% and with the extra weight of my gear, and with essentially no butt to sit on it became a significant effort. My mantra of "another mile done" became "another mile done...time to rest". Riding mile marker to mile marker I worked my way up the last couple of miles, stripping out of a couple of snivel gear items as the increased effort was leaving me hotter (and not in a good way...) than I had been all day. The only plus here is that the scenic monotony of the day's effort had now been replaced by different views which was helpful in keeping me focused.

Finally came the sign I had wanted to see all day - almost there!

yay!!!

I pushed on past my self-imposed 1 mile per effort and rolled up to the Lolo Pass visitors center. On my "resource guide" - a list of TABR resources - I knew that the center had food, water, wifi... everything that someone crazy enough to ride a bicycle up there might want or need. As I pushed around the corner and into the parking lot I was struck by the...distinct...lack...of....anyone....being...there. Yep, had taken too long to get up the hill - visitor center was closed 😖

no supplies for me 😞

While I was a little disappointed - really could have used a cup of coffee - I was still otherwise really happy; I was at the top of one of the really big climbs of the race and all was (more or less) well! 

made it!

time to regroup 

I ate a bit of the remaining food that I had, including a couple packets of instant oatmeal. While the center was closed the bathrooms were open and they had heat and hot water which enabled the oatmeal preparation. I'm not a big fan of instant oatmeal but it was pretty good at that moment. I was tempted to stop there for the night and bivvy in one of the bathrooms (others have done this in the past) but as there was still no cell service I decided to push on - maybe I could get to the town of Lolo before I quit for the night.

After snivel gearing back up (it was getting cold again) I headed out of the rest area. Before heading down the hill I took the obligatory photo of the "Welcome to Montana"' sign while doing a little fist pump - yes, state number 3! 

Montana!

Down the other side of the pass I bombed, at one point hitting 40+ mph which on a fully loaded bike is a little unnerving. Not a lot of traffic to deal with but I kept a close eye out behind me and moved off the road when / as necessary to avoid cars. While it might have been wiser to stay on the shoulder the amount of debris coupled with the descent speed could have spelled disaster if I had experienced a blowout so I kept to the right lane as much as possible. It was a pretty neat descent and with the speeds I was hitting I was glad that I had decided to go to "max snivel gear" mode...the air was really cold!

About 8 miles down the descent is the town of Lolo Hot Springs. "Town" might be an overstatement - seemed like it was more of a roadside hotel and bar than a town but I didn't do a lot of exploring so there could be more to it. If I had been a little faster coming up the hill and had been able to resupply at the visitor center I probably wouldn't have stopped but was actually in need of real food and some "inside time" at this point so I stopped to grab a bite to eat and some coffee. The "bar and grill" was exactly what you would think a place out in the middle of nowhere would be like - dark, smokey, "interesting" clientele...all of the stereotypes. As I walked my lycra-clad self into this place I got all the looks that you would expect from the stereotype of a place like this...oh well, I saw people eating real food so just smile and wave. It turned out to be a decent place...good grill and the people kept to themselves. Ordered a burger and tots and coffee (thank God). Wifi was decent and so checked in with family and FB... getting up to date.

i believe this to be true...

I was still planning to press on to Lolo once I was done eating. However, it was getting dark and according to the locals there was heavy rain coming in the next hour or so. While I didn't see anything on my weather app I decided to take their advice and bed down down for the night. Although it only rained a little bit throughout the day I felt that I should try to get my kit rinsed out and dry before pushing on. Quick discussion with the hotel mgr. next door and I was set up for the night. In retrospect, I wish that I had pressed on to Lolo...I don't think it rained at all and there were better options there...choices made and all of that.

Tomorrow would be a better day...or so I thought.