Biking, Day 7: 7/23/2009

Day 7: Thompson Falls, MT to Missoula, MT
Distance: 101 miles
Route: MT Route 200 the entire way (merges with 93/W Broadway)
Lodging: Holiday Inn Express, 1021 East Broadway, Missoula. $50/night via Priceline

I woke up at 5am* and got on the road by 6am. Thompson Falls was gorgeous in the morning. The thing about Thompson Falls is that there are NO FALLS. Let me repeat: there are no waterfalls in Thompson Falls. When the hostess slash owner of my motel told me to take a nice walk 'down where the falls used to be', I was a bit take aback. I did some research and Thompson Falls was founded by an explorer with the last name Thompson. Back then, there were waterfalls. It was considered a hot spot because Coeur D'Alene had struck gold. So the folks who lived in Thompson Falls went up and over the same pass that I did.
Anyway, the waterfalls were covered by a power dam. Of course, no one thought to change the name. Bastards.
I started my ride and decided to take route 200 the entire way. My directions had a slightly shorter route, but they were complicated and I could see from my paper map that 200 went to Missoula.
It was a lovely morning, but my seat was giving my pain again. I stopped to readjust a few times. Around 8:30 I rolled into Plains, MT. A man asked to join me, i told him to hop on. Oh Western hospitality. When riding through, I saw a bank clock that said 9:30. It struck me then that I was on Mountain time. Duh. I was an hour off. Bullocks.
I stopped for coffee at a gas station that had coffee, hot dogs, and a casino, all prominently advertised. I drank my coffee on a picnic bench, looked at my map, and fixed up my bike. An elderly couple drove up and started chatting with me. They asked where I was from (I just said Boston). The old guy told a cute story about how he once had a friend from Newton and his friend's father was a real estate developer and had a lot of money. He took him to a hockey game, which he said 'changed his life, Boston was so eye-opening' for a 17 year old Iowa farm boy. The man and woman had grown up in Iowa, but settled in Montana. He told me to be careful - it will suck you in.
Indeed, Montana has been absolutely gorgeous.
I continued on and it started getting ridiculously hot. I stopped a few times for short stops to readjust my seat, but kept going. I usually take one break in the am (around 30 miles), then another when I have 20-30 miles left and when it's super hot out.
I pulled into my afternoon stop at a gas station slash grocery store and got some water, pop, and a snack. A woman asked where I was from, I told her, and she welcomed me to God's country: isn't it great without all the people around? Indeed. Later she told me she would be praying for me. God bless.
At the stop, i called my mom. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!
When I left the gas station, I started back on 93/200 to Missoula. only, there was some significant road construction. For 13 miles. The last thing you want when you have 25 miles to your destination is to have to stop and walk every few miles, which I did. The road was being ripped up, there was no lane for bikes and it was a rough road.
Finally, I got through and continued on. It was hot. I went down a big big hill, then back up, then down into Missoula. it seems to be a theme in MT that all big cities are in a valley, and there's a big mountain to climb ahead of time. Noted.
There's really no way to accurately describe what it feels like to roll into your destination after an entire day biking. It's sort of like relief combined with high fiving yourself combined with anticipation of getting off the bike seat (ouch). It felt good today. It was a long day.
Missoula is a cute college town. It's hip and there's a lot of fast food, young people, and bikers. I got to my hotel, the Holiday Inn Express, at the eastern end of town and checked in.
I have been pretty tired after my long days of biking and today was no exception. I decided to splurge and order food for delivery. I figured a college town would have plenty of that.
I wrote the blog, uploaded pictures, washed my clothes, showered, and went to bed. I set my alarm for 5am (mountain time) for my long day tomorrow - 125 miles to Helena. After today, I was nervous. I was at exhaustion when I got to Missoula. Could I have done another 25 miles? Riding with bigger tires, through mountains, and with panniers is harder than I expected. I bike 15-20 MPH with a road bike and no gear. On my trip, I have been biking more like 10-15MPH. I had expected to be able to go a bit faster. It makes for long days. perhaps when I hit the flatter part of the country, if I have some tailwind, I will go faster.
My sunburn is getting better. Yay.