Day 57 – Missoula, MT to Wilderness Gateway Campground, ID

July 26^th:

We had 96 miles to ride, so we woke up at 4:30am and headed out, bound for a campground in the middle of the state park we’d spend our day riding in.

The next three days were going to be long, and we were already nervous.  About 10 miles into our ride, we saw a sign for Lewiston, informing us that it was 209 miles away.  The thing is, we were scheduled to arrive there the following afternoon.  So we were riding about 96 miles this day followed by a 120+ mile ride the next day.  Our hearts hurt a little when we saw this particular sign.

I was riding in a lady gang of Martha, Lindsay, Sam, and Hannah.  The morning started out a little chilly and we were bundled up.  We passed by a group of Team Seattle riders going the opposite way we were going, and somehow even though we had just seen them, it was exciting to pass by and wave to them.  There’s a certain comradery that you feel when you see other 4K cyclists, and really just cyclists in general.

In the morning, the mountains were mostly covered by what looked like burned trees.  I’ve heard of controlled burns, and this could have been the end result of one of them.  It was still pretty, and the taller mountains still had some evergreens that had summer morning clouds hovering and spiraling through them.

As we continued our climb, which was the perfect grade as it was just steep enough to be climbing but it was comfortable, we began to see more and more evergreen trees!!

We saw signs like this, too!

We were on a road that curved through the mountains along a scenic river.

After the second water stop, the final bit of the climb was steeper and a little bit more challenging, but once we got to the top of the pass, we crossed over into Idaho (we’re baaaaack) and into the Pacific Time Zone!!  We saw the Montana sign in the other direction, and it just so happened that some motorcyclists were taking a break at the sign.  Martha, Hannah, and I asked if we could take a photo with their motorcycles in front of the sign.  Confession: we haven’t been cycling this whole time, actually…. we’ve just been riding these motorcycles… (just kidding)

We stopped at the visitor’s center to grab a sticker for our bikes and learn a little bit about the landscape.  All of these evergreens is what I picture when I think of the PNW region of the country.  It was so beautiful!

Lunch was at this incredible location:

Jessie looked like a mermaid taking a nap on one of the rocks along the creek.

After lunch, we were tired but we pushed on.  Even though the scenery was wonderful, it was hard to maintain focus when we’d been riding through the same landscape all day.  We stopped to take a photo of another team on a bridge, and they took a photo of our team there.  That’s an unspoken deal between two teams that stop at a scenic spot or sign or whatever.

We were riding in silence for a while before Martha said to me “AGH okay I’m falling asleep and I need to talk so I stay awake!”  So that’s what we did.  We talked about her time in Sweden studying abroad and her strange experiences working with spinal cord injury patients (she’s now a licensed physical therapist, which has been a great resource for our team).  I told her about my first experience on a road bike, which included the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Appalachian Mountains of NC, a common place for Lance Armstrong to train.  We chatted until suddenly, we had made it the last 15 miles of the day and we were at our campsite.  We bathed in the river, ate dinner, and then Hannah and I went to bed before the sun went down.  The next day was a 120 mile day, and then the next day was a 103 mile day.  This, in all of Team Portland’s opinion, was a very poor decision on the part of the 4K office, who planned our route before the summer started.  This was our first time camping, and getting ready in the morning would be a totally different process.  Packing up tents and trying to get ready in the dark was an experience we weren’t used to yet, and placing a 120 mile day following such a night was nerve-racking.  But one of our bike jerseys says “Team Portland – Find a way,” so we figured we should probably just do that.  Here’s a possibly creepy photo of Hannah sleeping inside our tent that she is unaware I snapped:

Day 56 – Rest Day in Missoula, MT

July 25^th:

We slept in after a late night out and got ready to explore the town!  Emma and I got coffee first thing.  The coffee shop also had Missoula stickers, which we obviously put on our bicycles!  Everyone looks for stickers wherever we go.  There is still a little bit of room on each of our bikes to apply stickers from places along our journey.

Later, we ate lunch at the church before heading out in bigger groups to explore.  I hopped on my bike along with Julia, Lizzy, and Sean.  We browsed around a craft festival where artists were selling all kinds of things.

We later biked down to the Farmer’s Market and also walked through the Celtic festival that was going on beside the river.  There was food, music, and dancing on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

We went to the river to check out the surfers riding the major wave in the river to see how long they could stand up (the answer is… not very long).

I had to go to a bike shop in the afternoon because my bike was making a horrible creaking sound.  Turns out it was my bottom bracket, and I’m still not entirely sure which piece that is.  The guys at the Bicycle Hanger worked hard to find the part I needed at another shop and did the maintenance for me that afternoon, knowing that I’d be leaving the next morning!  I was so thankful for the work they put in with such short notice.

After Hannah and I got ice cream at the local Big Dipper ice cream shop, we met up with Sean and Julia at the church and then took a 5 minute walk to the University of Montana at Missoula campus.  It had a great lawn and was overall very pretty.  We enjoyed each other’s company as we talked about how we will describe this trip to others after it’s over.

It really is hard to explain a trip like this.  I struggle with writing blogs because many of the events that bring me the most happiness are very situational and difficult to explain.  Even if I did try to write about everything, I feel that most of it would go unappreciated to the reader, as most of these are “you had to be there” moments.  Hannah asked me how I would respond to someone who simply asked “so, how was your trip this summer?”  I told her that I’ve struggled with that question since Bike & Build, and I would probably say something like this: it’s an incredible feeling to live in every single moment of every single day.  On the other hand, it’s an exhausting and unsustainable lifestyle.  Every morning, I wake up unbelievably sleep deprived, and I wonder how I’m going to pedal a bicycle all day.  Every night, I face the reality that I’m going to bed entirely too late to make up that deficit with a daunting 4am wake-up call the next morning.  BUT I never feel a lack of purpose, and I never feel bored.  I love knowing that each day, I will ride to a new town with 28 other people who are just as physically and mentally fatigued as I am, but still manage to laugh at everything and appreciate that our bodies are allowing us to do what we’re doing.  When I was on Bike & Build, my teammate Amelia shared a quote with our team from a poem by Mary Oliver, and it has always resonated with me:

“Let me keep company always with those who say

‘Look!’ and laugh in astonishment,

and bow their heads.”

I love being around people who have a passion for life – for the big and little things.  When I’m having a bad day, there is inevitably a teammate who is having a great day and I know they can help cheer me up.  Seeing stunning world wonders and knowing that you pedaled yourself there is the most rewarding experience I’ve ever had.  Admittedly, this section of my blog has become more of a tangent that I had planned, but it’s what I’ve been thinking about when I’m on the bicycle for 8+ hours a day.  I’m thankful for having another opportunity to engage in such an adventure, and I’m thankful for the teammates who influence me along the way.  It was a restful rest day and it was exciting to see a city that I’d heard so much about – it lived up to my expectations, and I cannot wait to visit again!  I will end with a photo of me with my favorite person on this trip, Julia. (I’m sorry to my teammates who are reading this, but I DO have a favorite, and it IS Julia and I think it’s okay to admit that.  You all understand.)

Day 55 – Drummond, MT to Missoula, MT

July 24^th:

We turned a 96 mile day into a 47 mile day!!!  Don’t ask me how… it’s a secret.  It was a secret path that landed us several flats, but we made it to the SUPER COOL city of Missoula in record time!

I’ve been told by several people that Missoula is the Asheville (a hippie mountain town in NC… one of my favorite places) of Montana, and I was excited to confirm that comparison.  When we got there, we unpacked the van and then a strange thing happened – Kevin had to be taken to the hospital.  Here’s the sort of strange thing: he didn’t ride that day.  He was in the van.  We’ve had more than one occasion now when a person has to get taken to the hospital on their van day.  He hit his head on some metal part in the doorway of the van, and it was bleeding pretty badly.  He had to get some staples put in and wear this gauze on his head.  We all made fun of him and told him he looked like he was wearing a yamaka.

We did laundry and got lunch – two important business matters that needed to be taken care of before any fun could begin.  Afterward, a group of us went to a brewery, where they provided four samples of beer!  They weren’t pint glasses or anything big, but they were… enough.  Everyone’s tolerance has significantly decreased on this trip.

After returning to the church to meet up with others, we walked down to another brewery on a street near where we were staying.  This one definitely had the Asheville vibe I was looking for.  The bartender was hilarious and so cool, sporting a hipster mustache and telling us of all the bars to check out on the main stretch.  He told us which places were touristy and which were the favorites of the locals.  He was so cool that we accused some of the straight men in our group of crushing on him, and they all admitted that they would not be upset if he joined us later.  Sean wouldn’t let us move on to the next bar until he got to say goodbye to this bartender.

At the next bar, we found Zack – aka “Pops” or “Dad,” because he’s our ride director – sporting what we refer to as his “safari hat.”  He has no shame in wearing it out in public, but we’re a little embarrassed for him.

We then went to a bar called the Union, which we’d been referred to by one of our white water rafting guides in Bozeman.  There was live music and dancing and we really brought the party with us.  We met some of our teammates after they’d been there for a while, and we found them very sweaty from all the dancing they’d been doing. Later in the night, we met up with Team Seattle, who was also staying in Missoula for the next couple of nights.  This would be the last time we’d cross paths with them on this journey!  Overall, it was a fun night and a great start to our time in Missoula.

Day 54 – Butte, MT to Drummond, MT

July 23rd:

This 83 mile day started out rainy and dreary.  I was in a ride group with Kendra, Amanda, Gino, and Rhani, and it was lined up to be a tough day, mostly because we were just so tired.  The weather didn’t help that feeling, either.

Within the first 20 miles, we took a dirt/gravel road, which we always love (I hope you’re sensing the sarcasm here). One of my favorite things that Kendra does is when she says “no!” with sort of a chuckle, as if to say “is this a joke? Why is this happening??”  The second we saw this road, this was her response.  We had to walk our bikes for several yards because our bikes did not hold up in the deep sand/dirt/gravel.  We made it through and were bound for the first water stop when Rhani got a flat.  Unfortunately, Kendra and I had been too far ahead of the rest of the group to realize what had happened.  Over a mile later when we looked back and didn’t see them rounding the corner, we decided we needed to go back and make sure everything was alright.  We waited while she changed her flat and then rolled in as the last team to the first water stop.  It was still drizzly and gross by this time in the morning, and we decided it would just be one of those days.  However, in the second 20 miles of the day, the sun came out and we were able to take off some of our warmer layers.  We had the second water stop of the day on a lake!

I remember just being very tired on this ride and thinking I needed to simply make it through.  I got some caffeine in my system when we passed by a gas station and I put on some music when I had service, all just to stay awake!  The lunch stop was super quick because we could see the dark clouds in the distance and we decided to head onward before it got worse.  We scarfed down bananas, Subway sandwiches, pizza, and anything else before we headed out for the remaining 20 miles of the day.  As it turns out, we were going into the storm anyway.  It was a good thing I grabbed my rain jacket after dropping it off in the van earlier in the day because it started to downpour cold rain.  Shortly thereafter, it began hailing.  We rode through it for a little bit before stumbling upon an auto repair garage that had the door open, and the owner was kind enough to let us stand in the shelter with our bikes as we waited out the storm.  Sean pulled out his phone and examined the radar, determining that once this wave of storm passed through, we needed to hop on our bikes quickly to beat the next storm wave coming roughly 30 minutes afterward.  We zoomed out as soon as we noticed that the rain was letting up.  Several riding groups were merged together as we traveled down the country roads into the small town of Drummond, staring at the dark clouds ahead that were dropping so much rain that we couldn’t see the surrounding mountain land past the large streak of the downpour.  Luckily, it moved quickly to the right as we skirted passed it on the left.  We made it to the school and got ice cream at the local shop.  We were excited to head to Missoula the next day for a day off in this awesome town that I’d heard so much about!

Day 53 – Bozeman, MT to Butte, MT

July 22^st:

I had a host van day with Lindsay.  Unfortunately, even though we’re not riding, we still have to wake up with the rest of the team, and since it was a long day of about 97 miles, it was a 4:00am wake up.  Once we saw the team off, we stayed in Bozeman and went to the same coffee shop where I’d spent much of the afternoon the day before.  It was cozy and perfect for catching up on blogs and post cards!

We spent the day acquiring lunch for our team.  We successfully got donations from several restaurants in Bozeman, although we were denied from many as well.  We have this word “itis” (pronounced eye-tiss, or like the end of tendonitis) which we have defined as the feeling you get when you eat too much at lunch and then you’re stuck in sort of a food coma while riding your bike.  You’re sleepy, you’re entirely too full, and you just feel like you’ll never make it to the host.  I don’t think it’s a real term, although I’m not really sure.  Anyway, it’s just an overall bad feeling, or what seems to be an inflammation of everything.  When you’re in host van, you know you’ve done well with the food donations if everyone itis-es, because that means people ate a lot because you got great food.  It sucks to be a rider with the itis though, and we definitely gave that to them this day.

Peering down the road in the direction the riders was going was frightening because it appeared as though a storm was a-brewin’.

When the last group left, we packed up all the remaining food and trash and headed in the same direction toward Butte.  When we passed the riders, it was clear that the head winds from the storm were putting up quite the fight against them as they began climbing the major hill of the day.  The timing of this hill was rather unfortunate, due to the aforementioned itis.  Everyone made it in safely, though.  When we arrived, a trolley – yes, an actual trolley – took us to shower at the YMCA, then to the hospital where we got a tour of the cancer center from the doctor who worked there, followed by dinner provided by the hospital as well.  Afterward, the trolley driver gave us a tour of the town.  It’s not a big town, and it’s certainly seen better days, but it was interesting nonetheless.

As usual, we went to bed as soon as we could!  I slept in the nursery of a church.  I realized that I haven’t been posting photos of my sleeping locations, but to help put it in perspective…

Day 52 – Rest day in Bozeman, MT

July 21st:

We woke up at the super late hour of 8:30am and hopped in the vans at 9 to go white water rafting!!  We were warned that since they didn’t experience heavy snowfall this winter, the rapids would be more like a lazy river.  I didn’t think that was the case, though.  It was true that parts of it were calm, but it was still an exciting ride!  At one point, we got caught on a rock and our raft was tilted upward so that water was rushing in.  Our guide had it under control and new how to solve the situation.  Patrick and Sarah G. had to get out of the raft and up onto the rock so we could attempt to save our raft.  I managed to pull Vadim up out of the water by his life vest, which he later acknowledged by saying “I actually thought it was Patrick or Ross (our guide) pulling me up… I was surprised when I realized it was YOU!”  That’s right, people – I saved Vadim’s life that day.  In actuality, he would have been fine floating a little ways down the shallow river.  Matt fell out of the raft during this event and he just floated down to the next raft which picked up and returned him to us at a later time.  It was all hilarious and thrilling.

I only took one photo of Jo and I in some of our rafting gear.  I didn’t make the group photo, unfortunately, because I was putting some clothes away in the van.  Also, the really awesome photo (the third one down) of rafting was taken by Kendra, and it’s so great that she should sell it to the rafting company to use for advertising.  The last photo was taken by a photographer with the rafting company, and even though it’s not of my group, it’s a good representation of our experience!

In the afternoon, I went to a coffee shop called Wild Joe’s to work on my blog.  Later, Julia, Jessie, and Lizzy came to hang out with me.  I’m going to miss having all these wonderful friends around to spend time with me!  It’s so convenient to have 28 other people to call upon and hang out with at all times.

For dinner, we went to a pizza and pasta restaurant provided by Vadim’s high school friend’s parents.

Lizzy, Jessie, Emma, Kendra and I got ice cream afterward at a food truck!  It was SO SO SO good!!!!

It was early to be afterward because the next morning would be a 4am wake up for a roughly 100 mile ride to Butte, MT.  I was scheduled to be in the host van with Lindsay, though, so I went to bed knowing I’d have another day of rest!

Day 51 – Ennis, MT to Bozeman, MT

July 20^th:

A short ride day of only about 55 miles!  This day flew by and it was nice to get into Bozeman at the reasonable hour of about 1:00pm.  I was in the most kick-ass ride group of Lizzy, Jessie, Hannah, and Julia.  It’s unfortunate that the ride wasn’t longer with these hilarious ladies, but we spent some quality time at the coffee shop that morning to maximize our time together.

We rode along, laughing and talking about anything at all.  There were a couple of climbs in the morning that were slightly unexpected, but we got through them, slowly but surely.  Lizzy has had a rough couple of days because she blew out a tire – and I mean BLEW OUT A TIRE – the day before.  She was riding on Patrick’s wheel and tire because he was scheduled to be in the van that day.  Sadly, she also blew out his tire on this ride – and again, I mean irreparably blew it out.  I’m not sure how this has happened to her twice, but she was really upset about it because tires are NOT CHEAP and now she would have to buy two new tires.  She was especially upset because she’d be missing out on our lady gang ride, but to be honest the route itself was not the prettiest it’s ever been, so we told her she didn’t miss out on much.

I didn’t take many photos at all.  It was nice to casually ride with my teammates and get to Bozeman early enough to do laundry, go to a couple of bike shops, and relax.

Later that night, my team went to a rooftop bar.  We tend to overwhelm and take over places.  I met up with a friend and fellow chemistry major, Brandon, from Appalachian State, who was visiting Bozeman with his girlfriend!  It was such a coincidence that we were here at the same time, and it was great to get caught up on where life has taken us since graduating in 2012!

You guys, Bozeman is SO COOL!  The downtown area is not too big but not too small.  There are great local restaurants and coffee shops and bars all up and down Main St.  It’s got an outdoorsy vibe and the mountains hover all around.  There are TONS of bike shops!!  Overall, one of my favorite towns that we’ve ridden through.  Montana is awesome, so far!!!

Day 50 – West Yellowstone, MT to Ennis, MT

July 19^th:

IT WAS 34 DEGREES FARENHEIT WHEN WE WOKE UP THIS MORNING.  WHAT THE HELL, MONTANA?!?  We were honestly freaking out.  That is unbearably cold weather to ride bikes in.  As we were all packing our bags in the community room at the church and mentally preparing for an extremely cold ride, Kyle yelled out to everyone “your duffle bags should be EMPTY today!! You should be wearing everything!!” It was hilarious but also sort of true.  I was wearing more layers than I ever imagined having to wear on a bike ride in July. 

It was a short ride of 72 miles.  Knowing that, we went to a coffee shop and spent a significant amount of time just staying warm.

It was a struggle to motivate ourselves to leave.  We were bundled up and many of us were wearing bandanas on our faces to block the frigid wind.  Before we knew it, it was warming up.  We peeled off layers miles before the first water stop.  We biked alongside a beautiful mountain lake, which is how I envisioned Montana when daydreaming about the route prior to this trip.

We stopped near some adorable log cabins that sat right on the lake.  I kept thinking about how much m dad would love this – a log cabin on a beautiful lake in the mountains!  His dream come true!  We stopped to feel how cold the water was (not as cold as we thought) and to skip rocks. 

Zack is a good rock skipper, but his rain jacket was thrust into the water on one of his throws.  I got a nice photo line-up to illustrate this unfortunate occurrence.

      

Everything about this ride was wonderful!

Emma and I were dressed as opposites today! hehe 🙂

I got a flat when we made a quick pit stop at the bottom of the hill, but as Jessie said “if you had to get a flat, isn’t it great that you got it here??”  She had a great point – the view of the lake was stunning and there was a sign that provided information as to how the lake was formed nearly overnight by an earthquake in 1959!

We had lunch along the river, and I enjoyed just staring out into the distance, watching the fishermen as they glided by on boats.

As we continued onward toward Ennis, we had a tailwind that kept us cruising at a pace of about 20 without pedaling too hard.  I was sort of sleepy, though, because the road was straight and you could see for miles ahead.  It was pretty all around, but I was tired, so I put on some music to pump myself up for the last 30 miles.  It wasn’t the kind of road that you could talk to your teammates on while riding because the shoulder was narrow and the wind was strong.  You had to stay in single file and the only way to hear each other was to yell.

We made it to Ennis and were excited to have just one more riding day before having a rest day in Bozeman! 

Day 49 – Ashton, ID to West Yellowstone, MT

July 18^th:

Everyone’s bodies are starting to give out.  We’ve been in our longest stretch of riding days, and it’s definitely taking its toll.  Not only have we been exhausted all the time and hurting on rides, but also we’ve been more temperamental as a team, snapping too quickly at one another for little things.  But onward we go, into a new state today!  It’s a little strange to go northeast for a while into Montana, but I’ve heard great things about this state!

I enjoyed my group SO MUCH this day!  I was with Julia, Kyle, and Kevin.

  

We were the last team to roll out of the church, and we made a pit stop at a gas station for coffee.  Jessie had drawn a full beard on Kyle’s face with a Sharpie before we left, which made for some hilarious double takes as people saw Kyle walk into the gas station.  We were slow rolling this morning, taking the time to take off layers when we needed to (it was a chilly start in the morning!) and take photos along the  road.
Kevin got a flat at about mile 10, and although this is often frustrating, we were too happy to be put down by the occurrence.  Meanwhile, I took some photos of Kyle looking into the distance while brushing back his hair like the little model he aspires to be.

  

There was a point on this ride where we could see the Tetons AGAIN in the distance after we climbed for just a little bit!  It was sad to say goodbye to them!

The day was long and windy.  More stops than usual were necessary because everyone was just exhausted.  I was so tired that I felt delirious and everything was funny.  We had a whoopy cushion at lunch which had come from Lizzy’s mom in her mail drop, and we took full advantage of the hilarity that could come from using it.  “Farts will always be funny,” a quote from my dear friend Jillian McMahon, who was indeed correct.

In the afternoon, we made it to the Montana state line!  And there was a state sign!  So exciting!

But it was cold when we got to the top, and I wasn’t happy about having to put back on my arm warmers.  IT’S JULY, PEOPLE.  WHY AM I COLD?!  

We got to the host in West Yellowstone around 4:30.  Knowing that we weren’t going to bike through the actual park, we decided to take the vans into Yellowstone that night.  We really wanted to see Old Faithful, the infamous geyser at Yellowstone, go off!  And we made it!

We spent some time perusing the gift shop in Yellowstone too, followed by a walk around the natural hot springs!

The drive through the western part of the Yellowstone Park was beautiful!  We saw some antelope, moose, and a bald eagle.  No bears, though, which honestly I’m okay with.