June 4, 2005

Lolo Pass

Last night’s camp was our first in the mountains. Our site was less than 50 yards from the river. We were the only ones in the campground. Even the camp host didn’t spend the night. It got cold at that elevation but inside the tent it was fine. No trouble sleeping last night.

It was a short ride (3 miles) from camp to breakfast at the Loscha Lodge in Powell, ID. We have learned to ask the size of the pancakes before we order. The first couple of times we didn’t and left a lot of food on the plate. It is not uncommon to be served pancakes ½ inch thick and 12” in diameter.

Can you find the Elk?

After breakfast we had 13 miles to ride and 1,485 more feet to climb to reach the Lolo Pass (our first major pass). The winter training paid off as the climb was not all that hard. If it weren’t for the slight oxygen deficit it would have been a piece of cake.

Lolo Pass

We suited up in rain gear for the descent only to find it was much warmer on the other side of the pass. Also it was not as steep as the way up which was disappointing. We were expecting to coast down to Missoula but after an initial three miles of descent there was only a slight down hill the remainder of the way. Missoula is at around 3,200 feet.

We opted to get a hotel room in the center of the City of Missoula as we had errands to take care of. We needed to re-supply our food stores. Tattoo needed to pick a camping item at an outfitter store. We needed to do our laundry, take showers, and make some cell calls as we had no service for the past couple of days. Also I needed to get an internet connection so I could send my log entries to my son Jason for him to post on the site.

I worked out the glitch with the pictures so this and future entries should have them when Jason has time to put them on the log entries.

We only rode 62.66 miles today and most of that was downhill. Nick and I are calling it a rest day. We are one day ahead of my original schedule.

Today’s weather was mostly sunny, cool and crisp at the higher elevations but around 70 degrees in Missoula: a great day for cycling. It’s the weekend so we saw quite a few recreational riders out for their weekend ride. They are not carrying any gear so they have no trouble passing us. A couple chat with us a bit as we ride and then proceed on. They all gave us well wishes.

Jim

Cycledog (Ride the extra mile!!)

© 2005 - JNS