We left the austere municipal campground of Gilbert at 6 am, despite the ability to get coffee at 6 next door at the grocery store. With John and Bess MIA, Pam and I get little sympathy for taking time for our daily dose of Java. Pam takes a caffeine pill (thanks Logan) and I hold a soda in reserve. Ugh.
I'm not predisposed to getting up at 4:30 for coffee!
We headed straight out from the campground. We knew ahead of time that there would be no stores for food or water until mile 60. So we loaded up extra drinks and brought lunch. We typically have extra food with us anyway. Don't want to get caught short! We also knew that there would be numerous small climbs all day. Unlike the passes which meant 25 miles of up before the down, today's climbs were only the 1 to 3+ mile long range. It certainly added up!
As it turned up there were lots of climbs. Some fairly long. Nothing particularly steep. Up or down. But relentless. We stopped from time to time for a break from the saddle and some refreshments. That means water, Powerade or warm soda. Sounds great huh. We ate lunch sitting in the shade on a guardrail. A state trooper actually stopped to make sure we were ok! We saw no cars for the first 35 miles. I mean desolate road. Like someone built it thinking someone would come and nobody showed! Actually for cycling it was perfect. Absolutely perfect. But hilly
After the one stop at mile 60, the traffic stated to build. Lots of RVs, boat trailers and trucks. The road narrowed too. No shoulders. July 4th weekend traffic. Not our favorite stretch.
Pam and I opted for a motel tonight. The rest of the riffraff went to the municipal campground. We will meet them at 6 in the morning at their end of town. They'll probably hear about the salmon dinner.
Tomorrow we head for Whitefish. Need to get there for bike work. Will hang in the area for a couple of days.
Thanks for reading.
Cheery!
KPW
72.82 miles
10.2 avg mph
31.7 max
7:07 in the saddle
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