:: shift7 ::

:: north/south adventure ::

montana: day 03, sun 31 aug
lolo national park - missoula

stats:
68.9 @ 15.6 = 4:24:41, max 32.3, trip total: 234

eats:
oreos, french toast, bacon, hashbrowns, hot chocolate, powerade, m&m cookies, sprees, pepperoni pizza, DQ cookie dough blizzard

sleep:
Valu-Inn motel, $36

thoughts:
i woke and my mind was already elsewhere, maybe already on the ride ahead. rock your body. elevate your play. thoughts were swimming. days and time slowly shifting into the non-essential. focused. closer to what really matters. and reaching ahead for what it may be.

and yet it was another cold start - for some reason i was colder than the other days. we were biking through high pine trees that shaded the road for most of the morning until we got to breakfast. ooh breakfast- the much awaited seeley lake town with actual choices to eat. and the place we ended up at was 'pops family restaurant' - perfect. well, it did take about an hour (not less, probably longer) to get the order. but once we got it, it hit the spot. french toast with bacon, or was it bacon with french toast... the hashbrowns were definitely on the side. i've heard that everything tastes better with bacon- i believe it with all my heart, and this bacon was to die for.

mmmm, that warmed the day. i started shedding off the layers and felt the warm sun shine down. no smoke. just plain heat. i took less photos because things were moving fast and it was a shorter day. here's a short clip of what it is to ride in the middle of the road in big sky country. really you need an imax movie to even get close to the scale but that would require a bit more equipment.
download clip

good breaks and some interesting turns- like riding on highway 90. its not often you get to draft off an 18 wheeler. it was only for a 5 mile stretch that flew by -- with a huge shoulder to ride on. that brought us right into missoula.

this town has a great old downtown with a river running through it. that's the quaint part. then there's the developed southern section that has every fast food joint and misc stores you could think of- not all bad, there's a DQ and a great pizza joint- tower pizza. why tower i don't know. but it was the best damn pizza i've had in weeks (maybe since al's, although today with the appetite we worked up it might have been better than that).

so it only made sense to stay at a motel within spitting distance of both dinner and dessert. we are full, and after a good nights sleep we'll be ready for another day. sula. that's the next destination. i can't help but think of when i was there before with dan. dinner at the only place that had dinner and a campsite that looked like somebodies run down back yard. i haven't quite spelled it all out like that for the team- but i've hinted at the fact that it's not the best of destinations. then again, that was ten years ago-- and more importantly just one thing can change your entire impression of the day. i'm counting on that, maybe just a bit too much.

we'll see.