Start: 7:00

Finish: 4:00

Ascent: 3,000+ feet

Miles: 80

Total Miles: 703

Highlight: Early morning ride with a father/son team I met along the way.

Lowlight: The heat, it’s getting to be all about the heat right now.

Cyclemeter:  My app died for a while so the data is incomplete.  You will see a line where it wasn’t recording.

Google has a limit of only 10 layers per map, each layer is one of my days so for no I’m only showing a map for todays ride until I figure out how to combine layers. Notice my wrong turn south out of Libby.

I have to admit I’m not enjoying this right now.  It’s all about the heat.  I’ve been building this belief in my mind that once I get over the continental divide things will get better.  I will be further east and a few days down the road so more out of the heat wave, I may start getting more tailwind rather than the regular headwind I experience daily, and the scenery will start to change.  I’ve about had enough of pine covered mountains, especially when I have to climb the damn things.  Time for a change.  Maybe the continental divide will not provide those changes but it keeps me going.

With a 75 mile day ahead of me and temperatures climbing up to about 100 I wanted to get an early start.  After my usual camp breakfast I noticed the supermarket next door was open at 6:00am so I went over to see if I could score some second breakfast, maybe a breakfast sandwich.  This delayed my start but better to eat now and not worry about finding food along the way, it looks pretty sparse down the route. 

While riding out about 7:00am I saw two cyclists stopped at the entrance to my campground, looked like a father and son team with the son about 16.  We said hi to each other and I kept rolling.  I was moving well and making good time so I looked at my navigation app to see where I was, off route again.  I missed a turn, had to double back 3 miles so added 6 to an already long day.

I met up with the two cyclists again, the sons name is Liam and his dad Bill.  I joked how I should have just followed them. Bill said he has his personal navigator, a teenager with a cellphone.  Can’t go wrong.  Bill did this ride over thirty years ago as a teenager with his uncle so now he’s sharing it with his son.  Great experience for both.  We ended up riding together for a good hour along a very quiet country road.  

The route splits to two northbound options on the south side of Lake Koocanusa, a huge lake created by Libby Damn, the east is the main route with an alternative route to the west.  I planned on taking the east while they wanted to take the west.  We were both heading to Eureka for the night so maybe we would meetup and compare routes.

My pain and suffering started almost immediately with a modest but steep climb up to the top of Libby Damn.  The damn was built in 1975 for hydroelectric power, backing up water for 90 miles extending into Canada.  I will ride about 50 miles along this lake. The road threads along the hillside with many up and down segments, largely totally exposed to the sun. The scenery is quit stunning with emerald colored water and views for miles up and down the lake, often from hundreds of feet above the water but today was more about what was going on in my head not the scenery. 

I didn’t take many pictures, had the sole focus of reaching Eureka at a reasonable hour which I expected to be about 3:00, maybe sooner.  The sun sets late here so they don’t hit their highs until after 6:00.  Looking at the map there were are few campgrounds on the way so I should be able to resupply my water.  After about 11:00 it really started to get hot.  I’m trying to drink water regularly and monitor myself for signs of dehydration or heat exhaustion.  I’m really feeling tired on the climbs, especially after stopping, it takes my muscles some time to get back in working order.  I’m starting to feel like I did on day 5, battling the headwind where it became readily apparent that I need to take a rest day.  I really want to race this heat and get over the divide before taking a day off.

Around noon I stopped at a campground along the lake with very nice sites overlooking the water several hundred feet below. I had an energy bar and some trail mix, lots of water and refilled my bottles. I set off but temperature continued to climb and I continued to feel more run down.  I started using a little of my water to wet my head under my helmet which worked great keeping my head cool as I ride.  One advantage of riding as apposed to walking or running is the wind is your enemy and friend, although it slows you down it keeps you cool.  I got to the point where stopping was more uncomfortable than moving, just made me feel more hot.

I made it to the north end of the lake at the small town of Rexford where I hoped I could find a gas station for a cold drink and air conditioning. I didn’t see anything on the map and the turn towards the town was downhill so I didn’t want to explore.  I used a clean water tap at an RV dump site to fill my bottles and soak my head.  Only 5 miles to go.

The road up to this point had  a decent shoulder although often not in good condition.  Most of the remaining 5 miles was on a narrow 2 lane road with little to no shoulder and drop offs on the edge.  If I go off the road I’m going to fall but if I swerve into the road I’ll get hit by a car.

I made it to Eureka about 4:00 but before going to my motel I stopped at a gas station for a gatorade and an ice cream sandwich.  The Silverado hotel was almost across the street, a perfectly fine place for $70/night.

After showering I went back across to the gas station for a pre-dinner sandwich from Subway but they were closed.  While walking back I saw two bikes being unloaded from a pickup truck.  It was Bill and Liam.  I walked up and said “fancy seeing you here”. Bill said Liam had serious heat issues which I could tell from the bag of ice around his neck.  I told Liam I wondered if I would make it as well, often felt like I was on the verge of heat exhaustion.  If I was with them I likely would have taken the ride.

The heat today made it blatantly obvious that I need to be take this seriously and come up with a plan.  I can’t have another day like today especially with temperatures expected to climb even higher.  I need to plan out motel stays for at least the next three days with short rides but my initial searches are turning up empty.  I see no way to follow the route as planned beyond the next town, Whitefish. I don’t want to continue without reservations so I really need to take a rest day to figure this out.  My body was definitely failing as the day went on so maybe I need a rest day anyway.