Today’s ride was a beautiful start even with a few climbs towards the beginning. There were spectacular and picturesque views for nearly the first 30 to 40 miles. We came out of the hills towards the interstate somewhere after that and were met with a wall of wind that was relentless.
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Today’s theme was ‘recovery’. We called it rest day 1.5 and it truly was a rest day. We had 43 miles on the schedule for the day, but one of our guides suggested we take advantage of a small 4-mile detour on the way out of Three Forks to see the headwaters of the Missouri river which was also a location where Lewis and Clark camped for a period of time. We’ve not done much of that along the way, so taking time to stop and smell the roses was a worthwhile decision.
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Today was an 88-mile recovery day. Yes, you read that right. 88 miles and recovery in the same sentence. The theme of the day was nice surprises.
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The theme of the day was ‘wind’. We were faced with wind no matter what direction we rode. The ride itself wasn’t the most beautiful we had as there was much riding along the side roads of the interstate and the interstate itself. It was, however, still beautiful, but more open and impacted by the winds whipping between the mountains. I rode the first 20 miles with my wind breaker on because it was in the 50s.. and, well, wind.
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Ahhhh… much needed rest for the body and the mind. Missoula was a wonderful place to stop and catch my breath for the day.
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Remember the four key elements? Today was about ‘rest’. Today’s 36-mile ride was a nice recovery ride mostly downhill. It was a chilly 55 degrees when we started at 9 am – yes, 9 am! Normally our starts are between 6:45 and 7:30, but we had a little rest after yesterday’s big ride and there wasn’t any rush to get into Missoula today given that we would arrive in the morning and likely not have hotel rooms ready.
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The name of the game for today’s 115 mile-ride was about maintaining a cool and even pace throughout the first 102 miles to ensure you had something left in the tank for the 5-mile climb to the top of Lolo Pass. It’s also about ensuring that you keep your mind focused on your ability to manage and complete the climb.
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As I rode today, I thought about the key elements to manage on this ride – or any ride. Of course, given that we are spending hours on a bike, we have nothing but time to think about these things.
I realized that there are four key elements to manage. There are several other uncontrollable elements like the weather, road conditions, etc… But, if you can focus on those within your control and establish a system of managing them, it makes the ride manageable and comfortable in spite of its challenges.
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Today’s ride was a bit intimidating on paper. It was 99 miles with three uphill inclines. There were only 4 climbs, but the last climb was punchy at mile 97 running through to mile 99 after a long day. What was on paper, however, and what happened in real life […]
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On paper, some days don’t look terrible. But paper doesn’t always tell the story. Today was a 71 mile ride from Hermiston to Walla Walla. The ride was mostly uphill with a few small climbs. Overall, not a bad day. I didn’t feel great by the end of the day as we rolled into Walla Walla for the last 5 miles. I’m not sure what it was but I felt spent and tired. My stomach didn’t feel great. Will need to do some tweaking of my eating tomorrow.
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