Starting without any breakfast sucks. But an early start is essential for collecting miles and with Lincoln in sight I was able having breakfast later on. I left Ovando with the dawn. The last few warmer and sunny days were over. It was cloudy and cold. Just with some energy bars I started pedaling toward Huckleberry Pass. Fortunately the terrain was almost flat so the first few miles went by very quick. A few times I’ve read in the bikepacking forum that riders fell asleep while the peddled their bikes. I couldn’t believe it. At the monotonous uphill to Huckleberry Pass my eyes shut down. I suddenly got so tired that I was not able to keep my eyes open. This seemed to be the time where the sleep deprivation of the last days took its toll. By all available means I tried to stay awake. Just after cresting the Pass and on the following downhill life came back into my tired eyes. In Lincoln I had breakfast and stocked up all my groceries for the push to Helena. A glimpse view at the elevation profile told me that this wouldn’t be a piece of cake today. With three major climbs the first Continental Divide crossings applied.
The wide forest road that left Lincoln lulled me so I missed the significant turn to the first climb. 3 miles and 800 feet of climbing later I checked my GPS and noticed that I was wrong. Apparently I needed more than just a few hours of sleep. Fortunately backtracking was all downhill, but I lost almost one hour.
The first climb was very tough. The track was bumpy and steep, but the reward was a long and nice downhill. In the valley I entered I heard the first thunder roaring and on the second uphill I had to put my rain gear on. The upper part was too steep for my tired legs. I had to push my bike. The strong wind became more and more an issue. First tailwind and after a 180° turn suddenly headwind. Not so nice! At the last major climbs thunderstorms were still an issue and on the downhill it started to rain. Fortunately the downhill to Helena, first on gravel and later on the highway was completely downhill. The daily up and down game was literally going to be a total wash-out. In the pouring rain I was looking for a motel. Prior to the Tour Divide I saved all the service facilities like motels, restaurants, bike shops and supermarkets on my GPS, because if I was in a town I didn’t want waste my time with searching for any of these facilities. So I found a motel very quick and dried out all my wet stuff. Because of a lack of restaurants in the near vicinity I ordered a large Pizza to go and had dinner in my motel room.
The wide forest road that left Lincoln lulled me so I missed the significant turn to the first climb. 3 miles and 800 feet of climbing later I checked my GPS and noticed that I was wrong. Apparently I needed more than just a few hours of sleep. Fortunately backtracking was all downhill, but I lost almost one hour.
The first climb was very tough. The track was bumpy and steep, but the reward was a long and nice downhill. In the valley I entered I heard the first thunder roaring and on the second uphill I had to put my rain gear on. The upper part was too steep for my tired legs. I had to push my bike. The strong wind became more and more an issue. First tailwind and after a 180° turn suddenly headwind. Not so nice! At the last major climbs thunderstorms were still an issue and on the downhill it started to rain. Fortunately the downhill to Helena, first on gravel and later on the highway was completely downhill. The daily up and down game was literally going to be a total wash-out. In the pouring rain I was looking for a motel. Prior to the Tour Divide I saved all the service facilities like motels, restaurants, bike shops and supermarkets on my GPS, because if I was in a town I didn’t want waste my time with searching for any of these facilities. So I found a motel very quick and dried out all my wet stuff. Because of a lack of restaurants in the near vicinity I ordered a large Pizza to go and had dinner in my motel room.
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| Kirsten Arnold with Taylor Kruse |
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