Day 18: Missoula to Hamilton: "Montana weather is one strange cookie"

June 16, 2016

DAILY STATS:

Mileage: 52.42

Average Speed: 12.6 mph

Maximum Speed: 23.8 mph

I was woken up at 6am by a cat walking across my body, so I knew it was going to be an interesting day.

I took my bike downtown to get new tires and to fix my broken spoke. While waiting, I devoured an awesome cinnamon roll and some coffee at Liquid Planet. Definitely a good pre-ride pump-up.

New tires! They're supposed to be virtually flat-proof. We'll see about that (knock on wood).

After picking up my bike, I rode back to my warmshower, loaded my gear, and headed to a grocery store, where I proceeded to buy too much food again. Sigh.

But, after playing food tetris for some time, I was on the road by 1pm. Luckily I planned on having a short day, instead of having a full rest day. The weather made this plan a little more challenging, though.

The day started out overcast. Not bad. But as I started riding south through the Bitterroot Valley, I could see off on the distance that the rain gods were doing their thing and dumping rain on the foothills. Mmm.

Eventually I got hit by a burst of heavy rain that left me somewhat irritated and drenched. But then the sun peeked out and dried me off, making me happy again.

Then things got weird. It started raining on me, but the sun was to my side. I was thus soggy AND warm. Not a particularly pleasant sensation. Montana weather is odd, to say the least. To add to the diverse weather patterns, today also had a mix of great headwinds and terrible tailwinds. I just couldn't win.

The weather just wasn't sure what it wanted to do to me. There are definitely worse problems to have!

The view was a helluva lot better than the rain!

Having a dedicated bike path made today's ride a little more manageable. Thank you Montana!

Fibally, after some initial confusion on where to camp, I backtracked two miles to a park on the outskirts of town. I set up under a large awning, just in case the rain appeared again out of nowhere. Fingers crossed it doesn't.

It wasn't actually clear if camping is allowed here. But I don't care. I've got everything I need: a warm, dry place to sleep, food, and adventure.

Today's ride: 52 miles (84 km)
Total: 1,104 miles (1,777 km)

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