I love you, Missoula

STATS:

Hamilton, MT to Missoula, MT

Distance: 50 miles

I slept incredibly well last night, only waking up once to unplug my phone from the charger. Being I had little unpacked, I woke up at 6:45 AM and was ready for coffee and breakfast by 7 AM. I strolled through the lawn towards Jo and Craig’s home, and shared a delicious drip coffee and even better parfait bowl. This was filled with homemade granola and their garden strawberries and mulberries, yum. We chatted a bit more about life, and an hour later I was on my way to good ole Missoula! I was so extremely excited to arrive in Missoula, but I knew at least 3.5 hours of biking was ahead of me. The morning was cool, and soon enough I found myself cruising along. The fantastic aspect of this part of Montana is their bike friendliness, so I was safe and sound on a nicely paved trail alongside the road. It sure was nice. Trying to distract myself from wanting to just be in Missoula, I played some tunes that I’ve probably now listened to 3,000 times. Some songs just don’t get old though, and I sang them at the top of my lungs. That is, until a swarm of thousands of nats landed in my throat, my eyes, my beard, arms, and legs. I practically gagged as I attempted to spit and wipe them off my face and out of my mouth. I laughed at the situation because it probably was a sign that my voice should stay at a whisper, not screaming out loud.

After several phone conversations, I finally made the trek to town. I basked in the wonderful bike paths and liveliness of the city. The first place I visited was Adventure Cycling Headquarters. They are responsible for all the maps and apps I’ve been using to trek across America, so it’s easy to understand my excitement in seeing their logo. I was given a one-on-one tour of the headquarters, which included absolutely amazing history of bike touring, neat photographs, and just amazing records of journals from the 70’s. I had my picture taken for the 2017 wall of bikers, and was shown to the “cyclist’s room” where free ice cream and la croix were stocked in the fridge. I took full advantage of this amazing gift, and thanked everyone I could while there. This was easily one of the highlights of the trip, and I geeked out being there. I was asked to have a picture taken in the back, and was also given the chance to weigh my fully loaded bike. It weighed 76 lbs. I was told that’s not bad, most are closer to 100 lbs. I thanked the employees and was off for some good eats and drinks throughout the beautiful college town. First stop, for about four hours, was Zootown Brew, a hipster coffeeshop. After my second cup, I could feel myself becoming a bit jittery, so I stopped and drank water instead. Tim actually was pulling a huge day to arrive in Missoula today, and soon enough showed up outside the coffeeshop! Our next destination, Five On Black. This fast casual restaurant has been on my mind since I left for the trip, so I was very pleased to devour a Brazilian rice bowl. With the little dent this put into my hunger, we decided to listen to the local suggestions and hit up Big Dipper, a local ice cream shop. As we pulled up, the line was to the sidewalk, but we waited anyway. I ordered the Quake Shake, which was a milkshake with a shot of chill espresso. So damn good.

A storm was quickly approaching, so we booked over to our Warmshower’s host’s home. Bruce owns a large home and practically dedicates the first floor to traveling cyclists. He estimates he hosts 250 people A YEAR. Absolutely insane. We met other cyclists and tenants while settling in, and made plans to grab brewskis later on. I made a quick grocery run, and on my way back thought about how cool it would be to live here. Both times I’ve visited Missoula now, I’ve fallen in love.

Later on, Debbie (house tenant) and I drove to a local brewery to meet up with Tim and Justin (biker from the Netherlands). We cracked jokes and talked for a few hours drinking some delicious, inexpensive brews. ‘Twas a pleasant night, but by 11 PM, we were ready to head home and hit the sack. I’m so sad that today is already over, but I’m looking forward to my next visit to Missoula. Tomorrow, though, the several days of climbing in Idaho begins, so I will get some rest now.

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