July 6, 2023
Ovando to Lincoln
Ovando to Lincoln, 31 miles, 1275 feet
I wanted to give my knees a rest and avoid the 39 miles and 3800 feet of climbing on the GDMBR, so came up with the brilliant idea of following the route for 13 miles and the getting on highway 200 the final 29 miles into Lincoln. Flawless, right?
The Kiwis and I convened at the Stray Bullet diner for delicious biscuits and gravy, where we ate like condemned people. Zack joined a bit later.
After breakfast everybody began preparing their bikes to leave. I went into Blackfoot Angler for a couple of supplies and met owner Kathy Schoendoerfer. Kathy and the rest of the town have made Ovando a hospitable stop for bike travelers, which has been very beneficial.cor the small community.
So back to my brilliant idea to cut some miles by taking the highway. The first section was great, flat gravel, no wind, cool temp. I got on highway 200 and rode mostly on the narrow shoulder with light traffic. Then the headwind gods remembered the last time I rode into Lincoln in 2018. I did it facing 20 mph easterly headwinds. But today I was going west, so no problem, right? Right?
But the evil winds picked up, as did the traffic, making for a hot and miserable on highway 200. When the highway curved and guardrails appeared, and this was frequently, the shoulder disappeared, leaving nowhere to bail in case of a distracted or homicidal driver except over the guardrail. As an experienced road tourer, I've ridden on those types of sections in the past. But today I decided not to take the risk of riding against the winds on blind curves with deranged Montanans speeding toward whatever they were speeding towards.
So to avoid being trapped, each time I encountered a long section curvy, guard-railyness, I got off the bike and walked on the opposite shoulder, against traffic. Pain in the ass? Yes. But at least I could bail if necessary. I probably pushed the 80 pound bike 5 or 6 miles total. And the remaining miles were done pushing against the 20 mile headwinds. So my idea was a bust. Imagine that. I estimated it would take me about 2 1/2 - 3 hours to Lincoln, but took almost 5 1/2 hours. It was the least pleasant day of riding so far, but would get better once Jen, Lisa and the Kiwis arrived.
In 2018 while riding the Lewis & Clark route, we rode highway 200 westbound into Lincoln from Sims, over the incredibly ridiculous Rogers Pass. Also into a preposterous headwind. See Gloom, Despair and Agony on Rogers Pass. So my impression is that highway is and dirty wind-infested bastard from the pit of hell.
I rolled up, battered and beaten and cursing the evil winds, to the Airbnb rental, a really nice cabin about a mile outside of town. I unlocked, went in and showered, started a load of laundry and laid down for a few minutes. The Kiwis showed up and did the same.
Jen and Lisa showed up later after a long day of driving from Casper, and we ate pizza.
Rest day tomorrow!
Today's ride: 39 miles (63 km)
Total: 526 miles (847 km)
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9 months ago