June 28, 2025
Wise River - Butte
Our roommates at the community centre slowly filtered away, some clearly reluctant to get back on the road, using detailed discussion about their day's plan or phone calls home to delay the moment.
We had a choice of route, down the paved road beside the river, or up over the notorious Fleecer Ridge. The distance was similar, but terrain very different. The SoBo riders had talked about the steep descent they had survived the day before. Not one of them talked about beautiful scenery or how much they enjoyed that part of the route. Most of them advised against the effort of going up what they had come down. We took the river road. It was beautiful.
Highland Rd started with an 8k climb, some over 15%, so there was a bit of pushing while marvelling at the view.
I met Andy and Greg from Australia. They were day 14 and sort of following the TD route. Andy was ready to go further each day but Greg was finding the pace too hot. I counselled them both that it is not sustainable to ride at someone else's pace and something has to give - certainly the slow one cannot ride faster! In this case, they will probably ride alone for a while.
I also had a nice chat to a guy on a mtb bike, carrying only 2 water bottles. We laughed about the contrast in weights of our respective bikes. He was scouting the route of a 100 mile race in a few weeks, and after our chat, he sped off.
The last 20k into Butte was largely downhill with a short stint on mountain bike single track.
I booked a hotel online, but on arrival, my card was declined. After 45 minutes on the phone, I was advised it was declined for "security" reasons. Gotta love bank software!!
We chose to try a Three Amigos for dinner, on the basis that it was close and Mexican food has hearty options and is largely gf. It seems we spooked the chef by asking for gf options. He simply said nothing was gf. I suspect something got lost in translation.
My dinner was a plate of grilled beef (tasty and tender) and a side each of sour cream and avocado. Dessert was from Safeway - fruit and yoghurt - to fill the gap.
Today's ride: 81 km (50 miles)
Total: 3,509 km (2,179 miles)
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