Gravity Sucks, Some Drivers Do Too, and Other anecdotes

June 14, 2023

I live on Tangier Sound/Chesapeake Bay. Big open water out front. I hate when all these boaters fly up and down in front of my house. Occasionally I’ll take out my riffle and try to pick off one or two. That should discourage the rest………..JUST KIDDING!!! But this seems to be the mentality of some of the Idaho/Montana drivers. I guess they are pissed having touring cyclists on their roads and they figure if they buzz a few the rest will stop riding here. Ain’t gonna happen Billy Bob. This is a route planned by Adventure Cycling Association and happens to be the most popular route of their 50(?)or so. It takes very little effort on your part to just move over a couple of feet just to be on the safe side.

OK, gripe is over.

As I said gravity sucks. So today Joshua and I climbed to Lost Trail Pass, turned left off of Hwy 93 onto 43 only to have to climb over Chief Joseph Pass, another several hundred feet. I think we started at about 3500 ft in Sula and topped out at about 7200 ft. We walked quite a bit as there were some 6-7% grades and we both over packed, but I think Joshua could have ridden the whole way. Took us 3 hours to reach the top after many switchbacks. Took us about 15 minutes to cruise down the other side. Well actually after the first 5-6 miles we had a pretty nice gradual downhill to Wisdom where we had a late lunch. Well, a late breakfast since there was no place to eat prior. Gravity had sucked the life out of me but I was reborn after a great salad and burger at Fetty’s in Wisdom.

We decided to push on to Dillon as the climb was minimal over an 18 mile stretch AND we had a tail wind. Having a tail wind is great for ease of moving forward but one gets little of the usual breeze that dries your sweat. And bugs can easily hang in your slip stream. This particular valley is very low being surrounded by mountains and being June, the rainy season, very wet. Skeeters we’re all over us, especially when we passed a group of cattle standing by the side.

Today we saw antelope, fox, deer, prairie dogs, osprey, and lots of birds Not to mention a ton of cattle, some being rounded up by modern day cowboys on four wheelers after they had escaped and were causing a bit of a road hazard. My favorite bird out here is the magpie. Beautiful birds though they are scavengers, noisy, and kill other birds.

In flight they have an iridescent blue on their backs and a long forked tail.

Oh yeah, I forgot my other gravity sucks story. So two nights ago, while staying at Aunt Sally’s Pedal Stop, I had a night mare at around 1 am. I dreamt I was at my parents house just returning from somewhere with my dad. There was a stranger in the house who just sat staring at his hands in his lap. I asked if I could help him and he pulled a gun and shot at me. I lunged forward trying to wrench the gun from his hands and found myself on the floor. Literally! I fell out of bed onto my right hip which remains a bit sore. Gravity sucks. The bed was about 3 1/2 feet high so I’m glad I just got a little bruised. And glad I was alone so no one saw. But now you all know.

We also stopped at the visitors center of Big Hole Battlefield and watched a sadly depressing 20 minute documentary of how the US government massacred nearly all of the Nez Perce people’s to secure lands for settlement and mining. The area at the visitors center is a mass grave for both native and white who fought and died there. A tragic event for such a remarkably beautiful area. It is called Big Hole as it is basically a bowl shaped valley surrounded by mountains with many rivers and streams and vast grass lands. It must have been paradise to those natives who lived here.

Staying at the Bunkhouse Hotel in Jackson tonight. This is the only service of any kind for miles. And I thought I lived in the boonies. Tomorrow two more passes on the road to Dillon Montana.

Todays pics:

American Legion Cycle Camp in Jackson. Free. But no potable water yet.

Today's ride: 50 miles (80 km)
Total: 670 miles (1,078 km)

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