I woke up feeling good today. My stomach was finally feeling like it was settling down, and I actually felt rested. I got up and snuck downstairs as quietly as I could for moving around in an old log building. (No shoes were allowed in the main building, partially I think to protect the wood floors, but I’m sure part of it was because there was virtually no sound dampening.) I got the rest of my gear packed up on the bike and headed out just before 6 am.
I was feeling strong in the pedals, and felt like I had all the energy in the world. It wasn’t long before I got to the first climb of the day. It was steep but manageable. This climb up Stemple was one that I missed in 2013. We ended up climbing all the way up the pass on the north road instead of taking the southern road. This year I took the correct turn, and it was one of those sections that would have been super tough on a loaded touring bike.
I was making good time and got to the llama farm about 9am. Tim, David, and Brandi were just getting moving, and I stopped to chat with them. We all took off together and continued down the trail. I was still feeling good and hopeful I could put on some big miles today to try and make up for some of the shorter days.
The next few climbs were fairly easy and I had an unbelievable tailwind pushing me down the highway into Helena. I got into town about 1pm, had lunch and got some resupply at the gas station and then took off again. I didn’t want to waste the good start, and I knew that Lava Mountain trail was coming up, which took a long time in 2013.
It ended up that there was construction on the road out of town, so I had to walk on the sidewalk for almost a mile. Not a great start to the next section. I climbed up out of town and into the Helena National forest, another climb that wasn’t as hard as I remembered. I was making good time and still feeling really good. I kept telling myself ‘If I can make it to Basin, I can make it to Butte’. My reasoning was that the road between Basin and Butte was pretty mild, with no significant climbs, it should be ‘easy’ to make it that extra 35 miles.
Lava Mountain Trail was a lot more fun this time. The only thing that worried me was the high wind in that fairly exposed area. There are a lot of dead trees up on the trail and with enough wind big branches, and sometimes whole trees will fall across the trail. I heard some deadfall in the distance, but never got anything that blocked the trail. On the back side of the trail I met a guy on a motorcycle. It was getting dark, and he wanted to get back to Helena. I guess the long way around was too long, and he was going to take Lava Mountain. For better or worse, I encouraged him that he could make it over. I hope he did.
I made it to Basin as the sun was just starting to set. I stopped briefly to eat, and considered camping along the frontage road, but there was still daylight. I kept hearing the day’s mantra, ‘If I can make it to Basin I can make it to Butte.’ So on I went.
The frontage road was a nice distraction, a pretty easy grade, mostly flat that runs along some water and the interstate. It’s a nice place to go fishing or even set up camp, if no one is around. This year it was a bit rutted and bumpy, but nothing too bad.
After the frontage road comes the section that I’ve never done before between Basin and Butte. The race route takes country roads the hill just north of Butte and then takes the single track down into town. The tour route we took in 2013 continues on the frontage road, which turns into a rail trail, but then dumps you onto the interstate. That route isn’t the most pleasant experience having to ride on a trash-filled shoulder with traffic zooming past at 75 miles an hour. I was glad to take a less traveled section, even though it would mean riding in an unknown section, I still figured I could make it to Butte and get a hotel.
I didn’t think there was much remarkable about this section, and I ended up riding most if it in the dark, so I’m sure there are large sections of interesting scenery I missed. I do remember that it started getting quite cold as I was climbing up toward the road into Butte. And not far before the gravel turned back into pavement I happened on a couple of other racers that had already set up camp. One of them I’d meet again tomorrow on the way to Wise River. I was still feeling good, and it was pretty cold so I didn’t want to stop before I got to town so I kept going.
When the road turned back into pavement traffic started to pick up a little. I thought this was odd, and a bit scary, since I was a lone dark spot riding on the side of the road. I had run out one of my battery packs powering my light, and was trying to conserve the other one, but kept turning on my front light to full power out of fear the drivers wouldn’t see me every time I saw headlights on the road. There must have been a party, or something like that, because I couldn’t think of a reason why all these people would be heading out here. There weren’t a lot of houses around and the road only led into the woods, where I had just come from.
Thankfully everyone either saw me, or at least didn’t run me off the road and I made it to the single-track leading down into town. It wasn’t very technical, but after a full day, and being almost midnight, even easy single track seems exponentially harder. I was nearly to the residential streets, down from the most difficult sections when, I must have misjudged a turn or a bump or something, I don’t recall now, but I ended up going over my handlebars into the grass. Thankfully I was fine, and quite embarrassed, but thankfully no one seemed to be awake to see my fall. I had to search around in the grass to make sure nothing fell out, and other than one of my aero bars being misaligned, everything else on the bike seemed to be in good shape. If anyone had been watching I’m sure it looked pretty hilarious, a bright light moving slowly down the hill, and then suddenly it does a front flip and says some bad words.
In town I was briefly stopped by the police, who pointed out that my rear light was not on. I guess it had died sometime through the long evening ride. I turned it on again, but it went out a few minutes later on my search for a hotel.
It was quite cold at this point, I believe it ended up being almost freezing, and I was ready to be done riding for the day. I stopped at the first hotel I saw near the route and thought I was done for the night, but turns out there was something going on in town and all of the rooms were booked. The same was true for the hotel just across the street. I’m starting to get a little worried now. It’s very cold, quite late, and I don’t really want to backtrack to the campground or sleep in one of the parks when it is this cold. I head south of the interstate to the next closest hotel. A lady gets there ahead of me and books the last room. There’s one more hotel across the street, and I call them before heading over, they have a room. I cross my fingers that someone doesn’t get it before me. Thankfully I get there and get in the room without any more issues. The temperature is too low for me to want to be out here any longer and I’m ready to be done with this long, but awesome, day.
I think this is the day I’m most proud of on the trip. It was a section that is known for being difficult, and one of the most technically challenging sections on the route. There are others that are quite difficult for other reasons, but this one has the most technical sections in the shortest distance. After having such a rough few days to start, I finally felt like I was back on track. My body felt good, my legs were strong. I rode all day and most of the night, and I was ready for more.
