Missoula

Composing this entry from a work station in the Liquid Planet coffee shop. It just turned 7 AM and nothing else is open. By my calculations, I have traveled over 910 miles since starting ( and, as you know, copped a ride for another 60 miles or so).

Monday (cont.)
The ride from Lolo Pass to Missoula was easy on the legs but somewhat mundane. The last ten miles were on the shoulder of a busy four-lane - what a rude awakening to civilization after yesterday! I know there are beautiful vistas that await, but I do believe I have seen the end of solitude on the road.

It was very warm, exceeding 90 degrees by late afternoon. Arrived around five and settled in for a one-day layover. I hate to do it but the bicycle needs care and feeding and there is some provisioning that needs doing. I also think it is prudent to give my body a day of rest after seventeen straight days on the road. It has been a great two-plus weeks on the road. I managed, with increasing ease, a number of serious climbs and have developed a frame of mind that understands that some of this is about beauty and some is about work. At the end of the day its all in the miles. I have no idea if I am ahead, on, or behind 'schedule'. I do know that terrain and sleeping locations determine distance and am comfortable that I will get as far as a get and take it from there.

Mileage 59.2: moving time of 5:29 hours.