Up at 6am this morning and on the road at 6:40. 38 degrees, sunny and clear sky’s. Supposed to be another nice day…hope it’s like yesterday—got a 100+ miles to do today.
Stopped at 11 miles in by lake Hebgen Lake for breakfast…orange juice and the hostess cupcakes I bought yesterday 🙂
11 am and 48 miles in for the day. Still no place to stop for a real breakfast…the cupcakes just aren’t cutting it 🙂 There were a couple places marked on my map but they either weren’t open or weren’t there. Looks like Cameron will be the first place with any kind of services…maybe 8-10 more miles. Been following a river most of the day….lots of river boats with fly fishermen—this looks a trout fishermen’s paradise.
Rode about 4 miles through a black nat storm. There were continuous swarms of them…it sounded like it was raining the way they were pinging on my jacked as I rode through them. Hard to breath without sucking them in….I think I ate quite a few just because they were sticking to my teeth.
Pulled into Cameron at noon with 61 miles down. Hungry and ready for lunch. Having a BLT with fries and ice tea at the Blue Moon Saloon. Still a perfect day for riding—except for the nat storm. 11 miles to Ennis where I will have dropped back down just below 5,000 feet then I start the climb back above 7,000 feet before hitting Virginia City. That is going to be a heck of a climb. I will have lost just over 2,000 feet over 70+ miles before I start the climb, then I will gain that 2,000 feet back in about 9 miles. I have done tougher climbs during this trip, but this one is going to get my attention—especially since I will have over 70 miles under my belt before starting it.
Stopped in Ennis at about 1:30. Nice little western tourist kind of town. Had an ice cream and Diet Coke from Yesterdays Soda Fountain and restaurant. Sat in the park for about 30 min and rested before starting the climb out of town back up to about 7,000 feet. This would be a nice place to stay for the night, but too early in the day to stop just yet.
Got to the top of the pass at 4:10 pm with 83 miles for the day. It wasn’t the toughest climb I’ve done but it was tough enough.
Virginian city is 5.5 miles down from the pass and I was there in no time. I was riding in the middle of the road because I was going as fast as the cars on the road….no one needed to pass me. When I hit the Virginia city city limits they have one of those flashing speed signs telling you how fast you are going—I was doing 42 in a 30 mile per hour zone—the sign was flashing its yellow lights at me to slow down 🙂
Virginia city is on the side of the mountain and is like an old western town, but you can tell it’s a tourist spot. So I stopped for a minute to jot down these notes, snap a couple photos and then pushed on.
Hit Alder at about 94 miles in. The only thing in town was Chuck’s Motel and Bar. It looked a little run down and I wasn’t feeling it. But it was still early and I was still feeling strong so didn’t need to stop there for the night. 11 miles down the road is Sheridan and I knew it was a bit larger with motels and restaurants. What sealed the deal though was I would be turning north out of Alder to Sheridan and there was a nice wind coming out of the south—so I would have a tail wind for the first time I can remember. So I cranked the peddles and headed for Sheridan—got there about 5:45 and checked in to a nice, clean motel—the Moriah Motel — $75. Ate at a local restaurant—chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, ice tea, and a couple beers.
Burned 6,099 calories today and my top speed was 47.2 mph—-I don’t think that’s a record….think I was over 48 mph in VA, but it was still pretty fast and lasted for a long time on that long switch back down the mountain today.
Another excellent day of riding. Feeling strong and looking forward to blasting out more miles tomorrow.
