Day 11: Missoula to Helena

Back on the bikes today as we headed to Helena, the capital of Montana state.  125 miles today but still completed without too much suffering.  Even though the miles we are covering are way more than I normally do when out training I am finding the rides go by really quite quickly.  I think it is the combination of riding with others and mentally breaking the day into sections divided by the van stops and lunch that account for this.

The day started quite cool and dark, we are on the western edge of the time zone here so the sun rises later than it did when we were on Pacific time.  When the sun did rise we didn't see much of it as Montana's Big Sky Country was pretty much full of cloud all day.  This made for more pleasant riding conditions and probably got though a mere 6-8 bottles of water rather than the 10-12 I have been on the hotter days.  The tail wind in the afternoon was also very welcome.

Towards the end of the ride we crossed the continental divide, the line through the Americas that separates the drainage of water into the Atlantic or Pacific.  At the top I considered whether a comfort break in this location would result in the observation a flow of liquid vertically downwards followed by 2 diverging flows immediately after hitting the ground, but I didn't do this.

One of the members of the group has kindly sent me the files from his garmin to replace the ones I lost.  They are obviously of his ride, but we finished around the same time and at least I can log my miles.  I have uploaded these and will link to them from the previous posts.  Thanks Kerry!

Ride Details

Clouds over Montana's big sky

Waiting for a flat to be fixed down the road

At the top of the continental divide