Lincoln - Helena
Time Traveled: 6.5 hrs
Distance: 64 miles
Food Eaten: coffee w/sugar & cream, 2 eggs, hash browns, wheat toast w/butter, dried bananas, trail mix, Probar, Rawvolution bar, sunflower seeds, pistachios, banana apple & grapefruit juice, veggie burrito
When Joe and I set out for this day's journey, neither of us thought it would take such and unbelievable amount of time. We knew summiting Flescher's Pass (our first Continental Divide crossing) would be difficult, and was it ever. The first 10 miles was a steady, slight incline into strong headwinds.
Next, we slowly gained elevation until we began the real hill climb. There must have been at least ten different resting points. When we sat down to catch our breath, I felt nothing but pain and exhaustion. Yet when a food source was put in front of me, I felt I could not stop eating. We went through a whole bag of dried bananas and a lot more.
30 miles and 3 hours after our start we finally reached the top. It was quite an amazing feeling. For a moment, every ailment I felt in my body left me and all that remained was pure elation. We put our bikes down and sat down in the middle of a manure-strewn pull out next to the trail head and just enjoyed the moment for a while.
Several cars passed, looking at us curiously. How can one ever know what it feels like to ride a bike up a mountain unless they do it themselves? The over exertion and happiness must have made us both a bit goofy as we sat and laughed uncontrollably at the most inane subjects. The human body is sure capable of accomplishing some amazing things, but the side effects it can have can be unpredictable.
The ride back down the mountain was fast and cold, even with all of our cold gear on. After that descent, our ride stretched on another 34 miles and 3.5 hours until we rolled into Helena after dark, our muscles screaming and our brains incapable of nothing else than a quest for food and shelter.
We found both after wandering the maddening residential roads of the epitome of suburban hell for over an hour. I remember thinking as we laid down to rest on a ridiculously comfortable Super 8 bed, "I fucking hate Helena, but goddamn this feels nice." The luxury of the mattress was not wasted tonight. We earned every wink of sleep we reveled in. This was our longest, most difficult ride yet.
