Beautiful mountains
Neon sign on a building near Lolo, MT
Missoula at last!Lee woke to a flat tire today. They stopped every 10-15 miles to add air and made it the entire way to Missoula. He plans to replace the tube tonight. They were grateful they didn't have to spend time fixing it during their 74 mile ride.
Today started with a 13 mile ride to breakfast at Mustang Allie's Cafe in the little western town of Darby. The guys enjoyed Darby as much as Red Lodge and Virginia City. To their surprise, Darby was the last pretty place they saw on their ride today. Lee said he never thought he would associate the word "yuck" with the Bitterroot Valley, but after seeing the truck and residential traffic combined with broken bottles, cans, bolts, etc., along the road from Hamilton the Missoula...."Yuck". Not at all what they thought would be there. It is the first road trash they have come across in their travels. One saving grace was an 8 mile bike path from Florence to Lolo that was free from traffic and trash and a lovely place to ride.
The weather was gorgeous again today! Blue sky, sunshine, temps reaching 90 degrees by mid-afternoon (too hot for riding, really), and believe it or not... the nasty headwinds found them. Normally winds would be out of the south (giving them a tailwind) but the winds shifted today and came at them from the north. They are all tired of headwinds. Each of them is gaining a suntan, but it seems that Zhenya has some interesting tan lines due to incomplete sunscreen application today. Hmmm..... They made frequent stops in air conditioned places for cold drinks and to cool off during the heat of the day.
The hotel ritual today was laundry for Lee, pool for the boys. Lee told the boys to put anything they wanted washed into the laundry pile in the middle of the floor. Sasha said, "I'm going to put my gloves in the laundry. They stink." Zhenya said, "Me, too." Lee found this amusing since he has washed his gloves before on the trip, and asked the boys previously if they wanted theirs washed and they always declined.
DAILY STATS:
74 miles from Sula to Missoula
8:30 am to 6 pm, sunny and 90 degrees
No elevation gain
932 total miles to date
Tomorrow is a 55 mile ride to Seeley Lake. They only have 3 more days of pedaling! Please pray for safety as they finish the trip. They are heading toward Glacier National Park over the next 2 days followed by a day of rest. The final day is riding through Glacier on Going to the Sun Road. Thanks for your prayers!
