Eddy to Missoula 92 miles DFP 756
Woke to mist and low cloud, so was right at home. No wind this morning, so the miles to Plains was easy. Started blowing into my face about 9 o'clock. It obviously had a long lie. Must be the mountain configuration but after junction with 135 found the wind to be on my back and I was cruising along about 16 mph beside the Flathead River ('Flathead' being the name given to the local Indian tribe by Lewis and Clark). On approaching Dixon (wrong spelling, so no photo), got my first sighting of the Rocky Mountains. Stopped at a diner in Ravalli and had a Bison burger. I drew the line at 'BABY Bison Burger'!!!! I also have a rule never to take ice with coke etc because it can upset my stomach. Don't know if it's the chill or the water. Anyway, forgot to mention to the waitress and the glass arrived with ice. Nothing added to the refill. An hour down the road and it was "Uh-ah, I've got a problem". And there's not a lot of options on Route 200, which joined with Highway 93 at Ravalli. So there's only one choice. Find a suitable bush and there's not many of these either, believe me. "So to the good folks of Montana and in particular the motorists who were passing at the time, please accept my apologies". Definitely no more ice.
These last few days cycling have been strange, as the roads following the wide river valleys have very gentle gradients with virtually no ups or downs. Add the superb gearing on the Dawes Ultra and I regularly thought I was loosing height. It's the rivers flowing in the opposite direction that remind me I'm actually going up. Sadly all the height gained over the last few days was lost during a half hour descent at the end of the day into Missoula.
Updated: Missoula (Library).
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