STATS
- Day: 14
- Day Mileage: 74.6
- Total Miles: 764.4
I didn’t sleep all that well st the fair last night waking up a time or two throughout the evening but managed to sleep until my alarm.v I’ve set my alarm for who knows why because I have pressed snooze like I do at home only this time, it’s so that I don’t have to get out of the sleeping bag.
As I rolled out of the tent I began to pack up. It’s easier this way so that I don’t get out of the tent until the tent is needing to be broken down. My sleeping pad, sleeping bag and pillow are all packed and ready before I unzip the tent. You would think this save time.. it doesn’t when bike packing as everything still needs to be reorganized almost daily so that weight is distributed equally. Once I made my way out, the fair ports potties were a short walk away. This is twice now where I’ve hit “day zero poets potties” and I tell you, it’s not too bad. As I made my way back to the tent, the family in the trailer I was camping next to was eating breakfast. The daughter walked over and handed me a cup of coffee saying that they thought I’d need it and to just set the cup on the trailer when I was done. It was terrific, thoughtful and got the day going on the right foot.
I made my way to McDonalds to get ready for the ride, charge my electronics, brush my teeth and have a meal before heading out. As I got back to the bike, I realized my glasses and the rear view mirror I had just bought were not on me nor in my panniers. I backtracked to the camp and found them in the grass. That’s now two items I lost and then found in Hamilton, montana. Once those items were found, I was off for the day.
The first 15 miles to Darby were easy going but I decided to stop and refuel once again because I was going to need it with the climb ahead. I had another 20 Miles to Sula which was my destination yesterday and my destination today per my schedule but I wanted to make it to Wisdom and get the climb out of the way. In Sula, I got Gatorade and a few snacks for the remainder of the ride. Just out of Sula, it was time. I began what ended up being 2 1/2 hours of uphill to 7,200 ft and my first passing of the Continental Divide. From there, I had 26 miles of downhill with the help of a tailwind to get into Wisdom. Though I could see the town from several miles out, it took seeming,y forever to get to the final destination where I headed straight for food.
After dinner, I went to set up camp at the American Legion Park that allows cyclists, hikers and campers pull in for the evening and is all donation based. I realized I didn’t have service so I made the 1/4 ride into town where I talked to some locals who gave me some advice for Yellowstone. On my ride back to camp, I saw an rv in town playing some music so I rode over and introduced myself. They also had cornhole boards set up, and they asked if I wanted to play. I did. After a beer with this group and a few games it was time to go to camp and take a hand pumped well water shower and head to bed.