Written by Dave

Day 17 – June 14 – 67 Miles, 2,350 feet climbing (Three Rivers Lodge to Lochas Lodge)

We had a nice night in Three Rivers Lodge and RV park. For the record the rivers are the Clearwater (downstream), Selway (right fork upstream) and Lochsa (left fork upstream). We broke camp at 7:40, only 10 minutes “late” from our target of 7:30. As they said way too many times in the Tom Cruise movie Oblivion, “we are still an affective team.” Today’s ride was crazy simple. Leave camp, turn right on Highway 12, ride along the Lochsa River to Lochsa Lodge road, turn right, set-up tent. Ok, you’re caught up, read further only if you want more details!

We had brekkie with Chris from BC and then later in the day, lunch at Lochas Lodge with him as well. He tried talking some of us into riding over the pass and onto Lolo hot springs while we were eating lunch but there were no takers. This is probably the last we’ll see of him but once again another “nice young cyclist” has given us hope for the future of our sport. Good luck reaching Yorktown Chris and please do send a screen shot of that celebratory tattoo you get so that our Chris can decide if he is going duplicate it, he seems keen now at least.

The Lochsa River started relatively flat but not long up the canyon narrowed and the rapids increased. We talked to a river guide back at Three Rivers. His crew specialized in kayak trips and he had 18 clients coming in this afternoon for runs down all three of the rivers. Even though the Lochsa River seemed full to us, the guide told us that in 2020, it was pushing out 3 times today’s volume – wow, that would be something to see.

We were passed by a couple outfitters taking rafts and punters up river but we were too early to watch many of them. Up near the end of the day we saw our only two boats – two kayaks, one with a rider, one upside down and the other rider bobbing down the river a little further back. And people think we are crazy for riding our bikes.

The river was to our right all day and it was very scenic. We took lots of photos early on but honestly all of us almost grew a little tired of the constant noise of the rapids rushing by all day. I never thought I would write that I grew tired of riding past a gorgeous river in the Idaho Bitterroot Mountains, but there you go.

We made really good time reaching the lodge today and everyone owes Curtis a beer (or hardy handshake at least). He towed the pace line for mile after mile and really made Pete and I work when we stopped for photos. Chris and Nancy never left his back wheel all day and that probably says a lot about their fitness levels at this point in the trip. Nancy’s broken foot and lack of training as a result are a distant memory. Chris’s replacement knee and limited training barely merits a mention any longer. I’m not looking forward to it just being the three of us (after Curtis and Pete peel off) but also know that I’ll be able to count on Nancy and Chris for some time on the front.

Speaking of pace lines, today marks the 15^th day of riding with which we’ve some or mostly tailwinds. Chris says we’re going to have to pay for this later but I keep telling him there is technically no tailwind bank. You get what you get and evening out is not something Mother Nature cares about.

The Lochsa Lodge is pretty amazing for cyclists. It has a great spot for tents, clean private bathrooms, amazing private shower rooms (including fluffy towels) and only charges $10 per tent. That’s $5 for each Nancy and I. We’ll try making up for their generosity by eating most of our meals in their restaurant.

Tomorrow we ride over Lolo Pass with about 1,800 feet of climbing left. There is a changeable forecast with some rain here and there. We are heading for a few days off at and AirBnB in Missoula. It will be our 7^th day riding in a row. We need a break and we can let the rain and potential snow showers pass before we resume riding on Tuesday.