Written by Chris

Day 18 – June 15 – 57 Miles, 2,200 feet climbing (Lochas Lodge to Missoula MT)

Today was the ride that I had dreaded 15 years ago, the ride up Lolo Pass. When Laura and I rode it we were dreading the climb but what we found out that after riding for two weeks up and down mountains, it wasn’t so bad. That was with unloaded bikes.  This time, given our 60+ pound load, I was again expecting a very challenging ride up. I was last to hit the 5200 foot summit but like everyone else I felt pretty good. At the top of the pass we found a Montana state line sign, but no summit sign. Both signs might have been too much as any extra time poising in the rain would have been unpopular.

Back to the start of our day – there was rain in the forecast so we decided to get an early start and everyone was ready for breakfast when the café opened, 6 AM PST, 7 AM MST. At breakfast the menu included a Lumber Jack pancake, I was feeling hungry so I ordered two. The waitress did a double take and said “you really want two”?  These were at least 12”, maybe 14” across and I barely finished one, which kept me going for the first 40+ miles. Dave and Nancy took their 2^nd half to eat later (Senior editor note: Dave and I did not order two pancakes and only eat half, we ordered single pancakes and ate half).  True to the forecast it started to rain during our climb, though just lightly.  Everyone put on rain jackets and pants at the visitor’s center at the top to try to keep warm on the way down.  Just down the top we crossed the border into Montana and headed down the mountain for a wet ride in 39 degree temps. It eventually warmed to 50 as we got closer to Missoula. Not sure if it was the prospect of having a rest day after riding 7 straight but everyone arrived in town wet but full of smiles.

As we made our way through downtown Missoula, we ran into the remnants of the “Pride” parade, with remnants of floats parked here and there and folks colourfully dressed walking around the streets.  We had 2 hours to wait until we could get into our AirBnB, so we found a café and eventually found some places to sit.  The café was packed, and wait time for food was long but we didn’t really care as we were warm and inside as the squalls passed through the downtown area.   

A side note on traffic, riding in the rain with cars going by at 70 MPH can be miserable. Today I found that the cars, trucks, pickups pulling trailers, etc. did their best to give me room on the road. The group that was riding in front of me had one obnoxious driver, I think this same car waved at me and cheered me on. Of course it could have been my water-covered glasses and sunny disposition that influenced what I experienced.

Dinner was at a Thai restaurant walking distance from our AirBnB – a nice change from all of the burgers and fries consumed over the last couple of weeks.

We are having two days off here (so 3 nights at the AirBnB), as a winter storm warning has been issued for the area late tomorrow night through Monday, and this extends to the next town we are heading to after we leave here.  We have no interest in trying to ride in the snow…