Happy to be blogging from a day off the bike in Whitefish, Montana after one of the most physically and mentally challenging/rewarding experiences of my life. Our longest stretch of the trip began in New Town, North Dakota and has taken us to the far west side of the expansive state of Montana. That's 11 straight days of biking - covering a total of 785 miles.
It's hard to even find a place to start when trying to describe these last few days. Simply, it's been incredible. The part of the trip I've looked forward to most (aside from seeing my family in Wisconsin) has finally come!
We have spent most of our time on long, flat Highway 2. Our cue sheets went from being half pages long in the beginning of the trip to merely an inch long, with one direction: Highway 2 for x number of miles. I knew Montana was huge, but the expanse of it really began to sink in as I pedaled day in and day out of the flattest, most dismal landscape I had seen all trip. It's crazy how rapidly this state shifted from endless flatland to the Rocky Mountains overnight.
We finally experienced the wind everyone warned us about as we make this journey westward. Biking into Shelby, Montana at a max. speed of 9 mph was not fun. Not fun at all. But, it made for great conversations. It's always the stressful, hard days that everyone ultimately has the most to say about. So, although we hated feeling like we were going nowhere way too fast, it was just another great bonding experience - something we all endured together.
The closer we started getting to western Montana, the harder time I had keeping my excitement under control. I was so, so, so excited to go back to the place I left a huge piece of my heart in: Glacier National Park. Most of us were really starting to get emotionally and physically drained after a week straight of long days of pedaling. Glacier and seeing my friends at the Park Cafe kept my spirits up.
I spent the past two days biking into the Rockies with my friend Abby. Words can't even begin to describe the feeling of being on a bicycle with the most beautiful landscape in front of you. When you're moving at a maximum speed of 15 miles per hour, it gives you a chance to really take in your scenery. Even though I'd driven from Browning to St. Mary many, many times in a car, the experience I had on my bicycle was more powerful than any trip I'd ever take on these roads before. The air smells different, the climbs through the mountain are more spectacular, and the constant sense of adventure are so unique to this trip.
Upon arriving in St. Mary (right at the east entrance of GNP) after one of the best descents I've ever done, I couldn't wait to go have a piece of pie at the cafe. Abby was by my side and just looked at me in awe as I sprinted into the community room of the Park Cafe and gave all my old coworkers and friends the biggest hugs. Shortly after, I was met by Jamey and Travis and we all sat down and had a meal together. It felt like home to be sitting in that cafe. Seeing everyone around the cafe in their "Pie for Strength" t-shirts made me feel like I'd never left. It was wonderful to be able to spend a night with such great place filled with such great memories.
Later that night, the Bike & Build team camped out at St. Mary campground. The rain was relentless and I was a little nervous the weather might put a damper of experiencing Going to the Sun highway the next day. After snuggling up in our tents to stay warm, we all woke at 4:30 to get an early start so that we could be off of the Going to the Sun Highway before 11 am. Because of higher traffic flow later in the day, bicyclists are not allowed on the road after 11 am. We woke up to rain, packed up all our gear, and looked up at the Rockies behind us in excitement. The first 17 miles were an uphill climb to the continental divide. The rain never really stopped, and the temperature never rose above 50, but to know we were on this road in the middle of Glacier National Park was enough to keep us happy. In an effort to weatherproof myself, I biked up the road with a winter hat, bread bags on my feet, and winter gloves. My friend Jamey decided to wear his long john's over his biking gear just as an extra layer. We all basically looked like hobos climbing the Rockies.
After reaching Logan Pass, we all prepared for the 12 mile, 6% grade descent. Normally, I love descents, but this one was a tough one for me. For one, I was so cold that I couldn't feel my hands at all and my hat kept getting pushed down over my eyes because of my helmet. I made it eight miles before my body physically stopped me from finishing. I have never had the shakes so bad and I realized that flying down the side of a mountain at 25 miles an hour in an effort to get done before 11 was just a terribly unwise idea. I waited for a shuttle to get me to Apgar Village, where I met up with the rest of the group (who also had to shuttle down) and headed to lunch.
The last 25 miles into Whitefish were much easier, almost completely downhill and much, much warmer! Whitefish is a lovely ski town tucked in the valley surrounded by beautiful mountains. It was such a great feeling to finish 11 straight days of biking, especially on a day that was arguably most people's favorite day of the entire trip.
I was able to stroll around the downtown, journal, and take comfort in the fact that I would not be getting on my bike the next day. After picking up a new book of short stories, I set "home", the lovely First Presbyterian Church, in downtown Whitefish to read my new book. However, before I knew it, I was out cold by 8 pm - before I even had the chance to put my pajamas on or blow up my Thermarest. I woke up at 5:30 this morning, fully rested and decided to take a stroll around town.
It was so nice to wake up when I wanted to! I met up with some of the locals in the town and had a coffee and some lovely conversation. Then, we all had breakfast together at the church before we set off for our last build day of the trip.
This was one of the best build days we've had. All 32 of us had something to occupy ourselves with. I got to work on building the framing for a garage and used my first air pressure nail gun. It pretty much scared the living daylights out of me.
After we finished our build day today, the girls rushed home to finish up our Sadie Hawkin's date proposals. After prom, the boys thought it only fair to make the girls ask the boys out on a date. I drew our leader Denis' name and decided to ask him to ride with me into Eureka tomorrow via "Mustache-Grams" since he is wildly popular for his impressive facial hair. The girls have been pretty creative and the boys very impressed. We will all be riding into Eureka, Montana in date-like pairs tomorrow. I am very excited!
Well, once again, I've written a novel - but so much happens in a week's time on this trip - it's unbelievable! It's even more unbelievable that this adventure of a lifetime will be finished in 12 days. 12 days!!!! While at times I feel like I've been biking for years, I also have a hard time reconciling that it has gone by this fast and that I am over 3,000 miles into this trip. The fact that I am still walking is nothing short of a miracle to me. I really feel the hugeness of this accomplishment at this point of the trip, and I am so blessed to have been apart of something so lifechanging. Thanks for reading. Hope to update again soon - this last stretch of the trip is supposed to be incredibly beautiful!
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