Well either way, I started the morning with a flat as my nozzle came off my tube. So I changed it. As we rode up on Liz and Kate and Kelsey it was clear people have different priorities on bike and build. The three of them wanted to stop everywhere and take pictures and didn't care if they made it down the mountain by bike or shuttle. On the other hand while I would have liked to take my time because we were restricted by the pass closure to bikes at 11 am, I knew I wanted to be through there because I wanna bike the whole way. So like I said, luckily they were willing to switch with us. And off we went to make up for lost time.
Since I am a fast climber comparitivly, I would stop on occation and take pictures and catch back up. The scenery was amazing dispite the fog and rain. It reminded me of the japaneese countryside. Glacier is somewhere I would wanna come back and spend a week at.
Well the real challenge came when we reached the contential divide. We had 33 miles to go and only an hour and 15 mintues to do it. Now if you pay attention to my stats ever, you'll realize that normally we go about 15 or 16 mph. So determined we set off. Even though 12 miles were downhill, it was switchbacks so we couldn't take off. Not to mention the decent was freezing my arms were shaking and my teeth chattering and I had plastic bags around my feet to keep the wind out.
We got to the bottom and Dennis pulled but then didn't eat enough and trailed off. Sam, whose shifter broke at the bottom on the otherwise only had 2 gears, so we dropped him on a hill, and then it was jillian and I. So I did math while I pulled above 20 mph for 45 minutes pacing to reach the designated spot before 11 am. Sam and Dennis did catch back up but I still pulled. It was epic. I learned alot right there about how you can cycle vs run based on how your legs feel. Conclusion: we made it to mile 50 at 10:59! Awesome. I had a huckleberry milkshake to celebrate.
After lunch, Kyle said he was leaving and was only going to go about 15. Thinking my legs were horribly tired from the climb and the pull I thought going slow would be perfect. Think again... Kyle never went below 20...and at least I wasn't pulling but dang did we roll today.
I picked up some new brakes from the bike shop. After 5000 miles and that decent today mine are shot. Had some huckleberry ice cream and we build tomorrow. Should be real good.
I don't have the stats but I'll put em up tomorrow. I wish I had pics to post but I can't pull my phone out when it rains. I'm so glad I made it the whole way without having to shuttle. I could have been in such a bad mood. But we have an awesome team and in the end everyone was happy. Love it!
Didn't see any bears. Perfectly okay with that.
-- Diane
Location:Whitefish, MT
You are awesome.
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