Day 12: Powell to Missoula

59 miles
2060 feet of elevation gain

Well, today started easy and got harder. The easy part, believe it or not, was the 13 mile 1.5 hour climb up Lolo Pass. We got out there early and avoided most of the traffic (3 cars in 70 minutes), so it was just a matter of pedaling up and Dad and I are now climbing masters.


There was a gorgeous field at the top of Lolo just full of purple camas flowers. We were in luck, it only blooms from late June to early July. Lolo is also the dividing point between Idaho and Montana.

For some reason all the tailwinds we've been promised have not materialized, and instead we're stuck with headwinds. We had a headwind down the pass and for the next 35 miles. It was awful. Dad seemed energized though because he just plowed through the wind and I got to stick behind him and draft. Jim told us after our last big headwind down a hill that he got better gas mileage going uphill than with the headwinds. It was pretty exhausting, so it's a good thing today was relatively short.

The wind let up around Lolo, but I almost would have prefered it. For the next 12 miles into Missoula we had awful traffic. There was a big shoulder, but it was gravely and the ride was just hot and miserable. Missoula has like 30,000 fewer people than Hillsboro, but at around 1:30/2 there traffic was a whole lot worse. I'd never riden in such congested circumstances before. Now I'm ready for a rest day. However, no matter how excited I am not to ride tomorrow, it's much better than last week when I HAD TO HAVE a rest day. I couldn't have ridden anymore, and we rode 6 days instead of 5 this week. The fitness level is definately improving.