Day Six, 9-22-05
Today will be the most “logistically challenging” day, and we’ve yet to have a day go “as planned”. I must say however, the “plan” has been a good one for every day, as long as we followed the plan. Only the closing of the Trading Post was a “hole” in the plan, and even that was fairly minor. Our snafus came with underestimating training/fitness, not carrying items already decided as required, and the unexpected stress of schoolwork while on vacation. However, this day will find us needing to rendezvous with someone we have never met, in a town we have never been to, then having the vehicle group meeting up with the biking group at the border, where another guy we never met is to meet us and take us to our next lodging… after we walk across the border and clear customs. For a group that has had much luck following a simple plan, this seems like a tall order. Nevertheless, it is still my goal to see at least one day “pull off” as designed, and so we go over the plan several times to make sure everyone is clear on each part.
One thing we have learned after just the first day, is that a mid point “check in” is highly desirable, given the unpredictability of things. Fortunately there is a little town called “Elko” at just around the half way mark, so we agree to use this as our check in point. Mike and I also set up 3 potential “bail out” points where, if we have either physical or mechanical problems we can be “rescued” with little difficulty from our shuttle van.
The plan is set and today I have a riding buddy. Mike wants to ride the whole way with me, but given the fact that his longest ride this year was just 35 miles, doing 55 may be a stretch for him. So, with no “great expectations” we head out earlier than normal to give us the best chance possible of making our deadlines. It’s quite a bit colder this morning, mostly because we are leaving before 10am, but with the sun shining, it promises to be another beautiful day.
According to the profile, we are expecting a “climb” out of Fernie, but today the profile proves to be kind to us, and the climbs are very modest. We are treated to the greatest concentration of aspens that we have seen on any of our days thus far. The road is a mixture of hard packed gravel and old paved roads – in good enough shape for us to average almost 12 mph. We are feeling pretty good that this is an auspicious start.
We see a few deer as we ride, and eventually come to the first of two “big climbs” coming into Elko. I’m thinking Mike will be pushing this one, but he passes me midway up the hill and continues quite strong to the top… WOW. Cool. We get a few more pics, and head on to more flat terrain to Elko. As we approach the town, and about 30 minutes prior to our estimated arrival, we hear Nate on the radio. We have been riding for 2 hours or so, but feel really good, so we tell him to go on ahead to Cranbrook to return the rental car, and we are going to try and finish the ride according the bike map. If we can do this, it will be the first “un-broken” day – ridden as designed.
We stop for lunch on the bridge over the Elk River – a beautiful setting just outside of Elko. We get fueled up and study the map again to make sure we don’t make any wrong turns (something we will do many times that day). The next leg takes us down a steep descent on Highway 93. I hit my max speed for the trip at 38.4 mph going down that hill. Within a couple of miles, we are able to turn off the highway and onto a beautiful back road through another of Canada’s “Provincial Parks”. This terrain is very different than every other day – wide open fields, of beautiful, feathery grasses with rolling mountains in the background. We continue to be psyched that we are making good time and still feeling so good. This has easily been the lowest “climbing day” of the trip.
However, our “picnic” is about to end, as another 5 miles reveals our biggest climb of the day. It’s about a half mile climb up an 8% grade on the highway, before we get to another set of back roads. At first we think we will get some help from a descent that we will make before we cross Elk River. Unfortunately, the river is so wide, that the flats of the bridge “suck” all of our down hill momentum, and we are forced to climb with no “help” whatsoever. Again I’m thinking Mike may have trouble with this one, but again he impresses me with a very strong climb, being only a few seconds behind me. Cool! He’s feeling his oats today!
With that behind us, we are now fully committed to making it the entire way with no “bail outs” required. After another 5 miles or so, we hear Nate’s voice again on the Radio. He is in Grassmere, and according to the map, we are just 3 miles or show shy of that little town. It’s nice to hear that he got the car back, and is with the shuttle driver – everything is still on track.
There is one final climb out of Grassmere, but it’s a very forgiving grade – around 4% or so, and we get some steam up for our last push to the border. I slow up after I get to the top, as my “roadie instincts” are starting to kick in, and I don’t want Mike to ride alone for the remainder of the ride. Once he catches me, I explain to him how to draft, and we do a little “pace line” to the border; averaging a very comfortable 18 mph or so almost the whole way in.
We take some “obligatory photos” at the border sign, and head into the parking lot to complete our the day’s ride – the first ride that was not “altered” in some way, and my first ride where I had company the entire day. Naturally at the end, Mike decides to Sprint finish and comes in as the “winner” of the final stage J.
We still have to cross the border though, and we have to walk across with all of our gear. While our little 4 man troupe with half of us in tights crossing the Montana border seems to be enough to get all the agents out of the little border building, we are not given too much of a hard time, and we are cleared to go over to the van who is sitting in the parking area waiting. We managed to make it to the border 15 minutes ahead of schedule, and right on time to meet up with our U.S. driver to take us to the bed and breakfast. What a perfect day!!
The B&B was easily one of the nicest I’ve ever stayed at, and the folks that run it were absolutely the best. They were incredibly accommodating, giving us their own van to go out to dinner that night, and getting up at 5:30am to cook us waffles for breakfast since we had such an early flight. Apparently, we are some of the rare folks that stay with them that do not go to Glacier National Park – something they say is worth coming back for even if that is the only reason we come. The owner is a Chemist/Entrepreneur, who sold 3 businesses in the past, one to GE medical.
Stats & Lessons Learned: Miles: 56, Ave: 12.0 mph moving average, 5:46 trip time, climbing = ????????
Make sure to confirm all your final logistics 1 to 2 weeks before departing, especially with regards to the final day.