Day 8 - Centurians.
Thompson Falls, Montana to Missoula, Montana
Today was an EARLY rise. We woke up at 5:15, but with the time change my alarm was still set for how our bodies really felt, in western time, which was 4:15. Good God. After a pack up, we rode down to the little Thompson Falls Elks Club for a really fantastic breakfast made by a woman who wanted to contribute (she was mother of a host to one of our riders back in Seattle). The group I was riding with determined that the most important thing of our daunting first century ride (over a hundred miles in length) was to get out early. 6:30 we were off and riding into the sunrise, with perfect weather, gorgeous scenery alongside a river (ever calling to me) and railroad track. We were flying, covering ground like it was our job, adeptly shooting photos from the bike of the mountains left and right, and were shocked to find that we were the first riders into the morning waterstop. The stop was in Paradise, MT, and we found one dollar coffees at the local cafe which we made communal because they were so huge we couldn’t finish them before we were off again.
From Paradise we had a stretch that our group joined two others to make our group Mike, Sean, Kari, Steve, and I. With a beautiful paceline going, we were cruising in the low 20’s mph. It was just fun really, to hold that speed, to look around and see the mountains, and to see the miles fly in the essential cool morning weather. The funny part was that as great as it was, each of us were thinking to ourselves, “Man, I don’t know how much longer I’m going to want to ride with these guys at this pace.” So it was probably for the best that we dropped back to eat a sandwich at mile 50.
The day became hotter and hotter, the traffic heavier and heavier, the shoulder smaller and smaller, and the trucks meaner and meaner. I can’t wait to get into Minnesota just for the kind of folk that return a friendly wave. It was near impossible at some points to enjoy the scenery because the roads required complete concentration, and this was mostly due to the returning Monday traffic coming out of Glacier Park. The rest of the ride went pretty smoothly however. Jody scared me a bit, because at our 56 mile checkpoint I was peeling a juicy delicious mango with my teeth, and she told me that 90% of people are super allergic to the skin with reactions similar to poison ivy. After rinsing my face super-well, I found no reaction and think I’ll look that up myself :)
After our 75 mile waterstop, when miraculously there were only two people ahead of me, we finished out a gradual 9 mile climb. It was hard, I was sweating bullets. After a breif stop at a gas station, where Mike and Sean devoured a couple of donuts, we came to the most rewarding moments of the entire day: the descent. Oh man. The whole damn hot day was so worth it just for this descent. Cruising down, we were so lucky that at this point we could take up most of a lane, because as I glanced down at my speedometer the numbers crept up and up. 47.1 mph was my max speed, and this was feathering the brakes a bit, and not in a total tuck. In the moment I wanted to tuck and just climb to higher speeds so bad, so it was probably for the best that I was creeping up to Sean who was creeping up to Mike.
We cruised into possibly the warmest reception yet, at the dorm rooms of the University of Montana in Missoula, in the speedy hour of 2:30-ish. At an average of about 16.9 mph, it was for certain a good 105-miler. The cafeteria food was incredible, with the largest, freshest salad bar I could have imagined.
Today was an EARLY rise. We woke up at 5:15, but with the time change my alarm was still set for how our bodies really felt, in western time, which was 4:15. Good God. After a pack up, we rode down to the little Thompson Falls Elks Club for a really fantastic breakfast made by a woman who wanted to contribute (she was mother of a host to one of our riders back in Seattle). The group I was riding with determined that the most important thing of our daunting first century ride (over a hundred miles in length) was to get out early. 6:30 we were off and riding into the sunrise, with perfect weather, gorgeous scenery alongside a river (ever calling to me) and railroad track. We were flying, covering ground like it was our job, adeptly shooting photos from the bike of the mountains left and right, and were shocked to find that we were the first riders into the morning waterstop. The stop was in Paradise, MT, and we found one dollar coffees at the local cafe which we made communal because they were so huge we couldn’t finish them before we were off again.
From Paradise we had a stretch that our group joined two others to make our group Mike, Sean, Kari, Steve, and I. With a beautiful paceline going, we were cruising in the low 20’s mph. It was just fun really, to hold that speed, to look around and see the mountains, and to see the miles fly in the essential cool morning weather. The funny part was that as great as it was, each of us were thinking to ourselves, “Man, I don’t know how much longer I’m going to want to ride with these guys at this pace.” So it was probably for the best that we dropped back to eat a sandwich at mile 50.
The day became hotter and hotter, the traffic heavier and heavier, the shoulder smaller and smaller, and the trucks meaner and meaner. I can’t wait to get into Minnesota just for the kind of folk that return a friendly wave. It was near impossible at some points to enjoy the scenery because the roads required complete concentration, and this was mostly due to the returning Monday traffic coming out of Glacier Park. The rest of the ride went pretty smoothly however. Jody scared me a bit, because at our 56 mile checkpoint I was peeling a juicy delicious mango with my teeth, and she told me that 90% of people are super allergic to the skin with reactions similar to poison ivy. After rinsing my face super-well, I found no reaction and think I’ll look that up myself :)
After our 75 mile waterstop, when miraculously there were only two people ahead of me, we finished out a gradual 9 mile climb. It was hard, I was sweating bullets. After a breif stop at a gas station, where Mike and Sean devoured a couple of donuts, we came to the most rewarding moments of the entire day: the descent. Oh man. The whole damn hot day was so worth it just for this descent. Cruising down, we were so lucky that at this point we could take up most of a lane, because as I glanced down at my speedometer the numbers crept up and up. 47.1 mph was my max speed, and this was feathering the brakes a bit, and not in a total tuck. In the moment I wanted to tuck and just climb to higher speeds so bad, so it was probably for the best that I was creeping up to Sean who was creeping up to Mike.
We cruised into possibly the warmest reception yet, at the dorm rooms of the University of Montana in Missoula, in the speedy hour of 2:30-ish. At an average of about 16.9 mph, it was for certain a good 105-miler. The cafeteria food was incredible, with the largest, freshest salad bar I could have imagined.
posted by elizabeth at 11:13 PM
2 Comments:
2:30!!! and with photos! impressive. so glad you are having fun.
From what I could find, she's partially right about the mangoes. Their skin does have the same oil that poison ivy, poison oak, and others have. It can be allergenic in mangoes, but not usually to the extent poison ivy is. As I understand it, one time exposure will not usually cause a problem, as the body is not prepared to put up a response (allergic reaction) to the toxin, and the danger is mostly limited to getting the oils on your skin. People that have built up antibodies to respond to the oil, through repeated mango skin contact, or other sources like poison ivy, are ones that can have the big problems. It seems possible the skin can be safely eaten - I've done it without a problem - and even people that are highly allergic to the skin can usually eat the fruit as long as someone else has peeled it.
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