Miles biked today was 74 - cool biking at 6:00AM this morning but warmed up and had clear blue skies for the majority of the day. It did cloud over a bit but then cleared up quickly.
NOTE: It was such an incredibly spectacular scenic views today I have posted more pictures than usual. Words can not describe the beauty of the ride today and even the pictures don't do this route justice. Enjoy!
We left Eureka at 6:00AM and headed towards Libby knowing that we were going to have a beautiful bike ride today along Lake Koocanusa. Lake Koocanusa is a man made lake created by the Libby Dam. It claims to be the largest fresh water lake west of the Mississippi. It is approx. 55 miles long and maybe 20 miles wide at it's widest spot. It is tucked between the Rocky Mountains and the Purcell Mountains. It was a very scenic and gorgeous ride along highway 37 from Eureka all the way to Libby for a total of 70 miles. Biking conditions were very favorable today - cool temperatures for climbing and very cool temperatures for the down hill ride. We left our fleece on for the majority of the day.
We have the Rocky Mountains behinds us and we are looking forward to the challanges of the Cabinet Mountains for tomorrow. We will spend tomorrow night in Clark Fork, IDAHO - approx. 68 miles west of Libby.
We met another group of 25 gals that were biking from Libby to Eureka today with the Woman's tour group. Apparently there were 50 gals that had signed up so they broke the group up in two separate groups so that it wouldn't be so hard to find accomodations for all of them. One gal stopped and visited with us on the road but the rest just waved and kept going. When we met the majority of them we only had 20 miles of the 70 to go so they would have had 50 miles of hills yet to finish that day. It is definitely an advantage to start early in the morning.
It looks like we have our tire problems solved (I almost hate to say that) as we haven't had a flat tire now for several days.
Although we have the toughest part of the ride coming up we figure we have less than 550 miles to go and are already thinking about dipping our bike tire in the ocean. We topped Mariah's pass at 5,236 feet but we have the following passes to get to before we can dip our tire:
1). Sherman Pass at 5,575 feet 2). Wauconda Pass at 4,310 feet 3). Loup Loup Pass at 4,020 feet 4). Washington Pass at 5,477 feet 5) Rainy Pass at 4,855 feet yet to come. These passes are all within 250 miles of each other.
We have the Rocky Mountains behinds us and we are looking forward to the challanges of the Cabinet Mountains for tomorrow. We will spend tomorrow night in Clark Fork, IDAHO - approx. 68 miles west of Libby.
We met another group of 25 gals that were biking from Libby to Eureka today with the Woman's tour group. Apparently there were 50 gals that had signed up so they broke the group up in two separate groups so that it wouldn't be so hard to find accomodations for all of them. One gal stopped and visited with us on the road but the rest just waved and kept going. When we met the majority of them we only had 20 miles of the 70 to go so they would have had 50 miles of hills yet to finish that day. It is definitely an advantage to start early in the morning.
It looks like we have our tire problems solved (I almost hate to say that) as we haven't had a flat tire now for several days.
Although we have the toughest part of the ride coming up we figure we have less than 550 miles to go and are already thinking about dipping our bike tire in the ocean. We topped Mariah's pass at 5,236 feet but we have the following passes to get to before we can dip our tire:
1). Sherman Pass at 5,575 feet 2). Wauconda Pass at 4,310 feet 3). Loup Loup Pass at 4,020 feet 4). Washington Pass at 5,477 feet 5) Rainy Pass at 4,855 feet yet to come. These passes are all within 250 miles of each other.
John and I have decided what we want to be when we grow up - Bike Bums (this is way to much fun).
Happy trails!
We have bicycled 2,307 miles since we left home on May 17th, 2010 and have taken 9 days off from biking since then.
Wow your pictures of the scenery are amazing. Sure is beautiful country. I am glad that the two of you are having so much fun. I am enjoying following your route on the map.
ReplyDeleteLove, Sharon
Hey guys, was great to hear from you Thursday. We head our for our trip tomorrow and are praying for good weather. Still no internet at home so sorry the comments are few. We are now at a coffe shop tapped into their wireless. We do love all you pictures and detailed descriptions of your voyage. You give all "Bike Bums" a good name.
ReplyDeleteDeb & Dennis