Today is a shorty. It is July 4th and we are moving from a hotel to an AirBnB for the day and night. Since we could not get into the AirBnB until 3 it gave us a chance to ride the bike paths in Missoula and visit Adventure Cycling even though it was closed. Missoula was a disappointment for July 4th. There was no parade, no flags on the light standards in downtown, no fireworks either.
A funny thing did happen along our ride. As we were riding along the Riverside Trail we stopped to check our maps to determine the best bridge to cross the river into downtown Missoula. There was an elder gentleman planting native plants and asked if we needed directions. After a minute I realized that he looked familiar and then we figured out that this guy and I had met at a bicycle hostel in Mitchell, OR in 2021. He was riding from Missoula to the west coast and I was just a few days in for my west to east trip along the TransAm. Small world.
Today’s stats: total mileage 14.1 miles, elevation gain 246 feet, elevation loss 213 feet, average speed 19.3 mph, maximum speed 19.3 mph.