After a great night of sleep in the forest it was off and on the road again. The goal today is two fold: One is to get to higher elevation to minimize exposure to the heat dome and the second was to get to the base of another large climb. Today’s ride was started by continuing to ride along the Bitterroot off road bike path. This is an almost 40 mile long paved path between Missoula and Hamilton, MT. The adjacent highway is busy so this is a welcome reprieve from the traffic.
Since I did not take a day off in Missoula the goal was to go to Dillion, MT and take Monday off. Dillion is still 160 miles away and it would be easy to do if I could ride 80 miles each way, however there are 4 imposing roadblocks in the way. Save those roadblocks for tomorrow.
The ride to Sula was pleasant with a mix of landscapes from forested areas, to rangeland, to forests burned 20 years ago. As I travelled further south and up the Bitterroot valley the traffic became less and less. There was only one stretch of about 6 miles without any shoulders, otherwise the shoulders were of a good surface material, clean, and wide. Because of their width the rumble strips at the white line was not a problem. This stretch of road is also populated with some of the larger towns that I have encountered so far, not including Eugene or Missoula.
As I moved south and into higher elevations the air felt cooler and one time it almost felt like a cool breeze. I arrived in Salu and debated whether or not I should take on the first of a series of climbs. Salu is a small campground, campstore, a few houses and nothing else. After some ice cream the decision was made to stay put, and I did. Later I met another cyclist going east to west, named Sam. Sam is only the 4th cyclist that I have met so far going east to west on the TA route.
Today’s stats: Total miles 60.2; average speed 13.3 mph; max speed 30.3 mph; elevation climb 713 feet; elevation descent 617 feet.