Day 6: Logistics, Perspective ... and wind

 

 

66 miles, Superior MT to Missoula MT. Really? That’s all?  Yes.  The headwinds were terrible - but that’s not the reason that we had a lower mileage day.  It came down to simple logistics. 

First, a word about our friend the Wind.  It was overcast/sunny today with temps in the high 60s most of the day. Sounds like a nice day for biking and, given previous days’ progress, it also sounds like an ‘easy’ day. We thought/hoped it would be. It was not. The headwinds were particularly nasty from the first pedal strokes out of Superior all the way to Missoula. Stiff, constant, and relentless out the south/southeast, just the way we were heading. This is unusual given that the prevailing winds are supposed to be out of the west, so the only rational explanation is that the Wind gods are angry at us. We don’t know why, but they just don’t seem to like us.   

Now for the logistics part: We decided that we would be staying in motels/hotels along the way, which allows us to travel light (no camping and cooking gear).  And, honestly, being able to take a hot shower and having a soft bed to land in each night is pretty appealing in its own right. (We are old men after all.) This decision makes our itinerary equally - if not more so - dependent on the location and availability of lodging as any mileage targets that we set each day.

Today, logistics gave us two options:  65 miles or 142 miles. You’d think that State officials would do something to make our trip planing a little easier but they didn’t and 142 miles was a bridge too far. The availability of accommodations is not at all like back east where, seemingly, every 10 - 20 miles you can find a hotel/motel. Not here. They can easily be 50 miles or more apart depending on the route. So, here we are in Missoula - where logistics threw another curve ball at us. There are dozens of hotels in Missoula and they are rarely sold out - except when the city and University host the State track and field championships, like they are this week.  A flurry of last minute phone calls were enough to land us maybe the last two rooms in town, albeit quite a bit outside of downtown where UM makes its home.

Just for the record: we’re not particularly good at this logistics stuff, but there is a limit to what can be done for a self supported bicycle trip.  It’s pretty difficult to script out our trip day by day (and make the associated lodging reservations) because a whole range of factors - weather, wind, route gradients, how we feel - can and will affect how far we plan to go each day.  The best we can do is plan and make reservations a few days out - which is what we will be doing, especially with Memorial Day weekend coming up.

This thinking ahead and logistics stuff is a real pain.  We’d rather just ride our bikes. 

We’ll need to assess the wind before starting today.  We also wouldn’t mind actually seeing Missoula, so may opt for a late start.