Seeley Lake, MT to Helena,
MT
110 miles
"Did you know you can grow a square watermelon?" [Rob Christian]
It was very cold in the morning (30 degrees according to the one available thermometer), yet the first people rolled out just after 7am. I discovered that running hot water over the sunscreen bottle makes it less painful to apply.
It was basically a day of rolling terrain with no places for food for the first 74 miles (time for PowerBars), after which we stopped in Avon. Then about 10 miles later we started up the climb to the Continental Divide, which turned out to be easier than many of us expected. The remaining 20 miles (including the fast downhill) was mostly headwinds, but I was feeling better than I did earlier in the ride so I turned down the offered van shuttle as did several others. So this was our first true century ride.
Mark Schmick rides by all bundled up:
Scenery along highway 200:
Looking back along highway 141:
Lunch and dessert in Avon -- Mark Bazerman holds up the large wad of
butter that arrived on his cinnamon roll:
Sign at the bottom of the climb up to the Continental Divide:
Me, Mark Bazerman, Sandra White, and Deb Klein at the top of MacDonald
Pass (the Divide):
Close-up of the sign:
Mark Bazerman rides by (not for the first time) at MacDonald Pass --
note the snow:
Four pictures from a scenic overlook after starting down the other side,
scanning right to left:
