Epic Bike Ride Day 41 July 8

Thoughts from Kelly: Today was another late start, I wonder if we will ever start before 11:30 again! Today we drove through Basin and Boulder and up to Helena.  The road into Helena had so many divots that I was cursing it, and going extremely slow.  There were multiple times each tire was in a different divot, and the truck was twisting, and my back was groaning.  Mark kept having to stop and wait for me! The road was so bad, I was not able to enjoy the scenery or take many pictures.

We stayed at another hotel, this time a very nice one thanks to our niece and the family discount, thanks Matthew and Savana! We even got to enjoy the hot tub, well Mark did, my sensitivity to heat makes hot tubs not enjoyable.

Thoughts from Mark:  This was the rare section of road that was “Ok” for me to ride, but difficult for Kelly to drive.  I was feeling fairly decent on the bike, but Kelly had to drive so slowly that it seemed like we weren’t making very fast progress.  This has been a theme on the entire ride.  There is ALWAYS something to make me ride slower (either a headwind, a steep climb, a bad road, hot weather, rain, or sometimes all of these things at once).  The motto for the ride should be “You will not be able to go as fast as you think you should.”  Probably not a great motto, and wouldn’t really fit on a T-shirt.

The hotel in Helena was very nice, and I was able to take a quick dip in the pool and hot tub.  Both felt pretty nice, and it was great to take a shower again.  We have been going multiple days (sometimes close to a week) between showers, but using baby wipes to clean everyday, which (I think?) makes us not so stinky.  Each time we do shower, I immediately feel much more aerodynamic, as at least three pounds of dirt comes off.

Miles for the day: 64.93         Feet climbed today:  2,262

Total miles ridden: 1,928.03    Total feet climbed: 118,248