Today we rode from Lincoln, Montana, US to Helena, Montana, US. The day started with mist, however, within two hours it was full on summer again with high temperatures. Road conditions included a few paved roads, lots of different gravel roads, but also lots of difficult double track / jeep track. Highlights of the day include climbing 3 passes that crosses the North American Divide, the changing scenery, and checking into our first motel..
Riding statistics: on Thursday August 11, 2022, the 11th day on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route route, it took 11:45h (08:22h moving time), between 07:40 and 19:26, to cover 102 km (63 miles), including 1651 m (5417 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 12 km/h (8 mph). During today's ride the average temperature was 31 °C (92 °F) with a minimum of 13 °C (56 °F) and a maximum of 48 °C (126 °F).
Totals: So far, it took 3 days, 2 hours, 43 minutes and 28 seconds of cycling time to cover 1051 km (653 miles), including 12792 m (41971 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 14.3 km/h (8.9 mph).
Leaving Lincoln
A large part of the night it has been raining. Quite hard. I even wondered if my tent was in an OK place since it was on the shore next to a stream with only a small difference in height. I imagined if there would be any risk, the owners would have informed me. The alarms where set for 6am since it was going to be a long and hard day. When opening my tent there as a lot of mist. So the rain fly of the tent was completely soaked. Fortunately it was not that cold. We required some time to get all things packed. Before leaving town we first stopped by the local gas station. There we bought water, and I also bought a freshly made salad for the afternoon. The kind lady was used to cyclists and helped me get it packed well for a take out on the bike. She even got packaging tape to seal of the salad container. Nice! With some delays we left Lincoln.
Three Passes
Today our legs would be tested. If we really are going to make it to Helena, we wiĺl have to climb three passes. Each passing is a crossing over the Continental Divide from east to west or west to east. The first pass Temple Pass, 13km long, 500+m elevation. This climb started after about 4km out of town. So we could warmup quite soon after starting the day. The first three quarter of the climb was not bad. But we only climbed about 150m of the 500+ in total. This meant that the end of the climb would be hard. And indeed it was hard. Not only because of the steep elevation, but also because of the road going up. A combination of double track and rougher jeep tracks. Nice to have a different road going up a pass, but it makes things even harder. The scenery however, was beautiful. After passing the top, we had hoped for a well deserved downhill. We got one, but it was so steep we had to squeeze our brakes for about 20 minutes. On top of the that the road was difficult, and there could be cows on the road (which there were). We had some smaller (but not less difficult) climbs in between this pass and the next. But first we had a break next to a river so that we could also filter water and had fresh cool water in our bottles. While eating lunch we also watched the trout in the river catching bugs, flies and grasshoppers (who just jumped into the water). It was hot, really had. Glad we had a nice break into the shadow, next to a river. After our lunch break we could immediately start with our second real climb of today with a length of 10+km and also about 500+m elevation. This one was more gradual over the total length, but the road surface was far worse. So we took our time for this one as well. Especially since we were in the most warm part of the day. The last mile on the top of this pass there were lodging workers. Meaning the road was bad. So we had to push a bit more to reach it to the top. The downhill had a very nice scenery but we had to be careful as well. A rough rocky road, combined with washouts, meaning deep marks in the road. If your wheel would get stuck you would be launched. So careful again. Some sections where great though. When the gravel road is in a good condition you release the brakes, and speed is increased immediately. Often without problem 50+km/h on our bikes. We had to bike 8km to the next climb. However, rest assure there is no flat section, always up, or down. The third climb of the day was fortunately easier, 4km with an elevation gain of 150+m. The intense heat and rocky road made it still challenging. Today we have seen the scenery change from deep forests into farmlands with lots of cows.
Helena
After the last climb we had downhill of about 7km with rather good surfaces. So there we could win some time. After that we still had a 15km ride before we were into Helena. Unfortunately a ride on the shoulder of a busy road. In Helena went to the first gas station to buy something nice to drink and to find out in which motel we would like to stay. The decision was the Budget Express Inn, we knew there would be more cyclists which we have met over the last week. Some more than other. Almost all people we met, especially other cyclists, are kind and helpful, and come from all around the globe (well, so far mainly North-America and Europe. Lots of Dutch people on the route according to locals we speak). We could really clean up in the motel room, let all our stuff air and ry, and do laundry. We felt fresh and reborn. Tomorrow we will sleep a bit longer and have a shorter day.
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