Today we rode from Basin, Montana, US to Butte, Montana, US. Sunny weather with some clouds, a heavy rain shower + thunderstorm in the morning. Road conditions were definitely OK (a fine gravel road all the way). Highlights of the day was that it was really shorter day.
Riding statistics: on Saturday August 13, 2022, the 13th day on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route route, it took 06:39h (04:01h moving time), between 09:03 and 15:42, to cover 58 km (36 miles), including 745 m (2444 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 14 km/h (9 mph). During today's ride the average temperature was 27 °C (84 °F) with a minimum of 14 °C (58 °F) and a maximum of 38 °C (106 °F).
Totals: So far, it took 3 days, 13 hours, 25 minutes and 56 seconds of cycling time to cover 1178 km (732 miles), including 15209 m (49901 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 14 km/h (8.7 mph).
Leaving Basin
Last night in the bar we were told that the cafe opens at 7.30am in the morning for serving breakfast. We decided to make use of that before we left. At 7.45am we were in the cafe, got ourselves a table, and ordered breakfast. I had scrambled eggs with bacon, 2 pancakes, and an orange juice. I could use such a breakfast after the previous two days. The breakfast tasted very good. After finishing we returned to the apartment, continued gearing up the bike, and left Basin around 9am.
Todays uphill
Today we had to climb another, not as high, pass, and the road went up over a very long distance (30km). Most of it was super easy, especially since the road also remained a nice gravel road. Eventually it was still a reasonable pass we climbed. During our climb to the pass we had to pass a large open field without any trees. At that particular moment a thunderstorm started. Lighting, thunder, and heavy rain. No coverage whatsoever. We took on our rain jackets and continued to the trees in the far distance. Reaching those trees the thunderstorm itself stopped but the rain was pouring down on us. I decided to also add my rain trousers and my shoe covers (because they do not dry very easy). 10 minutes later the sun was there again so we stopped to take of the rain gear. The sun dried us and our bikes/bags very quickly. The remainder of the road was very easy to ride, although we felt our legs on each small climb. At the end, just before Butte, we got three more climbs. Auhhwww. But of course we managed to and from the last top we had an incredible view of the city of Butte. It is a mining city and that can be seen easily. Large mine pits at the edges of town. At the climb of the last uphill, we passed the three men we met in Basin. They started before us, skipping the breakfast at the Cafe. In town we went to Taco del Sol, and I had a big and very good tasting burrito. We sat down for a while and refilled our drinks several times. After that we went to the KOA campground where we got one camp spot to pitch both of our tents. After doing some groceries at Safeway and updating this journal it was time for a sleep.
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