Today is a big day! My woman is looking forward to it! Flesher Pass!
New territory also means reading the information boards along the road:
The morning starts as the most days: overcast with a hint of maybe the sun will come out, but it might also rain! A rainbow inspires us:
We ride along the flat Missouri river banks until we reach Helena. This city is the capitol of Montana and it's rather big. Toghether with Maryline we go off route and visit this city a bit. We take our time - forgetting all about the pass!
We find it a bit difficult to find the aid station but finally we manage. The kids are still hanging around:
Along the road we also meet this unlucky guy:
We must be on our gradual incline now - heading towards the pass. Most riders are way ahead of us since we played a bit in Helena:
The tempo of the riding is slowing down and my boss has to wait sometimes for Marilyne to catch up. But that doesn't matter... we are all in a good mood and all seems to go well (my boss thinks).
But then - a CA-van passes us and Marilyne flaggs it down: she had enough of the ride for today. My boss is startled ... and decides to go on, all by herself. She feels lost and her confidence is gone. There's noone around to hang out with and the hard work is now arriving. Slowly she crawls up the hill towards the pass while time is flying. A sense of being all alone overwhelms her - a sense of despair too! "I will never make it..."
She can now see the steepness of the road ahead and she nodds her head... 'Why did I stay so long in Helena?', she thinks! Her speed reaches that of an inchworm - making frequent stops.
Suddenly a CA-van shows up and stops next to her. "Do you want a ride?", they ask her? Why oh why didn't they say something like "Hey, you're doing great! Take your time. You'll make it! We'll keep an eye on you!". So my boss - being in such a negative mood - said "Yes, please!". And there the Sweet Machine is lifted on top of the roof of the van and in my boss goes. SAG! SAG! SAG!
While sitting in the van and watching the scenery goes by (she had about 6 miles to the top...) my boss feels lost, sad, angry with herself... Upon arriving at the Lincoln school she thanks the staff for the ride, but she definitely doesn't feel good about herself. She's soooooooo tired: physically and mentally that she doesn't want to pitch the tent. She just takes out her thermarest, drops on it in the gym and falls asleep... Someone wakes her for dinner but her stomach doesn't feel like getting any food. She says "No, thanks" and falls asleep again.
I can do nothing more than crawl next to her and whisper some inspirational words in her ear: "It will all be fine tomorrow!"
Today's data:
distance: 103,8 km time: 6 hrs 27 minutes
average speed: 15,9 km/hr maximum speed: 46 km/hr
elevation gain: --- ft (did not finish the ride)
Overall data:
total distance: 784,1 km
longest distance: 131,8 km (Flagg Ranch, WY to West Yellowstone, MT)
total time: 40 hrs 11 minutes
total elevation gain: 14715 ft
most climbing in a day: 3368 ft (Flagg Ranch, WY to West Yellowstone, MT)
fastest avg speed: 21,3 km/hr (Afton, WY to Jackson Hole, WY)
fastest maximum speed: 66 km/hr (Ennis, MT to Townsend, MT)
In a newspaper at home my mom cut out this article about the weather in the USA and the flooding of the Mississippi:
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