Day 14 - Flying with the wind

Day 14 - Jackson, MT to Dillon, MT - 48 miles - 2041 ft of elevation gain

When you are in small town America, you have to roll with the punches. This morning that meant chicken wraps from the only open restaurant in town (purchased the night before) and random granola bars and fruit for breakfast. I attempted hard boiling eggs in the microwave, the key is making a pin hole in the egg before putting it in the water. I don’t recommend the microwaved hard boiled eggs unless you are desperate.

There were two hills today. One 1.5 miles near the beginning of the ride. The temps were in the mid-60s, with full exposure to the sun. When we get to the hills we become spread out as we each go our pace. I got so hot and sweaty on the final part of the climb that sweat was pouring into my eyes. I wasn’t wearing my gloves and my hand skin was not doing a very good job of wiping it away. The burn was real, so I just started closing my eyes and cycling blind for a few seconds at a time. I was so happy to get to the top and wipe my eyes with my shirt. We reached our highest point to date at 7400 ft in elevation.

The descent was AMAZING! Long and straight, with a wind at our tail. I hit 47.7 mph and I know others went so much faster. It really does help to make the hill fade into a distant pain memory.

In the flats, we were flying. Like barely pedaling and going between 20-26 mph. It was awesome! These young men are getting stronger with each day.

The next hill climb was towards the end and was 4.5 miles long. It wound up the mountain and at one point I heard a plane flying overhead, it was a stealth fighter or something large. There was a nice side breeze which kept the sweat at bay. The descent from this hill took us into Dillon and wasn’t as steep as the first. We rolled into town early and couldn’t check into our hotel. So we biked down to Subway for lunch and huddled in the back of the building waiting for the 3pm check-in. We had a talent show and devotions while we waited.

This is our last “big” town for a few days (they don’t have a bowling alley or Walmart here).