We left the Madison Valley with a vengeance today, with a big 10 mile
climb shortly after leaving Ennis, over which we gained 2000 feet in
elevation. The photo is from an overlook about 3/4ths of the way up,
looking back down into the valley. It was another beautiful summer
morning -- about the 17 zillionth in a row, it seems. (I'm not
complaining!) The climb was long, and hard, but mostly just a matter
of keep-cranking-and-you'll-get-there. I have a suspicion that a few
weeks ago I, and others, might have thought it was a monster, but with
today's legs and lungs and experience it wasn't.
What almost always happens after a big up, of course, is a big down,
which is what the road did for the next 10 miles. I'm actually not a
big fan of the big downhill ride, because I'm too chicken to really
cut loose. So I ride the brakes a fair amount, which alway seems like
a big waste of all the effort that it took to get me to the top in the
first place. At least in this part of the world, unlike the hairpin-
turn downhills "back east," you can see where the downhill road is
going, and what's on the road, often for several miles (and it's
generally nothing). So I do cut loose, a little.
This particular downhill brought us into Virginia City, an old mining
town whose main street looks like a set for an old western movie. I
was tempted to blast on through -- we still had 50 miles to go, with
rumors of a strong afternoon headwind on tap -- but my eyes espied
Mike and Kath sitting in very civilized fashion at a little table
outside a cafe that was mentioned at the previous night's map meeting
as being worth a stop. And it was -- Swiss raspberry tart, almond
biscotti, and a delicious cup of coffee, as I sat in the morning sun.
At the bottom of the descent, 30-some miles from the top of the pass,
we turned and headed southwest toward Dillon. Now, we've been riding
basically north and west for quite a while -- weeks, it seems -- and
into some strong and steady headwinds just about the whole way. So,
when we turned south for the last 25 miles we found ourselves with a
delightful... headwind. Life isn't fair.
We camped at a KOA campground just outside of Dillon, on the banks of
the Beaverhead River. It was actually quite a pleasant and scenic
place, and they have this thing there where you take off your skanky
bike clothes and step into a little room and turn a knob and warm/hot
water comes through a pipe and out of a sprayer set in the wall and
gushes all over your tired, sweaty body. Fantastic!
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