Saturday, August 10,2013

The theme of the day yesterday was Blue Heron.  Lots of lots of Blue Heron around Clark Fork Idaho.  The theme of the day for the day before was deer, deer, deer.  The ride of Thursday was the best yet, until today.  It was cool, not much traffic, not too many hills, and the aforementioned deer.  Really really good.  61 miles on that day, and it just felt good.  It is still really hot in the afternoon, so I have been trying to get on the road at first light. Today finds me in Libby, Montana(God's country according to Leslie).  There is a riverfront blues festival today,which can at times make it hard to find a place to sleep.  But right next to where i am typing this (in the deli section of a grocery store)  is a small camp ground that just fits the bill.

The theme of the day on Wednesday was moose.

I wanted to mention something I went by on my trip over Sherman pass.  It was on a small acerage next to the road.  It became obvious that it was a sacred place.  Very large eyes and other symbols were painted on half of a barn.  There were also several wooden signs posted on poles.  These also had what were obvious sacred symbols painted on them.  At the end of the land there was a body raised on a platform high above the ground, suspended by stilts/poles.  The body was wrapped and there was a ssedond skull placed  right next to the skull of the body.  I seem to remember that this was a Crow ritual, but I could be wrong.  It was good to be able to go by it so slowly(as I was climbing the pass).  I didn't take a picture.  It felt wrong to disturb the sacredness of the place.

Now to set the record straight ( I can hear my men's group calling me on this one) - Sherman peak was 5,500 feet, but the climb up was only 3,000 feet.

Quite often the biking is challenging mentally.  Physically it is also challenging, but I have more issues with the mental aspect.  For example, the ride up Sherman Pass was tough, so I had to think of a time that was similarly tough and use it as a way to help me to the top.

My solution was to think about those weekends when the Casper Storm hockey team (of which I am a member) played in tournaments.  We would play 5 to 6 games in one weekend.  I thought it was insane at the time, but it turned out to be the thing that helped me get to the top of the pass.  As I got closer to the end, I would think of how I dealt with the fatigue towards the end of  that 5th or 6th hockey game.

Today was the best riding day. Coming up the Bull River Valley was my definition of nirvana.  Beautiful meadows, great scenes of mountains all around, very few cars, the humming of my tires.  Cool and refreshing.  Good stuff.

Until next time.