Thur 18 June, 2009 (Jessica’s 37th Birthday)
Jct MT-200 & MT-56 to Lake Koocanusa
We woke to a chilly, damp, foggy morning. Bill U. got an early start and Diane and I followed soon after. After we'd climbed out of the RV park,we pedaled down the road a bit to a CS and bought some bars and food because Bill H. reminded us that the next 51 miles were without services. There was nothing until we reached Libby.
Those miles along Hwy 56 through the Cabinet Mountains were beyond all singing and I took several photos. There were some ups and downs but very little traffic.
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| MT-56 |
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MT-56 along the Bull River
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I was riding with Diane, and after a steep section that saw her pushing her bike uphill, she could not get clipped in again. She tried and tried. I went back to see if I could help, and just at that point, a woman in a car on the opposite side of the road stopped and asked if she could help. Diane explained the situation, and the woman picked her up and took her to a bike store in Troy, quite a distance off route. Another random act of kindness extended to us along the route.
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| Diane zinging downhill on our morning route |
I continued on toward Libby. Approaching the intersection of Hwy 2 on a fast downhill, I saw Kevin at the side of the road frantically signaling me to slow down. I slowed in time to miss two sets of rumble strips designed to warn drivers of the stop sign ahead. Turned out that earlier Bill U. and Kevin, had ridden across the strips with their BOBs in tow. Pretty nasty. Kevin decided to stay behind and warn Diane and me of the rumble strips. For that he gets my profound thanks.
After using the restroom at a rest area at the foot of the hill, I continued with Kevin toward Libby along a busy stretch of Hwy 2. Suddenly a car pulled over and out jumped Diane. Her bike shoe cleats had been ruined by walking on them, so she had bought platform pedals with cages and was back in business, but her old clipless shoes were not a good match for the cages. I dug out my pair of athletic shoes and loaned them to her.
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| Diane hugs her road angel; she is in my shoes and sporting her new pedals |
When we got to Libby, we found that the front riders had gotten in about an hour earlier, had eaten lunch, and were sprawled out napping on some grass near the Chamber of Commerce. They had even spread their wet tents to dry. Diane and I were famished, so crossed the street to eat in a nondescript restaurant with a “fishy” decor. Kevin followed soon after.
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Shady park in Libby, MT
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Bill H. and Tim checking out Diane's bike and BOB
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Bill U taking a snooze
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Bill H. posing with some beautiful columbine
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Kevin catching 40-winks after lunch
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As we were leaving Libby, Diane cried, “Help! Susan!” Her front wheel stuck in a parallel storm drain grate and flipped her off the bike. We went to her rescue, and she was soon back on the road, but with a sore arm and wrist. She is young. Had I done the same thing, I probably would have had to quit the ride for my injuries.
We still had 25 miles to go to get to our campsite on Lake Koocanusa, a reservoir in British Columbia and Montana formed by damming the Kootenai River. Those 25 miles included the 10 miles we'd lost yesterday. The first miles were easy, but the last 15 were tough. Tim reported: "Relentless, big, steep hills in the heat of the day pushed even the strongest riders to their breaking points."
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Lake Koocanusa from a lakeside gazebo
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Lake Koocanusa dam on the Kootenai River
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There seemed to be a dirt road on the opposite side of the lake
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Okay okay, I'm simply taking a rest break toward the top of a hill
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Bill Hickman cooling his feet in the cold, snow melt water
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Rick and Tim got to the campground first, made the arrangements, and set up their tents. Diane and I got in quite a bit later and were unsure of the long downhill to the private campsite. No one in the group had left a sign of their presence, and Bill H. had been just ahead of us. He usually waited at iffy turns to make sure all knew the way. Nonetheless, down we slowly rode, seemingly forever, but saw no signs of our group. Eventually, we parked our bikes at the side of the road. If we were at the wrong CG we didn’t want to climb out any more feet than necessary.
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Wild Flax
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We were walking down to a lodge we could see in the distance to inquire if our group was here, when Kevin appeared behind us on his bike and asked if we were supposed to park our bikes. I told him that we weren't sure that this was the right CG. This made him erupt in an angry tirade again: "Of course we were at the right campground! Hadn't I followed his directions. I was always so negative, yadda yadda yadda." Well, Kevin never gave us directions or the name of the campground. We were going to be cycling on the same road all day and had only the approximate mileage to where we "might" stop. This time I was so p.o.'d I didn't even try to straighten his misconception.
I think I have finally cottoned to Kevin's psyche: If he thinks I am accusing him of doing something "wrong," he blows. He has already twice brought up an "incident" of 15 years ago when Bill Burke and I called out "Wrong way!" to him on a local club ride. He and Tim Smith, the husband of a former girlfriend of Kevin's, had turned right and the rest of the group continued on the regular route. For some reason Kevin uses this helpful gesture repeatedly as an example of my "negative mindset." If he has it in his head that I am accusing him of being wrong or being "negative" he blows. Look at the number of pix in this blog where he is scowling into my camera or standing with his hands on his hips, but when he sees me not smiling or resting my hands on my hips, he ridicules me and mimics my being angry--when I am not. My problem is that I do get angry when he apes me or blows, so I blow back. These outbursts, both Kevin's and mine, are embarrassing to me and the other riders, are alienating me from the group, and are spoiling any group harmony.
No one said boo to Diane and me when we arrived. Again the site was not large enough to accommodate all tents. Kevin, who arrived at the same time as we, claimed the site we were headed for, so we turned around and set up our tents on the edge of the parking lot. I was definitely tired of the group and needed some solitary time, so I showered, gathered Diane's and my wash, and then sat in the washroom, eating tuna salad and crackers, writing in my Pocketmail composer, and drowsing off while our duds washed and dried. The rest of the gang went to the camp café and had supper and drinks there.
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| Seen somewhere on the road today |
See you tomorrow.
