Day 15 - Wisdom, MT to Dillon, MT (July 21)

The Wisdom of our...

Apparently the owners of the Trading Post in Wisdom thought that Sacajawea was a little, how can I say this? Loose?

Here she is in a sexy pose above Conover's Trading Post.

This wasn't the only "strange" thing with Wisdom. Because they only camping option was a bare piece of ground managed by the American Legion, I decided to stay in a Hotel. $36 (plus tax) for the night (this, however, doesn't beat the most expensive hotel in Vietnam: $12). I really didn't sleep that well night. It may have something to do with these foxes that were caged up outside of the hotel.

Hey Foxy, Keep it Down, eh Buddy?

The sign for Hairpin Ranch signals the beginning of the day's first climb over Big Hole Pass.

Here's the climb. It almost looks like I was riding downhill, but I assure you it was up.

At the top, the Hamilton Ranch had posted these really nice information signs. This one claims that animal grazing is an effective BMP for stream bank stabilization. This may only be true for the stream bank shown in the photo.

I finally found my way to Dillon after running out of water 10 miles earlier. Fortunately, most of those miles were either downhill or flat. The crash-up derby was going on. Here's the parade of cars. See the next day's post to see how one of the cars fared (hint: not well).

These guys stayed up to 9 p.m. (it gets dark at 10 p.m.) colliding with each other. This was shortly followed by the Ozzy tribute band. That was not a problem because I was intending to sleep at 10 p.m. anyway and there's nothing that lulls me to sleep better than an Ozzy lullaby! Unluckily for me, my tent neighbors (2 couples, one foreign?) decided to play strip poker, spin the bottle or some other card game until 3 a.m. I was hoping to get up at 4 a.m.

Day 15 - Wisdom to Dillon - 69 Miles

Day 14 - Darby, MT to Wisdom, MT (July 20)

I rode over Lost Trail Pass and Chief Joseph Pass today. It was a tremendous amount of work. I had to keep focused to make sure I kept the pedals turning 65 rpm (4.9 mph nearing the summit).

Trapper Peak. The highest peak in the Bitterroot Mountains.

Pastoral scene before the climb.

The last time I climbed this 3,000 feet in 5 miles (in 2003), someone stopped and said that there was another cyclist at the bottom of the hill who needed help. I didn’t know this cyclist. Today’s ride reminded me that there is no way I would go back down this ride to help another cyclist out, unless I was riding with that cyclist. If someone stopped me to say that there was a cyclist at the bottom of the hill who needed help, what I am supposed to do? They have a car, why don’t they help that cyclist.

A bald hill above the Bitterroot River

This homeowner was very fortunate. Thank you Forest Service.

Along the way, I saw naked cyclists - from New Hampshire to Portland, Oregon. I hope they wear sunscreen.

The end of the line was nice: Wisdom, MT. Lots of firefighters and forest service in this town. I stopped at the "all smoking/all the time" bar to get a wilty lettuce salad and a sandwich on moldy bread. Of course, later, I found the nicer restaurant, but I was already full at that time.

The best part of the ride is the Big Hole. This high altitude valley is best known for great fishing, wheat farming, and best of all - no traffic. I ride for miles and yet nary a car or tractor passes. I stopped at the Big Hole National Battlefield site. A very important battle occurred here between a band of the Nez Perce tribes and the U.S. Army.

Drivers - those who pass and those that don't

Riding all day long, I have a lot of time to thing about the different types of drivers out there. Of course, this is all in relation to how close or how far these drivers get to me.

• Lon or Hon - Those drivers who pass me by entirely driving into the other lane of traffic. My favorite type of driver.


• Strads - "Stradlers." Those who can't be bothered to pass me correctly - in other words, pass by using entirely the other lane. They pass me by stradling the median line. Most people who pass me are strads. Dear reader, you may think that I am being greedy in amount of road space that I need, but I assure you, when there is NO shoulder, it is very nice to have a person pass me using the other side of the road (especially if the driver is a zoomer, see below).


• Zoomers. Those who don't notice me as they pass. They just drive by me as if I weren't even on the road. These drivers pass me too close or too fast or both too close and too fast. A little slowing down is always appreciated. All that is required is that the driver just has to slow down to make sure it is safe to pass, the pass carefully (hopefully using the "London Calling" technique), and then they will be on their way. Many Montana drivers are zoom-strads. A speed limit was only recently imposed on Montana drivers (probably, 10 years ago). This only goes to show that regulations are not the best way to affect behavoir (hint: there should be stiff penalties). Most Montana drivers have a lead foot, they won't let off the accelerator for anything.


• Pogs - "Apogees." Those who start their pass too late and are at the widest part of their passing arc some 50 yards after they had passed me.


• Lurkers. Those who can't pass even if we are on a straight seciton of road and even if there is no oncoming traffic. These drivers just sit behind me. They are willing to follow me at 7 mph for miles.  Safe, but slightly irritating.

Day 14 - Darby to Wisdom - 58 Miles