Ksanka Motel & Motel, Eureka, Montana to North Fork Hostel & Inn, Polebridge, Montana

Statistics

Distance: 75.4 miles 

Average Speed: 10.6 mph

Hours Riding: 7 hours 5 minutes

Calories: 4150

Total Ascent: 6466 feet

Total Descent: - 5607 feet

I woke at 6:15 a.m. and started getting ready. Harry and I rode out together at about 8:30 a.m.. A new person from Ohio, Dave Eifert, joined us for the rest of the trip.

This route is an alternate route because the rangers closed a section of the Great Divide due to the wildfires. Rob from the Netherlands, who is also one of the guides and the co-owner of the company, created new GPX files for our Garmin bike GPS's. The files creates a route to follow and warns you when off route. Essentially, all you need to do is follow the red line; the system takes much of the risk and concern out of getting lost in a remote area without the equipment needed to survive.

We had lunch about 2/3 of the way down the route. I had a turkey and cheese sandwhich, as well as a Nutella and peanut butter sandwich, and a glass.of Coke. I normally don't eat so much sugar or starch, but my body demands it in order to perform at this level. I also started using Gatorade which helps keep me going between meals.

After lunch, we had a climb that just would not quit. I can't remember how high the pass was, but the climb was at least 5000 feet. The thing that kept me going was that I knew there was a long downhill on the other side.

We made it into camp about 5:00 p.m. and had broccoli and pea soup. I also had another glass of Coke which helped to rejuvenate me.

I was able to take a nice hot shower and then we had a meal of salmon, rice and cole slaw. I had a second helping of salmon.

I talked to Sean about his negotiations with the various government agencies in the U.S. and Canada for future Great Divide trips.

Tomorrow we ride to Whitefish, Montana. It will be a relatively short ride and the next day is a rest day. I am going to do laundry, type up my journals to send to Lorraine, and hopefully do a workaround to get my photos to Lorraine for this blog.