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Day 12

 

Jordan to Glendive, MT


106 miles / 6,300 feet of elevation (multiple rollers!) / some portage due to significant road construction

 

Our very sunny but very cold day began in Jordan where it was 36°.  Couple that temperature with our early morning speeds of between 18-20 mph and that makes for a very cold start to our day.

However, we had wide open, no shoulder but also no traffic, roads to ride on for the first 51 miles.  These first 51 miles consisted of a series of “rollers” where we got progressively higher in elevation.  We would climb a bit, descend, giving away some of that climb and then, climb higher the next set of rollers.  This is not something you would even think about if you were driving this highway but on a bike, you cringe each time you descend only to see the next hill looming in the distance!  We had literally no traffic for this first half of the day and that made these rollers enjoyable and fun.  After we stopped for our mid-day food / water refuel, we decided, based upon Scuba Steve’s scouting, to reroute due to significant road construction just miles ahead.


This decision was the perfect choice as our selected route was also relatively unused by cars / trucks.  our next 60(+) miles to Lake Peck was likewise without traffic.  On this road and earlier, we were treated to multiple herds of Antelope on both sides of the roadway.  These Antelope were often settled among the grazing Cattle but mostly kept to themselves in groups of 10-15 or more.  On several occasions the Antelope “shadowed our peddling” and ran along the highway in the fields next to us.  Needless to say, they had no trouble keeping pace!

Near the end of the day’s ride, the topography changed quite a bit as we went into a “desert looking moonscape” with many “eroded outcroppings” from either glacial movement or hundreds of years of water erosion.  This landscape was unexpected and beautiful.



This landscape was unexpected and beautiful.  As we were getting to Lake Peck and the dam at the end of the lake, the tail wind we had been so happy with suddenly because a sidewind for about the last 10 miles.  This sidewind was so fierce that it nearly knocked us over several times.  On 3-4 occasions I had to "clip out of my pedals," to counterbalance my left leg against the crosswinds - no one fell on these descents but we had quite a scary last 10 miles.

  

Today was a great day, one of our fastest centuries, about 5 hours and 20 minutes of road time!


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