RAA II

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!

Popular posts from this blog

Day 1 “They’re baaaack.” That’s right, the same guys that spearheaded the RAA I (“Ride Across America I”) three years ago, Bob McCullough, Joe Geivett and Carl Forsberg are headed out on RAA II, this time the Northern Route across America. As you may recall, in August 2018 this group rode from San Diego, California to St. Augustine, Florida over 27 days, with a rest day in Austin, Texas. RAA I was about 3,055 miles. RAA II (who’s idea was this anyway, Bob?) is from Anacortes, Washington to Bar Harbor, Maine, our route is 4,251 miles. One never has an appreciation for how much wider America is on its Northern border than its Southern border – until you map a bicycle route. Due to scheduling considerations (the “vocation” as opposed to the “avocation”), we will ride from Anacortes to Minneapolis, Minnesota this year and pick back up in Minneapolis and ride to Bar Harbor this time next year. (We hope to get a spectacular “New England Fall.”) The first leg of RAA

Day 7 Whitefish, MT to Summit of “Going-to-the-Sun Road (Glacier National Park)” 80(+) miles / 5,000(+) feet of elevation gain; many 6-8 grade climbs, few 16 grade (real, real steep!) [Think of those yellow truck warning signs at the top of a hill with a black truck pictured descending with a warning for a 6% grade! Some of these climbs were almost three times that grade – this truly was the “going to the sun” road!] Glacier National Park, MT, just outside of Whitefish, MT, was commissioned in 1910 or so and this road was built in the 1930’s. This road is still considered one of the engineering feats in our nation’s history! For those of you who enjoy the outdoors or viewing the overwhelming vastness of huge, panoramic vistas, this place is a must see on your bucket list. It is hard to describe the majesty of mountain views and riding your bicycle among those peaks which were etched millions of years ago by glacial movement. You feel very small but part of a much bi

Day 2 Ross Dam Overlook to Okanogan Pre day-2 discussion; Bob email to Joe and I: “Surprise, our total elevation gain is over 8,000 feet, our estimated elevation gain was 1,600 feet off! 2,500 feet in 10 miles between miles 70-80. Super steep! Oh, and FYI, Wednesday is close to 9,000 elevation gain, not the 7,000 we had charted …” Joe’s response, “Good to know Bob.” 105 miles; over 8,000 feet of elevation gain! Tough, tough day in the saddle; this was one of the top 20 hardest centuries we have ridden and among the top 10 most beautiful. Stunning vistas, truly a magnificent highway (Hwy. 20; which closes for about 4-5 months a year due to 20(+) foot snowfalls! We encountered some smoke from long away forest fires and we saw tremendous damage from recent forest fires in the Okanogan National Forest. Very sad, this forest will not likely come back in our lifetime. We had beautiful, well-maintained roads, with little shoulder but for the most part very courteous drivers.