June 25, 2018 Missoula to Lincoln Montana

I always like the dorm cafeteria breakfasts.  There is lots of choose without dipping into the egg casserole.  So I enjoyed a breakfast burrito and a big plate of fresh fruit.  The pineapple was particularly tangy and good.   So right after breakfast Ed W and I rolled out.  We decided to skip the Adventure Bike Club headquarters tour which was on the way having seen it a couple of times already.   

I think it was a good move as getting down the road early enabled us to cover a few extra miles before the temperatures started to climb.  Ed reported 93F on his cycle computer later in the day and it was hot alright. 

We were back to following hwy 200 all day.  The shoulder was again variable from none to huge wide open shoulders with a nice rumble strip.  Somehow it seemed that the second the shoulder disappeared we would be set upon by conveys of semi-trucks and pick-up trucks all blowing diesel exhaust in our faces.

At about the 10 mile mark we started a big long climb which extended all the way to the 30 mile mark.  However it was only a 2-5 % grade and a person could wheel right along.   However I do have to admit that by the end of the climb I was looking forward to the decent on the other side.

My tires were pretty thin when I showed up for this ride as they had about 3500 miles on them. They were well past the wear dimples so I was concerned about them. Coming down a decent at 35 mph on thread bare tires may not be the best.  At lunch I had the mechanics mount two new Continental Gator Skins.  They were so smooth.  Do old tires get lumpy? I wonder.

After lunch Ed and I were joined by Ken T and the three of us rode along taking turns pulling up the rolling hills. 

Over all it was a very nice ride today with a total distance of 80.8 miles and a total climb of 2890 feet.

Terry hot biker