A long hard day on gravel

Today's ride was from Thompson Falls to Missoula. It was a really tough 103 mile day. I am not sure what made it so hard. It may have been the fact that it was all up hill. Not steep mind you but up hill never the less. It may have been the chip coat surface, which was really a paved gravel road. It may have been the constant head wind which seemed to be in your face no matter which way you turned, and seem to be just howling when you were cresting a rise. It may have been the traffic which was really heavy owing to the weekend, and was really loud on the gravel road. It may have been the sun which bore down and roasted you on the highway.
I got out in good time from breakfast and was in the first pack of riders. I wasn't riding with any body but was cruising on my own. I was having trouble with my bike computer again and it was stuck in kms/hr rather than mph which was kind of a blessing as I didn't have to look down at the odometer crawl out the miles. An hour down then another and then it was only 30 minutes to lunch. So there we have 56 miles gone and only 47 more to ride. But the wind is winding up and the traffic is 10 times worse. So I just put my head down and got into the drops and ground it out.
I am making it sound all bad but it wasn't. There were some fun moments. There were these two slower riders and they were riding well into the traffic lane trying to find some smooth pavement. So I came up on their right side and just before I passed them I did my big dog imitation. A few well placed barks and the riders jumped. I laughed for 15 miles. Then I was riding a long and I saw this train coming so I made a few big waves and gave the driver the whistle sign and sure enough He gave me a big blast on the horn. It was great. I smiled for miles. The scenery was also spectacular. We were following a couple of large rivers which were in full flood so it was pretty awesome sight. I should also mention the picnic was another highlight. A big black lab was there being a big friend to everyone and sucking up treats from the riders. Labs are every one's best friend ever.
I rolled in second of the coast to coast riders and 4th overall in a time of 6:33 which was a great time for such a hard ride.
Tomorrow is a rest day so we don't ride. It is going to be great to have a day off. We are staying in the university dorm, which is very nice accommodations. I will fill you in on Missoula tomorrow.
There is a huge line up for this machine so no pictures sorry
Terry