A Teacher trying to Divide - day 15

Leaving Grant in the morning for Lima on The Bannack Road.

Monday 22nd July

I left in the cool of morning around 6am after a very comfortable night and pedaled with some trepidation towards Medicine Lodge Road and the Tendoy & Beaverhead Mountain Ranges - the view was intimidating.  Although not a local to this part of Montana I have been around mountains and their weather long enough to know that a storm was coming today.  The clouds, the wind, the light and the fact that my ACA map told me ‘Next 47 miles are very remote.’ all pointed to this.  In actual fact the approach to Medicine Lodge-Sheep Creek Divide at 8000 feet went quite well except for the steady build up of storm clouds throughout the morning.  

Bannack Road

Bannack Road is an infamous section of the Divide that I was going to traverse today.   Al later told me that he got quite ‘emotional’ for about 4 miles where he had to pretty much drag his bike through the peanut butter mud.  I was in no doubt how fortunate I was to be riding it in pretty much perfect conditions.  The trail went on and on until near the summit I had no choice but to get off and push.  By this point in my ride I had a good idea that once my climbing speed dropped to below 4mph it was more efficient to get off and push anyway.  Getting off and pushing gives the muscles a chance to rest, or change movement as well as the important pressure off my butt.

At the top of this Divide crossing the view freaked me out and I felt very, very small and exposed.  To my left electricity lines stretched away into the distance as far as I could see and in my opinion there was no way the route went that way.  To my right the trail looped downwards and then around to a flat where I appeared to be surrounded by mountains and the growing menace of a storm.  Everywhere I looked was the same:open, exposed, gravel and no shelter.  So on the descent and traverse across this flat I made stuff up like stopping at a cattle guard to spice things up a little!  The distances were such that I was unable to discern whether the tiny slivers of trail heading into the distance were going up, down or level.  All I knew was that I needed to go the right way and go now.  This feeling of being an insignificant speck on the canvas of the wilderness was another aspect of riding the Great Divide that I had looked forward to.

Eventually the canyon started to descend towards Big Sheep Creek Road.  Unfortunately the electrical storm had kicked off and there was a really strong wind blowing back up it.  This meant that I suffered the headwind when I should have been cruising downhill.  Each time the thunder roared and the lightning flashed I thought ‘Thank fuck I kept moving today.’  The rock walls reverberated and it all felt exciting but not too serious.  An extra hour in bed and things would have felt a bit more exciting up there in the thunder, lightning, cloud and most likely hailstones.

Soon I started to see traffic ahead in the distance which meant that the frontage road was coming up.  I thoroughly enjoyed the 7 mile ride into Lima as it allowed me to push the pedals but look around enough to see the storm as it clattered around where I had been a couple of hours ago.  I pulled into the motel, booked a room, dumped my stuff and headed across to the Gas Station to resupply for the next two days.  The store was very well stocked with trail food, ingredients for dinner, some more diaper cream and painkillers.  I did however pass on the rifles, pistols and ammunition that was also on sale.

Lima

After a shower I headed across to Jan’s Cafe for dinner where I again bumped into Brian and Neville who had also decided to stay in Lima at the motel but camping.  The coffee, burger & chips and the cake at Jan’s were delicious and went a long way towards replenishing the lost calories.  In the matter of two weeks my food choice was no longer based on taste or price but more on calorific value.  

Another early night.  The sores by now were open and raw.  Time to shut off and make peace with the trail before the morning.

Grant to Lima, 70 miles, 3484 foot of ascent, 9 hours (7 hours riding + 2 hours stopped)