Day 9: LoLo to Missoula

Today's ride was 25 miles of easy downhill pedaling followed by 12 miles through sometimes heavy Missoula area traffic.  Because of the short "rest and recovery ride" and the new time zone (we crossed  from Pacific to Mountain time when we entered Montana yesterday at the top of LoLo Pass) we got off to a later than usual start at about 8am, but still arrived at our hotel will before noon.  While I biked at a leisurely pace, I noted that Montana drivers really like to drive really fast. 

I was delayed by another flat tire (#8) about 5 miles from the hotel.  I've tried to maintain an upbeat attitude about all of my flats and the good news is that I'm getting pretty good at changing them since none of the guides have been around for the last 5 flats.   However, I should note that on my bikes in Arizona and Maine I use Armadillo Elite flat-resistant tires from Specialized and have had only one flat (caused by an industrial grade staple) in the last 10,000 miles.  I guess Trek Travel has to use the Bontrager brand of tires from Trek - but they are clearly inferior. Come on Trek get with it!

We knew that our early arrival at the hotel in Missoula would mean that most rooms would not be available so we each packed some street cloths in our day bags to change into.  After changing, I noticed an interesting and somewhat disturbing "sign of the times" as we sat around the lobby - all heads down, with no conversation, as everyone intensely focused on the various electronic gadgets in their laps.  We had been without cell coverage and any meaningful internet connectivity for an unimaginable 2 1/2 days!  Someone commented that it was great being back in the real world.  My comment back, which may not have been well received, was "No, we are back in the interconnected world - we were actually in the real world for the past 2 1/2 days".

While waiting for my room I spent the next several hours slowly (I'm still hobbling) walking into the nearby downtown area to find and enjoy a restaurant recommended by the hotel.  It specialized in great big tasty cheeseburgers which lived up to their advance billing.  Missoula is the home of the University of Montana and appears to be a very nice town in a lovely setting. I'll have more to say about it in my Day 10 rest day recap after I've had more time to see it.

It's been a great 9 days of pedaling, but I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's rest day.

Steve