Deliverance

No, not that Deliverance.  There were no banjoes playing or anything bad.

What I mean by deliverance:  Some days I feel like I am delivering this 100 pound bicycle and pack to where we're going.  Through rain, or through an arid landscape, riding along trying to get to the next stop.  The strength of our legs, along with the stubborn will to push along to the next stop.  Riding along and having a truck drive by in the rain, kicking up huge sprays.  At times like that, my focus is about 10 feet in front of my wheel, concentrating on what is immediately in my future, dragging this heavy pack to the next stop.

Then there was today.

Today, the bicycle delivered me to a place that was just one of the most beautiful rides in the most beautiful places I have ever been.  Only on a bicycle could I have experienced this as we did.  In a car you would have zoomed on by this, without taking in the sounds, the smells, the experience, that only a bicycle can deliver.  We rode along the Lochsa River from Lowell to Powell, Idaho.  I had never known how beautiful this part of the country is, and it's likely I never would have without this trip and without this bicycle.  

The view most of the day

We started the day back at Ryan's restaurant where we asked Mrs. Ryan if, after breakfast, she could maybe prepare a sandwich for our ride today.  We had read that we would be riding without any services for the entire 65 mile trip.  We were a little wary about the day, because we'd ridden along some desolate looking places, and figured that without any services, this might be a pretty bad day.  Wow were we wrong.  In any case, this was not Mrs. Ryan's first rodeo.  She set us up with sandwiches, separate bags for the lettuce, tomatoes, condiments, napkins, trail mix and a granola bar, and even a wetnap and a toothpick.  What a complete surprise, as was most everything this day.

The Ryan brothers in front of Ryan's Wilderness Inn

When we read about the day on our maps, they warned us repeatedly about all of the truck traffic, the lack of road shoulder, and how miserable this particular route could be.  None of that happened.  We had the road almost to ourselves, and the traffic that passed us, was oddly polite.  We saw a number of people just wave as they went by.

So we went up the road and experienced a full day of riding along the river.  Snowpack river water was cold, so even as the day got hot and we rode along, the wind coming off the water kept us cool.  The whitewater along the river was just a fantastic way of riding along the road.  Every few miles one of us would stop to do a video of something or another.  We looked for a place to eat our lunches, and found a footbridge over the water, where we sat and ate the surprise lunch from Ryan's, and watched the river run by like a freight train.  

Lunch Spot

The afternoon was more of the same, as we rode along the river at a really good pace, climbing slowly as we went along, barely perceptible climbing at 12-16mph, which for dinosaurs like us with heavy packs, was really clipping along.

Monkey and Cow enjoying the river view

Our destination, which we feared would be the same as the 3 Rivers, turned out to be very nice.  Lochsa Lodge in Powell has a really big log cabin lodge and restaurant, nice cabins in a park-like setting.  We got a room/cabin and were going to go to the restaurant for dinner.  Our neighbors in the cabin, a 3 unit place, were grilling out and it smelled terrific.  Just being neighborly I said "whatever you're cooking smells wonderful."  Minutes later they asked if we could come over and share dinner with them.  They were fixing eggs with salmon, capers, cream cheese, and had beers to share.  Keli and Matthew live in Arizona, but Keli (Ka-lee) is from Montana and they have kids nearby they're visting.  We had a wonderful dinner with them, talked about our adventures and theirs, and before we wore out our welcome, said good night.

Lochsa Lodge cabin and dinner with Matthew and Keli

Tomorrow starts with a 7 mile trip over Lolo Pass, described as the steepest yet.  I'm glad we're doing it in the morning, and we should have a 50 mile ride downhill into Missoula for a day's rest and perhaps, some laundry.  

A special thanks to Deb and Steve Ader, and Patty Ryan in the name of Nancy Lizotte, for contributing to the World Bicycle Relief fund. They both bought new bicycles for someone who really needs it.  You can always do so at http://give.worldbicyclerelief.org/dinowheels