Brian Richardson
When we took our first break day in Twisp, we had been riding for five days straight. Compared to that, we had eight solid days of biking before today’s break in Whitefish. By the end of yesterday, my legs were definitely feeling some cumulative fatigue and so I was ready for some well-earned time off today. It was cold and rainy for most of the day-perfect weather for not biking.
In the morning I walked over to the grocery store to stock up on breakfasts and lunches for the next couple of days. Even though it was 50 degrees and raining, the 20 minute walk was pleasant. I wasn’t in any rush, so I explored downtown Whitefish for a while. This is a seemingly obvious, but pretty remarkable part of a break day; without seventy miles to put in, you can really take your time and enjoy simple moments like walking to the store.
In the afternoon, we went to the local bike shop. Whitefish has one of the last real bike shops for a couple hundred miles, so we loaded up on the essentials: spare tubes, patch kits, and, of course, chamois butt’r. A few days ago, my rear tire finally gave out (after 5,000+ miles), so I have been using our spare foldable tire. At the bike shop, I got a new rear tire and folded the spare back up to hold on to in case we need it later.
We grabbed an early dinner with Larry at Jersey Boys Pizza. I don’t think we’ve mentioned Larry in the blog yet, but he’s a biker from Seattle that we met up with in Newport and have ridden with a good bit. We plan to ride up Marias Pass and into East Glacier with him tomorrow.
Continental Divide, here we come
Well, after a long day of absolutely no biking, I’m exhausted and ready to go to bed.