Day 10: 1,000 Miles and Wyoming too!

Tom here.....this morning we left Columbus, Montana in weather very much like home (Seattle). Overcast skies and cool temperatures. Nearly everyone brought out vests and arm warmers, and either carried their rain coats or wore them, so the first 10 miles were slightly uphill and a good warm-up.  Then it got ugly quickly....we were in a road construction zone for 6 miles. Much like riding Paris-Roubaix (not that we've ever ridden the cobbles) with patches of soft dirt thrown in. Twice we had to stop and follow a pilot car, much to the chagrin of the following cars and trucks which were limited to our 15mph.  But we all got through it safely and found ourselves in big hill country....wave after wave of lush green hills due to the wet spring where we'd launch off the top of one crest down into the trough and grind our way back up (8, 9, 10, 12% inclines), only to repeat the excercise time after time.  The waves formed an ocean of ridges to all sides except to the south where off in the distance were mountains with their tops enshrouded in clouds.  We finally climbed onto a plateau and immediately dropped to a river valley and the town of Red Lodge.  Harley Davidsons outnumbered pick-up trucks which is hard to do in Montana.  The town obviously caters to this set during the summer months which is the access point to the Bear Tooth mountain pass (at 11k feet) as a "must see" for the motorized set...we quickly rode through town in our spandex!

Another short climb and we were out of the lush green grass, which was replaced by fields of sagebrush, setting up a very fun 2 mile steep descent before the second rest stop.  Speeds on the descent were 40+mph (almost 50mph says Mike, but we don't want to scare wives, moms, etc) and the highest since those wind-aided sprints in Eastern Washington. We joined a fast paceline into lunch at the Montana Wyoming border. ...our 4th State this trip. Amongst the choices for lunch were regular or chili hot dogs served with baked beans.  There was talk of having a separate paceline after lunch for those who had the chili dogs...for obvious reasons! 

The remainder of the ride was incredibly bleak as far as the landscape.  Mostly shades of brown and gray, lots of sandy soil.  Nothing growing except ground hugging cactus (ironic) and small scrages of sage brush. Think of the painted desert without the paint, or the hunting scene in "No Country for Old Men."  Desolate, deserted, dry, empty. The only sign of life a vulture peering down from a high vantage spot on a rocky outcropping as we rode by, not exactly a good sign.  But after a mile climb at mile 95 up onto another plateau everything changed back to green (sugar beets, I think), ah, the wonders of irrigation. 

8 miles straight, 7 miles left and we were done, arrived in Powell around 3:00PM...110 miles, in a little over 6 hours for an 18.1mph avg...and a little over 5,000 of climbing.  The weather did manage to clear before lunch and heat up to the mid-80's by mid-afternoon.  Once again it's a Super 8 stay with dinner at the next door Pizza Hut....hey, they have pasta as well!  Road kill report...a deer, a skunk, and an "urp" (unidentified road pelt, sometimes that's all that's left).

Yesterday, Day 9 I did feel great...probably due to a great massage the afternoon before and eating, drinking and resting appropriately.  And as Lance explained, some days you're the hammer and some days you're the nail.  Yesterday was more the hammer and today somewhere in between.  Tomorrow Day 11 is supposedly one of the toughest days of the Tour with a climb up Big Horn....18 miles and 4500' of gain.