The Road That "Lies" Ahead

Saturday, July 13, 2013
Day 7 - Thompson Falls, Montana to Missoula, Montana
107 miles
3,144 feet of climbing


We had another spectacular day of riding with perfect weather, great views and . . .  (dare I say it?) . . . no flat tires!  Our route today was a gentle, very gradual climb all the way to Missoula.  It was also the day of optical illusions.  Although our route was a 1 to 4% climb pretty much all day, there were times when the road appeared to be descending, when, in fact, it was still going up.  It's a weird feeling - your eyes are telling you that you should be going faster, but your legs (and your Garmin) are telling you you're still on an incline.  It took a while to get used to it.  When we did have a legitimate descent at mile 90, although I could see it, I didn't believe it until I was actually on it and going 30+ miles per hour.  That's when the road finally stopped lying to me.  : )

Daily scene in the hotel parking lot - getting ready to leave in the morning

Art & the optical illusion - the road appears to be descending around the turn, but that's actually still a climb

Art & his shadow . . . keeping it real in Montana

Montana is quite beautiful

Fellow riders Bill, Steve & Jill (that's a plastic squeaky bird on Bill's aerobars)

Montana is quite beautiful (part 2)

A 6% downhill or showgirls?  Given the choice, I'll take the 6% downhill!