May 26, Day 20, Wisdom Montana-58 miles

I slipped out of Darby bright and early and ready to do some climbing. I threw down a banana and a cliff bar to get me going and planned to ride for 18 miles of gradual incline to the town of Sula, where there was a country store and restaurant. I planned to eat a big breakfast there and then start the long 13 mile climb to Chief Joseph Pass and my first crossing of the continental divide.

View of Lost trails Ski area 

I got to Sula only to find out the restaurant was closed! The store portion was open and the lady behind the counter apologized profusely. She must have picked up on the look of sheer horror my face was making. I gathered myself and decided to adapt and overcome. I found two frozen burritos in the freezer section and a Mega Muffin on a shelf. Coffee was available and there was breakfast! I nuked the burritos and wolfed everything down. Not ideal but good enough.

Looking back down the hill

I started climbing up the mountain shortly after leaving Sula and remembered my pledge to make it hurt in honor of our fallen vets and all servicemen and woman on Memorial Day. I pushed one gear bigger then I would normally for the grade and told the ponies to leave it on the mountain.

another view during climb

After an hour or so I had settled into a good hard pace and was feeling it. I stopped a couple times to take pictures and then got back to work. About 80% of the way up I stopped one last time before my final push to the summit. I took a long drink of water and heard someone yelling somewhere back down the road. I yelled in my big boy voice, "Do you need help?" I heard a voice yell, "OP!" The echo from the hills made it hard to figure out what direction it was coming from other then below me. I waited a few seconds and responded with a word only a highly trained former cop would think to say....."WHAT?"

The next time the voice yelled, I heard it loud and clear, "STOP!".........Oh........Ok.

About 30 seconds later I saw another rider making his way up the road toward me. I stood there as he approached and we exchanged greetings. His name was Dave Hoggeman and according to him he had been trying to catch me for over an hour because he thought it would be less painful to ride the mountain pass together. He laughed at his desperate yells because he couldn't make up any ground and thought he was going to have a heart attack trying. I welcomed the retired Chemist from Montana State University and we rode the remaining distance together while I explained why I was riding so hard. We hit the 7,242 foot summit and took pics.

Great company, great guy

Dave was doing a one week tour of Montana and makes his home in Bozeman. His route was identical to mine for most of the day so we rode the day out and made the long descent into the town of Wisdom, my stopping point for the day. Dave started 20 miles after me and still had about 25 more to go on his route. We shared a pizza for lunch in Wisdom and exchanged info. Great guy.

On the way into Wisdom we passed a historic sight called the Big Hole National Battlefield. It is sad story and too long for this blog, but in a nutshell, the Nez Perce Tribe was being forced by the US Government back in the late 1800's to relocate to an Idaho reservation. Chief Joseph chose to take his tribe and flee to Canada where they thought they would be treated better. In the area just outside of Wisdom here in Montana, the Cavalry caught the Nez Perce and a bloody battle ensued. Many died on both sides. Research it when you get a chance.

Ugly period in our history

I head to Dillon Montana tomorrow and a rest day.