After a day of rest, it’s time to go again! Big thanks to the Nielsens for letting us stay as if it were our own home over the weekend! We had to drive about an hour to get to our starting destination. I started just north of where we stopped Saturday because that road was not very safe due to soft dirt roads and gravel (as if you were off-roading which a 36-inch unicycle is not made for). Today’s ride began in Spencer, Idaho, about 8:10am.
My wife drove ahead to see if there was going to be more of those kinds of roads…there were, but they didn’t appear as dangerous to her. She found a part where it said the road was closed ahead because a bridge was out. Luckily she went and found that it was recently driveable again and I had the okay to ride across. Whew!
After getting into Montana (sorry, no state border picture from the route I took this time), we couldn’t find the road to take for a while due to being out of cell service. We weren’t sure which way to go. After seeing several trucks and cars only go down one road, we followed. It was so bad! So hilly, dirt-y, rocky, etc. Boy, was it tiring and my knees hurt from all the impact.
One cool thing was seeing an owl flying around in bright daylight. Beautiful bird.
Towards the end of my ride, my knees were giving out and the dirt and rocks were not level that I came a little too forward, having my pedals whack me in the back of my legs as I “walked off” Uni, twice. Ouch!
Just as I reached 52 miles, I had for sure had enough of that road for the day (wishing for forever). 4pm and in the middle of nowhere, we had to drive about 35 miles on the same terrible road to get to Dillon, Montana.
We found a motel, instead of camping, since my body was more tired and worn than expected. When we went out to dinner at a restaurant called the 4B’s, they had a map of Montana posted. There are a lot of dirt roads on our path! Oh no! We were studying it when this kind couple came out and gave us their own copy of the map! It was so helpful! We even read on the 2009 map that cyclists could ride on interstates in non-urban areas. We’ll call tomorrow to confirm, but man, am I hoping that hasn’t changed! I could really use a smooth ride on paved roads. Lots of Montana to go!
Due to the tedious roads, pictures weren’t really taken today. Here’re a few pictures from along our path.
Day 7 Stats:
Started at 8:10am in Spencer, ID
Ended at 4pm in the middle of nowhere, east of Lima, 34 miles Southeast of Dillon, MT
6.5 hours of riding time
52 miles
Random Fact:
The One Wheel Man decided to do a long distance trip shortly after he bought his 36-inch unicycle (2 years ago) when he did his first long (49 miles).