Day 5 - Thompson Falls, Montana

Only one day in Idaho, but it left a very favorable impression on both of us. The scenery was awesome, the roads were good, and the weather (yeah, we know we got lucky...) was fantastic.

The picture on the left is a marsh near the river we rode along after leaving Sandpoint. The morning air was clear and dry. Everything is green and lush. It's amazing how beautiful countryside can make the miles melt away. We covered 88 miles today and most people treated it as a recovery day since tomorrow will take us 136 miles to Missoula.


People were fairly spread out along the route as everyone rode at their own pace and enjoyed the weather. Who knows what we'll face as we cross the plains later on...

The photo to the right is the view from a one lane bridge in Montana after we crossed the border. Midwesterners are perhaps a bit more fascinated by blue water rivers than some of the others, but these views are incredible. One of the guys who has ridden through Montana before says the scenery will get even better tomorrow.








The next picture is Scott starting a short climb that took us away from the lake we rode around before heading towards Montana.






One of the best pictures of the day is Dave at the Montana border... we've already talked about how he doesn't really care for descents. Well he has less love for gravel roads and that's what greeted us at the Idaho-Montana border. The nicely paved surface of Idaho 200 gave way to fairly smooth, but still dirt and gravel on the Montana side. There wasn't even a welcome sign. The picture below is Dave contemplating the fun he'll have on the next five miles of gravel, which also included a nice downhill. Everyone made it safely and since it was dry, the bikes were
surprisingly clean at the end of the day. Lunch was great again. Grilled cheese sandwiches with sliced tomatoes, salads, and apple pie. The picture of the bikes was taken in the park where we had lunch. It's a great shot for anyone who enjoys cycling and hopefully for everyone else.


















With the long miles ahead - the next two days are over 130 miles each and the next eight days are all over 100 miles. We each decided to visit the massage therapist to get the legs worked on. Might sound like an extravagance, but we're getting into uncharted territory soon and want to be sure we can both continue to turn the pedals over and over and over...