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Saturday August 24         Cycling Day 43

 

       Lincoln (Mont) to  Helena (Mont)

Distance:  (Km). 92

Time:  4:14

Average Speed: (Km/ hr). 21.6

Ascent:  (m). 716

Heart Rate: (beats / min). 114

K

Cumulative Distance:   (km). 4707

Cumulative Ascent :  (m). 39,606

Punctures so far : 2

Another dry night and the alarm at 6 woke me out of a deep sleep. Probably the music last night.

And today ended with with me remembering a certain little girl that I’m very fond of.

Today’s ride was refreshing and most enjoyable and completed before noon. We started out shortly after 7 as the day brightened on Highway 200 where we finished yesterday. A nice warm-up for the first 17 km when we turned right. Sage Bush seems to be becoming part of the landscape both yesterday and today. I expect that will continue as we move further south. At this turn at 17 km, those close to me at the time (myself included) shed a layer in preparation for the rising road.

At  that corner, the road started to rise towards Fleshers Pass (1860m) more than 13 km away. At first the rise was gradual but then I spotted the pass in front and way above me. How on earth will I ever make it to that? To add to the ascent , the road immediately ahead started to dip to add to the ‘agony’ ahead. The last 4 km of the climb involving two hairpins varied between 6 and 7% but I felt relaxed enough.

Looking back down.

 Near the top I looked back down through the trees to see where I had come from. Pleased with myself.

RIP.

At a pull-off just before the top I spotted a tricolor fluttering in the breeze. I pulled over to a small shrine to a young Irish man, Rory, who apparently was a victim in a motor accident here. No mention of any date but apparently a mechanic or fitter judging by the material in the crosses laid there. Rest In Peace.  Crosses are frequently seen along the roadside......the same in every country.

Fleshers Pass is on the Continental Divide. This is the groups 6th crossing of a continental divide (I did an extra crossing the day I cycled that extra 18 km to Rancheria). First we went from the Mackenzie system into the Arctic Ocean, then over into the Yukon system into the Pacific, then back to the Mackenzie system, then to Saskatchewan River system to Hudson Bay and the Atlantic Atlantic, then  back to the Pacific and now back to the Atlantic again(rivers into the Mississippi an on to Gulf of Mexico). So we’re now on the eastern side of the Rockies....for the time being.

From the top we had an equally long descent down by Canyon Creek. A very quiet road but I took it handy admiring the views. This road over Fleshers Pass was closed due to fire and smoke up to a few days ago. So we had a lucky break.

Once back down on level territory agriculture returned with irrigation in full flow on either side. They seemed to be irrigating a legume crop of some type. Booms moving very slowly in giant semi-circles. It was along here we had our lunch stop (at 9:45 ?) After lunch there was a long stretch along a road with no shelter and a slight breeze affected us negatively. Wouldn’t have liked a strong headwind out there. And then gradually we returned to lovely gentle slopes near the road.

At 66 km I turned right onto Birdseye Road (better than Road 101!) to approach Helena from the north. This road rolled and rolled and I spotted a number of postboxes at the end of ‘bohreens’ with the name ‘Ryan’ and one with ‘Irish’. I was on a bit of a downhill at those times and didn’t get a photo. I suppose if I called over to one of the houses I could be there still.

It was a lovely quiet road with a number of old small holdings, some falling into ruins at this stage.

At 85 km I came to the city limits of Helena (pronounced Helen+A). This is your city, Helen. If I had approached on one of the main thoroughfares I might have got a big ‘Welcome to Helena’ sign. Helena is the capital of Montana and has just a population of 30,000 but it spreads over a wide area. I’ll investigate tomorrow, our Rest Day.

I agree with the message.

We dropped onto a bike path around the city, nicely tarmaced at first and then gravel and finally arrived at the hotel, Jorgensen Inn and Suites. (We’re not in the suites) about 1.6 km from the centre. Rooms were ready when I arrived at noon and had soon showered and shaved. It’s just a motel with the bike safely in my room 408 where I can keep a close loving eye on it. I’ll use it tomorrow to cover some ground in this city of Helen’s.

Before the congregation arrived.

Got a few jobs done on the early afternoon and then found that the Cathedral od St Helena in the centre had Mass at 5. I headed down 9th Avenue and joined a large crowd for Mass celebrated by a priest who must have been around 25. It had the expected time allocation 12-12-25 with organ music. I met the priest outside afterwards and he wished me well on the rest of the journey.

On the way in to Helena today I saw the US flag at half- mast in a number of places including an army base and the State Capitol. I asked a number of people on the street why this was so (including the priest after Mass) but none of them could give me an explanation. Just this evening I googled and learned that the Governor ordered them to be flown to honour an Emergency  Medical Technician (aged 30) who was killed at a demolition derby last weekend when a car went out of control.

Also on the way in to Helena I came across another church building with a name that caught my eye.....Last Chance Chapel. Apparently gold was found in this area in 1864 by 4 prospectors who were down on their luck and running out of provisions but agreed to give it one last shot in the local creek. And struck gold. That attracted plenty more prospectors to Last Chance Gulch. So ‘Last Chance’ refers to the area not the final opportunity.

This is the end of the short sections. Next two are 5 and 7 day stretches.

A lovely cycle to cross the Rockies and arrive on the city of Helen. Great girl.

Thank God for the health and thank God for the energy.