We’ve returned to the land of internet and cell phones and kale bowls. Yes, they do have kale bowls in Montana.
The kale bowl and smoothie were a much needed nutritional (and mental) boost after last night’s dinner. We started with fried green beans, fried mozzarella sticks, tater tots, and french fries. This was then followed by a green salad (okay not so bad) and then a ginormous plate of food that included mashed potatoes, corn, brussels spouts, peppers, onions, squash, garlic bread, and some patties that they said were vegetarian, but I honestly couldn’t identify what I was eating. I kind of wish I had taken a picture of this plate of food because it was huge. It would have taken me at least 3 maybe 4 meals to eat it all. I then felt terrible almost immediately after the meal, which was either from all the fried food or the unidentifiable patty (or maybe both).
Today was a late start, courtesy of the short downhill route. We were supposed to start at 9am, but during breakfast the guides checked the weather and saw that a storm was coming through at 8:40 so we pushed the start time to 10am. It did in fact start raining right about 8:40 and did let up before our 10am start. However, it started raining again a couple minutes after we started and continued for a good 25 miles. It wasn’t too cold so I didn’t mind much. The sun started to return as we arrived in Missoula.
Tomorrow is a much needed rest and laundry day. And hopefully a cold brew coffee since I haven’t had one since Astoria. I’m also really looking forward to waking up without an alarm clock.
Day 10 stats:
distance: 37.3 miles
elevation gain: 351 ft (again less than the route profile indicated)
nutrition:
breakfast: instant brown sugar oatmeal, muffin, waffle
lunch: kale bowl and smoothie (after the ride was over)
post-ride: 1 recovery drink, 1 Doubletree hotel cookie
gels: 1
bloks: 0
26 oz skratch superfuel
Day 11 details - Rest day in Missoula
planned distance: 0 miles
planned elevation gain: 0 ft