Day 16: June 25

Alarm went off this morning, well actually we both woke up before the alarm did go off. We knew today was another mileage day, so getting to the rode earlier the better. The earlier we ride the better chance of beating the heat and better the chance of beating any head winds. Nick and I got up and got things ready the best we could: whistler however, continued sleeping in the tent as though we had no where to get to. We try and pack everything we can moving him around until we are down to his sleeping pad. We still managed to get riding before 7:30 and onto the interstate we headed. Todays destination from St Regis at exit 34 east to Frenchtown 57 miles later. Nick once again seemed to be riding on fire, I on the other hand felt as though I was riding with weights in my legs. I kept looking back at the Burley just to make sure I was not riding with a flat. I kept checking my tires for flats, no flats. Nick was able to get ahead of me, but continued checking back to not get to far from his sight. We biked 2:25 before stopping at the rest area to fill bottles and for me to stretch. 25 miles behind us at this point. Back on the rode heading to Frenchtown. Nick still seemed to be riding strong and I just had to mentally ride strong. I know all I have to do is keep pushing one pedal at a time. The sun was beaming down, hot as ever. 30 miles later we arrived to town, but wanted to go further to Missoula. We thought about it and decided if we biked another 20 miles we could cover tomorrows ride today and have a day off tomorrow. My legs could appreciate a day of rest tomorrow no matter how much I make them work today, I knew in the end this would be well worth the go. I kept watching the mile markers waiting for 105 to arrive and at the same time pushing hard enough to stay with or slightly ahead of Nick. Each mile we got closer we knew we were accomplishing a great riding day. Through those tough moments, the outcome was worth fighting for. We both cheered each other on one mile at a time and soon enough 105 was ours. With Nick worrying about someone pulling over to tell him I was behind him and me worrying that the cars passing would think I was weak, we realized no longer mattered because we now owned our ride today. We owned all 73 miles, we owned 6:46:16, we owned our above 10 miles per hour pace. Tomorrow will be for whistler as he deserves another day from his chariot. Thank you Nick for pushing us today and thank you whistler for not throwing a tantrum. ...