The big "M" at the U of Montanna Campus, Missoula, MT.
This day began at about 3:00 a.m. when I needed to leave the cabin to water a nearby tree. When I came back, I realized that I had accidentally allowed the cabin door to close behind me. I gently knocked, but there was no answer. It was getting cold, standing there only in my undershorts, so I knocked harder and called out to Tom, who screamed out in pain because he couldn’t get out of bed due to rib pain. At this point, if he was not sure before he was now positive that his ribs were broken, not just bruised. After Tom was finally able to struggle to unlock the door, I dug into my first aid bag and gave him some Advil. At this point, I assumed that the trip was over, and we’d need to find our way home via some transportation other than our bikes. Later in the morning, I woke to find Tom dressed for biking, and feeling well. What a surprise!
Enroute to Missoula, we crossed Lolo pass. It was quite a long pedal, but we were both able to make the climb. At the top, Tom talked to a park ranger about the location of a clinic where he might be able to have his ribs x-rayed. An older motorcyclist overheard the conversation, and then asked me if I was with the guy who climbed up the Lolo pass with broken ribs. The old guy said, “my god, that guy has grit!” From then on Tom gained a new nickname, “John ‘the Duke’ Wayne”.
We had perfect weather for today’s ride, with an occasional slight head wind. After Lolo, we followed a small, but fast moving stream toward Missoula. The slight downhill along the stream had us riding very fast!
When we reached Missoula, Tom discovered another slow leaking flat tire. We called Advanture cycling which directed us to a local bike shop where Tom bought a Specialized Armadillo tire, which contains Kevlar webbing, hoping to prevent future flats, but unfortunately, the tire only last a few hundred miles before the tread separated, and Tom had two more flats with it, one due to a small pebble!!
Once again, Gary Bohman came through for us. He had arranged for Tom and I to stay in Missoula near the University of Montana in the campus ministries, just adjacent to the main entrance to the university. John Lund, the minister there had been Gary’s minister in Vancouver before being transferred to Missoula. We stayed the night, and the next day, while Tom had his ribs x-rayed. The doc told him that it’s usual for broken ribs to flare up after a few days to the inflammation and fluid build up over time.
Total miles today 61.51, overall: 638.93.
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