Day 8

Miles: 98

Mileage: 685

Oops! We slept through the alarm and woke at 9 a.m. It’s those comfy hotel beds plus darkened sleep curtains plus being constantly exhausted. Oh, well. 

We got ourselves to breakfast — which was delicious eggs and vegetables — and packed up ready to leave around 11 a.m. Not quite the up-with-the-sun start we’d imagined but there you are. 

I do think our late start allowed us to avoid some rain, which is great. 

It was cloudy all day with only a couple of appearances from the sun — which is good because we’re low on sunscreen. 

It’s certainly eagle country up here. We get to see one or two flying above us everyday.

Because of the late start and the general chill to the air we took very few breaks today. Only twice did we even get off our bikes on a break. All were brief and so we made it to camp in a park in Libby, MT around 8:15 p.m., including losing an hour when we crossed the time zone line. We passed into Montana around 3:30 p.m. MT. 

We avoided rain for most of the day except for a few sprinkles. That made me happy as the temperatures were in the high 50s/low 60s all day which makes for cold riding when wet. It might rain tonight as we fall asleep but early evening rain in my tent is just soothing when I know I don’t have to go out in it. 

Overall, my body is adjusting well to endurance riding. No major injuries or discomforts to speak of. Richard and I are getting along and looking forward to our first zero day which we plan to take in or around Glacier National Park.