How much further?

Today's ride(day 2) starts extra early due to the fact that bicycles are not allowed on "Going To The Sun" Highway between the hours of 11:00am-4:00pm. Karen and I started in semi darkness to avoid any delays and arrive at Logan Pass long before the curfew goes into effect. Well we all know what the road to hell is paved with, but I'm getting ahead of myself. We've had about 9 miles to ride before we start the still undetermined, 4-7 point grade, of the 15 mile trek up. The scenery was straight out of "A River Runs Through It". The smells and sounds of all that surrounded us was incredible, but of course it was still early in the day's ride. When we get to the rest area before the climb we were surprised to find that it was only a bathroom, there was no potable water. Not Good. We probably had a bottle each, but we had just started. Don't Panic. Baby Sips.

Karen took this shot at the beginning of our upward climb. Now the road doesn't look that daunting in this photo, so let's add a few obstacles. Let's throw some gravel road in for 3 miles. I am not a fan of gravel roads when they're flat, add an incline, and I am not happy. For fun let's close half the road down for construction, allowing one way traffic every 20 minutes for the next 2 miles. Remember we're on a time schedule. Now all this was fine when the mountain was on my right, but now I've got a shear drop there instead. Have I mentioned the absence of any shoulder whatsoever. Some fun now. Oh yeah! We're out of water, 7 miles to go, and it's 11:30am. Stay tuned.......