It looked like a nice day, a few clouds but no rain and moderate temperatures.
Mike Curiak shot the official racer portraits at the starting line and then at noon he sent us on our way with a laconic "go".
I had thought that the field would pretty much stick together until we hit the dirt and start the first climb, but the group was stretched out after less than a kilometer. The contenders for the overall took the lead with a 30 km/h (20 mph) pace and the single speeders where quickly falling behind - they didn't have the right gear for flat paved roads.
By the time I turned into Grave Creek Rd, I was completely on my own. My back started to hurt and the rough surface of the dirt road didn't help. The elevation, the summit is at 1700 m (5100 feet), was also causing me some trouble. As I was crawling up the first climb a couple of guys overtook me.
The pass itself is not spectacular at all. There is no view in either direction. But I stopped anyway and ate the sandwich which I had bought in Eureka just before riding to the start. Problem is that after a handful of bars, I don't like them anymore. So a sandwich is much appreciated after a few hours of riding.
The downhill to North Fork Rd had a few surprises. First there was the creek which had destroyed the road (see photo right). I took my shoes off and waded through. Others found more efficient ways to get across: riding through it or jumping across logs and boulders. But I wanted to play it safe, specifically the first day.
The second surprise was Adventure Cycling's Aaron Teasdale taking shots of the competitors and the third one was the view over the peaks of Glacier National Park, see photo to the right.
After a long flat stretch along the North Fork River, we left the wide gravel road and turned West into Red Meadow Lake Rd for the second climb of the day. The dirt road was good and the climb started easy enough. Towards the end it got significantly steeper forcing us (I was riding with John Hurly at the time) to stop a couple of times.
At the top by the lakes, Joe Polk was waiting for us and we were waving into his camera. Thanks to Joe and Tom Purvis for the excellent job with the recording and transcribing the riders' messages. Check out Tom's site MTBcast.com and the real-time race coverage.
I stopped right after the summit for some food and to put on warm cloth for the downhill. The descent was so steep I thought, "Lucky that we didn't have to climb up this way". On the elevation profile, there seems to be hardly a difference in the grade, though.
By the time I hit the pavement and the estates at Whitefish Lake, I had gotten really tired, in the sleepy kind of way. No surprise as I hadn't slept well for the last few nights with all that pre-race anxiety.
As soon as I passed a Bed&Breakfast in the outskirts of Whitefish, I hit the brakes and got a room. The restaurant next door didn't serve food anymore at 9:30pm. But this didn't matter, I just wanted to hit the sack and sleep and so I did by quarter past 10.
Photo by Mike Curiak
Me at the start
Whitefish Mountains seen from Eureka at the evening before the start
After crossing the Whitefish Divide for the first time, technical skills were in demand for crossing the creek which had washed away the road
First glimpse at the Glacier National Park at the downhill from the first divide crossing
Photo by Aaron Teasdale, Adventure Cycling
Me, coming down from the first pass - still relatively fresh and in a good mood
North Folk Rd with Glacier Mountains in the back
Looking back on the climb to Red Meadow Lake
Whitefish Lake