Aug 29: Polson to Missoula, 11km, 821m

We woke up to a light rain and heavy clouds. The temperature was down to 9°C when we set off and rain drops few but the increasing rainfall soon forced us to stop and don waterproof jackets. We rode the next 50km in the rain and stopped in St. Ignatius, primarily to see the church that had been recommended to us in White Sulphur Springs, but being chilled through we detoured to the Oldtimers Café first.  We spent more time clutching warm cups of coffee than actually drinking while the hot soup helped to warm us up from the inside.  When we re-started we both pulled out fresh dry clothes and heavy ski gloves and then visited the church.  Naturally, the weather warmed up and 17km later we stopped to strip off the heavy clothes and rain gear.  Shortly after that TimG felt the rear tyre was getting softer and a few kms later small stones on the road were compressing the tyre to the rim so we stopped and pumped it up in the hope we would get to Missoula before repairing the tube. It was not to be. Each time the tyre went down faster and 6km short of the town we had to stop and put in a new tube. We had to do this on the hard shoulder of the motorway, not a fun place to be.

Fortunately, it stopped raining shortly after the lunch break and we rode the last 50km on drying roads.  In order to get into Missoula we had to ride the last 10km on the I90 highway shoulder.  This was a harrowing stretch with fast trucks and large patches of broken glass.  We found a motel in Missoula and we’re staying here for 2 nights.  We have 3 breweries to track down tomorrow.