1998 - Bike-Aid 3,600 Miles Across The U.S.A.
1999 - The Great Divide Mountain Bike Expedition
June 22, 1998 - Kellogg - Quartz Flats
DISTANCE TRAVELED: 66.12 MilesTIME: 6:48 Hours
AVERAGE SPEED: 15.1 Miles/Hour
TRAVEL CONDITIONS: Sunny and warm in the morning turning to a cool and very rainy afternoon.
ROAD CONDITIONS: Mostly smooth with a few places that had potholes and lots of gravel along the side of the road.
TERRAIN/DIFFICULTY LEVEL: Beginning was flat turning into a 7 mile uphill which then was followed by a 30 mile mix of steep downhill and flat riding.
DAILY JOURNAL COMMENTS:
We woke up today around 7:00 and had a breakfast of fresh bagels, English muffins, jam, cream cheese, and cereal. We then had a person come to talk to us about a land reclamation project that he is doing in the area. This includes cleaning up a large area of land which is covered in lead dust from when the smelter was still working. They are removing a foot of topsoil from each person's yard, putting down a plastic protective barrier, and then putting down new soil. This prevents the contamination of vegetables and also prevents children from ingesting the poisoned soil. He showed an aerial picture of the entire valley and showed what was going on in different areas. On the hillsides, the dust from the smelter had fallen and because of this, the plants all died leaving a bare mountain. They are clearing out all of the bad soil in these areas and then putting in new soil and plants. They are also cleaning out the river that runs through the valley and putting all of the sediments into a large containment area which will then be capped off and they are planning on putting a golf course on top of it. This should help the economy since so much of the mining has stopped. We then packed up and took a short ride to a local mine where we were able to see a 3 dimensional model of the mine system in the entire valley. It was incredible to see all of the shafts which go into the mountains. We were fortunate to be able to have a person who works at the mine talk to us about how it operates and about the working conditions inside. He told us that the temperature inside at about 4000 feet is about 120 degrees Fahrenheit. The men work for about 8 hours a day in 100% humidity. They have huge fans which bring out the air to keep the men inside working in good condition. They have about 200 people working in the actual shafts and the mine is just breaking even since the price of silver is so low at this point. We were also able to see some of the rocks which are brought out of the ground. He showed us one rock which is the size of two fists that would be worth about 50 dollars. It was very interesting and by the time we were able to leave, it was 12:00 and we were all ready for lunch even though we still had 60 miles ahead of us. After lunch, we took route 90 toward Wallace, where the movie "Dante's Peak" was filmed. We stopped at a local pizza place and had another quick lunch before heading up the hill towards our destination. The climb was fairly easy and as we got to the top it became very dark. We took a picture at the top with the "Welcome to Montana" sign as there was lightening in the background.(Picture12) After putting on rain gear, it soon began to rain as we headed down the long steep descent.(Picture13) It was great to be able to coast for so many miles without having to pedal even though when I started to pedal again, my legs were so cold that they hurt. We pulled into a rest station and sat under an overhang with benches and waited until the storm lessened. In the meantime, I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a banana, and a coke. Finally there was less rain and we continued down the mountain for about 30 miles until we came to our destination where we put our stuff under a shelter and started to claim the spots so we didn't have to put up a tent. We then had leftovers for dinner, consisting of many different types of pasta, which tasted very good. A lot of the riders went out to a local bar to play pool but I stayed back to finish cleaning my bike. Earlier in the day I had noticed that the rims were being worn down because sand had gotten under the brakes. The sun set at 10:00 PM -- afterward I remembered that we were in a new time zone and the extra-long day was great. I went to bed around 11:30.
TRIP ROUTE: Get onto I 90 and follow for 65 miles until you reach St. Regis. Get off and turn left at first stoplight. Go ¼ of a mile and turn left into campground.
