Cycle Montana Day Two

Ennis to Dillon, MT- 72 miles

Today the weather was nearly perfect for a little Montana bike ride. The day opened with a 2000 foot climb over to Virginia City over about eight miles. Once the road went up it was pretty tough on me at first and I stopped at every mile marker for about six miles. At first I was overdressed and getting too hot, but after I shed some layers things got better and I found a pretty good rhythm and did not suffer too much in the last parts of the climb. The stops gave me good opportunities to take pictures and helped me to save my legs for and even harder day tomorrow. I was certainly not fast today but I am not really feeling all that tired tonight and should be good to go tomorrow.  I was not exhausted at the end of the ride either. (The Recoverite seems to help... thanks Dave.) Surprisingly, there have been remarkably few aches and pains in neck, hands, or seat so far, and just minor tinges of foot pain. Knock on wood.

Although pictures cannot do justice to the beauty of this place, here are a few anyway:

Tomorrow night I will likely be without internet access so I may not post for awhile. But the ride is a big one with 3800 feet of climbing by mile 45.... and the last 25 miles to Wise River are ALL DOWNHILL! I may try some video of that.
GARMIN LINK FOR TODAY'S RIDE

Afterthought: riding in these mountains I have gained a far greater appreciation for the quality of road bicycle brakes. The speeds that are possible when the road points down are amazing.