July 14, Stage 8

July 14 Missoula to Butte, MT, 136 miles, 5400 ft of climbing. Gradual 1-2% climb for 85 miles, then 10 of 5-8% grades. Just when I thought we had a few more miles of climbing, it started levelling out, leading to a 14 mile descent into Anaconda, a copper-mining town. Then, ups and downs into Butte. Georgetown Lake at 6000 feet elevation. Twice today, we were routed onto the shoulder of I-90, about 6 miles each time. With the usual shoulder ground up glass, loose gravel, sand, chunks of wood, and travelling uphill, the first 40 or so miles were unpleasant. I actually felt good on the climb to the top of the pass, then encountered a fellow rider who had a flat tire. We used my CO2 canister connector, with a new tube and got him going. Fortunately I stayed with him, because he had 4 more flats, before we finished, much later than everyone else. PACTour had 2 re-fueling stops along the route, then lunch at mile 78, then another re-fueling stop with about 20 miles to go into Butte. At each stop, they check in each biker, so they know if someone has had trouble, or is otherwise going slow. They run a tight ship. Breakfast tomorrow at 7, load gear bags at 7:30 and leave. Should be a little easier day. Hip is better today. Neck is not. Legs are strong enough to do this. Check out the www.pactour.com website. Some of the riders have their blogs on the site, with pictures. Susan Notorangelo, one of the PACTour owners posts some pictures from the ride each day.