Team 1 Day 12 (Kayla)

 This morning I woke up and rolled out of my tent to go use the pit toilet (which did not smell as pleasant as it had the night before) and by the time I got back to the campsite I felt like I was already 10 steps behind. Keelin was eating breakfast (our usual oats with PB and honey) and Liz’s tent was half down. I just wanted to curl back under my sleeping back and hang out all morning by the lake, but we had to get going. You can’t bike across the country by sleeping in and sitting by the lake after all. So, I got to packing up. There’s a lot to do in the morning to get ready for a day of biking. You have to deflate your pad and pack it away, along with the quilt and your extra clothes (all of these things go in a compression sack in front of my handle bars). Then comes the task of putting on chamois butter and then squeezing back into your bib shorts (the worst part of the morning in my opinion) and the rest of your smelly cycling clothes (you get used to the smell, I just hope other people don’t find us to offensive, we definitely have a look to us now… or so we’ve been told). Next up is breakfast. Our food is usually stored in a bear box, although we did make an attempt at hanging our food once when there wasn’t a box. It was more of a bear piñata, but we figured it would at least be enough of a distraction should a situation arise. Then comes packing away the the tent, poles, and stakes. I pack my cooking stuff with my tent, rain clothes and warm layers in a bag that sits above my rear tire and behind my seat. Next up brush your teeth and apply sunscreen (unless you’re me and forget this step half the time). You also need to refill your water and your snack pouches and repack away the rest of your food. It might be a good idea to also do a once over on your bike to make sure everything is looking good, but let’s be honest I don’t know anything about bikes so unless a wheel is missing I probably wouldn’t notice. Lastly, load up the route on the garmin and start the tracker!

So after all that we were on the road again, cycling north through forests with mountains around us. I was feeling slow to get going, questioning why I was on my bicycle, again. Thoughts circled through my head: “I don’t even like cycling. I’m not an athletic person. This is crazy. I can never keep up, I shouldn’t be doing this.”

Liz and keelin seemed to be feeling good though with the energy to zoom, so they pushed on ahead while I tried to keep my feet pedaling and stop my mind from spiraling. 

Eventually we got off the main highway onto a lovely country road and my legs started to finally gain their momentum. Soon we had done 10 miles, then 20, then 30. The miles seem to fly by like nothing these days once I get going, especially with tunes playing, the beautiful Montana mountains as scenery and rolling hills rather than mountain passes. 

At midday we stopped in the town of Libby to pick up some more food at the grocery store. Since it was lunch time and we needed to charge our devices we set up shop with our bikes and a grocery cart of food in the deli section of the grocery store. 2 hours later we had managed to eat a bag of cool ranch Doritos, 2 tuna sandwiches, a PB sandwich, an extra baguette, some nuts and fruit, fruit snacks, and chocolate, get full charges on all our phones, write 2 blog posts, track team 2 incessantly (they’re crushin’ it!), and call our fathers (by the way, happy Father’s Day to our dads out there - thanks for all your love and support - and for tuning in to our every move. It is hilariously alarming and endearing to receive your messages about what we’re doing at the moment we’re doing it, so thank you for that). 

Our day concluded with a climb (of course) with stunning views over koocanusa reservoir and the mountains of Kootenai National forest. We then descended to our campground looking out over the lake and were pleased to find that we had the entire tent area to ourselves! While Liz and keelin got settled I took a moment to sit in appreciation for the beautiful landscape and all that this trip has offered me, mentally, physically, socially, and spiritually. If this trip has reminded of anything so far it is that everything is temporary. So I am trying to embrace the suffering and the beauty as one and becoming grateful for it all. Who knows what tomorrow will bring (other than a day full of biking, that is always a given!) but for now I am feeling proud of us as I drift off to the light pitter-patter of rain on our tents