We left the motel before 5:00 am - most of the city was lit by streetlights, but we still used our headlight and rear flashers. We got to the town of Lolo and rode along a smooth paved bike path for about 8 miles. There was a really nice sunrise, which Lenny took pictures of. We stopped at a gas station to use the bathroom. Lenny downshifted into a lower gear but didn’t turn the crank far enough before he stopped and the gear did not change. When we left, he was backing up and forced the bike, which slightly bent the derailleur. The result was that the chain would skip in some of the lower gears. It did not incapacitate the bike, but since we were biking another big mountain pass the next day, those lower gears would be needed. We rode another 25 miles to Hamilton and stopped at the Valley Bike Shop. Tony Neaves fixed the derailleur, but Lenny didn’t want to take any chances, so he had him replace it. We talked with Randy Leavell, the owner, about bike touring, chiropractic and vertebral subluxation.
We left around noon to bike the remaining 17 miles to Darby, and it was hot riding. Lenny went into the post office in town, while Lorraine napped on the sidewalk outside. We camped at the Wilderness Motel & Campground. Lenny met Tom Allison, a logger, and got into a debate over logging. Lorraine cooked lentil stew over the range in the common area. We walked into town to get ice cream, but the shop was closed, so we bought groceries and split a pint of Ben & Jerry’s. Lorraine was looking forward to seeing elk, bears, cougars and big-horn sheep on this trip, and we saw all of them in Darby...with our faces pressed against the window of the taxidermist shop! We went to sleep at 8 pm to get an early start the next day.
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