August 25, 2007, Saturday

Glacier National Park, Montana

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The diabetes riders were off early today, leaving at 7 am in a group. The more obnoxious, er enthusiastic, were outside yelling encouragement to the others as we tried to sleep in. At breakfast there were several groups of couples in riding gear. They were obviously with our tour but none of us introduced ourselves until Bob from Elizabeth, CO stopped by to say hi.

We did all meet later as we gathered around the Bicycle Adventure van, all 22 of us riders and 3 guides, including Alisa who lead the Oregon Coast tour last year. After introductions and a brief route rap by the leader Brandon we were off toward Lake McDonald. The first 20+ miles to lunch were on rolling, relatively smooth roads in the hot sun. We saw the diabetes riders off and on, later learning that Lou and Rebecca were led off course when they followed one of them. Alisa was preparing lunch next to the Flathead River as we rolled in. From there the nice paved road ended and we loaded the bikes onto the vans and shuttled about 10 miles to the next paved stretch. Back in Whitefish we had been told the road was rideable on a road bike, but it would be a long hard ride had we tried. After unloading the bikes we rode into Apgar Village on beautiful Lake McDonald.

Brandon discusses bike basicsLunch at the Flathead RiverEntering Glacier National Park

We wandered around the village, buying postcards and a calendar at the visitor's center and drinks at the store. Since we couldn't ride on the Going to the Sun Road until after 4 pm we had time for Brandon to give us a good overview of the park, the road, and other interesting facts about the area. It's a pleasant change for a guide to give some local history and highlights; it doesn't always happen. We sat on the Lake McDonald beach for the talk and soon afterward headed out toward the hotel. I sneaked my bike into the room on the second floor (205) while Kerie fretted about hers until it was safely locked atop one of the two vans.

Entering Apgar VillageKerie at Lake MacDonald with
Going to the Sun road in the distance
Lake MacDonald

I had an excellent dinner at Belton Chalet, a short drive in the van into West Glacier. We got to know more of our fellow guests and tasted a local brew. We heard later that the Ahi tuna was excellent, sushi-grade, seared tuna. They key words being “sushi-grade” and “seared” meaning more or less raw. Kerie thought hers was under-cooked and ate little of it. The local cats were in for a real treat. The huckleberry ice cream was delicious.

One last treat for the day was a ride in one of the red “Jammer” tour buses. These were built in the 1930's to shuttle tourists around the park. They were rebuilt in early 2000 and retrofitted to run on propane fuel. The are called jammers because when the original buses ascended the steep grades of Going to the Sun Road the drivers had to jam the gears in order for them to engage.

Brandon discusses the park and the last leg of the rideKerie on the road to Lake MacDonaldLanterns at the Lake MacDonald lodge

View for behind the lodge looking northBelton ChaletJammer ride back to the lodge

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