Missoula, MT (83+ miles)

As we cycled on, the mountains revealed themselves gradually though the haze from nearby fires. It's no surprhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifise that we have seen many signs warning of an extremely high chance of fire due to the dry season. I've also heard that the average summer temperature has risen 15ºF in the past few years. Glad I'm traveling on a bike!

What if everyone were to tour the country by bike, or at least commute en velo? Adventure Cycling is a non-profit dedicated entirely to encouraging touring on two leg-powered wheels. Their office here in Missoula is a fantastic example of how they will achieve this. I strolled up to their door and pulled three times before I was convinced that it was locked and after-hours. But, Julie came to the door, greeted me with a smile, and offered a quick tour. They have a great selection of maps and tour prepping information. Plus, they offer drinks, ice cream, and internet to touring cyclists, gratuit!

I'm making this journal entry from a really neat shop called Liquid Planet. Check out the pictures of the interior. They have products and organic treats for people who enjoy beverages (beer, wine, tea, coffee, smoothies) like a hobby.

The horrendous headwinds of yesterday's late start were happily dodged as we rolled into the bike-friendly city of Missoula. Now this is actually a city: we don't double the population, there are multiple coffee shops and, more importantly, bike shops. Plus, we're lucky enough to have multiple HOT showers available at our gorgeously "archetectured" church-host and all our meals covered during the day off, too!

The feel of the downtown, the people, and the river, are quite appealing to me. We're all excited about spending our day off, in a town whose streets are lined with locked up bikes - ones that aren't ours! As a whole the town's population seems to be quite fit, athletic, and friendly. People take time to fully explain directions to a confused cyclist. Store clerks might have a conversation with you. Yeah, weird.

The ride into town brought us up a few rises and down more slopes on a fairly wide shoulder. It was great to have the room to chit-chat with Eric and Bronwyn without anxiety about being hit by a logging truck's caboose. We cruised along and a ripe quick pace that afforded us enough time for a dip in the rocky stream.