Today was our second rest day -- one on which we planned to take various hikes in and around Glacier. The weather, however, didn't cooperate. It rained all day -- even hailed at points -- and winds were steady at 25 to 30 mph, with gusts up to 60!
Actually, a pretty good day not to be on our bikes.
We still had fun. We took the Glacier shuttle bus back up from St. Mary to Logan's Pass, getting to see some of the same scenery from the more relaxed vantage of someone else doing the driving. It was still spectacular.
During one lull, Bob and I attempted a hike to one of the attractions, Virginia Falls, but quickly got caught in the resumption of the rains and aborted the hike back to the shuttle bus pick-up station. Unfortunately the bus runs only once an hour, so we stood there getting pretty wet and cold.
Eventually, we decided, what the heck, let's try hitchhiking. It took about 15 minutes and dozens of cars passing us without stopping before we hit paydirt: Jennifer from Atlanta! On her annual pilgrimage to visit and party with friends in Montana (near Babb, where we'll be tomorrow). She actually drove past us at first, but then took mercy on us and came back about 2 minutes later. And offered us each a beer as she drove us to St. Mary. Thanks, Jennifer!
Actually, a pretty good day not to be on our bikes.
We still had fun. We took the Glacier shuttle bus back up from St. Mary to Logan's Pass, getting to see some of the same scenery from the more relaxed vantage of someone else doing the driving. It was still spectacular.
During one lull, Bob and I attempted a hike to one of the attractions, Virginia Falls, but quickly got caught in the resumption of the rains and aborted the hike back to the shuttle bus pick-up station. Unfortunately the bus runs only once an hour, so we stood there getting pretty wet and cold.
Eventually, we decided, what the heck, let's try hitchhiking. It took about 15 minutes and dozens of cars passing us without stopping before we hit paydirt: Jennifer from Atlanta! On her annual pilgrimage to visit and party with friends in Montana (near Babb, where we'll be tomorrow). She actually drove past us at first, but then took mercy on us and came back about 2 minutes later. And offered us each a beer as she drove us to St. Mary. Thanks, Jennifer!
Was Jennifer in a flatbed Ford? Sorry, just flashing to Winslow, Arizona and Jackson Brown and all that.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering, Rog. How many gears do you have on the bike, and how many do you use?
You know, I tried to answer this gear question twice, but both times my response died in the ether of mid-80s technology (literally, every computer I've had access to on this trip has slots for diskettes!)
DeleteAnyhow, 24 is the answer. A triple chainwheel on the front, with teeth of 48, 36 and 26, and 8 cogs on the back, starting at 34, then descending to 30, 26, 23, 20, 17, 14 and 11.
I use them all. I mostly ride in the middle sprocket up front, but will shift to the large one on a downhill or the flats if I have a tailwind. The granny is generally reserved for the end of long climbs or gradiants above 6%.
I presume you will now figure out all the ratios and tell me which combos are really duplicative of each other, yes?