Missoula #2

Day 23: Monday, June 10, 2013
Missoula #2: 11 miles

Today was intended to be a sort of rest day: I'd visit Adventure Cycling, do my laundry, stock up on supplies, and then, toward the end of the day, head south for 20-30 miles, like we did back in 1981. It didn't work out.

Missoula is a good size town: about 67,000. It's in a flat valley, surrounded by hills. And you can see those hills from all over town. So it has the feeling of being out in the country. The following shot, taken downtown, typifies that feeling for me: the old building, and the hill. (The M stands for the University of Montana, which is located here.) There are some other really cool buildings here too.

Telco and hill

The Adventure Cycling Association has remodeled and expanded an old church into their headquarters. They've done a really nice job of it - especially from the standpoint of visiting cycletourists. There's a cyclist's lounge, equipped with soda and juice and ice cream and wi-fi.

The home of the Adventure Cycling Association

The office walls are decorated with historically significant bicycles donated by Adventure Cycling members. You can shop in their store. And they give personal guided tours and are really friendly. Cool place. I stayed there for some time, trying to catch up on my blogging.

Bikes on the wall,
and Dennis and Becky getting their guided tour

More bikes on the wall

Then it was off to Sparkle Laundry for suds, pizza, and a Coke, and more wi-fi. Now that's the way to run a laundry!

That pressure in my chest had become more persistent, so a conversation with De convinced me that a trip to the ER in the morning would be a prudent idea. So: where to stay tonight?

A local cyclist had posted a note at the Adventure Cycling offices, offering his home free to any cyclists passing through. I called him up, then headed for his place after I finished the laundry. After he got me settled in (I chose the garage, as it was warmer than outside, and less hassle for him and his housemates than the living room), we cycled a few miles to Bridge Pizza, a nice little pizza shop, and followed that up with dessert at the Big Dipper Ice Cream stand. (Click that link. It's an interesting site.) They had some unusual flavors. I chose coconut. It was good.