Day 67, back to civilisation

Day 67, 11 September, 75.68km and 618m climb, Medicine Lodge stealth camp to Lima.

Today was the most kilometers we've done on the bike to date. It started out bitterly cold, not so much from the still air temperature but from the cold wind. We were both shivering by the time we'd finished breakfast and got on the bikes but within 15 minutes, we were in the sun, the wind had stopped and we were cooking! All the layers came off again!

The day started with a 20km climb up to the Medicine Lodge Pass, our 7th crossing of the Divide? I don't know, I've lost track! There was a goodly push for half a kilometer to the top but otherwise it was a good, gravel climb. From the top we had 20km of generally downhill before starting into a gorgeous canyon which took us out to the highway. Water was a slight issue today. The terrain was very barren from the top and water was negligible until we reached the canyon. Here we found both a good water source and our first dickhead American.  This bloke with his gun and camo outfit took exception to us passing through public land adjacent to his RV to get to the water. We just ignored him.

After this wee episode we carried on feeling a lot more comfortable with our water stocked up. At the main highway we had to decide between left down to Dell 2km off route or right to Lima, 13km uphill on route. We went right but we were knackered by the time we reached Lima. It was 31 degrees and we were up over 2000m most of the day again so I'm sure this is probably contributing to our fatigue. 

Tonight we are camped at the motel and RV park next to the freeway. Earplugs will be useful!