Exercising Demons
Ride day 6. A day I’ve been thinking about for 3 years.
Today started with a 3000’ climb up Richmond Peak from Holland Lake, MT. This is the exact spot that I was at when I came unraveled and quit the Divide in 2023. That day it took me almost 6 hours to complete the climb. I was done.
Quitting anything is not something I’m comfortable with. It leaves a scar. It is also, quite honestly, embarrassing. I hate living with the memory.
So as we started the climb up the peak today, I was apprehensive. I rode mostly silently along side it just behind Luke for the first hour or so. I remembered the exact spots where I couldn’t turn a pedal on even the easiest climbs. Where I was forced to walk. The beginning of one of the longest walks of shame ever.
Luke finally asked how I was feeling. I told him I’d tell him later. I didn’t want to answer, because I was completely the opposite of the previous ride.
I felt wonderful! Not fast, but wonderful.
We rode through spots where I suffered so much, only this time it was a joy. I couldn’t believe how much easier it was. I actually thought “this can’t be where I walked”, but it was, and I rode it with ease.
I knew there was a point where I had stopped to think, rest and recover in 2023. Totally exhausted. Where I realized the ride was done. Where I texted Lola on my inReach and, where she said it was OK, to quit and come home. A bad spot
But today, there it was. I remembered the rock fire ring where I tried to start a fire to warm up. Unsuccessfully. This year I passed by as I continued to tap out the pedal strokes. It was both physically and metaphorically falling behind me.
Not long after, I turned a corner and found myself at the a vista. A beautiful spot. This was my view.
After taking this photo, I looked up the climb and was astonished. I was at the entry point to the single track section that finishes the climb. What had taken me almost 5 hours of riding/hiking/stopping in 2023, Luke and I ridden in about two hours.
I entered the single track section seeing Luke off in the distance. Still climbing. Another 10 minutes or so and we were at the top. Demon vanquished!! ( OK, that’s a bit dramatic, but Richmond Peak wasn’t the windmill I tilted at any longer! C’mon, where are my literature folks??!?)
We made a mad dash down narrow single track onto a 30mph+ descent and onto some singletrack with a ton of ruts and deadfall and made our way to Seely Lake, MT for lunch.
We then turned back uphill and rode the next 35 miles or so to Ovando, MT, but not before passing a deer Luke had seen an hour earlier, still sitting in the shade of a cabin.
A couple thousand more feet of climbing and more wildlife greeted us as we made our way. This is a fox that kept running down the road in front of us.
We rolled into Ovando and were warmly greeted by Kathy, a Divide legend.
Enough for today! Time to do laundry and get ready for another day in the Divide tomorrow!
Thanks for following along!
Ride on!
Shane
