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Day 7

  Stats: 112 Miles; 4:45 moving time; 13,613 vert ft climbing

I woke up early with perfect weather. I raced to pack up my camp and out and backed the trail I had camped at.  I had received a message from someone watching my route to be careful on this next section of road, I didn't understand in the message but once I got on the graded road it made sense.  Someone had cut a 6 foot deep 4 foot wide trench in the middle of the road! I'm glad I stopped for the night where I did, this would have been deadly if I encountered it in the dark!   Luckily someone already had started a go around for this vandalism of a public roadway.  I encountered a couple more and then the road just abruptly ended into a recently clear cut forest.  No signs warning of recent work in the area I was confused. I found a route around this situation on the map, and it wouldn't miss any trail.

My tent setup. It was so nice to be able to have all of my stuff in the tent and vestibule and out of the elements.

Immediately on my detour there was a fully loaded tandem log truck parked, that explains why I couldn't get through the clear cut, it was still actively being logged.   After a few seconds on the road I understood why the truck was parked, another tandem truck was driving up the road, I swerved into the grass on the side of the road to stay out of the way.  I continued on this gravel road with extreme caution, keeping way to the right to be safe.

In town I stopped for my final gas stop, I'd probably easily make it to the end but needed enough to make it to back to town.  At the gas station I decided I should grab a victory beer for the finish.  I grabbed a single beer from the gas station fridge and went to check out unsure if the state laws allowed such at thing at 9 AM.  The cheery young Indian man behind the counter asked me if I was excited it was Friday and almost the weekend, asking what my weekend plans were.  I couldn't help but giggle since I was in my full moto gear including chest protector on top of my jersey and carrying my helmet, did he think I was on my way to work?

I didn't know what to expect of these last few sections of singletrack but it all exceeded my expectations and reminded me of the DH mountain bike trails I learned to ride on!  They were in great shape and had many freshly cut trees.  During whole journey so far I smiled every time I rode past a tree with fresh saw dust, like there was a trail fairy just ahead of me clearing the way, although many of them were likely Sean Smith who rode GRIT 1 just a couple weeks ahead of me.  I got on the final bit of singletrack that leads to the finish, the Ardnt Trail.  Within 10 feet of  the trailhead there was a massive down tree hovering a foot above the trail with no way around and of course it was at a slight angle from the run in.  I took a breath and wheelied up and got the bikes skid plate on the top then pushed it over the rest of the way.  The trail was a steep climb all the way to the road to the finish.  The final mile of road to the border, I had made it!

I drank my victory beer and called Erin to let her know I had finished! I hung out for a few minutes taking pictures of my bike in its final trail form. Next I headed down the road with the destination of Fiest Creek Lodge. I made it about halfway back to the pavement when a border truck was coming up the hill and waving at me to stop! The officer jumped out of the car and asked me where I was coming from and if I crossed the boarder.  I showed him my route on the map and told him I had ridden, very quickly, on singletrack then on the road to the dead end, hung out for a few minutes then came back down on the road.  He said I tripped their "technology" and had just appeared out of nowhere from their sensors.  He ran my ID and sent me on my way.


I arrived at Fiest creek and met my long lost friend Devon who moved to the area a few years earlier.  It was awesome to see Devon and he had brought his bike! After eating an amazing burger we rode a quick 25 mile loop straight from the restaurant on well groomed singletrack in the rain.  I had of course taken all of my bags off my bike first which really made it feel nimble!  Devon let me crash at his place, the next day we rode another quick loop outside of Clark Fork and he dropped me off at U Haul to start my voyage home.

Overview of my bike: https://youtu.be/D5J75ygtGeI?si=vw8e2yQz70Yhf6mn







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