Saint Mary, MT to Apgar Campground, MT
Day: 51.98 miles, Trip: 3499.08 miles
Decided to go back to the lodge for breakfast. The bison Savory Crepes were amazing and filling. On the way back into the park we posted for some photos with the park sign. The views are better and the sky is a lot clearer than it was yesterday. The east side of the Going to the Sun Road is under construction. It was mostly hard packed gravel but some spots were mixed gravel and mud. The riding wasn't bad and the views were outstanding. We all split up to go our own paces and to stop frequently at all the viewpoints. I felt great and climbed faster than before on the this trip. I still took my time for photos and views and just take in the sights but climbed quick. Towards the top the pavement came back but there was more traffic.
The air was damp and I could feel drops of rain. I hoped it would wait until I got down the other side or at least till I got to the top. I managed to get to the top and a photo of the Logan Pass sign before the sky opened up. We all piled in the visitor center at the top to get out of the rain. It was packed inside as we waited for the rain to go away. It seemed like it wasn't going away so when it slowed down Kristen, myself and Richard took off down from the pass. It was windy, raining hard again, little visibility and heavy traffic. It made for a frightening descent. Kristen flew down ahead of me and I took it more conservative just riding down with traffic behind a truck. Part way down I inspected my brakes because I wasn't getting much stopping power. It turns out I didn't really have any brakes left on my rear wheel and only a little left on my front wheel and that was squeaking with some metal chips in it. This made some dicey descending to Lake McDonald.
At Lake McDonald I was cold, wet and the restaurant had the AC on to make it worse. I split a pizza with Kristen and had a hot chocolate to warm up. Joining us at the table was Richard, Kenny, Skylar and Cassie (will be joining us until Sand Point, ID). We hung around the restaurant until 4 pm and the road reopened to cyclists. I took it nice and slow so I wouldn't have to use my brakes the erst of the way to camp. At camp we all got to bed early excited to ride into Whitefish, MT tomorrow and another rest day.
