From Helena to Lincoln

Today we climbed from Helena to Lincoln. Well, not the whole way, but it sure seemed like it for a while.

St. Peter's fed us a great burrito dinner last night follwed by an amazing pancake, sausage, and hashbrown feast for breakfast. I was in bed before 8 and slept outside in the church courtyard (it was the perfect night to do so), so I was feeling great this morning. A big ggroup of us rolled out together and stayed together for the first 20 miles or so. The terrain started going up hill at this point, and we began to spread out with Jake Schorr, Jake Stangel, Sophia, Joe, and I taking the lead as we headed up Fletcher Pass. It wasn't too bad to begin with, but just as soon as Jake Stangel said, "This is probably the easiest pass I've ever climbed" the road decided to change that. The last 2 or 3 miles up the pass were pretty tough, but Joe and I kept pushing while we talked about the Tour de France (which apparently ended yesterday). We reached the top of the pass at about mile 36, and the van was waiting for us there. We took our time eating left over pancakes and sausage, and I stayed there for almost an hour. Lindsey, Lisa, Hannah, Marty, Marita, Jess, Barbara, and I all rode together for parts of the ride after lunch. The descent was quick and full of switchbacks, and then we fought the wind for the rest of the ride. Luckily it was a short day (57), and we all reached the school in Lincoln fairly early. The van got to the school right as I did, so after a quick unload and shower most of us decided to take a good long nap for a good portion of the afternoon.