Mark sums it up well. The hotel was a much larger version of my grandmother's big farm town home in the late 1940's. Near the depot, where steam engines stopped to take on water. In those pre-motel days, she would rent bedrooms to travelers. Her single bathroom was down the hall.
The ride was epic, glad I signed up. I was worried as I read warnings about how difficult the ride was. I had just serviced & put new shocks/brakes on my wagon, so for my August 79th BD, I took a few days to recon the ride, esp. 9 mile hill. Stayed in a B&B in WhiteFish, oldest home in town, just like grandma's but without all her nice furniture.
The ride looked hard, but possible, so I came a few weeks later & tried. Suffered some on Saturday but was doing OK until my front brake failed going down a steep & rutted hill. There was mechanical help to get me going again but I steadily lost ground to most of the pack, although I passed the couple on a tandem every time they flatted or had a mechanical. A mile or two later they would come zooming past at high speed, only to reappear a few miles later on the roadside working to get going again.
Day 1 ended with a feast and the "Red Lantern" prize, which included a slow moving vehicle emblem for my saddle that will be useful in farm country where I live.
Sunday morning went well, but I too began having back pain right before the lunch stop. Took some Tylenol, had a great lunch and hit the road again.
Myself and another rider arrived at the fork where @
gugie made his wrong turn and we spotted a tiny arrow pointing the other way, we hollered to him but he was out of earshot up the hill. We followed him, thinking he knew the way and the arrow must be from Saturday. Part way up the hill, we saw there was only gugie's track in the dirt. So went back to the fork and found a 2nd confirming arrow.
On the horizon, we saw a group of approaching riders. I waited, while the other guy rode uphill to try & catch gugie. After a bit, he came back. He reached the top as gugie finished taking pictures and rode away. Gave chase, but Mark was too fast for him to catch. We waited about 10 minutes more and the group arrived. They were local riders who confirmed the left fork was correct.
9 mile hill went on & on, steeper and steeper. My back pain got worse and worse. Ahead, short of the summit, I saw a woman stopped to catch her breath, rest was needed, so I joined her. As we were ready to go again, a support truck arrived to ask how we were doing. Me: "I think I'd like a ride" They carried another rider and bike but plenty of room for me. That crew cab Ford had more room in the back seat than my Mercedes! I was able to stretch out, rest my back, & drink the rest of my water.
The other passenger tracking us on his phone, confirmed my total for Saturday and Sunday was several miles more than riding my age, so good enough.
It's a great ride, with incredible scenery. I'm going to train harder for next year, make some mods to my PX10 or maybe re-work another bike. So, like Arnold, "I'll be back"
Don edit: here's a pic of gugie's Grand Sport & my PX10 "Resting quietly in my shop, having done their duty"