Lolo to Missoula

13 miles. I love Missoula.

I don't even know how to describe today, it was simply amazing.

We entered Missoula and immediately went to the Adventure Cycling Association, aka the cycling mecca of awesomeness that makes the maps for this route, among many others. The route I'm on was originally called the Bike Centennial route, first ridden in '76. That was the time of riding in cutoff denim shorts and long tube socks, lycra was unheard of.

We got a tour of the building and then had our black and white photos taken by Greg Siple, the founder of the ACA. Can we say star struck! He took our freaking photos, I met Greg Siple! And he also weighed our bikes; mine rang in at 78 lbs (bike plus gear) and McKinley's was 88 lbs. Dang, our bikes need a diet.

Then we met Arlen Hall, the director of tours. Another celebrity sighting; I've read a few articles on him. I smiled and told Arlen I knew who he was, I may have blushed. I also recognized so many faces from all of my blog stalking, it was awesome! McKinley was also star struck.

We chatted with Arlen outside as we were getting ready to leave. He invited us to stay with him and his lady friend, Shawn, since we didn't yet have a place to stay. Did that seriously happen?! So I'm sleeping in Arlen Hall's house. Double awesome. He's ridden around 60,000 miles on his bicycle(s) over the years and has a million travel stories. He's also ridden through NJ a few times and we were able to share stories on common places we've visited in the south.

Today has been incredible. I've met people that I have read so much about, and in my eyes, are celebrities. Getting to the ACA was something that felt out of reach, and I (we) biked 1,000 miles to get there. That is kick ass.