8/17: 50mi in 80F

Woke up late in the yurt. This morning's 29mi was some of the least interesting and scenic riding we've done. The afternoon's 26 was really no different. Only a small part of my indifference is from the pending end of the tour. Most of it is because we have truly seen more varied and beautiful landscapes come in the preceding days.

Bike touring in the heat is quite an aromatic experience, and not in the strictly grossest sense. On my huffin breath I can smell chocolate and bananas from dinners and breakfasts past. Wafting off my jersey I can smell the accumulated smoke of by now countless camp fires. On my skin I can smell the sheeny sweet glaze of sunscreen. To say "I smell bad" would be like kneeling down to your dog and saying, "hey pup, I smell something."

I have one last clean set of jersey and shorts to don tomorrow, and one more leg to ride into Missoula, the endpoint of months of planning and weeks of riding.