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Beers & Gears, Day Three: Could Hardly Be Better

By Bill Schneider, 5-26-10

	Bill and Will on Chief Joesph Pass, and yes, that's snow. One of hundreds of scenic views of the Bitterroot River on the way to Hamilton. Will riding along the East Fork of the Bitterroot, and of cours, the usual suspects having a good time at Bitter Root Brewing after the riding is finished. Photos by Bill Schnieder

No brewery in Wisdom, where we stayed last night, but there should be. Even the server at the Big Hole Crossing restaurant where we had a terrific breakfast this morning agreed and said she thought Big Hole Brewing should open a brewery there instead of having its beer produced by Madison River Brewing over in Belgrade. “But one problem,” she said, “it get so cold here in the winter that all the beer might freeze.”

And sure enough, it was a bit nippy this morning, 29 degrees F, but by the time we started out it was pushing 40 degrees and it turned into an ideal day for cycling. 

Wisdom is almost exactly halfway between Butte and Hamilton, incidentally, a little fact some of the locals might not even know. Yesterday, it took us six hours riding time to do the 77 miles from Butte to Wisdom. Today, we did the 76 miles to Hamilton in five hours, helped by a strong east wind that helped push us up Chief Joseph Pass, second time over the Continental Divide on our Great Divide Brewery Trail trip. It also helped to have 50 miles of downhill riding from the pass to our destination, Bitter Root Brewing in Hamilton.

Chief Joseph Pass is, incidentally, a “big chain ring” hill except for the last 2-3 miles where it kicks up to about 6-8 percent grade. And gorgeous, too. It follows sparking mountain streams while winding through a mostly-non-bug-killed forest sprinkled with open meadows. And as a bonus, not much traffic.

I’m sure glad the roads was in perfect shape going down the pass because it’s an eight-mile steep descent, one of the steepest I’ve been on. Finally at the bottom of the hill, Will and I congratulated ourselves for taking the clockwise option on this loop route so we didn’t have to climb that hill, which is at least twice as difficult from the Bitterroot side as it is on the Big Hole side.

After the long ride, we had our reward, immediately. Even before taking off our smelly cycling duds, we had to have a cold pint at the Bitter Root, and it was soooo good. Then, after a little clean up and clean clothes, we went back and had a couple more and a nice dinner.

The brewery let Chuck park the Winnebago right behind the beer garden, so we had about 20 feet to walk to the taproom. How’s that for service?

Bitter Root Brewing is Montana’s equivalent of a brewpub--a great brewery with a kitchen that turns out some great pub fare. If you’re planning a trip to Hamilton, put it on your must-do list. Yep, they still have the “Handicapped Blonde Parking Area” sign up.

Tomorrow is our big day--only 47 miles in the saddle, but four breweries at the ride. Stay tuned.

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