TCH Hell Ride preview

April 30th is the Montana Hell Ride put on by The Cycling House, and after last year's ride from Hamilton was cancelled due to wildfires and smoke, it was re-scheduled for earlier in the year on a new course most Missoula cyclists are familiar with.

It starts out on Mullan and heads toward Frenchtown, like so many weekend rides, and then hops on the roubaix course to go up six mile - nine mile road to the ranger station, and then down to the frontage road and Alberton. From there, up Petty creek to the Lumberjack, and then back to big flat on the southside road. While the top of Petty creek/graves creek road is dirt, as is ninemile road, it's all pretty smooth and fast with minimal loose rocks. The south side road starts out that way, and then degrades a bit.

My original plan had been to use my road bike with 27 vittorias, but after last weekend I am not so sure. There are a lot of big rocks and loose dirt and gravel once you get about 10-12 miles into the 21 miles of southside road to the finish. So while there are only 5-10 miles of really bad road, it's enough to make me re-think my choice of bike. It would be pretty frustrating to get that far along in good position only to end up with flat tires.

I could bump up to the refuses, which have handled these conditions and worse. Or I could just ride the cross bike, perhaps with some of those new clement 32mm slicks. Or maybe I just need to switch bikes before the end like I've been joking about.

One other thing to note- there is traffic on the southside road, as well as some tight corners with a steep drop off and no guardrail. It'll be smart to air on the side of caution. Also a good amount of climbing and an uphill finish.

Now here's a picture of Alan changing a flat at the bottom of deep creek