Month: June 2005 (Page 1 of 2)

Townsend to Ennis 76 miles.

Today, much against the popular opinion of the group, I took the BOB along on the ride. What raised their skepticism was the fact that we had a two mile climb of 7% and two other smaller climbs. I reassured them that it was nothing worse than the training rides I had done back in PA.

And, it wasn't. I just took it slowly and got some good long pulls from one of the stronger women riders, Leslie, who Dave and I rode with a few times last week, and from one of the staff, Greg, who was riding loaded with rear panniers (he was also riding as the sweep -. I was the last one in today, but I also got some great pictures of some astounding views of the surrounding snow capped mountains, including a rainbowfilling a whole mountain gap (which I really hopes come out).

The day was again mixed weather wise, and varied from overcast & cold to sunny, to rainy. The rain wasn't nearly as bad as yesterday's, and whileI got wet, it wasn't soaking.

Ennis is a cool little western town with real cowboys running around. Had a beer downtown with a gang of cyclists & locals & am off to bed.

Heading to Yellowstone tomorrow & a trip to old faithful.

This morning was cool and dry in Lincoln and though the tents were wet, I got an early start on the climb up Flescher Pass and crossed the Continental Divide at 6130 feet. On this side of the divide, all the water eventually flows to the Mississippi.

The first half of the ride to our picnic stop was nice. At the picnic stop, however, there were ominous clouds and rain in the direction we were heading. (It's hard to always use the singular first person when there are 60 people riding along with you, though every day I ride with a different group or person, and often alone. But, for now, I'll stick to plurals).

Shortly after leaving the picnic stop and getting on Interstate 15 for 8 miles, it started raining. Hard, but not torrential or anything. There was a lot of wash from the trucks though, and we were glad to get off the interstate and onto the busy regular highway, where soon it cleared up. At mile 68 we had a water break, and at mile 70, my riding partner of the moment, Leslie H., noticed that my wheel was wobbling. I had broken a spoke and had to stop as I didn't have all the parts and tools with me to fix it. I finished the last twenty miles in the sag wagon with a lot of people who just didn't like getting wet.

We're in Townsend tonight, a nice, clean little town, with a modern school and library where I'm posting this message from. We head to Ennis tomorrow. We seem to be in a river valley and the riding should be much easier, and the weather is supposed to be clearer and warmer. I'm planning on loading up the BOB and taking in along for my first fully loaded ride since starting.

Today was one of those days when you're expecting to be drenched with rain, but it never happens. It was a little cool leaving Missoula, under partly cloudy skies that soon turned to overcast. I had my warmers on until noon. It was also another day of headwinds, making for a harder ride.

I made it to town in time to get my tent set up just before it started to rain quite heavily. This is the first rainfall we've had, and other than a few drops here & there, nothing significant while riding. 80% chance of showers tomorrow, but which valley it hits is a crap shoot.

We're in Lincoln, MT tonight, home of Lincoln Logs, the unibomber, many, many rednecks tossing fireworks around our campsite all evening, and a real step back in time. No cell service, and the phone system won't let me use my card. So, you're reading this well after the fact as I can't even post an audio message.

The town is pretty much the main highway lined with shops, bars, motels, and a few side streets where deer roam mighty freely. Saw 3 in just a few minutes and they were within ten feet of me. A group of us went to the local bar for a few, and that was another step back in time: $2.00 for a very generous shot of whiskey, and a pint of beer for $2.50.

Tomorrow, we're crossing the continental divide, heading 91 miles to Townsend. I'll send this off as soon as I have cell service again.

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race." — H.G. Wells

Oh, the ol' sleeping bag felt mighty good tonight. The first 60 miles today were fairly easy, but the last 40 were really hard with a series of small climbs, and we had significant headwinds. At one point, we had to ride 2 miles on a bone-jarring gravel road through a construction area. There were many tired & sore bodies rolling into camp, all ready for a good rest.

I'm in Missoula Sat & Sunday. Sunday is our rest day & everyone is doing laundry, writing postcards, e-mailing, shopping, and generally taking it easy. Last night, a group of us had dinner at a local restaurant and had a few tasty at some local bars. While walking past some street performers,I asked if I could play the guitar if I made a donation. The guy started to hand it to me, but pulled back quickly and said, "Money first!" I tossed in a bill & he handed it over. After putting it somewhat in tune, we played & sang for about 15 minutes & somebody actually put money in the hat for us (it was empty before). Busking in Missoula with the homeless. That was an experience.

My fellow Altoonan, Dave McConnell went home today and I'm going to miss him. It was such an experience running into him when we never connected in school. We rode together a lot this week and "talked about the hometown, a million miles away." Though the week was pretty grueling at times, he said he had a good time. 14 other riders left us today, & 10 new people are joining us for week 2. Tomorrow, we're off to Lincoln, MT.

I'll try to talk about some of the people I've met, but there are so many, so I'll try to hit the highlights. This week's most interesting bikers were Richard and Errol from England. They were riding a tandem, with Richard the son in front, and Errol in the rear. Errol is from India and has stories about travelling the world with his wife. He's 72 now, and is rather stooped over and walks really slowly, but he rides and rides. A true inspiration.

I saw a moose! It ran away before any of us could get a picture, but I'm counting it.

Today's ride was leisurely compared to the last three days at only 70 miles and 1 big climb. To those of you familiar with the biking around SC, it was close to an up-over-&-back of Pine Grove mountain. Just the kind of hill I've was training on with 8-11% grades over 4 miles. Almost like home. Many of the other riders weren't so enthusiastic about this climb, but most of them made it.

We're in Thompson Falls, Montana tonight. We had dinner at the local Elks club & it was quite a good dinner and quite a hoot. The Elks were so friendly and nice and we had a great time telling them our road stories & seeing pictures of the bears in their yards.

Every night we have a briefing on the next day's ride, a weather report (Continued sunny and dry) and a joke or two. I sang Robert's & Baron's "Nine Times a Night" for this evening's joke and it was a big hit.

Tomorrow's ride is 99 miles to Missoula & a deserved & needed day of rest.

One state down, 14 to go.
One of the prettiest days that we've had so far. Leaving Spokane was a little crowded with traffic and fumes, but the day was bright and cool and we soon left the commuters behind.

I also left Washington behind, my 1st state of 15. In 5 days, I've put on 480 miles and climbed 17,940 ft. (> 3 mi).

It's funny how quickly the landscape changed between WA & ID. Very subtly, but very noticeable. The roads we were on were definitely less bike-friendly, but then we hit the Couer d'Alene rail trail which took us through Harrison City and on to Kellog, ID. The trail is over 50 miles long & we were on it for 45, along the Couer d' Alene river & lake & vast 'fields' of water lilys, & Ospreys, but unfortunately no moose. YET!

June 21 — From Wenatche to Electric City — Wow, what a day of riding. We started earlier this morning, with breakfast at 6 instead of 6:30. That was to get an early start on the forecast heat. Well, it didn't help. The temps were in the 90s and we had a lot of climbing through almost desert like conditions on newly chip-sealed roads. Many of the riders just couldn't make it. I did the 100 miles in about 8 hours, about an hour and a half longer than it normally takes to finish a century. There were stretches where the only shade was from a "Pass with Care" sign, and I used that little bit of shade to rest for a moment. By 2 in the afternoon, even that didn't work because the sun was straight overhead. The country we were going through was really pretty, but looked more like Arizona than Washington. And we had headwinds for about 90 of the 100 miles — so much for starting in the west to have the wind at my back. Anyway, as much as I'm complaing, it was a really good ride and as I keep telling myself, one good training day for when I leave on my own with the bob. Late in the day, a group of us traded some sleeping time for a short trip to Grand Coulee dam to see the laser light show. Interesting, but not worth the lost sleep.

June 22. Today was sunny and prime for a repeat of yesterday as we were going 96 miles to Spokane. However, the temperatures were mostly in the 70s and low 80s and we had a tailwind almost the whole way. Everybodys' attitude was much better today. I was pleased that, though I'm a bit sore, I was able to finish in 6:15, and generally felt really good. The All that training time was good for something. The scenery today didn't change much and was mostly wheat fields (which we learned at the light show last night are irrigated from the water provided by the Coulee Dam). Spokane is a pretty little city, but I won't see much of it. The tour time takes quite a big chunk of the evening and add in a little personal time for laundry and blog writing, and the whole night is gone. Tonight, we're staying in Spokane at Gonzaga U. (whose I-net terminal I'm using right now), and tomorrow, it's another 98 miles to Kellog, Idaho. Again, patience is asked of everyone I owe e-mail repsonses to. We have a free day on Sunday and I'll be definitely resting and catching up.

Later. Got to get to the group meeting and get tomorrow's route.

The lodge we stayed at last night had no cell & tonight we're supposed to be at Gonzaga Univ. in Spokane where there is allegedly web access. I'll try to write answers to everyone who's written AND get the blogupdated. I00 miles today & 96 tomorrow. Sore, but still pedaling.