Day 35: East Grand Forks to Bemedji, MN--115 miles
No, that's not a mistake. We really did a LONG day today--115 miles total. This is actually like a day they would have on the Tour de France in length--but they would be doing it MUCH faster! They also would have no extra body fat or any weight on their bikes, so I figure Lance Armstrong would be proud of us anyway...
After fixing the 9th flat tire of the trip (not including the brain fart flat)--that's 7 for me and 2 for David--we headed out at about 8:00 a.m. We had decided that if the wind was at our backs we'd just go until we got tired.
As bad as yesterday was--today was that good! We had WNW winds at about 15 mph, a few clouds, and 78-degree weather--perfect! It was a fantastic change from yesterday's depressing ride.
We set our sights for Bagley--about 90 miles away, but thought of two other closer towns just in case we got too tired. Off we went! The roads in MN are fantastic for cycling--big, wide shoulders and 2 lanes each way allows us to chat and feel comfortable without constantly checking those rear view mirrors.
MN is more populated than the previous two states, and we have moved out of ranch country into farm country. The farms are smaller here and the towns are closer together. This meant more services were available and I got to use more bathrooms and pee less in the grass. Yahoo!
By lunchtime, we had already gone about 60 miles and were pretty sure we wanted to coninue to Bagley. We had heard they had some hotels and restaurants. But when we got there, it was much smaller than we expected and we went past the only hotel to the opposite side of town to ask directions. We had already been 91 miles, and when we checked about services we found that the hotel was almost a mile BEHIND us. Now, you know I hate to go BACKWARDS on this trip--what a waste of energy! So we decided that instead of backtracking 1 mile we would just go for Bemidji which was 25 more miles away!
I know the logic seems a bit crazy, but we were feeling pretty good and it was only 3:15 in the afternoon. We figured we'd get in by 5:00 if everything went well (what are the odds of 3 more flats after yesterday???). And if we could make Bemidji today, we can get to Grand Rapids to see our friend Jenny B. by tomorrow--a day early!
So we went for it--and hit the 100-mile mark (a bicycle century) in only 6 hours of riding. That's a great pace and I don't think I've done a century that fast on a bare bike. Of course, conditions were optimum for great performance and I really felt like a Tour cyclist for part of the time. We finished the 115 miles in less than 7 hours and even had a little energy to spare! It was a great day of riding, and if any of you ever cycle a century, I hope you have conditions like we had today.
We saw some fun stuff on the road today. At one point there was this crazy parade of flashing lights and we saw three semis carrying the parts to a wind power generator (the kind with 3 HUGE blades). Well, those blades look REALLY huge when they're traveling along the roadway. It was crazy and all happened so fast that David didn't get a chance to get his camera out.
And speaking of cameras, we really want to be able to share our pictures, but are still having lots of trouble finding computers that will allow us to download them. David and I were talking today about the number computer hackers have done on computer security. It seems hackers are the terrorists of computers, and have had a similar impact to libraries and hotel computers that the terrorists had on our air travel. People are so afraid they will not let you download anything--and it's a shame. But maybe when we visit with Jenny B. we'll be able to post some fun pics for you all to see!
All in all--a great day in Minnesota! We had a fine dinner at the Peppercorn restaurant and are enjoying the Best Western hotel with the pool and hot tub for our tired muscles!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Sucking Wind
Day 34: Lakota, ND to East Grand Forks, MN--68 miles
We delayed our departure by an hour this morning due to a severe thunderstorm. But that gave us an opportunity to talk with some of the local farmers who came into the cafe for breakfast. What a crazy industry they have! Very government regulated--they are told what they are allowed to grow, etc. So if you want to grow pinto beans, you have to ask the goverment and you usually can't grow them unless you have grown them in the past. Very interesting--and those big machines they use to plant and harvest run on the order of $300,000 each! The government doesn't buy them for the farmers--so many of the individuals are going bankrupt. It's an industry on the edge in my mind, and they are such hardworking folks. What would our country be like without our farmers and their products?
Anyway, our ride was horrendous today. We started in a crosswind and rain--the aftermath of that thunderstorm. Of course, our great shoulder also disappeared so that every vehicle that passed by splashed us with road slime. Fun!
The rain stopped and the wind switched, but it became a straight headwind. David pulled me for awhile and then the sun came out and the wind changed once more to a crossing wind from the other direction! Notice that NONE of those winds was a tailwind! So it was like climbing a 68-mile hill.
I always want to do my part, so I offered to pull us along in the wind. After all, how hard can it be to take a turn? Well, David let me pull and I lasted all of 5 minutes before my legs gave out. I nearly expired from the exertion! And we still had at least 20 miles to go...David had to do it all for the rest of the day.
I had hoped to be into Grand Forks by about 2:00 p.m. to miss the heat of the day. At about 1:00, the sun became a boiler and we started to bake. I put on my sunscreen shirt and we started sweating buckets. About 14 miles out from Grand Forks, ND we passed the Grand Forks Air Force Base. That's when the "fun" began. It seems we entered the Bermuda Triangle of the trip.
The first thing that happened was that I got a flat tire. David found a huge shard of glass that was shaped like a sword in my tire. It caused an immediate flat and he fixed it (this is about 10-15 minutes of hard work for him--especially getting the tire pumped up to the right pressure). Off we went, pedaling as fast as we could in the wind and getting more dehydrated by the minute.
Then my bicycle computer stopped working! We tried several different things (delaying us more and extending our time in the sun) but nothing could make that computer register that I was going any speed. What a bummer--adding to my dehydrated annoyance.
Then the unbelievable happened--another flat tire on my bike! I mean, how many can you have in one day? This time it was a very small piece of glass, but we found it and David fixed me up one more time. I started riding and about 20 yards later--ANOTHER FLAT!!!
Once David fixed that one up, we decided that was a "brain fart" flat. We think we both forgot to screw the tube's input valve back in before we put the cap on, so the air just leaked out. But even though it was a brain fart, David still had to pump that tire back up one more time. I was totally ready to just walk to town, but he convinced me that we should just fix the tire and move on. Believe me, it was a hard day for David! (But he forgave me...)
Finally, we made it to town, which had a bike path with NO glass! And I guess we exited the Bermuda Triangle, because my bike computer started working again. Very mysterious, and I have a conspiracy theory going that the 10-mile blank-out had to do with our proximity to that Air Force Base!
We crossed into Minnesota at the forks of the Red River of the North and the Red Lake River. The rivers split the town of Grand Forks and the states of ND and MN. We stopped on a busy bridge that had the MN sign on it and David ran out into the road for a picture. He really had to do everything that day!
We found a great little motel (the Plaza Motel) right near the river on the MN side of town (East Grand Forks). We could almost have thrown a rock into ND, but we were still in MN and that was good enough for us. It was walking distance to GOOD BEER ON TAP! Yeah! The beer desert seems to have ended. We had lots of VEGGIES for dinner, and 1/2 price wine was the happy hour special! We LOVE Minnesota! Need I say more???
We delayed our departure by an hour this morning due to a severe thunderstorm. But that gave us an opportunity to talk with some of the local farmers who came into the cafe for breakfast. What a crazy industry they have! Very government regulated--they are told what they are allowed to grow, etc. So if you want to grow pinto beans, you have to ask the goverment and you usually can't grow them unless you have grown them in the past. Very interesting--and those big machines they use to plant and harvest run on the order of $300,000 each! The government doesn't buy them for the farmers--so many of the individuals are going bankrupt. It's an industry on the edge in my mind, and they are such hardworking folks. What would our country be like without our farmers and their products?
Anyway, our ride was horrendous today. We started in a crosswind and rain--the aftermath of that thunderstorm. Of course, our great shoulder also disappeared so that every vehicle that passed by splashed us with road slime. Fun!
The rain stopped and the wind switched, but it became a straight headwind. David pulled me for awhile and then the sun came out and the wind changed once more to a crossing wind from the other direction! Notice that NONE of those winds was a tailwind! So it was like climbing a 68-mile hill.
I always want to do my part, so I offered to pull us along in the wind. After all, how hard can it be to take a turn? Well, David let me pull and I lasted all of 5 minutes before my legs gave out. I nearly expired from the exertion! And we still had at least 20 miles to go...David had to do it all for the rest of the day.
I had hoped to be into Grand Forks by about 2:00 p.m. to miss the heat of the day. At about 1:00, the sun became a boiler and we started to bake. I put on my sunscreen shirt and we started sweating buckets. About 14 miles out from Grand Forks, ND we passed the Grand Forks Air Force Base. That's when the "fun" began. It seems we entered the Bermuda Triangle of the trip.
The first thing that happened was that I got a flat tire. David found a huge shard of glass that was shaped like a sword in my tire. It caused an immediate flat and he fixed it (this is about 10-15 minutes of hard work for him--especially getting the tire pumped up to the right pressure). Off we went, pedaling as fast as we could in the wind and getting more dehydrated by the minute.
Then my bicycle computer stopped working! We tried several different things (delaying us more and extending our time in the sun) but nothing could make that computer register that I was going any speed. What a bummer--adding to my dehydrated annoyance.
Then the unbelievable happened--another flat tire on my bike! I mean, how many can you have in one day? This time it was a very small piece of glass, but we found it and David fixed me up one more time. I started riding and about 20 yards later--ANOTHER FLAT!!!
Once David fixed that one up, we decided that was a "brain fart" flat. We think we both forgot to screw the tube's input valve back in before we put the cap on, so the air just leaked out. But even though it was a brain fart, David still had to pump that tire back up one more time. I was totally ready to just walk to town, but he convinced me that we should just fix the tire and move on. Believe me, it was a hard day for David! (But he forgave me...)
Finally, we made it to town, which had a bike path with NO glass! And I guess we exited the Bermuda Triangle, because my bike computer started working again. Very mysterious, and I have a conspiracy theory going that the 10-mile blank-out had to do with our proximity to that Air Force Base!
We crossed into Minnesota at the forks of the Red River of the North and the Red Lake River. The rivers split the town of Grand Forks and the states of ND and MN. We stopped on a busy bridge that had the MN sign on it and David ran out into the road for a picture. He really had to do everything that day!
We found a great little motel (the Plaza Motel) right near the river on the MN side of town (East Grand Forks). We could almost have thrown a rock into ND, but we were still in MN and that was good enough for us. It was walking distance to GOOD BEER ON TAP! Yeah! The beer desert seems to have ended. We had lots of VEGGIES for dinner, and 1/2 price wine was the happy hour special! We LOVE Minnesota! Need I say more???
Monday, June 25, 2007
North Dakota Hospitality
Day 33: Devil's Lake to Lakota, ND--28 miles
This was going to be our day off, but we decided to do a short ride to get us closer to Minnesota. We left very early again because we were inspired by very overcast skies. I had been wondering how I could possibly handle another sunny hot day. My nose is bright red and hurts when I make any nose-wrinkling expression. The SPF 54 we have put on every day is just overwhelmed by the sweat and the hot sun. So the clouds were very welcome!
Devil's Lake appeared along the side of the road for a good portion of our ride. It seems to have grown up out of the farmland. Since 1993, it has been getting bigger during every rainy season, and doesn't shrink during the other years. As it has grown, is has taken out some ranches and houses in the low-lying areas. They are still there in the middle of the lake--just filled with water! And the lake is HUGE--about 30 feet deep, and now considered the premium spot for walleye fishing in the world!
We saw white pelicans again today and lots of the ducks that make this a prime duck hunting area (hunters and fishers, take note!). And we got passed by a million boats who were on their way homr from the weekend's fishing tournament. It reminded me of home and the fishing on Grand Lake. As we passed by all these wetlands and lake spots, we were bombarded by bug clouds! Suddenly, you would be pelted with about 100 bugs at once--and heaven help you if your mouth was open! As Jeff Russell can attest from taking lots of pictures of me, my mouth was open for EVERY single bug cloud!
We stopped in Lakota at the SunLac Inn at about 10:30 (yes, the end of our day). It was PACKED with people! This is the town's gathering place on Sunday (the only place open), and today was especially busy because it was the end of the Polkafest. There was bedlam in the lobby with people checking out and people paying for their breakfast. Of course, this is a town with 781 residents and 6 churches, and everyone goes to SunLac for Sunday brunch! What a hoot! We really enjoyed meeting and talking with the locals.
Another gang of friendly people in North Dakota--as we've come to expect. Great folks and they are all very interested in our adventures. Here is our impression of ND--towns punctuated with a church on almost every block (many Lutheran and some Catholic, with other denominations thrown in). Beautiful, manicured lawns with fabulous flower gardens at almost every house. A fantastic North Dakota accent that you love to listen to. Very civilized and the residents have lots of pride in their small towns. People here seem to be Nordic descendants--with last names like Bjorn, Olsen, Nelson, etc. This state has a different feel than the "Wild West" feeling we got in Montana, and we have really enjoyed our time here.
We lounged all afternoon--took showers, naps, toured the town, and David cleaned the bikes so we'll be FAST tomorrow! We're bound for Minnesota!
This was going to be our day off, but we decided to do a short ride to get us closer to Minnesota. We left very early again because we were inspired by very overcast skies. I had been wondering how I could possibly handle another sunny hot day. My nose is bright red and hurts when I make any nose-wrinkling expression. The SPF 54 we have put on every day is just overwhelmed by the sweat and the hot sun. So the clouds were very welcome!
Devil's Lake appeared along the side of the road for a good portion of our ride. It seems to have grown up out of the farmland. Since 1993, it has been getting bigger during every rainy season, and doesn't shrink during the other years. As it has grown, is has taken out some ranches and houses in the low-lying areas. They are still there in the middle of the lake--just filled with water! And the lake is HUGE--about 30 feet deep, and now considered the premium spot for walleye fishing in the world!
We saw white pelicans again today and lots of the ducks that make this a prime duck hunting area (hunters and fishers, take note!). And we got passed by a million boats who were on their way homr from the weekend's fishing tournament. It reminded me of home and the fishing on Grand Lake. As we passed by all these wetlands and lake spots, we were bombarded by bug clouds! Suddenly, you would be pelted with about 100 bugs at once--and heaven help you if your mouth was open! As Jeff Russell can attest from taking lots of pictures of me, my mouth was open for EVERY single bug cloud!
We stopped in Lakota at the SunLac Inn at about 10:30 (yes, the end of our day). It was PACKED with people! This is the town's gathering place on Sunday (the only place open), and today was especially busy because it was the end of the Polkafest. There was bedlam in the lobby with people checking out and people paying for their breakfast. Of course, this is a town with 781 residents and 6 churches, and everyone goes to SunLac for Sunday brunch! What a hoot! We really enjoyed meeting and talking with the locals.
Another gang of friendly people in North Dakota--as we've come to expect. Great folks and they are all very interested in our adventures. Here is our impression of ND--towns punctuated with a church on almost every block (many Lutheran and some Catholic, with other denominations thrown in). Beautiful, manicured lawns with fabulous flower gardens at almost every house. A fantastic North Dakota accent that you love to listen to. Very civilized and the residents have lots of pride in their small towns. People here seem to be Nordic descendants--with last names like Bjorn, Olsen, Nelson, etc. This state has a different feel than the "Wild West" feeling we got in Montana, and we have really enjoyed our time here.
We lounged all afternoon--took showers, naps, toured the town, and David cleaned the bikes so we'll be FAST tomorrow! We're bound for Minnesota!
The World is Flat
Day 32: Rugby to Devil's Lake, ND--63 miles
We got off to an early start because it was supposed to be VERY hot today. We were riding by 7:30 a.m. which was great. Nice and cool, and we're so glad we started when we did.
The ride was flat and straight and lined on both sides with ponds, lakes, and wetlands. I never expected North Dakota to be so green and lush (and mosquito-laden)! We saw many water birds and a small "island" of white pelicans. They were the animal highlight of the day. David took pictures and I hope we can post them. The animal lowlight was the large amount of roadkill we saw. Of course, when you're traveling on the shoulders at about 12 mph you get to see more of that stuff than in a car, and we were amazed at the number of birds that ate it on Rt 2.
At about 11:00 the heat was on! Even the breeze was like a heat blast--but we were thankful for any breeze we could get. We arrived as planned into Devil's Lake at about 1:00 p.m.--and only 2 hours into the real heat of the day. It only got hotter from there...
David worked on his tan lines (I have explained to him that the bike shorts leave a tan line at an awkward place on your legs because most shorts are a bit shorter than that, so he rolled up his bike shorts about 3 inches--much to my amusement! He is now tri-colored, but the biker's tan is getting better. I have a priceless picture that he doesn't want me to post, but I may just get him back for the duck picture of me! Ha!
We are still in "beer with taste" desert. David says "the world is flat and the beer is light." That should explain some things about the Midwest!
Since we arrived early into Devil's Lake, a VERY exciting thing happened! I upgraded my cell phone and no longer have the one that has been held together with duck tape since February! YAHOO! Feel free to call my fabulous new LG phone which they say is much more reliable than that awful Samsung that fell apart with no help from me...
It is great to get your riding done early in the day--just like it's great to get any work done. We celebrated by doing laundry (every 2 or three days like clockwork) and having dinner at a restaurant called Felix's. It looks like a castle and the service was fabulous! The local walleye fish is also a treat! We also went to see Ocean's 13 at the movies--a very good activity for a very hot day. It was a fun movie--a good summer flick. I almost feel like I'm on vacation!
We got off to an early start because it was supposed to be VERY hot today. We were riding by 7:30 a.m. which was great. Nice and cool, and we're so glad we started when we did.
The ride was flat and straight and lined on both sides with ponds, lakes, and wetlands. I never expected North Dakota to be so green and lush (and mosquito-laden)! We saw many water birds and a small "island" of white pelicans. They were the animal highlight of the day. David took pictures and I hope we can post them. The animal lowlight was the large amount of roadkill we saw. Of course, when you're traveling on the shoulders at about 12 mph you get to see more of that stuff than in a car, and we were amazed at the number of birds that ate it on Rt 2.
At about 11:00 the heat was on! Even the breeze was like a heat blast--but we were thankful for any breeze we could get. We arrived as planned into Devil's Lake at about 1:00 p.m.--and only 2 hours into the real heat of the day. It only got hotter from there...
David worked on his tan lines (I have explained to him that the bike shorts leave a tan line at an awkward place on your legs because most shorts are a bit shorter than that, so he rolled up his bike shorts about 3 inches--much to my amusement! He is now tri-colored, but the biker's tan is getting better. I have a priceless picture that he doesn't want me to post, but I may just get him back for the duck picture of me! Ha!
We are still in "beer with taste" desert. David says "the world is flat and the beer is light." That should explain some things about the Midwest!
Since we arrived early into Devil's Lake, a VERY exciting thing happened! I upgraded my cell phone and no longer have the one that has been held together with duck tape since February! YAHOO! Feel free to call my fabulous new LG phone which they say is much more reliable than that awful Samsung that fell apart with no help from me...
It is great to get your riding done early in the day--just like it's great to get any work done. We celebrated by doing laundry (every 2 or three days like clockwork) and having dinner at a restaurant called Felix's. It looks like a castle and the service was fabulous! The local walleye fish is also a treat! We also went to see Ocean's 13 at the movies--a very good activity for a very hot day. It was a fun movie--a good summer flick. I almost feel like I'm on vacation!
Seat Problems
Day 31: Minot to Rugby, ND--69 miles
Today was the journey to the center of North America--so we must be halfway through the ride to somewhere--we just don't know if it's our route or not!
Yes, Rugby, ND really IS the geographical center of North America! We spent about 5 hours getting here from Minot. We can vouch that the center of North America is FLAT. We had almost no hills and VERY hot weather today.
We left Minot early to try and beat the heat. You can tell by the humidity in the air that we have hit the Midwest! Those beautiful, dry, Western days are behind us...
About 20 miles into the ride, the seat problem started. You're probably thinking I'm referring to my derriere, but you would be wrong! This time, it was my actual bike seat. It started shifting during the ride--and of course the shift was into a very uncomfortable position (nose up--ouch!!!). We stopped for David to take a look, but when he tried to adjust the seat it came completely loose because the bolt had sheared IN HALF! This is a problem! With all the gear on the bike, I can't really ride standing up, and I'm just not willing to sit on the seat post. David did some extreme exclamations, and then proceeded to jerry-rig the seat to attach it in any way he could. The nose ended up tilted way down, but it was at least something I could sit on (although it threw my weight forward onto my arms). So it wasn't comfy (and I do mean that in a relative sense) but it was better than standing! We pedaled about 3 miles in this fashion until we came to the next town--Granville.
Now this town probably has about 50 people in it. We rode through the few streets and found an auto body shop. David conferred with the owner and found a bolt that worked to hold the seat. They installed it and we were on our way! It may last for the rest of the trip, but David bought a spare just in case...
The rest of the ride was uneventful--thank heavens! Rugby is a very nice town. I think it has about 3,000 people, and a cute downtown area. I believe North Dakota is trying to build up some of these small towns by providing incentives and tax breaks to new homeowners (just in case you want to head north). We had dinner at a rejuvenated hardware store that had been turned into an old-time soda shop called Rockin' Relics. This place had great sandwiches--and the ice cream looked great but we passed on dessert (we had some back at the hotel). We met some nice folks there who told us a little about the town. They said it is populated by "Norwegians and some other folks too." And I believe it. What nice folks!
The only down side we have found in ND is that it is a "beer with taste" and "good wine" desert! David discovered the desert at every bar and pub we have been to. No dark beers at all, and I haven't even tried with the wine for a long time! Oh, well. This is a time to discover what we can REALLY live without! As Jen Maddox says, desperate times call for desperate measures. David ended up at the local liquor store (which DID have some beer with taste, but would not sell any less than a 6-pack). He bought two Jose Cuervo mini tequilas and some Dole Ruby Red Grapefruit juice, and we made desperation margaritas out of that! They were awesome!
We also discovered the Cottage Cafe, a local place that opened recently with good coffee, chai, and PIES! Did I mention that David LOVES pie? Well, we bought pie for dessert as well as old-fashioned custard pie for breakfast the next day (it's made of eggs and milk--what else do you want?). I'm sure David made their day with the pie purchases, and they started us out with a great breakfast!
Today was the journey to the center of North America--so we must be halfway through the ride to somewhere--we just don't know if it's our route or not!
Yes, Rugby, ND really IS the geographical center of North America! We spent about 5 hours getting here from Minot. We can vouch that the center of North America is FLAT. We had almost no hills and VERY hot weather today.
We left Minot early to try and beat the heat. You can tell by the humidity in the air that we have hit the Midwest! Those beautiful, dry, Western days are behind us...
About 20 miles into the ride, the seat problem started. You're probably thinking I'm referring to my derriere, but you would be wrong! This time, it was my actual bike seat. It started shifting during the ride--and of course the shift was into a very uncomfortable position (nose up--ouch!!!). We stopped for David to take a look, but when he tried to adjust the seat it came completely loose because the bolt had sheared IN HALF! This is a problem! With all the gear on the bike, I can't really ride standing up, and I'm just not willing to sit on the seat post. David did some extreme exclamations, and then proceeded to jerry-rig the seat to attach it in any way he could. The nose ended up tilted way down, but it was at least something I could sit on (although it threw my weight forward onto my arms). So it wasn't comfy (and I do mean that in a relative sense) but it was better than standing! We pedaled about 3 miles in this fashion until we came to the next town--Granville.
Now this town probably has about 50 people in it. We rode through the few streets and found an auto body shop. David conferred with the owner and found a bolt that worked to hold the seat. They installed it and we were on our way! It may last for the rest of the trip, but David bought a spare just in case...
The rest of the ride was uneventful--thank heavens! Rugby is a very nice town. I think it has about 3,000 people, and a cute downtown area. I believe North Dakota is trying to build up some of these small towns by providing incentives and tax breaks to new homeowners (just in case you want to head north). We had dinner at a rejuvenated hardware store that had been turned into an old-time soda shop called Rockin' Relics. This place had great sandwiches--and the ice cream looked great but we passed on dessert (we had some back at the hotel). We met some nice folks there who told us a little about the town. They said it is populated by "Norwegians and some other folks too." And I believe it. What nice folks!
The only down side we have found in ND is that it is a "beer with taste" and "good wine" desert! David discovered the desert at every bar and pub we have been to. No dark beers at all, and I haven't even tried with the wine for a long time! Oh, well. This is a time to discover what we can REALLY live without! As Jen Maddox says, desperate times call for desperate measures. David ended up at the local liquor store (which DID have some beer with taste, but would not sell any less than a 6-pack). He bought two Jose Cuervo mini tequilas and some Dole Ruby Red Grapefruit juice, and we made desperation margaritas out of that! They were awesome!
We also discovered the Cottage Cafe, a local place that opened recently with good coffee, chai, and PIES! Did I mention that David LOVES pie? Well, we bought pie for dessert as well as old-fashioned custard pie for breakfast the next day (it's made of eggs and milk--what else do you want?). I'm sure David made their day with the pie purchases, and they started us out with a great breakfast!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Storm Chasing
Day 30: Stanley to Minot, ND--55 miles
Today we woke up broke and everything was wet with dew from the night before! We thought we were going to have a hot sunny day (the forecast) but we woke to big, black clouds! We decided we were going to make oatmeal in camp for breakfast and try to hit the town's ATM by the highway on the way out. We were planning an early start so we wouldn't have to ride in the heat of late afternoon.
Here's another testament to the people of Stanley. We packed up, looking worriedly at the sky and seeing some lightning bolts and hearing some thunder in the distance. A city worker drove to our campsite just to let us know that a severe thunderstorm warning was out for the area--he didn't want us to be on the road if it hit. How nice is that? He sent us to the sheriff's office to look at the radar weather map. It looked to be a fast-moving storm, so we decided to wait an hour at the local coffee shop to see if it would move through.
The only problem? That pesky thing about NO MONEY!!! I went into the Hidden Treasures Second Hand Store and Tri-Jens Coffee Shop while David rode to an ATM machine that was supposed to be closer than the highway. I wandered around and chatted with the locals while I waited, but David was not successful at that ATM. So we asked if they took credit cards. No. We told them our situation, and they called all the banks in town to see if we could do an ATM inside the bank. They found one that would and we quickly dispatched David (in the pouring rain now) to get some cash! They offered to let us order without having any money, but I waited to have my chai until David returned. It was the best chai ever, and David had a great mocha! We waited for over an hour and had a nice visit with the local folks--that coffee shop was a happening place on a Thursday morning! Helpful, wonderful people--of COURSE we want to visit Stanley again!
Once we got on the road (about 11:30) we didn't get rained on at all. It was a largely flat day, but with variable headwinds. Those black clouds moved quickly to the northeast, and then amazingly enough the wind started to blow back on us from that direction! Very strange. We had a lot of little ups and downs, but no big terrain. Everywhere you looked were crops as far as you could see. They have had more rain in this region in the last month than their usual annual rainfall! Everything was beautiful and green, and we saw a lot of ponds near the road. I don't know if all the rainfall contributed to that--or if they're permanent.
We have seen tons of water birds and other birds. Today, we saw a yellow-headed blackbird and cormorants--birds we hadn't seen before in this area. There is a huge variety of ducks, but we have a hard time identifying them without binoculars. And of course, the ever-present summer construction!
We lost our fabulous ND shoulder about 2/3 through the day, which was sad for us. But we had a divided highway, so the cars had two lanes to work with. But it was much more stressful to have to keep looking in the rear-view mirrors unlike the last two days.
We had been warned about (and were very excited about) a BIG downhill called Brooks Hill before Minot. I have decided that these people in ND don't know a real hill when they see it! We had two minor downhills--neither making us go more than 25 mph. Both were short, and we actually climbed a pretty steep hill into town! What a bummer when my expectations were just the opposite. I guess that's what happens when you create expectations without clear knowledge, huh? How like life...
It got very hot and windy toward the end of the ride. We both feel a little beaten and battered from this 55-mile ride, but found a hotel that had a hot tub and pool which made things much better! We are much more relaxed--now the only thing we need is a massage.
Minot is a pretty large town, with a University and an Air Force Base. We have seen much more diversity here (probably due to the Air Force Base). We had an excellent fish dinner at a restaurant called "Up the Creek" which must be a chain of some sort. I had a nice glass of wine, but David is going through extreme "beer with taste" withdrawal. He's having big problems finding beer other than Bud, Bud Lite, and that ilk. Sam, there is a HUGE opportunity for Coors in this region!
Mosquitos are alive and well here, and I'm glad for the hotel room, which I plan to crash into shortly! We're hoping for an early start tomorrow to avoid the hot weather--it's supposed to be near 90 degrees and sunny! Wish David luck on his "beer with taste" search--he's been looking for about 5 days now...
Today we woke up broke and everything was wet with dew from the night before! We thought we were going to have a hot sunny day (the forecast) but we woke to big, black clouds! We decided we were going to make oatmeal in camp for breakfast and try to hit the town's ATM by the highway on the way out. We were planning an early start so we wouldn't have to ride in the heat of late afternoon.
Here's another testament to the people of Stanley. We packed up, looking worriedly at the sky and seeing some lightning bolts and hearing some thunder in the distance. A city worker drove to our campsite just to let us know that a severe thunderstorm warning was out for the area--he didn't want us to be on the road if it hit. How nice is that? He sent us to the sheriff's office to look at the radar weather map. It looked to be a fast-moving storm, so we decided to wait an hour at the local coffee shop to see if it would move through.
The only problem? That pesky thing about NO MONEY!!! I went into the Hidden Treasures Second Hand Store and Tri-Jens Coffee Shop while David rode to an ATM machine that was supposed to be closer than the highway. I wandered around and chatted with the locals while I waited, but David was not successful at that ATM. So we asked if they took credit cards. No. We told them our situation, and they called all the banks in town to see if we could do an ATM inside the bank. They found one that would and we quickly dispatched David (in the pouring rain now) to get some cash! They offered to let us order without having any money, but I waited to have my chai until David returned. It was the best chai ever, and David had a great mocha! We waited for over an hour and had a nice visit with the local folks--that coffee shop was a happening place on a Thursday morning! Helpful, wonderful people--of COURSE we want to visit Stanley again!
Once we got on the road (about 11:30) we didn't get rained on at all. It was a largely flat day, but with variable headwinds. Those black clouds moved quickly to the northeast, and then amazingly enough the wind started to blow back on us from that direction! Very strange. We had a lot of little ups and downs, but no big terrain. Everywhere you looked were crops as far as you could see. They have had more rain in this region in the last month than their usual annual rainfall! Everything was beautiful and green, and we saw a lot of ponds near the road. I don't know if all the rainfall contributed to that--or if they're permanent.
We have seen tons of water birds and other birds. Today, we saw a yellow-headed blackbird and cormorants--birds we hadn't seen before in this area. There is a huge variety of ducks, but we have a hard time identifying them without binoculars. And of course, the ever-present summer construction!
We lost our fabulous ND shoulder about 2/3 through the day, which was sad for us. But we had a divided highway, so the cars had two lanes to work with. But it was much more stressful to have to keep looking in the rear-view mirrors unlike the last two days.
We had been warned about (and were very excited about) a BIG downhill called Brooks Hill before Minot. I have decided that these people in ND don't know a real hill when they see it! We had two minor downhills--neither making us go more than 25 mph. Both were short, and we actually climbed a pretty steep hill into town! What a bummer when my expectations were just the opposite. I guess that's what happens when you create expectations without clear knowledge, huh? How like life...
It got very hot and windy toward the end of the ride. We both feel a little beaten and battered from this 55-mile ride, but found a hotel that had a hot tub and pool which made things much better! We are much more relaxed--now the only thing we need is a massage.
Minot is a pretty large town, with a University and an Air Force Base. We have seen much more diversity here (probably due to the Air Force Base). We had an excellent fish dinner at a restaurant called "Up the Creek" which must be a chain of some sort. I had a nice glass of wine, but David is going through extreme "beer with taste" withdrawal. He's having big problems finding beer other than Bud, Bud Lite, and that ilk. Sam, there is a HUGE opportunity for Coors in this region!
Mosquitos are alive and well here, and I'm glad for the hotel room, which I plan to crash into shortly! We're hoping for an early start tomorrow to avoid the hot weather--it's supposed to be near 90 degrees and sunny! Wish David luck on his "beer with taste" search--he's been looking for about 5 days now...
Upside-Down Rollercoaster Day
Day 29: Williston to Stanley, ND--72 miles
Milestone: 1500 miles!
We left Williston a little late due to a VERY slow breakfast service--only one waitress for the whole restaurant! If you want to move to western ND, I think I know where you can find a job... Anyway, the waitress was great but overwhelmed--just like many government workers I know (OK, all of them).
As we headed out of town, we figured that as usual, we'd be climbing. Sure enough, we went up-up-up and then a bit down; repeat that about 10 times and you'll have our trip north out of the city. I thought that maybe when Rt. 2 turned east, we would be in some kind of river bottom and would have wonderful flat roads. WRONG!!!
It turns out that we climbed today to the highest town in North Dakota (at least according to the locals)! Our rollercoaster was up-up-up-up-up-down; repeat. It was pretty crazy. You'd top one hill only to see the next three looming in front of you! In addition, we had about 25 miles of construction which took our great 4-lane divided highway to a small 2-laner. The shoulder was littered with tar bits that were almost impossible to avoid. We stopped with traffic at one point and a construction guy suggested to David that everyone might be happier if we just rode on the new road--so we did! It was the biggest bike path ever! We enjoyed our time on the closed road and only had to avoid a couple of large construction machines. Much better than dealing with traffic...
There were green fields on each side of the road--not as big as they seemed in Montana, but quite beautiful. In each field there was a rock wall or mound. At first, I thought those rocks occurred naturally, but David informed me that they were put in place by those poor people who had to clear them before they planted the fields! What hard work!
It was an exhausting day--the weather is heating up as we head into true summer. Together, David and I have one good butt: my left cheek and his right cheek both feel like they've been through the wringer. So we're stopping a little more often and getting off those bike seats to give ourselves a break!
We headed into Stanley pretty late--at almost 6 p.m. We stopped a lady to ask for directions and she pointed the way through the business part of town (about 2 blocks). She suggested that we stop right away for a World Famous Whirl-o-Whip at the drug store. So we did--but they were closing up for the night. As a testament to the people of Stanley, they stayed open just for a couple of sweaty bicyclists and made us the best dessert ever! It's kind of like a DQ Blizzard, but I think made with hard ice cream. And the drug store has an old-fashioned sode fountain with stools and everything! What a treat!
We camped in the town's FREE campground, amidst a fog of mosquitoa. The skin-so-soft worked wonders for a while, but I guess it wore off, because after we finished laundry, we came back and decided we better head indoors--to the close local tavern. The problem was, we hadn't found and ATM and we were almost out of money!
We went into the 5-spot Bar which was pretty quiet. Rob the Hippie (that's what they call him in Stanley) was tending bar, and we whipped out our last 5 bucks and said "what can we get for this?" He said he'd make us a deal and served up a couple of beers. Then we chatted for awhile. Rob is a guitar maker by trade--creates acoustic guitars by hand. He was a great guy and actually gave us another beer on the house! Needless to say, we slept well that night--mosquitos or not.
Stanley, ND may have the most helpful and kind people we've met yet--and that's saying something!
Milestone: 1500 miles!
We left Williston a little late due to a VERY slow breakfast service--only one waitress for the whole restaurant! If you want to move to western ND, I think I know where you can find a job... Anyway, the waitress was great but overwhelmed--just like many government workers I know (OK, all of them).
As we headed out of town, we figured that as usual, we'd be climbing. Sure enough, we went up-up-up and then a bit down; repeat that about 10 times and you'll have our trip north out of the city. I thought that maybe when Rt. 2 turned east, we would be in some kind of river bottom and would have wonderful flat roads. WRONG!!!
It turns out that we climbed today to the highest town in North Dakota (at least according to the locals)! Our rollercoaster was up-up-up-up-up-down; repeat. It was pretty crazy. You'd top one hill only to see the next three looming in front of you! In addition, we had about 25 miles of construction which took our great 4-lane divided highway to a small 2-laner. The shoulder was littered with tar bits that were almost impossible to avoid. We stopped with traffic at one point and a construction guy suggested to David that everyone might be happier if we just rode on the new road--so we did! It was the biggest bike path ever! We enjoyed our time on the closed road and only had to avoid a couple of large construction machines. Much better than dealing with traffic...
There were green fields on each side of the road--not as big as they seemed in Montana, but quite beautiful. In each field there was a rock wall or mound. At first, I thought those rocks occurred naturally, but David informed me that they were put in place by those poor people who had to clear them before they planted the fields! What hard work!
It was an exhausting day--the weather is heating up as we head into true summer. Together, David and I have one good butt: my left cheek and his right cheek both feel like they've been through the wringer. So we're stopping a little more often and getting off those bike seats to give ourselves a break!
We headed into Stanley pretty late--at almost 6 p.m. We stopped a lady to ask for directions and she pointed the way through the business part of town (about 2 blocks). She suggested that we stop right away for a World Famous Whirl-o-Whip at the drug store. So we did--but they were closing up for the night. As a testament to the people of Stanley, they stayed open just for a couple of sweaty bicyclists and made us the best dessert ever! It's kind of like a DQ Blizzard, but I think made with hard ice cream. And the drug store has an old-fashioned sode fountain with stools and everything! What a treat!
We camped in the town's FREE campground, amidst a fog of mosquitoa. The skin-so-soft worked wonders for a while, but I guess it wore off, because after we finished laundry, we came back and decided we better head indoors--to the close local tavern. The problem was, we hadn't found and ATM and we were almost out of money!
We went into the 5-spot Bar which was pretty quiet. Rob the Hippie (that's what they call him in Stanley) was tending bar, and we whipped out our last 5 bucks and said "what can we get for this?" He said he'd make us a deal and served up a couple of beers. Then we chatted for awhile. Rob is a guitar maker by trade--creates acoustic guitars by hand. He was a great guy and actually gave us another beer on the house! Needless to say, we slept well that night--mosquitos or not.
Stanley, ND may have the most helpful and kind people we've met yet--and that's saying something!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
A Different State of Mind--North Dakota!!!
Day 28: Poplar, MT to Williston, ND--83 miles
Yes, I really did type 83 miles--our longest day yet! Today we left Montana with a lot of fond memories. As usual, I was amazed at the different terrain we encountered. The last 60 miles of Montana were an undulating sea of green--and we undulated right along with it--up and down for much of the morning.
I had a tough morning. The first 37 miles were hard--uncomfortable, slower than I had hoped, and tiring. I was surprised because the day before had been relatively easy. But maybe sleeping in the tent had something to do with it...or bad biorythems or something.
During those 60 miles, we chased some very concerned cattle along the Missouri River Channel. I hadn't yet seen them RUN from us, but off they went--every time they saw us (and I believe that was 3 times). Seems like they would have learned that we weren't all that scary, but hey, they're cows after all. Maybe they saw my scary racoon eyes from wearing sunglasses in the sun!
The Missouri River had cut some interesting sandstone sculptures along our route today. It reminded me a lot of the White Rim in Utah or the Badlands in South Dakota. Very interesting terrain! David got some pics which we will add as soon as we find an accommodating computer... The terrain was a wonderful capstone to our 710-mile odyssey in Montana. We feel like we've seen just about all the different types of terrain you can get in the Northwest!
We stopped in Culbertson for lunch and that gave me the break I needed. As we left the Wild West Diner, we encountered another couple who were cycling cross-country. Unlike us, they had been doing 100-mile days for the last few days! It was great to see another woman doing the ride--I had only seen men so far. The one woman we saw was on a tandem with her male friend--a challenge David and I aren't up to yet. Imagine the CLOSE proximity of being on the SAME bike for 10 weeks! Scary for both of us...
We left that couple and I finally got my energy back for the rest of the ride. The remainder of Montana was up and down--more so than the last several days! Then one last BIG uphill to milepost 667 (maybe the only place where you'll find that many miles going east-west), and we were in North Dakota! How exciting! Celebration and pictures all around--and then we took advantage of an increasing tailwind to "sprint" the remaining 25 miles into Williston.
North Dakota has already distinguished itself with great, wide, asphalt shoulders! It was great to ride along these smooth shoulders and not worry about traffic. After a few big hills, we got the benefit of a mostly downhill approach into town. Then we started our search for a hotel. It took about 10 minutes to find the first hotel. When we stopped, we found out they were full! The nice woman at the El Rancho Motel called all the other places in town for us and there was only one with rooms available--the Airport International Inn. We quickly booked a room and came the extra two miles or so. We feel lucky to have an inside room tonight because I had a bad allergy attack in the wind. I think I'm allergic to that nice-looking yellow clover along the side of the road! Anyway, we lost an hour and are now on Central Time--another milestone! A nice dinner at the hotel restaurant (walleye fish is a specialty in this part of the country and was fantastic) and we're ready for an early bedtime!
We think we'll be in ND for about six days before we head into Minnesota. It should be a fun week!
Yes, I really did type 83 miles--our longest day yet! Today we left Montana with a lot of fond memories. As usual, I was amazed at the different terrain we encountered. The last 60 miles of Montana were an undulating sea of green--and we undulated right along with it--up and down for much of the morning.
I had a tough morning. The first 37 miles were hard--uncomfortable, slower than I had hoped, and tiring. I was surprised because the day before had been relatively easy. But maybe sleeping in the tent had something to do with it...or bad biorythems or something.
During those 60 miles, we chased some very concerned cattle along the Missouri River Channel. I hadn't yet seen them RUN from us, but off they went--every time they saw us (and I believe that was 3 times). Seems like they would have learned that we weren't all that scary, but hey, they're cows after all. Maybe they saw my scary racoon eyes from wearing sunglasses in the sun!
The Missouri River had cut some interesting sandstone sculptures along our route today. It reminded me a lot of the White Rim in Utah or the Badlands in South Dakota. Very interesting terrain! David got some pics which we will add as soon as we find an accommodating computer... The terrain was a wonderful capstone to our 710-mile odyssey in Montana. We feel like we've seen just about all the different types of terrain you can get in the Northwest!
We stopped in Culbertson for lunch and that gave me the break I needed. As we left the Wild West Diner, we encountered another couple who were cycling cross-country. Unlike us, they had been doing 100-mile days for the last few days! It was great to see another woman doing the ride--I had only seen men so far. The one woman we saw was on a tandem with her male friend--a challenge David and I aren't up to yet. Imagine the CLOSE proximity of being on the SAME bike for 10 weeks! Scary for both of us...
We left that couple and I finally got my energy back for the rest of the ride. The remainder of Montana was up and down--more so than the last several days! Then one last BIG uphill to milepost 667 (maybe the only place where you'll find that many miles going east-west), and we were in North Dakota! How exciting! Celebration and pictures all around--and then we took advantage of an increasing tailwind to "sprint" the remaining 25 miles into Williston.
North Dakota has already distinguished itself with great, wide, asphalt shoulders! It was great to ride along these smooth shoulders and not worry about traffic. After a few big hills, we got the benefit of a mostly downhill approach into town. Then we started our search for a hotel. It took about 10 minutes to find the first hotel. When we stopped, we found out they were full! The nice woman at the El Rancho Motel called all the other places in town for us and there was only one with rooms available--the Airport International Inn. We quickly booked a room and came the extra two miles or so. We feel lucky to have an inside room tonight because I had a bad allergy attack in the wind. I think I'm allergic to that nice-looking yellow clover along the side of the road! Anyway, we lost an hour and are now on Central Time--another milestone! A nice dinner at the hotel restaurant (walleye fish is a specialty in this part of the country and was fantastic) and we're ready for an early bedtime!
We think we'll be in ND for about six days before we head into Minnesota. It should be a fun week!
What a Difference a Day Makes!!!
Day 27: Glasgow to Poplar, MT--73 miles
First of all, thanks so much for all your good wishes for my birthday and our trip! I received emails, e-cards, voice mails, and blogs to help me celebrate, and each one made me feel great! Thanks so much! And I checked the Tomsride site on Bikes Not Bombs, and we have raised $1200 so far. Not bad, but I really want to step that up to $10000 by the end of our adventure.
Today, really WAS my birthday ride! Maybe David arranged with God to save the tailwind to extend my birthday celebration??? I wouldn't put it past him! We had a strong tailwind and great overcast conditions! Perfect for riding, and we took advantage of it. We finished our 73 miles in 4 hours. In case you don't remember, we did 72 miles in over 7 hours on my birthday, so we "shaved" 3 entire HOURS off our time! It was amazing! Two days ago (my birthday), we spent the entire day in our smallest chain ring on the front, and today we spent the entire day in our largest chain ring--a big difference for those who aren't cyclists!
We polished the first 30 miles off in 1 1/2 hours-- and stopped for a little break in Frazer, MT. It reminded me of home, but in name only. We actually had thought of sending our cold weather gear home, but decided against it and used it today. The wind was strong and there were lots of clouds so it was pretty cold. This was the aftermath of the worst hail storm they have had in MT history--and Glasgow was the epicenter of the worst of it. How "lucky" that we stayed there! Anyway, we saw lots of flooded fields, and many fields, trees, and flowers that had been just demolished by the hail. It was really sad because the farmers had been very optimistic about the wheat crop this summer due to the high amount of rain they have had. That's the problem with farming I guess--dependent on the weather for success.
The roads were very good today, even though we traveled over much of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. No glass! We had spent two days in the motel the railroad engineers use when they're in Glasgow. What a nice, hardworking group of people! Well, they were all men, but they were still great! As we were traveling, we saw a train and waved. He gave an extra "toot" on the whistle and I'm just sure it was one of our buddies from the hotel!
Our lunch stop was at a place called "Espresso Madness" in Wolf Point. How could you NOT stop there? It was at the 51 mile mark of our ride. We had considered staying in Wolf Point, but decided we had 22 miles left in our legs and decided to head on to Poplar, where we heard there was a hotel from some other cyclists.
The last 22 miles went pretty well. We stopped at the hotel the people had mentioned only to find that it had closed down! There didn't appear to be any place to camp, so we headed to the one other hotel in town--the Poplar Motel. There, we met Delaine, the owner. She is awesome! But her hotel was full. We chatted for awhile and talked about our options. The only real other option was to head for Culbertson, which was 33 more miles away. That would make a 106-mile day, and we just weren't sure we wanted to tackle that. Delaine said we could always just camp in her yard if we didn't want to head to Culbertson. After a little discussion, we decided to take her up on it! What wonderful hospitality!
We went to the Buckhorn Bar for a drink and dinner. David was checking out the beer selection and noticed that everything was in cans. He asked for a bottled beer and was told that bottles were banned from Poplar, MT. Too many fights--the bartender said. Well, it is a Wild West Town! We figured that might have contributed to the lack of glass on the roads, and we definitely appreciated a canned beer that night! We also noticed that all the businesses in Poplar had chain link on the windows AND doors--not sure whether that was to keep the windows from breaking from the outside or the inside...
Regardless of the "rough" feel of the town, everyone we met was very nice and friendly. Delaine and her sister Sharon gave us the lay of the land and were great to chat with. It felt a lot like camping in our own back yard! We think the bottle ban may have saved us from some flat tires, too!
We really enjoyed our time in Poplar and felt like we got a taste of the Wild West before heading to our next state...
First of all, thanks so much for all your good wishes for my birthday and our trip! I received emails, e-cards, voice mails, and blogs to help me celebrate, and each one made me feel great! Thanks so much! And I checked the Tomsride site on Bikes Not Bombs, and we have raised $1200 so far. Not bad, but I really want to step that up to $10000 by the end of our adventure.
Today, really WAS my birthday ride! Maybe David arranged with God to save the tailwind to extend my birthday celebration??? I wouldn't put it past him! We had a strong tailwind and great overcast conditions! Perfect for riding, and we took advantage of it. We finished our 73 miles in 4 hours. In case you don't remember, we did 72 miles in over 7 hours on my birthday, so we "shaved" 3 entire HOURS off our time! It was amazing! Two days ago (my birthday), we spent the entire day in our smallest chain ring on the front, and today we spent the entire day in our largest chain ring--a big difference for those who aren't cyclists!
We polished the first 30 miles off in 1 1/2 hours-- and stopped for a little break in Frazer, MT. It reminded me of home, but in name only. We actually had thought of sending our cold weather gear home, but decided against it and used it today. The wind was strong and there were lots of clouds so it was pretty cold. This was the aftermath of the worst hail storm they have had in MT history--and Glasgow was the epicenter of the worst of it. How "lucky" that we stayed there! Anyway, we saw lots of flooded fields, and many fields, trees, and flowers that had been just demolished by the hail. It was really sad because the farmers had been very optimistic about the wheat crop this summer due to the high amount of rain they have had. That's the problem with farming I guess--dependent on the weather for success.
The roads were very good today, even though we traveled over much of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. No glass! We had spent two days in the motel the railroad engineers use when they're in Glasgow. What a nice, hardworking group of people! Well, they were all men, but they were still great! As we were traveling, we saw a train and waved. He gave an extra "toot" on the whistle and I'm just sure it was one of our buddies from the hotel!
Our lunch stop was at a place called "Espresso Madness" in Wolf Point. How could you NOT stop there? It was at the 51 mile mark of our ride. We had considered staying in Wolf Point, but decided we had 22 miles left in our legs and decided to head on to Poplar, where we heard there was a hotel from some other cyclists.
The last 22 miles went pretty well. We stopped at the hotel the people had mentioned only to find that it had closed down! There didn't appear to be any place to camp, so we headed to the one other hotel in town--the Poplar Motel. There, we met Delaine, the owner. She is awesome! But her hotel was full. We chatted for awhile and talked about our options. The only real other option was to head for Culbertson, which was 33 more miles away. That would make a 106-mile day, and we just weren't sure we wanted to tackle that. Delaine said we could always just camp in her yard if we didn't want to head to Culbertson. After a little discussion, we decided to take her up on it! What wonderful hospitality!
We went to the Buckhorn Bar for a drink and dinner. David was checking out the beer selection and noticed that everything was in cans. He asked for a bottled beer and was told that bottles were banned from Poplar, MT. Too many fights--the bartender said. Well, it is a Wild West Town! We figured that might have contributed to the lack of glass on the roads, and we definitely appreciated a canned beer that night! We also noticed that all the businesses in Poplar had chain link on the windows AND doors--not sure whether that was to keep the windows from breaking from the outside or the inside...
Regardless of the "rough" feel of the town, everyone we met was very nice and friendly. Delaine and her sister Sharon gave us the lay of the land and were great to chat with. It felt a lot like camping in our own back yard! We think the bottle ban may have saved us from some flat tires, too!
We really enjoyed our time in Poplar and felt like we got a taste of the Wild West before heading to our next state...
Sunday, June 17, 2007
It Ain't Easy Turning 45!!!
Day 25 (and Day 26 day off): Malta to Glasgow--72 miles
Nobody said it would be easy, but this is ridiculous!!! The day started OK. We had a slight headwind, but the morning was pretty and the scenery was interesting. We noticed that we were predominately moving uphill, but were still having fun. Along the way, we kept disturbing these nesting birds (plovers or sandpipers of some kind) and they chased us up the highway squawking!
We also startled a deer in a wheat field. I thought the wheat was only about a foot tall until the deer started leaping through it. It was about three feet high, and after about 3 leaps through, the deer just took a dive into the wheat and hid from us. it completely disappeared! Amazing, and something I haven't seen before...
On we went for 42 miles to Hinsdale. It was a tough ride! The headwind made it feel like 42 miles uphill! We stopped for a little rest and a bite to eat at a quick stop in Hinsdale and the woman there said "Watch out. I hear there's a big storm coming." After that warning, we decided to get going because the wind seemed to be getting stronger and we had about 30 miles to do!
David continued to pull us along, trying to let me ride in his draft. This was difficult because the crosswind was coming at a weird angle. The only way I could take advantage of it was if my front pannier was touching David's back pannier! That was a difficult position to maintain because the wind was blowing us around a lot. Anyway, we were both tired today, and having comfort issues--not able to find any comfortable position on the bikes! We had to take several "butt breaks" just to get off the bikes. The good news was that the strong wind made it impossible for the mosquitos to hang on!
Today was also Tom Maddox's birthday. We had a commemorative stop at mile 66 because Tom would have been 66 today. We had a toast with our water bottles, and later a more proper toast at dinner. Tom would have made today's ride easier, for sure! We miss him so much--and I especially miss that he always managed to call me to wish me Happy Birthday before I called him every year!
The wind got stronger and stronger. Behind us, we could see storm clouds getting orgnized and looking like those classic pictures you see on the weather channel! Since we had such a strong easterly wind, we thought the storm would stay west of us. But by the time we got to the outskirts of Glasgow, the black clouds were directly overhead.
As we rode into town, as truck stopped and the driver yelled "Take shelter when you get to town--there's a big storm coming." This was great incentive to ride as fast as we could--and we did! But it wasn't very fast because we were both pooped out! By the time we got to town, there were gusts of 30-40 mph that just stopped us in our tracks. We had targeted a hotel on the other side of town, but decided to duck into the center of town after we started getting buffeted by dirt and gravel that the wind whipped up. We had nicks in all our exposed skin, and dirt in our teeth! What a nightmare...
We pulled into the Campbell Lodge and checked in quickly. I started having an allergy attack while doing that from all the wind and dust. So as soon as we went to the room, I jumped into the shower to see if I could get rid of the allergens. About 30 seconds later, we heard something like gravel being thrown at our roof (but we were on the first floor!). David went to check it out, and it was the worst hail storm this area has seen in the last 80 years or so! The hail was the size of 50-cent pieces--and then got smaller and harder over the 30 minutes it came down. Many of the west-facing windows in town were broken--glass everywhere on the sidewalks. The hail was knee-deep in places, and there was not a flower or tree top left in town. We figured my big birthday present was NOT being out in that storm!!!
It took about an hour for the flooding in the streets to subside, and then we found a great restaurant for my birthday dinner and shared a bottle of wine to toast our good and not-so-good experiences of the day! Nobody promised this trip would be EASY, did they?
We decided that we were beaten up enough to take the day off after my birthday, and we had a lovely day--doing laundry, taking it easy, exploring the town, and seeing Spiderman 3 (the local option). We had a nice Father's Day dinner out and are feeling much more rested and ready for tomorrow's ride into the Fort Peck Reservation.
Nobody said it would be easy, but this is ridiculous!!! The day started OK. We had a slight headwind, but the morning was pretty and the scenery was interesting. We noticed that we were predominately moving uphill, but were still having fun. Along the way, we kept disturbing these nesting birds (plovers or sandpipers of some kind) and they chased us up the highway squawking!
We also startled a deer in a wheat field. I thought the wheat was only about a foot tall until the deer started leaping through it. It was about three feet high, and after about 3 leaps through, the deer just took a dive into the wheat and hid from us. it completely disappeared! Amazing, and something I haven't seen before...
On we went for 42 miles to Hinsdale. It was a tough ride! The headwind made it feel like 42 miles uphill! We stopped for a little rest and a bite to eat at a quick stop in Hinsdale and the woman there said "Watch out. I hear there's a big storm coming." After that warning, we decided to get going because the wind seemed to be getting stronger and we had about 30 miles to do!
David continued to pull us along, trying to let me ride in his draft. This was difficult because the crosswind was coming at a weird angle. The only way I could take advantage of it was if my front pannier was touching David's back pannier! That was a difficult position to maintain because the wind was blowing us around a lot. Anyway, we were both tired today, and having comfort issues--not able to find any comfortable position on the bikes! We had to take several "butt breaks" just to get off the bikes. The good news was that the strong wind made it impossible for the mosquitos to hang on!
Today was also Tom Maddox's birthday. We had a commemorative stop at mile 66 because Tom would have been 66 today. We had a toast with our water bottles, and later a more proper toast at dinner. Tom would have made today's ride easier, for sure! We miss him so much--and I especially miss that he always managed to call me to wish me Happy Birthday before I called him every year!
The wind got stronger and stronger. Behind us, we could see storm clouds getting orgnized and looking like those classic pictures you see on the weather channel! Since we had such a strong easterly wind, we thought the storm would stay west of us. But by the time we got to the outskirts of Glasgow, the black clouds were directly overhead.
As we rode into town, as truck stopped and the driver yelled "Take shelter when you get to town--there's a big storm coming." This was great incentive to ride as fast as we could--and we did! But it wasn't very fast because we were both pooped out! By the time we got to town, there were gusts of 30-40 mph that just stopped us in our tracks. We had targeted a hotel on the other side of town, but decided to duck into the center of town after we started getting buffeted by dirt and gravel that the wind whipped up. We had nicks in all our exposed skin, and dirt in our teeth! What a nightmare...
We pulled into the Campbell Lodge and checked in quickly. I started having an allergy attack while doing that from all the wind and dust. So as soon as we went to the room, I jumped into the shower to see if I could get rid of the allergens. About 30 seconds later, we heard something like gravel being thrown at our roof (but we were on the first floor!). David went to check it out, and it was the worst hail storm this area has seen in the last 80 years or so! The hail was the size of 50-cent pieces--and then got smaller and harder over the 30 minutes it came down. Many of the west-facing windows in town were broken--glass everywhere on the sidewalks. The hail was knee-deep in places, and there was not a flower or tree top left in town. We figured my big birthday present was NOT being out in that storm!!!
It took about an hour for the flooding in the streets to subside, and then we found a great restaurant for my birthday dinner and shared a bottle of wine to toast our good and not-so-good experiences of the day! Nobody promised this trip would be EASY, did they?
We decided that we were beaten up enough to take the day off after my birthday, and we had a lovely day--doing laundry, taking it easy, exploring the town, and seeing Spiderman 3 (the local option). We had a nice Father's Day dinner out and are feeling much more rested and ready for tomorrow's ride into the Fort Peck Reservation.
Mosquitos!
Day 24: Chinook to Malta--70 miles
Milestone note: We have been 21 days in the saddle; the same as the Tour de France participants. But we've been half the distance that they go (although we may have spent as much time in the saddle as they do...)
When I started this trip, I figured that once we got past the Rocky Mountains, we would see nothing but wheat fields and every day would be the same. That's not true! We have moved from wheat and other crops to a very green, fertile river bottom with hay, sheep, cattle, horses, and our first crop of SUPER DUPER mosquitos!
Today's ride took us through another Indian Reservation--Fort Belknap. We stopped at the visitor's center there and learned a lot about the local Indians. It was very interesting! They also mentioned that we were headed into mosquito country--to watch out when we headed to Saco and Hinsdale. We thanked them, but didn't worry too much since we weren't going to see those towns until the next day.
Not 15 minutes afterward, we stopped to have a drink of water or something. We were swarmed by mosquitos! If you weren't moving, you were food. Our stops were punctuated with slaps, jumps, and cries of "Let's get moving!!!"
Our exposure to American Indians (they prefer to be called that rather than Native Americans) has been very enlightening. It occurred to us today that their culture was not specifically environmentalist--they were environmental in that they used the environment for everything it could give them and didn't waste anything at all. They were part of the living system. From that culture of being part of the earth's system, they have understandably had a difficult time being on reservations, etc. Today on the reservation, we again saw a lot of glass on the shoulder of the road. And just as in the last reservation, a car went by and a young American Indian man yelled "Boo" or something like that at us. (Of course, I nearly fell off my bike, but tried to maintain, baby.) Why is it like this? My theory is that there are many years of pent-up anger--some may be drowned in alcohol and some may come out as youthful pranks. But there it is, and should be acknowledged before they move on. The good news to me is that the American Indian cultures seem to have been moving on to working within the system to be successful rather than letting the system beat them down. They are becoming more successful and confident as the years go by, and I think they're allowing their true, innovative selves to flourish again. I think we'll see a difference in these reservations in the next 20 years. Especially in Montana, the reservations are in beautiful places with lots of natural resources, and that's encouraging.
To avoid mosquitos, we stopped at the school in Dodson and ae our lunch on the steps. We talked to the janitor and the superintendant. They were both very nice and we enjoyed our time without mosquitos! We then cycled the last 21 miles to Malta and found the GN Motel--a ways away from the railroad tracks AND the mosquitos! We were fortunate to find a place at all because there was a garden club convention in town--we got the last room available at our hotel and David got to carry our heavy bikes up to the 2nd floor! Let's see a Tour de France guy do THAT!!!
Milestone note: We have been 21 days in the saddle; the same as the Tour de France participants. But we've been half the distance that they go (although we may have spent as much time in the saddle as they do...)
When I started this trip, I figured that once we got past the Rocky Mountains, we would see nothing but wheat fields and every day would be the same. That's not true! We have moved from wheat and other crops to a very green, fertile river bottom with hay, sheep, cattle, horses, and our first crop of SUPER DUPER mosquitos!
Today's ride took us through another Indian Reservation--Fort Belknap. We stopped at the visitor's center there and learned a lot about the local Indians. It was very interesting! They also mentioned that we were headed into mosquito country--to watch out when we headed to Saco and Hinsdale. We thanked them, but didn't worry too much since we weren't going to see those towns until the next day.
Not 15 minutes afterward, we stopped to have a drink of water or something. We were swarmed by mosquitos! If you weren't moving, you were food. Our stops were punctuated with slaps, jumps, and cries of "Let's get moving!!!"
Our exposure to American Indians (they prefer to be called that rather than Native Americans) has been very enlightening. It occurred to us today that their culture was not specifically environmentalist--they were environmental in that they used the environment for everything it could give them and didn't waste anything at all. They were part of the living system. From that culture of being part of the earth's system, they have understandably had a difficult time being on reservations, etc. Today on the reservation, we again saw a lot of glass on the shoulder of the road. And just as in the last reservation, a car went by and a young American Indian man yelled "Boo" or something like that at us. (Of course, I nearly fell off my bike, but tried to maintain, baby.) Why is it like this? My theory is that there are many years of pent-up anger--some may be drowned in alcohol and some may come out as youthful pranks. But there it is, and should be acknowledged before they move on. The good news to me is that the American Indian cultures seem to have been moving on to working within the system to be successful rather than letting the system beat them down. They are becoming more successful and confident as the years go by, and I think they're allowing their true, innovative selves to flourish again. I think we'll see a difference in these reservations in the next 20 years. Especially in Montana, the reservations are in beautiful places with lots of natural resources, and that's encouraging.
To avoid mosquitos, we stopped at the school in Dodson and ae our lunch on the steps. We talked to the janitor and the superintendant. They were both very nice and we enjoyed our time without mosquitos! We then cycled the last 21 miles to Malta and found the GN Motel--a ways away from the railroad tracks AND the mosquitos! We were fortunate to find a place at all because there was a garden club convention in town--we got the last room available at our hotel and David got to carry our heavy bikes up to the 2nd floor! Let's see a Tour de France guy do THAT!!!
Friday, June 15, 2007
ChasingClouds
Day 23: Hingham to Chinook, MT--61 miles
We woke up bleary-eyed from spending the night in a Fraser/Tabernash flashback: way too close to the railroad crossing. Whistles all night! And then, some kind of loading process occurred in the middle of the night that made it sound like we were in the bottom of a metal trash can with gravel pouring in!
We got a slow start--I had yet another flat tire! We felt lucky that this one happened before we left camp--but not before I loaded my bike up. Oh, well. David (bike mechanic extraordinaire) took care of the problem. This saves lots of time because he has change SO many flats in his life!
David has become a convert to a product called "Brave Soldier" which is a lubricant for friction zones that sporting people (or maybe even soldiers) get (wherever that may be). Our good Doctor friend Hugh McKinnon (who we used to cycle with in VA) calls this "Butt Cream" because that's the technical term. It works! No more saddle sores for us.
The ride was relatively easy for about 29 miles. The sky was filled with these little puffy clouds and they were moving along from west to east. At one point David wanted to stop for a snack and I said "let's stop in the shade right up here." Well, I pedaled and pedaled, and finally realized that I was chasing a cloud that was moving faster than I could! So we had our snack in the sun. We left the Sweet Grass Hills behind and found the Bear Paw Mountains--a small group of mountains that come up toward Rt. 2 from the south near Havre. We rode all day through Hill County (which I had hoped was named after somebody named "Hill"). But no! We had gradual hills all day, but they weren't much bother. We found a few steep hills right before Havre.
We had been warned about Havre. A cyclist who had a very bad experience there said we should just skip the town altogether. But we decided to suspend our judgment until we experienced it ourselves. I was having visions of dual-ies everywhere, but that's not the way it turned out. Our first experience was stopping off at a golf course that advertised "RESTAURANT" for lunch. Turns out that restaurant has been closed for 2 years. After chatting with some guys in the parking lot, they offered to buy us lunch at the local Subway. How nice is that??? The traffic was very respectful and the people were very helpful. We didn't eat at the Subway, but had a great lunch at a place called 5th Avenue Grind, and appeased David's latte fix for the day at the same time! I'm glad we didn't listen to that cyclist because we would have missed a great town!
I faltered after Havre--with 22 miles to go to Chinook. The town seemed to move away from me as fast as those clouds earlier in the day! And then in the last 10 minutes, a big black cloud seemed to be chasing me, but I couldn't move fast enough to get away. Lucky for me, it didn't rain, and we found a place to stay in Chinook. It's a neat little town with a great neon bar sign David really liked. We'll post that one later too!
We have a few more days in Montana: Malta on Friday, Glasgow on Saturday, and one more night somewhere in the middle of nowhere before we break the border of North Dakota! That'll be a celebration, indeed! David mentioned that when you're 400 miles into Colorado, you're almost across the state. In Montana, that only gets you about half way.
Tomorrow's the big birthday--my 45th. We hope it will be a good one for cycling!
We woke up bleary-eyed from spending the night in a Fraser/Tabernash flashback: way too close to the railroad crossing. Whistles all night! And then, some kind of loading process occurred in the middle of the night that made it sound like we were in the bottom of a metal trash can with gravel pouring in!
We got a slow start--I had yet another flat tire! We felt lucky that this one happened before we left camp--but not before I loaded my bike up. Oh, well. David (bike mechanic extraordinaire) took care of the problem. This saves lots of time because he has change SO many flats in his life!
David has become a convert to a product called "Brave Soldier" which is a lubricant for friction zones that sporting people (or maybe even soldiers) get (wherever that may be). Our good Doctor friend Hugh McKinnon (who we used to cycle with in VA) calls this "Butt Cream" because that's the technical term. It works! No more saddle sores for us.
The ride was relatively easy for about 29 miles. The sky was filled with these little puffy clouds and they were moving along from west to east. At one point David wanted to stop for a snack and I said "let's stop in the shade right up here." Well, I pedaled and pedaled, and finally realized that I was chasing a cloud that was moving faster than I could! So we had our snack in the sun. We left the Sweet Grass Hills behind and found the Bear Paw Mountains--a small group of mountains that come up toward Rt. 2 from the south near Havre. We rode all day through Hill County (which I had hoped was named after somebody named "Hill"). But no! We had gradual hills all day, but they weren't much bother. We found a few steep hills right before Havre.
We had been warned about Havre. A cyclist who had a very bad experience there said we should just skip the town altogether. But we decided to suspend our judgment until we experienced it ourselves. I was having visions of dual-ies everywhere, but that's not the way it turned out. Our first experience was stopping off at a golf course that advertised "RESTAURANT" for lunch. Turns out that restaurant has been closed for 2 years. After chatting with some guys in the parking lot, they offered to buy us lunch at the local Subway. How nice is that??? The traffic was very respectful and the people were very helpful. We didn't eat at the Subway, but had a great lunch at a place called 5th Avenue Grind, and appeased David's latte fix for the day at the same time! I'm glad we didn't listen to that cyclist because we would have missed a great town!
I faltered after Havre--with 22 miles to go to Chinook. The town seemed to move away from me as fast as those clouds earlier in the day! And then in the last 10 minutes, a big black cloud seemed to be chasing me, but I couldn't move fast enough to get away. Lucky for me, it didn't rain, and we found a place to stay in Chinook. It's a neat little town with a great neon bar sign David really liked. We'll post that one later too!
We have a few more days in Montana: Malta on Friday, Glasgow on Saturday, and one more night somewhere in the middle of nowhere before we break the border of North Dakota! That'll be a celebration, indeed! David mentioned that when you're 400 miles into Colorado, you're almost across the state. In Montana, that only gets you about half way.
Tomorrow's the big birthday--my 45th. We hope it will be a good one for cycling!
Big Sky
Day 22: Shelby to Hingham, MT--72 miles
We spent this day in the shadow of the Sweet Grass Hills. They jut up from the plains north of Rt. 2 in just 3 or 4 different places. They are not really tall, but they are a stark contrast to the surrounding area. The Blackfeet Indians see these hills as a sacred place because they were so valuable to their lifestyle. They used them to spot bison herds and encroaching people. It was fun imagining those times when bison littered the landscape. Now it's mostly wheat fields!
Unlike yesterday--today we had to actually pedal all the miles we went! There was no tailwind in the morning, but the sky was nicely overcast and the cycling was very nice! Along the way, we startled some antelope very close to the road. This is the closest I have ever seen an antelope and they are really cool looking! We also saw a mother hawk sitting on her nest--protecting her eggs from the local blackbirds who wanted some lunch! She let us take pictures of her (but only because she had no choice). We also saw LOTS of these little gold ground squirrels--both alive and as road kill. The terns were chasing the live squirrels--hunting I guess. We made the 45 miles into Chester, MT by about 1:30 p.m.
Chester was a really delightful town! We stopped in at Wells Fargo and in addition to doing our banking, they invited us to the Bottomless Root Beer Float Hoedown on Friday. Alas, we'll be long gone by then.
Then we headed to the town's lunch spot--Spud's Cafe. We had some very yummy root beer floats (pre-hoedown) in addition to our excellent sandwiches (hey, we need lots of fuel) and got directions to the local library.
As usual, the library was just great! The librarian and a local technicial were so helpful and nice. David got the pictures working and I posted some, in addition to updating some of the old blogs with pictures. Check them out if you want! There are such nice folks in Montana! They helped us pick our destination for the night (Hingham) because there were no larger towns for the next 67 miles and we didn't want to go quite that far. They even called to make sure the local park would let us stay there! This would be our first night of camping without true showers--a washcloth shower would have to do in the middle of nowhere.
The last 27 miles blessed us with a tailwind! We polished them off in 1 1/2 hours and set up shop at the Hingham town park. We also stopped at the local bar for a cold drink before cooking dinner and setting up camp. Here's an example of how people in Montana are. The local bartender was cooking dinner for a family when we got there, so we waited about 5 minutes to be served. She gave us our beers for free because she said we shouldn't have had to wait. This is typical service here, and I really appreciate the people in this state.
This is truly the breadbasket of America. Every little town is located next to the railroad tracks (think LOTS of train whistles). The train pulls up to the local grain elevator, loads up, and takes off! And Big Sky really is an appropriate way to talk about this country. The sky just goes on forever! We saw a spectacular sunset, and I'll post the pictures at another library that allows us to connect our hardware to their system (this one doesn't).and a fabulous rainbow right before bed. A great end to a great riding day!
We spent this day in the shadow of the Sweet Grass Hills. They jut up from the plains north of Rt. 2 in just 3 or 4 different places. They are not really tall, but they are a stark contrast to the surrounding area. The Blackfeet Indians see these hills as a sacred place because they were so valuable to their lifestyle. They used them to spot bison herds and encroaching people. It was fun imagining those times when bison littered the landscape. Now it's mostly wheat fields!
Unlike yesterday--today we had to actually pedal all the miles we went! There was no tailwind in the morning, but the sky was nicely overcast and the cycling was very nice! Along the way, we startled some antelope very close to the road. This is the closest I have ever seen an antelope and they are really cool looking! We also saw a mother hawk sitting on her nest--protecting her eggs from the local blackbirds who wanted some lunch! She let us take pictures of her (but only because she had no choice). We also saw LOTS of these little gold ground squirrels--both alive and as road kill. The terns were chasing the live squirrels--hunting I guess. We made the 45 miles into Chester, MT by about 1:30 p.m.
Chester was a really delightful town! We stopped in at Wells Fargo and in addition to doing our banking, they invited us to the Bottomless Root Beer Float Hoedown on Friday. Alas, we'll be long gone by then.
Then we headed to the town's lunch spot--Spud's Cafe. We had some very yummy root beer floats (pre-hoedown) in addition to our excellent sandwiches (hey, we need lots of fuel) and got directions to the local library.
As usual, the library was just great! The librarian and a local technicial were so helpful and nice. David got the pictures working and I posted some, in addition to updating some of the old blogs with pictures. Check them out if you want! There are such nice folks in Montana! They helped us pick our destination for the night (Hingham) because there were no larger towns for the next 67 miles and we didn't want to go quite that far. They even called to make sure the local park would let us stay there! This would be our first night of camping without true showers--a washcloth shower would have to do in the middle of nowhere.
The last 27 miles blessed us with a tailwind! We polished them off in 1 1/2 hours and set up shop at the Hingham town park. We also stopped at the local bar for a cold drink before cooking dinner and setting up camp. Here's an example of how people in Montana are. The local bartender was cooking dinner for a family when we got there, so we waited about 5 minutes to be served. She gave us our beers for free because she said we shouldn't have had to wait. This is typical service here, and I really appreciate the people in this state.
This is truly the breadbasket of America. Every little town is located next to the railroad tracks (think LOTS of train whistles). The train pulls up to the local grain elevator, loads up, and takes off! And Big Sky really is an appropriate way to talk about this country. The sky just goes on forever! We saw a spectacular sunset, and I'll post the pictures at another library that allows us to connect our hardware to their system (this one doesn't).and a fabulous rainbow right before bed. A great end to a great riding day!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Leaving the Rockies Behind
Day 21: East Glacier to Shelby, MT--75 miles
Milestone: We went over 1,000 miles today!
Today was one of those days you would order off a bicycling menu: "I'll have the strong tailwind, no traffic, and blue sky special, please!" And it delivered for much of the day!
We were wishing for tailwinds, especially since we were still a little sore from our walking excursion. And sure enough, the wish came true! It wasn't the Columbia River Gorge, but it came close. There were a few exceptions to this spectacular day, but the overall impression was that it was fabulous cycling!
Our mishap occurred at about 5 miles into the trip. I got a flat--glass in my rear tire. If we were anthropologists researching the culture of the people in this area in 2007, we would guess that one of their favorite activities is throwing glass out of car windows onto the side of the road! It was unbelievable how much glass was strewn all over the shoulder, and it was often unavoidable. We even saw a car with the rear window smashed in--now that's just crazy! David rescued me with a patch and we were off.
Even with the delay, we made it to Browning in less than an hour--and the total 75 miles took about 4 1/2 hours--the same time it took us yesterday to go UP Marias Pass!
There were periods of time when I felt like I was riding a motor scooter--no pedaling and going 20 mph! I also hit my fastest speed of the trip today: 42 mph. That felt VERY fast, especially after the flat earlier in the morning.
As we left the Rocky Mountains behind, we had a huge transition in scenery. We went from lush mountain terrain (very green, ferns everywhere, lots of trees and water) to grass plains and dryland farming. The farmland was also much different than the land we saw in Washington State. It continued to be quite beautiful, but in a different way!
Our next "mishap" occurred about 8 miles before Cut Bank. It was a construction zone, and when they say "loose gravel" in Montana, they really mean "there is no road here anymore." What we had to ride on for 8 miles was washboard of the hairiest degree--the kind that rattles your fillings! We also had the traffic to go with it, and right as we entered Cut Bank, the dirt road became soft so that our tires sank in! What an experience--and one I would not like to repeat!
So we had lunch in Cut Bank at the Village Inn and Casino (did I mention there are casinos around every corner in Montana?). David said that even with all the casinos, he didn't notice an over abundance of sinning in Montana!
After we left the espresso shop in Cut Bank, it was smooth sailing for 40 miles. We cruised into Shelby, MT and stopped off at the visitor's center. While there, one of the nicest chamber of commerce workers we have met gave us the scoop on campgrounds and restaurants, and gave us a gift! We stayed at the local campground and ate a good Chinese dinner at the Kow Loon restaurant on Main Street. We had dinner with another cyclist we met at the campground. His name is Bill and he's also raising money during his ride. Check out his website if you want--www.bikeformima.com is the name.
In the meantime, don't forget to click on the link to OUR donation page! It's on the home page, and I'm setting a fundraising goal of $10,000. Right now we're only at about $1,000 so we have a ways to go! If you haven't clicked and donated yet, that would be a wonderful birthday gift for me--only 4 days away! Please send the link to other people you think would be interested, and let's meet this goal and honor Tom royally!
Six or so more days in Montana--what a big state! And then North Dakota will seem quite small in comparison! We think we'll cross the state line on June 18.
Milestone: We went over 1,000 miles today!
Today was one of those days you would order off a bicycling menu: "I'll have the strong tailwind, no traffic, and blue sky special, please!" And it delivered for much of the day!
We were wishing for tailwinds, especially since we were still a little sore from our walking excursion. And sure enough, the wish came true! It wasn't the Columbia River Gorge, but it came close. There were a few exceptions to this spectacular day, but the overall impression was that it was fabulous cycling!
Our mishap occurred at about 5 miles into the trip. I got a flat--glass in my rear tire. If we were anthropologists researching the culture of the people in this area in 2007, we would guess that one of their favorite activities is throwing glass out of car windows onto the side of the road! It was unbelievable how much glass was strewn all over the shoulder, and it was often unavoidable. We even saw a car with the rear window smashed in--now that's just crazy! David rescued me with a patch and we were off.
Even with the delay, we made it to Browning in less than an hour--and the total 75 miles took about 4 1/2 hours--the same time it took us yesterday to go UP Marias Pass!
There were periods of time when I felt like I was riding a motor scooter--no pedaling and going 20 mph! I also hit my fastest speed of the trip today: 42 mph. That felt VERY fast, especially after the flat earlier in the morning.
As we left the Rocky Mountains behind, we had a huge transition in scenery. We went from lush mountain terrain (very green, ferns everywhere, lots of trees and water) to grass plains and dryland farming. The farmland was also much different than the land we saw in Washington State. It continued to be quite beautiful, but in a different way!
Our next "mishap" occurred about 8 miles before Cut Bank. It was a construction zone, and when they say "loose gravel" in Montana, they really mean "there is no road here anymore." What we had to ride on for 8 miles was washboard of the hairiest degree--the kind that rattles your fillings! We also had the traffic to go with it, and right as we entered Cut Bank, the dirt road became soft so that our tires sank in! What an experience--and one I would not like to repeat!
So we had lunch in Cut Bank at the Village Inn and Casino (did I mention there are casinos around every corner in Montana?). David said that even with all the casinos, he didn't notice an over abundance of sinning in Montana!
After we left the espresso shop in Cut Bank, it was smooth sailing for 40 miles. We cruised into Shelby, MT and stopped off at the visitor's center. While there, one of the nicest chamber of commerce workers we have met gave us the scoop on campgrounds and restaurants, and gave us a gift! We stayed at the local campground and ate a good Chinese dinner at the Kow Loon restaurant on Main Street. We had dinner with another cyclist we met at the campground. His name is Bill and he's also raising money during his ride. Check out his website if you want--www.bikeformima.com is the name.
In the meantime, don't forget to click on the link to OUR donation page! It's on the home page, and I'm setting a fundraising goal of $10,000. Right now we're only at about $1,000 so we have a ways to go! If you haven't clicked and donated yet, that would be a wonderful birthday gift for me--only 4 days away! Please send the link to other people you think would be interested, and let's meet this goal and honor Tom royally!
Six or so more days in Montana--what a big state! And then North Dakota will seem quite small in comparison! We think we'll cross the state line on June 18.
Rockin' the Rockies!
Day 20: West Glacier to East Glacier--59 miles
We woke up this morning with some aches and pains we hadn't had before! My calves and knees were sore from all the walking the day before, and my ankle was complaining a bit--but nothing that a couple of Advil couldn't take care of.
Our plans changed slightly for this day. We had originally planned to go over Logan Pass inside Glacier National Park. But Logan Pass will not be open until July because they had major road damage on the East side due to torrential rains last fall. So no bicycles or cars were allowed East of the top of the pass. We had to take the only other option over the Rocky Mountains, which is Marias Pass and Route 2, with more traffic.
While we were in West Glacier, we met another cyclist who was doing the Jasper (Canada) to Denver trip--a route I'm hadn't heard of before. He had come from East Glacier the previous day and told us "Man, you have a 48-mile uphill to get over Marias Pass!" So I got a little psyched out--imagining a 48-mile Berthoud Pass! We decided to just get up and go and managed to be riding by 8:30 a.m. We started with fear and loathing, though. A narrow road, no shoulder and some traffic, and a 48-mile climb to "look forward" to. We were both feeling a bit down about the day.
My coaching kicked in, though. I decided that I needed to adopt a perspective for the day. I firmly put my bike into the easiest chain ring on the front and said "it's easy gear day until I get to the top." I also decided that I was going to have fun, and told David that I would do my best, but let's just have fun! He was not too worried about the pass because he had done the math and figured out it wouldn't be too steep (thanks for sharing, David). He was all for having as much fun as possible--no surprise there.
So we went for it! About 15 miles into the ride, I noticed we were going pretty fast and yelled "It can't be a 48-mile uphill because we don't have 48 miles left in the ride." David said "Well we've been going uphill this whole time!" So I figured at that point that we were truly rock stars and incorporated that into my perspective! Amazingly enough, with my attitude about Marias Pass adjusted, I did just fine and rode relatively quickly for me.
The ride was gorgeous and the traffic was minimal. We went along the Middle Fork of the Flathead River. At the start of our climb, the river was huge! There were rafting companies taking trips down that part of the river, and it was very wide. By the top of Marias Pass, the water was tiny turquoise rivulets. Along the way, we found some fantastic waterfalls and stopped to see the mountain goats (they were there, but way up high).
At the top of Marias Pass, we celebrated like rock stars (because we were) and looked at the monument and markers there. They had a monument to Theodore Roosevelt, who designated Glacier as a National Park (and I believe started the whole National Park system). On the plaque, they noted that the Portland, OR to Portland, ME, route was the Teddy Roosevelt International Peace Highway. We loved this idea until we saw that the route is over 4,000 miles! Hmmm, where did those other 600 miles come from? We need to investigate that further, but think our specific route will be closer to the 3,400 miles we have planned.
After 4 1/2 hours uphill, we were really looking forward to the downhill (which lasted all of 30 minutes). We found our first bad trucker on the way down the hill. David had stopped to take a picture of the mountains, so we were off the road and standing on the shoulder (which was very small). This guy laid on his big horn for about 10 seconds and drove VERY close to us--even though nobody else was coming and he had both lanes to work with. It really reminded me of bullies in school. In elementary school, it was the 120-pound 4th grader who grew real fast against the 60-pound kid who didn't have a growth spurt yet. In our case it was an 80,000-pound vehicle versus two 200-pound bikes. And it made just as much sense. He didn't accomplish anything by his actions other than to label himself. This is the first trucker we have seen who acted this way--all the others have been more than willing to share the road!
We coasted into East Glacier and decided to splurge and stay at the Glacier Peak Lodge. This is Blackfeet Indian country--and we were on part of their reservation. This lodge was built in 1913, and really is spectacular to see. The lobby is made of HUGE old trees--Douglas Fir and Pine--that still have the bark on them. Many are over 6 feet in diameter, and the information available said they were about 800 years old when the lodge was built. It was amazing to see. The plumbing and heatine were also from 1913, but that added to the ambience of the place! Ha! We enjoyed a great prime rib dinner at the restaurant there and felt fueled up for the next day!
We woke up this morning with some aches and pains we hadn't had before! My calves and knees were sore from all the walking the day before, and my ankle was complaining a bit--but nothing that a couple of Advil couldn't take care of.
Our plans changed slightly for this day. We had originally planned to go over Logan Pass inside Glacier National Park. But Logan Pass will not be open until July because they had major road damage on the East side due to torrential rains last fall. So no bicycles or cars were allowed East of the top of the pass. We had to take the only other option over the Rocky Mountains, which is Marias Pass and Route 2, with more traffic.
While we were in West Glacier, we met another cyclist who was doing the Jasper (Canada) to Denver trip--a route I'm hadn't heard of before. He had come from East Glacier the previous day and told us "Man, you have a 48-mile uphill to get over Marias Pass!" So I got a little psyched out--imagining a 48-mile Berthoud Pass! We decided to just get up and go and managed to be riding by 8:30 a.m. We started with fear and loathing, though. A narrow road, no shoulder and some traffic, and a 48-mile climb to "look forward" to. We were both feeling a bit down about the day.
My coaching kicked in, though. I decided that I needed to adopt a perspective for the day. I firmly put my bike into the easiest chain ring on the front and said "it's easy gear day until I get to the top." I also decided that I was going to have fun, and told David that I would do my best, but let's just have fun! He was not too worried about the pass because he had done the math and figured out it wouldn't be too steep (thanks for sharing, David). He was all for having as much fun as possible--no surprise there.
So we went for it! About 15 miles into the ride, I noticed we were going pretty fast and yelled "It can't be a 48-mile uphill because we don't have 48 miles left in the ride." David said "Well we've been going uphill this whole time!" So I figured at that point that we were truly rock stars and incorporated that into my perspective! Amazingly enough, with my attitude about Marias Pass adjusted, I did just fine and rode relatively quickly for me.
The ride was gorgeous and the traffic was minimal. We went along the Middle Fork of the Flathead River. At the start of our climb, the river was huge! There were rafting companies taking trips down that part of the river, and it was very wide. By the top of Marias Pass, the water was tiny turquoise rivulets. Along the way, we found some fantastic waterfalls and stopped to see the mountain goats (they were there, but way up high).
At the top of Marias Pass, we celebrated like rock stars (because we were) and looked at the monument and markers there. They had a monument to Theodore Roosevelt, who designated Glacier as a National Park (and I believe started the whole National Park system). On the plaque, they noted that the Portland, OR to Portland, ME, route was the Teddy Roosevelt International Peace Highway. We loved this idea until we saw that the route is over 4,000 miles! Hmmm, where did those other 600 miles come from? We need to investigate that further, but think our specific route will be closer to the 3,400 miles we have planned.
After 4 1/2 hours uphill, we were really looking forward to the downhill (which lasted all of 30 minutes). We found our first bad trucker on the way down the hill. David had stopped to take a picture of the mountains, so we were off the road and standing on the shoulder (which was very small). This guy laid on his big horn for about 10 seconds and drove VERY close to us--even though nobody else was coming and he had both lanes to work with. It really reminded me of bullies in school. In elementary school, it was the 120-pound 4th grader who grew real fast against the 60-pound kid who didn't have a growth spurt yet. In our case it was an 80,000-pound vehicle versus two 200-pound bikes. And it made just as much sense. He didn't accomplish anything by his actions other than to label himself. This is the first trucker we have seen who acted this way--all the others have been more than willing to share the road!
We coasted into East Glacier and decided to splurge and stay at the Glacier Peak Lodge. This is Blackfeet Indian country--and we were on part of their reservation. This lodge was built in 1913, and really is spectacular to see. The lobby is made of HUGE old trees--Douglas Fir and Pine--that still have the bark on them. Many are over 6 feet in diameter, and the information available said they were about 800 years old when the lodge was built. It was amazing to see. The plumbing and heatine were also from 1913, but that added to the ambience of the place! Ha! We enjoyed a great prime rib dinner at the restaurant there and felt fueled up for the next day!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Puttin' On Our Walkin' Shoes
Day 19: West Glacier, MT--Day off!
We pledged to NOT get on our bikes today, so walking became our mode of transportation. Especially since Glacier National Park is not yet REALLY open for the season. No shuttles, no sympathy. It was an interesting demonstration of the effect of privatizing our national parks.
So we walked--1.7 miles to the town of West Glacier and THEN we found out that the Glacier National Park Visitor's Center was 2.5 more miles away! Whining didn't help...so we walked some more!
We walked the bike path to the West Glacier Visitor's Center a Lake Macdonald. It was gorgeous (if only I could show you the pictures!) and we saw a lot of flora and some fauna (a fawn, a young male mule deer, and 2 leprechauns). No bears, Mom!
We visited the visitor's center, shopped a little, wandered to the lake and stopped in all the shops. We also started planning our next trip here! This is a wonderful place and deserves much more than one walking day...
Then we trekked back to town and had a fantastic dinner at the Belton Chalet. This is a neat old original building from when the Great Norhern Railway began to come west to Glacier.
Great food and great ambience--and sharing a bottle of wine made the 1.7 mile walk back to camp a little easier to bear.
All in all, we walked about 8 miles--quite a day "off" the bikes, huh?
This is the farthest I have walked since my surgery on 7 March. And by the way, 7 June was the 3-month anniversary of my surgery as well as my twin nephews (Derek and Morgan) 13th birthday. Watch out world--two more teenagers are on the loose!
We fell into camp and got ready for the big journey over the Rockies.
We pledged to NOT get on our bikes today, so walking became our mode of transportation. Especially since Glacier National Park is not yet REALLY open for the season. No shuttles, no sympathy. It was an interesting demonstration of the effect of privatizing our national parks.
So we walked--1.7 miles to the town of West Glacier and THEN we found out that the Glacier National Park Visitor's Center was 2.5 more miles away! Whining didn't help...so we walked some more!
We walked the bike path to the West Glacier Visitor's Center a Lake Macdonald. It was gorgeous (if only I could show you the pictures!) and we saw a lot of flora and some fauna (a fawn, a young male mule deer, and 2 leprechauns). No bears, Mom!
We visited the visitor's center, shopped a little, wandered to the lake and stopped in all the shops. We also started planning our next trip here! This is a wonderful place and deserves much more than one walking day...
Then we trekked back to town and had a fantastic dinner at the Belton Chalet. This is a neat old original building from when the Great Norhern Railway began to come west to Glacier.
Great food and great ambience--and sharing a bottle of wine made the 1.7 mile walk back to camp a little easier to bear.
All in all, we walked about 8 miles--quite a day "off" the bikes, huh?
This is the farthest I have walked since my surgery on 7 March. And by the way, 7 June was the 3-month anniversary of my surgery as well as my twin nephews (Derek and Morgan) 13th birthday. Watch out world--two more teenagers are on the loose!
We fell into camp and got ready for the big journey over the Rockies.
Mountain Biking?
Day 18: Whitefish to West Glacier, MT--32 miles
Our day started with coffee and blogging at the Montana Coffee Traders, a local coffee shop chain. I was unsuccessful at getting the pictures saved, so we decided to try again later. Those pictures have been much more difficult than they should have been!
David went to the local bike shops and both were great. Glacier Cyclery gave him a map of how to get to West Glacier with a minimum of highway time--something we were very interested in after our terror-filled entry into Whitefish. Then David went to the other bike shop in town (I think Ski & Cycle) and met Blake, who lived in Winter Park for 20 years and has done a lot of riding with Wade Wilderman and Doug! It's a small world, isn't it? Blake remembered (and probably made) many of our local Grand County mountain biking trails.
We started on our backroad tour from Whitefish to Columbia Falls. The trip out of town was as peaceful as the trip in was harrowing. This was a FUN riding day. About 7 miles into our ride through beautiful ranches and homes, the road ended! I thought we were going to continue on a gravel road, but David said "They told me we would see some dirt." So off we went on some singletrack--loaded bikes and all! Our Grand County friends would be so proud! The fun ended when we hooked up with a road and headed into Columbia Falls. Lunch at Montana Coffee Traders (yes, another one) and we headed to the local library to try blogging again. The library system in the USA is something you can count on! They are always helpful, and this particular librarian went above and beyond the call of duty trying to help us publish our pictures. But to no avail--and at 4 p.m. we left there to continue our ride.
And what a ride it was! Gorgeous scenery--not too hilly--and stops a glacial springs along the way. What fun! This was just one of those magical days of riding and there was no traffic...
We skirted a rainstorm until we reached the bridge over the Flathead River. Then the skies opened! We did a lot of laughing while we tried to get our waterproof stuff on and then our mountain biking adventure continued. You see, the paved road ended there at the bridge and we had a washboard dirt/gravel road for several miles. Messy! What a hoot to have all this different cycling in one day!
We emerged onto Rt. 2 and headed to the Glacier Campground where will camp for 2 days--because tomorrow is our DAY OFF!!!
Our day started with coffee and blogging at the Montana Coffee Traders, a local coffee shop chain. I was unsuccessful at getting the pictures saved, so we decided to try again later. Those pictures have been much more difficult than they should have been!
David went to the local bike shops and both were great. Glacier Cyclery gave him a map of how to get to West Glacier with a minimum of highway time--something we were very interested in after our terror-filled entry into Whitefish. Then David went to the other bike shop in town (I think Ski & Cycle) and met Blake, who lived in Winter Park for 20 years and has done a lot of riding with Wade Wilderman and Doug! It's a small world, isn't it? Blake remembered (and probably made) many of our local Grand County mountain biking trails.
We started on our backroad tour from Whitefish to Columbia Falls. The trip out of town was as peaceful as the trip in was harrowing. This was a FUN riding day. About 7 miles into our ride through beautiful ranches and homes, the road ended! I thought we were going to continue on a gravel road, but David said "They told me we would see some dirt." So off we went on some singletrack--loaded bikes and all! Our Grand County friends would be so proud! The fun ended when we hooked up with a road and headed into Columbia Falls. Lunch at Montana Coffee Traders (yes, another one) and we headed to the local library to try blogging again. The library system in the USA is something you can count on! They are always helpful, and this particular librarian went above and beyond the call of duty trying to help us publish our pictures. But to no avail--and at 4 p.m. we left there to continue our ride.
And what a ride it was! Gorgeous scenery--not too hilly--and stops a glacial springs along the way. What fun! This was just one of those magical days of riding and there was no traffic...
We skirted a rainstorm until we reached the bridge over the Flathead River. Then the skies opened! We did a lot of laughing while we tried to get our waterproof stuff on and then our mountain biking adventure continued. You see, the paved road ended there at the bridge and we had a washboard dirt/gravel road for several miles. Messy! What a hoot to have all this different cycling in one day!
We emerged onto Rt. 2 and headed to the Glacier Campground where will camp for 2 days--because tomorrow is our DAY OFF!!!
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Prevailing Winds Aren't Prevailing!
Day 17: Rexford to Whitefish, MT: 61 miles
The clouds finally lifted today and we got to see the local peaks. What a gorgeous place! I hope I can get the pictures to work--but you should really come and visit Montana yourselves. It is quite an awesome experience! And the people are friendly and helpful!
Everything here is VERY green! We left Rexford and headed to Eureka--about 7 miles away. On the way there we went through Tobacco Valley--a beautiful valley area that the Native Americans had used to plant tobacco long ago for their rituals. We got an up-close look at two osprey on their nest near the road. And it wasn't too hilly prior to Eureka, so we enjoyed that part of the ride.
The rest of the ride (at least 50 miles of it) was very hilly! What were they thinking when they built these roads in Montana? We had headwinds the whole day, and it was a little disgusting to say the least. The "prevailing" westerly winds that were supposed to blow us across America are not cooperating. We've only had them about 3 days out of the 15 we have ridden. One third of our days have had headwinds, and this was no exception.
The problem with headwinds is that you get no benefit from a gradual downhill, and they make the uphill much harder. And the panniers on the bike compound the issue because you have all that extra area for the wind to catch. We struggled through for awhile, and then came upon one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever seen!
This lake was glacier-fed (according to wild man David) because the water color was so clear and aquamarine. Once we hit that lake, the hills seemed to dissapate a bit and we had some great riding toward Whitefish...until the last 5 miles.
Recently, Montana awarded the paving contract for the last 5 miles into Whitefish to the lowest bidder. This company paved almost to the white lines on the road edge, but not quite. They also managed to drag quite a bit of equipment through the wet asphalt, making long crevices and pits in the new pavement. And of course, as Murphy's Law would have it, this is when the traffic picked up!
We rode, gritting our teeth the whole time, into town. Up and down very steep, short hills, getting passed by honking dual-wheeled pickups and much more considerate truckers and cars. It was harrowing! Unfortunately, there were no other road choices for us--only one way into Whitefish that is paved (sort of). So we went along the best we could. David was in front, and I saw a tractor trailer miss him by only about 2 inches! Crazy--and the trucker was not trying to be mean. The road was just that narrow. Montana should get their money back or a re-paving job as soon as possible.
Once we were actually in the town of Whitefish, things looked up! We checked into a little hotel, spread out our camping things to dry, and did some wandering. Our legs felt like they had been beaten with sticks after 6 days of hard riding, but we managed to hobble into the local saloon for our favorite drinks--a beer for David and a club soda with lime for me. We had a fantastic dinner (fish! veggies! the most wonderful caramel pecan chocolate torte ever!) at the Tupelo Grill and called it a night.
Our plan is to head to West Glacier tomorrow--a short ride. Then we'll take a well-deserved day off and explore the national park before heading over or around the park on Monday. My goal--to be through Montana by my birthday...but we only have one week to accomplish that feat.
The clouds finally lifted today and we got to see the local peaks. What a gorgeous place! I hope I can get the pictures to work--but you should really come and visit Montana yourselves. It is quite an awesome experience! And the people are friendly and helpful!
Everything here is VERY green! We left Rexford and headed to Eureka--about 7 miles away. On the way there we went through Tobacco Valley--a beautiful valley area that the Native Americans had used to plant tobacco long ago for their rituals. We got an up-close look at two osprey on their nest near the road. And it wasn't too hilly prior to Eureka, so we enjoyed that part of the ride.
The rest of the ride (at least 50 miles of it) was very hilly! What were they thinking when they built these roads in Montana? We had headwinds the whole day, and it was a little disgusting to say the least. The "prevailing" westerly winds that were supposed to blow us across America are not cooperating. We've only had them about 3 days out of the 15 we have ridden. One third of our days have had headwinds, and this was no exception.
The problem with headwinds is that you get no benefit from a gradual downhill, and they make the uphill much harder. And the panniers on the bike compound the issue because you have all that extra area for the wind to catch. We struggled through for awhile, and then came upon one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever seen!
This lake was glacier-fed (according to wild man David) because the water color was so clear and aquamarine. Once we hit that lake, the hills seemed to dissapate a bit and we had some great riding toward Whitefish...until the last 5 miles.
Recently, Montana awarded the paving contract for the last 5 miles into Whitefish to the lowest bidder. This company paved almost to the white lines on the road edge, but not quite. They also managed to drag quite a bit of equipment through the wet asphalt, making long crevices and pits in the new pavement. And of course, as Murphy's Law would have it, this is when the traffic picked up!
We rode, gritting our teeth the whole time, into town. Up and down very steep, short hills, getting passed by honking dual-wheeled pickups and much more considerate truckers and cars. It was harrowing! Unfortunately, there were no other road choices for us--only one way into Whitefish that is paved (sort of). So we went along the best we could. David was in front, and I saw a tractor trailer miss him by only about 2 inches! Crazy--and the trucker was not trying to be mean. The road was just that narrow. Montana should get their money back or a re-paving job as soon as possible.
Once we were actually in the town of Whitefish, things looked up! We checked into a little hotel, spread out our camping things to dry, and did some wandering. Our legs felt like they had been beaten with sticks after 6 days of hard riding, but we managed to hobble into the local saloon for our favorite drinks--a beer for David and a club soda with lime for me. We had a fantastic dinner (fish! veggies! the most wonderful caramel pecan chocolate torte ever!) at the Tupelo Grill and called it a night.
Our plan is to head to West Glacier tomorrow--a short ride. Then we'll take a well-deserved day off and explore the national park before heading over or around the park on Monday. My goal--to be through Montana by my birthday...but we only have one week to accomplish that feat.
Montana is Kicking My Butt!
Day 16: Libby to Rexford, MT: 67 miles
Today was the vertical test for Logan Pass--our planned path through Glacier National Park. We got as much vertical today as we will then--only it was spread out over about 60 miles. It was also a psychological test as there were many false flats and gradual downhills that were not helpful for gaining speed.
We were thankful for the overcast skies and cold temperatures on this challenging day. It was also our fifth day of riding in a row, so our legs were not fresh even after a good night's sleep. We decided once again to take the road less traveled and do a slightly longer but more scenic (and less trafficked) route up to Eureka. We went along Rt. 37, on a path out of Libby and up the Kootenai River (pronounced koot-ney). We had flat-ish roads for a bit, and stopped at the local Ranger Station to get David's Golden Age Pass in case we could use it at campgrounds during our trip.
If you don't know about the Golden Age Pass, it is a one-time fee of $10 for senior (over 62 years old) and it lasts the rest of your life! It gets you into all national parks and gives you big discounts at many other parks and campgrounds all over the USA. When we checked at the ranger station, the receptionist was so kind and apologetic when she informed David that he must be 62 years old to get that pass. Imagine her surprise when David whipped out his driver's license and proved that he is indeed of the Golden Age! She said "Finally, there's someone here older than me!" and signed him up! Then they showed us campground availability (we picked out a campground near Rexford) and sent us on our way.
We climbed (for a steep 2 miles) to the Libby dam and then spent the rest of the day riding along the Koocanusa Lake. This dam is under treaty between Canada and the USA--thus both countries are represented in the lake's name. We saw bald eagles, golden eagles, osprey, and other birds--but still no bears!
The ride became very irritating at this point. Up, down, up, down, up, down on a road that had been blasted out of the cliffs along the lake. I don't get it! If they were blasting, why didn't they make a flat road along the lake? Anyway, it was difficult to get excited about the gradual downhills because you couldn't go very fast, you knew you were going to cross another #$@%(@ creek, and then go up another LONG #$@$%@( hill! Luckily, I was thinking these ominous thoughts and not voicing them to David--I'm trying to keep my whining to a minimum.
David was the hero of the day (isn't he every day???) when I had a flat. We parked by a cliff and he changed my tire while I fished out the sharp steel that had made it go flat. The good news is that we didn't have to take everything off the bike to change the tire! Once back on the road, we had lots more ups and downs until the one real hill down to a bridge that crossed the lake--only a few miles from our destination.
Well, maybe we didn't check that map out very well at the ranger station, because we missed the campground we had planned on. Maybe all those hills confused us! Anyway, we turned into Rexford and found a primitive campground (no water, pit toilets, no showers). Traci quickly nixed that one, and we rode into town to see if there were better alternatives.
Well, town was an interesting place. My spirits fell as we rode through a tiny place with mostly trailers or modified RVs as the homes. It was very well-kept, but only had one business establishment--a bar. We decided to check in there at the Frontier Bar to get some advice from the locals.
We walked in, and I'm sure we looked like aliens to all the locals there--biking gear, helmets, and very sweaty! We walked up to the bar and asked Kyle, the bartender for some advice. David said we were looking for a place with showers. Kyle said "You can get a shower here!" David said we were looking for a place to do some laundry. Kyle said "You can do laundry here!" David said we needed a place to camp. Kyle said "You can camp out back!" Jackpot! We had just hit the trifecta of bicycle touring by accident! For $7, we camped and showered, and did our laundry in the coin machines--all within reach of good draft beer and the best cheeseburgers in the world! Almost heaven--Rexford, MT!
Kyle was one of the best bartenders in the world--every time you thought you might need something else, he was there asking what that something was. He answered all our questions, and the entire staff was friendly and helpful. This was one detour worth taking, and we thank the kind people of Rexford for putting us up for a night! We slept in our tent--surrounded by RVs--and had a little rain overnight. Next stop--Whitefish!
Today was the vertical test for Logan Pass--our planned path through Glacier National Park. We got as much vertical today as we will then--only it was spread out over about 60 miles. It was also a psychological test as there were many false flats and gradual downhills that were not helpful for gaining speed.
We were thankful for the overcast skies and cold temperatures on this challenging day. It was also our fifth day of riding in a row, so our legs were not fresh even after a good night's sleep. We decided once again to take the road less traveled and do a slightly longer but more scenic (and less trafficked) route up to Eureka. We went along Rt. 37, on a path out of Libby and up the Kootenai River (pronounced koot-ney). We had flat-ish roads for a bit, and stopped at the local Ranger Station to get David's Golden Age Pass in case we could use it at campgrounds during our trip.
If you don't know about the Golden Age Pass, it is a one-time fee of $10 for senior (over 62 years old) and it lasts the rest of your life! It gets you into all national parks and gives you big discounts at many other parks and campgrounds all over the USA. When we checked at the ranger station, the receptionist was so kind and apologetic when she informed David that he must be 62 years old to get that pass. Imagine her surprise when David whipped out his driver's license and proved that he is indeed of the Golden Age! She said "Finally, there's someone here older than me!" and signed him up! Then they showed us campground availability (we picked out a campground near Rexford) and sent us on our way.
We climbed (for a steep 2 miles) to the Libby dam and then spent the rest of the day riding along the Koocanusa Lake. This dam is under treaty between Canada and the USA--thus both countries are represented in the lake's name. We saw bald eagles, golden eagles, osprey, and other birds--but still no bears!
The ride became very irritating at this point. Up, down, up, down, up, down on a road that had been blasted out of the cliffs along the lake. I don't get it! If they were blasting, why didn't they make a flat road along the lake? Anyway, it was difficult to get excited about the gradual downhills because you couldn't go very fast, you knew you were going to cross another #$@%(@ creek, and then go up another LONG #$@$%@( hill! Luckily, I was thinking these ominous thoughts and not voicing them to David--I'm trying to keep my whining to a minimum.
David was the hero of the day (isn't he every day???) when I had a flat. We parked by a cliff and he changed my tire while I fished out the sharp steel that had made it go flat. The good news is that we didn't have to take everything off the bike to change the tire! Once back on the road, we had lots more ups and downs until the one real hill down to a bridge that crossed the lake--only a few miles from our destination.
Well, maybe we didn't check that map out very well at the ranger station, because we missed the campground we had planned on. Maybe all those hills confused us! Anyway, we turned into Rexford and found a primitive campground (no water, pit toilets, no showers). Traci quickly nixed that one, and we rode into town to see if there were better alternatives.
Well, town was an interesting place. My spirits fell as we rode through a tiny place with mostly trailers or modified RVs as the homes. It was very well-kept, but only had one business establishment--a bar. We decided to check in there at the Frontier Bar to get some advice from the locals.
We walked in, and I'm sure we looked like aliens to all the locals there--biking gear, helmets, and very sweaty! We walked up to the bar and asked Kyle, the bartender for some advice. David said we were looking for a place with showers. Kyle said "You can get a shower here!" David said we were looking for a place to do some laundry. Kyle said "You can do laundry here!" David said we needed a place to camp. Kyle said "You can camp out back!" Jackpot! We had just hit the trifecta of bicycle touring by accident! For $7, we camped and showered, and did our laundry in the coin machines--all within reach of good draft beer and the best cheeseburgers in the world! Almost heaven--Rexford, MT!
Kyle was one of the best bartenders in the world--every time you thought you might need something else, he was there asking what that something was. He answered all our questions, and the entire staff was friendly and helpful. This was one detour worth taking, and we thank the kind people of Rexford for putting us up for a night! We slept in our tent--surrounded by RVs--and had a little rain overnight. Next stop--Whitefish!
Waterproofing Test
Day 15: Heron to Libby, MT: 66 miles
We got a late start from the Amber Bear Inn after helping feed the animals (actually following Mike around as he did all the work) and having a leisurely breakfast. He also helped me pick up a baby duck (not so easy when the mommy duck and two adoptive aunts--a goose and another duck--were protecting them)!
The pendulum has swung from extremely hot only 3 days ago to cold and rainy. No sun visible or available--it was VERY overcast and cloudy. So we started out and clothing changes became a theme:
Mile 0: Long sleeved jerseys and shorts
Mile 0.5: Added a fleece vest
Mile 5: The mist started: added rain jackets
Mile 15: Getting wet: Added rain booties
Mile 25: The rain truly began
Mile 30: Freezing to death: Added every warm cycling item under some trees (tights, goretex pants, hats, long fingered gloves)
Mile 55: Started removing assorted clothing--the rain let up and we were traveling uphill
We saw lots of wildlife on this scenic ride: three wild turkeys, a golden eagle, and lots of deer. We also had to backtrack for the first time due taking a wrong turn on an unmarked road. I hate doing that! But we only lost about 2 miles, so that wasn't too bad. This was our most scenic ride yet--up Rt. 56 on a road with a good shoulder the whole way. Too bad we could barely see through the raindrops on our glasses! We rode through a gorgeous river canyon--the Bull River--on a fairly level road we didn't have to share with very many cars.
It was also very remote! Not many houses and NO shelters when it came time to try and hide from the rain. We turned off at a sign for a campground only to find it was 4 miles down the road--just a hop, skip, and a jump in a car, but about 45 minutes of extra riding on a loaded bike.
David (Mr. Wilderness) found us a canopy of trees to hide under where we had lunch and put on every stitch of warm clothing we had. We looked like cycling Michelin Men! We made slow, soggy progress, but finally started to warm up at about mile 45. At mile 50, we were at the intersection of Rt. 2, our main road to the East! We decided not to backtrack to Troy to camp, but to head to Libby which was 15 more miles away. Why not? We were finally warmed up!
Then I had one of those "longest mile" times (it seems like I hit the wall once every day like this). Suddenly we were on a false downhill--it looks like it is downhill, but is actually uphill. So your brain says the pedaling should be easy, but it is very difficult! At this point, the pedaling became hard just as BOTH of my knees decided to hurt! When only one hurts, you can compensate with the other leg--but what do you do when both of them hurt??? I struggled mightily for about a mile--and since I struggled, David did too because he was trying to stay with me. It's difficult for my gazelle hubby to go that slow! I re-grouped at the top of that hill, and we found a beautiful stream. David stopped to take a picture and I went ahead so that he could ride at a normal pace until he caught up with me.
Then the miracle occurred! A huge tailwind came up, and I rode like a fiend toward Libby! I was going very fast; both knees decided they were going to be OK; and David had a hard time catching up with me! I knew I had it in me--I just had forgotten during that longest mile.
The wind blew us into Libby, MT--a town with some of the nicest people we have met so far! We stayed at a little motel called "Mountain Magic Motel" and met some very nice folks at dinner. The man recognized David from his blaze orange jacket--and said David had waved to him over by the Troy mine earlier that day! We had a nice dinner and slept on a very squeaky bed (Mountain Magic is having new ones delivered next week), but it didn't bother us one bit!
We got a late start from the Amber Bear Inn after helping feed the animals (actually following Mike around as he did all the work) and having a leisurely breakfast. He also helped me pick up a baby duck (not so easy when the mommy duck and two adoptive aunts--a goose and another duck--were protecting them)!
The pendulum has swung from extremely hot only 3 days ago to cold and rainy. No sun visible or available--it was VERY overcast and cloudy. So we started out and clothing changes became a theme:
Mile 0: Long sleeved jerseys and shorts
Mile 0.5: Added a fleece vest
Mile 5: The mist started: added rain jackets
Mile 15: Getting wet: Added rain booties
Mile 25: The rain truly began
Mile 30: Freezing to death: Added every warm cycling item under some trees (tights, goretex pants, hats, long fingered gloves)
Mile 55: Started removing assorted clothing--the rain let up and we were traveling uphill
We saw lots of wildlife on this scenic ride: three wild turkeys, a golden eagle, and lots of deer. We also had to backtrack for the first time due taking a wrong turn on an unmarked road. I hate doing that! But we only lost about 2 miles, so that wasn't too bad. This was our most scenic ride yet--up Rt. 56 on a road with a good shoulder the whole way. Too bad we could barely see through the raindrops on our glasses! We rode through a gorgeous river canyon--the Bull River--on a fairly level road we didn't have to share with very many cars.
It was also very remote! Not many houses and NO shelters when it came time to try and hide from the rain. We turned off at a sign for a campground only to find it was 4 miles down the road--just a hop, skip, and a jump in a car, but about 45 minutes of extra riding on a loaded bike.
David (Mr. Wilderness) found us a canopy of trees to hide under where we had lunch and put on every stitch of warm clothing we had. We looked like cycling Michelin Men! We made slow, soggy progress, but finally started to warm up at about mile 45. At mile 50, we were at the intersection of Rt. 2, our main road to the East! We decided not to backtrack to Troy to camp, but to head to Libby which was 15 more miles away. Why not? We were finally warmed up!
Then I had one of those "longest mile" times (it seems like I hit the wall once every day like this). Suddenly we were on a false downhill--it looks like it is downhill, but is actually uphill. So your brain says the pedaling should be easy, but it is very difficult! At this point, the pedaling became hard just as BOTH of my knees decided to hurt! When only one hurts, you can compensate with the other leg--but what do you do when both of them hurt??? I struggled mightily for about a mile--and since I struggled, David did too because he was trying to stay with me. It's difficult for my gazelle hubby to go that slow! I re-grouped at the top of that hill, and we found a beautiful stream. David stopped to take a picture and I went ahead so that he could ride at a normal pace until he caught up with me.
Then the miracle occurred! A huge tailwind came up, and I rode like a fiend toward Libby! I was going very fast; both knees decided they were going to be OK; and David had a hard time catching up with me! I knew I had it in me--I just had forgotten during that longest mile.
The wind blew us into Libby, MT--a town with some of the nicest people we have met so far! We stayed at a little motel called "Mountain Magic Motel" and met some very nice folks at dinner. The man recognized David from his blaze orange jacket--and said David had waved to him over by the Troy mine earlier that day! We had a nice dinner and slept on a very squeaky bed (Mountain Magic is having new ones delivered next week), but it didn't bother us one bit!
The Laundry Nazi and Waterproofing Quiz
Day 14: Sandpoint, ID to Heron, MT: 40 miles
To start the story of this day, I have to return to the night before. After we left our massage, we explored the town of Sandpoint. It's just as charming as it first appeared! We went to the Pend Orielle (pronounced pan-dor-ay)Winery (are you sensing a theme here) and did some wine tasting. They get their grapes from Washington State, and make some great wines! Calvin led us through a fun wine-tasting adventure and sent us on our way with an order form. Look for some Pend Orielle wines at a dinner party at our house in the future!
After a wonderful dinner at the Sand Creek Grill, we decided to head to the big laundromat and get our laundry done. We arrived at about 9:15 p.m. looking forward to reading a book (and David getting a beer at the local brewery). There was a lady outside who looked at us and said "no laundry after 8:30 p.m. because we close at 10:00." Well, we were dismayed because we had NO clean clothes! We had even gone commando in order to get all our underwear washed! We whined, cajoled, and begged until she finally said "OK, but don't tell anybody--and if they ask, you're the owner's son!" We happily put our laundry in and David headed off to the brewery. I was reading my book when the lady came over and said "You won't be able to dry anything because I have to close at 10:00." Well, why didn't she say that before? I just looked helplessly at her because I wasn't sure what to say. I asked about the drying process--how long for each quarter, etc. Then I just kept reading until the wash finished up. The lady then came to me and said, "What time do you leave in the morning?" I told her we usually try to leave around 8:30 a.m. (although we've achieved that only twice). She said "You can leave your stuff in the dryers and come in when we open at 7:00 a.m." So that's what I did--with LOTS of trepidation because it's a very vulnerable feeling to leave all your biking clothes and underwear in a strange place!
But it all worked out OK--and the next morning we finished our errands (laundry was safe), went to the post office to send some stuff home to ourselves, and had a leisurely morning because it was pouring rain! We set off late (our first rain delay) but decided to get going because we were going to hit Montana that afternoon! We also were going to test our rain gear for the first time.
We rode around Lake Pend Orielle for 17 miles (it's huge) to the town of Hope. It's a narrow road with no shoulder, and of course lots of traffic (does anyone work in Sandpoint?). We were only scared once by a truck that raced around us and then cut over into a right hand turn right in front of David! Just a note, and sorry if I'm profiling: the angry drivers always seem to be in a pickup truck with dual wheels on the back. Maybe those dual wheels allow an extra aggressiveness gene to emerge...
During the ride we experienced everything from pouring rain to light drizzle. Status report: my fancy-schmanzy waterproof booties bothered me because they kept coming unzipped in the back. David's homemade booties, however, worked perfectly! Chalk one up for the David/Traci/Maggie design team!
We've made a practice of asking locals about alternative routes that might get us off the highway. It really paid off today. In Hope, we asked about places to stay in case the rain kept up, and got some good gouge froma local. She told us an alternative route that would take us to the Amber Bear Inn in Heron, MT. We decided to go for it rather than freeze and be wet in the tent all night.
Since we were on back roads, there was no "Welcome to Montana" sign, but we could tell immediately in two different ways: first, the road surface went from smooth asphalt to pot-holed concrete--so different I had to think back to figure whether we had made a turn or not! Second, we suddenly started seeing wildlife everywhere! White-tailed deer were leaping across the road and along the side. It was pretty amazing, and we found the Amber Bear Inn at about 7:00 p.m. We lost an hour because Montana is on Mountain Time.
Mike and Nancy at the Amber Bear were wonderful hosts! It is an oasis of natural habitat, with a lot of domestic animals mingling with the wildlife. They have guinea fowl, peacocks, ducks, horses, goats, and a llama on the premises. They also have deer, eld, moose, and bears as frequent visitors! We saw everything except for the elusive bear.
What a great place to stay! The rooms were beautifully appointed and the inn was gorgeous. This is a cyclists paradise in terms of food, because dinner was a big one (appetizer, soup, salad, entree, drinks, and dessert all for one price). It was also expertly prepared, and breakfast was also wonderful! We highly recommend this home away from home if you're ever in Montana. After a great night's sleep, we were ready to discover more of Montana...
To start the story of this day, I have to return to the night before. After we left our massage, we explored the town of Sandpoint. It's just as charming as it first appeared! We went to the Pend Orielle (pronounced pan-dor-ay)Winery (are you sensing a theme here) and did some wine tasting. They get their grapes from Washington State, and make some great wines! Calvin led us through a fun wine-tasting adventure and sent us on our way with an order form. Look for some Pend Orielle wines at a dinner party at our house in the future!
After a wonderful dinner at the Sand Creek Grill, we decided to head to the big laundromat and get our laundry done. We arrived at about 9:15 p.m. looking forward to reading a book (and David getting a beer at the local brewery). There was a lady outside who looked at us and said "no laundry after 8:30 p.m. because we close at 10:00." Well, we were dismayed because we had NO clean clothes! We had even gone commando in order to get all our underwear washed! We whined, cajoled, and begged until she finally said "OK, but don't tell anybody--and if they ask, you're the owner's son!" We happily put our laundry in and David headed off to the brewery. I was reading my book when the lady came over and said "You won't be able to dry anything because I have to close at 10:00." Well, why didn't she say that before? I just looked helplessly at her because I wasn't sure what to say. I asked about the drying process--how long for each quarter, etc. Then I just kept reading until the wash finished up. The lady then came to me and said, "What time do you leave in the morning?" I told her we usually try to leave around 8:30 a.m. (although we've achieved that only twice). She said "You can leave your stuff in the dryers and come in when we open at 7:00 a.m." So that's what I did--with LOTS of trepidation because it's a very vulnerable feeling to leave all your biking clothes and underwear in a strange place!
But it all worked out OK--and the next morning we finished our errands (laundry was safe), went to the post office to send some stuff home to ourselves, and had a leisurely morning because it was pouring rain! We set off late (our first rain delay) but decided to get going because we were going to hit Montana that afternoon! We also were going to test our rain gear for the first time.
We rode around Lake Pend Orielle for 17 miles (it's huge) to the town of Hope. It's a narrow road with no shoulder, and of course lots of traffic (does anyone work in Sandpoint?). We were only scared once by a truck that raced around us and then cut over into a right hand turn right in front of David! Just a note, and sorry if I'm profiling: the angry drivers always seem to be in a pickup truck with dual wheels on the back. Maybe those dual wheels allow an extra aggressiveness gene to emerge...
During the ride we experienced everything from pouring rain to light drizzle. Status report: my fancy-schmanzy waterproof booties bothered me because they kept coming unzipped in the back. David's homemade booties, however, worked perfectly! Chalk one up for the David/Traci/Maggie design team!
We've made a practice of asking locals about alternative routes that might get us off the highway. It really paid off today. In Hope, we asked about places to stay in case the rain kept up, and got some good gouge froma local. She told us an alternative route that would take us to the Amber Bear Inn in Heron, MT. We decided to go for it rather than freeze and be wet in the tent all night.
Since we were on back roads, there was no "Welcome to Montana" sign, but we could tell immediately in two different ways: first, the road surface went from smooth asphalt to pot-holed concrete--so different I had to think back to figure whether we had made a turn or not! Second, we suddenly started seeing wildlife everywhere! White-tailed deer were leaping across the road and along the side. It was pretty amazing, and we found the Amber Bear Inn at about 7:00 p.m. We lost an hour because Montana is on Mountain Time.
Mike and Nancy at the Amber Bear were wonderful hosts! It is an oasis of natural habitat, with a lot of domestic animals mingling with the wildlife. They have guinea fowl, peacocks, ducks, horses, goats, and a llama on the premises. They also have deer, eld, moose, and bears as frequent visitors! We saw everything except for the elusive bear.
What a great place to stay! The rooms were beautifully appointed and the inn was gorgeous. This is a cyclists paradise in terms of food, because dinner was a big one (appetizer, soup, salad, entree, drinks, and dessert all for one price). It was also expertly prepared, and breakfast was also wonderful! We highly recommend this home away from home if you're ever in Montana. After a great night's sleep, we were ready to discover more of Montana...
Monday, June 4, 2007
Pampering in Sandpoint
Day 13: Silverwood to Sandpoint: 29 miles
I am writing from a nearly comatose state because I have just had a wonderful massage! David is enjoying his right now and we are very happy to have some of these sore muscles worked out!
We got our massages from Suzanne Guibert (who you can reach at http://www.solsticewellbeing.com, and we found her in the most interesting way! Last night at the campground, there was a group of high school kids having a camping outing (and I think maybe going to the theme park). Anyway, a group of the guys left a brochure for massage on David's clothes in the shower room. They must have thought it was a joke because it had a picture of a "NAKED" back with hands massaging it! David brought the brochure back to the campsite and we called immediately! It turns out that Suzanne used to be a Grand County local--or ski bum as she calls it! She lived there during the ski season for a year. So it was a serendipitous turn of events that she had some massage time available today.
As you might imagine, we were very motivated to get to Sandpoint! It was a short ride on an unfortunately busy road, but we connected with one more bike path along the way. And we got lucky with the weather--very cloudy and about 75 degrees--much better than the last three days for cycling! We did experience our first humidity of the trip today, but it wasn't too bad.
Sandpoint is a beautiful place--situated on Lake Pend Orielle, the largest lake in Idaho. There is a 2-mile bridge to get here, and there is a wide pedestrian/bike road on the side. I think it must have been the old bridge! There is also a very long train bridge and we happened by as a train was moving through. Neat!
This is a really nice town--think Grand Lake on steroids. We have managed to get all our errands completed and there are some very nice stores here. A fun and beautiful place to spend the night, and I understand that in the summer they have great concerts. We're a little early for that season, but it's great anyway. We hear that some of the organized rides across the country have already come through town, so we hope to see some other cyclists in the next few days who are doing the same thing we are!
Suzanne and her husband Chris have made us realize that the people in Idaho are also wonderful folks! They don't realize that we may have to spend the night because we will be unable to walk back to our hotel...
I am writing from a nearly comatose state because I have just had a wonderful massage! David is enjoying his right now and we are very happy to have some of these sore muscles worked out!
We got our massages from Suzanne Guibert (who you can reach at http://www.solsticewellbeing.com, and we found her in the most interesting way! Last night at the campground, there was a group of high school kids having a camping outing (and I think maybe going to the theme park). Anyway, a group of the guys left a brochure for massage on David's clothes in the shower room. They must have thought it was a joke because it had a picture of a "NAKED" back with hands massaging it! David brought the brochure back to the campsite and we called immediately! It turns out that Suzanne used to be a Grand County local--or ski bum as she calls it! She lived there during the ski season for a year. So it was a serendipitous turn of events that she had some massage time available today.
As you might imagine, we were very motivated to get to Sandpoint! It was a short ride on an unfortunately busy road, but we connected with one more bike path along the way. And we got lucky with the weather--very cloudy and about 75 degrees--much better than the last three days for cycling! We did experience our first humidity of the trip today, but it wasn't too bad.
Sandpoint is a beautiful place--situated on Lake Pend Orielle, the largest lake in Idaho. There is a 2-mile bridge to get here, and there is a wide pedestrian/bike road on the side. I think it must have been the old bridge! There is also a very long train bridge and we happened by as a train was moving through. Neat!
This is a really nice town--think Grand Lake on steroids. We have managed to get all our errands completed and there are some very nice stores here. A fun and beautiful place to spend the night, and I understand that in the summer they have great concerts. We're a little early for that season, but it's great anyway. We hear that some of the organized rides across the country have already come through town, so we hope to see some other cyclists in the next few days who are doing the same thing we are!
Suzanne and her husband Chris have made us realize that the people in Idaho are also wonderful folks! They don't realize that we may have to spend the night because we will be unable to walk back to our hotel...
Idaho--HO!
Day 12: Spokane, WA to Silverwood, ID: 59 miles
We had another HOT day today--somewhere between 90 and 99 degrees, depending on the bank signs along the way. But it was a good one anyway.
We got some advice from a great bike store in Spokane (Two Wheel Transit) about the Centennial Path, a bike path from Spokane to Coeur d'Alene, ID. So we tried it and found that it was a lovely, shaded path along the river--about 12 feet wide and very smooth. Spokane is a cycling city--and lots of other people were using the path also. Cyclists, roller bladers, and runners were all having fun in the morning before the real heat began.
About 20 miles into the ride, we crossed into Idaho, our third state! Very exciting stuff... Of course, we took the obligatory pictures and kept on riding. Coeur d'Alene is about 10 miles across the border, so we headed there to take a midday break and hopefully beat the heat. We had lunch and headed to the City Park where David had a nap on the grass and Traci sneezed a lot! The allergies have returned--but to what exactly? Trees? Grass? Idaho? Who knows?
The park was full of people trying to beat the heat. There was live music, and amazingly enough it was all Elvis (a retrospective of his entire career, I think) and Patsy Cline songs! The audience was the appropriate age for this music, and there was a rousing round of "The Hokey Pokey" during a break in the singing! What a hoot!
Many park-goers were dressed in bikinis and bathing suits--trying to cool off in the lake. It was a madhouse of hot people! And the town was a true college town--lots of coffee shops and bars. We hung out until about 4:30 p.m. and then hit the road again for a campground a local told us about. Note to Neilie--we did bring along food for dinner, and David carried a watermelon along as a special treat!
There was a bike path part of the way up U.S. 95, but it soon became like a ride ona bucking bronco due to the tree roots raising humps in the path. Since we didn't want to be bucked off or break any spokes, we detoured to a side road until we had to join the main road for the last 5 miles into the campground.
When we started this trip, I thought we'd have no problem with a place to stay as long as we had a tent and a credit card. Not true. When we arrived at the campground, hot and tired, we were informed that it was an "RV-ONLY" campground! But they let us know that another campground might be about 5 miles away (or 10 miles--whatever). Five miles makes a difference on the bike and 10 miles seemed impossible, but off we went grumbling a bit.
Luckily, within 5 miles we saw the rollercoasters that marked Silverwood, a local theme park with an attached campground that ALLOWS tents! And there we stayed after only a few extra miles of riding.
So far, we have given Washington State an A+ for their hospitality and friendliness. We would be happy to return there whenever we can. At this point, the jury is out on Idaho, but were happy to continue exploring for another day...
We had another HOT day today--somewhere between 90 and 99 degrees, depending on the bank signs along the way. But it was a good one anyway.
We got some advice from a great bike store in Spokane (Two Wheel Transit) about the Centennial Path, a bike path from Spokane to Coeur d'Alene, ID. So we tried it and found that it was a lovely, shaded path along the river--about 12 feet wide and very smooth. Spokane is a cycling city--and lots of other people were using the path also. Cyclists, roller bladers, and runners were all having fun in the morning before the real heat began.
About 20 miles into the ride, we crossed into Idaho, our third state! Very exciting stuff... Of course, we took the obligatory pictures and kept on riding. Coeur d'Alene is about 10 miles across the border, so we headed there to take a midday break and hopefully beat the heat. We had lunch and headed to the City Park where David had a nap on the grass and Traci sneezed a lot! The allergies have returned--but to what exactly? Trees? Grass? Idaho? Who knows?
The park was full of people trying to beat the heat. There was live music, and amazingly enough it was all Elvis (a retrospective of his entire career, I think) and Patsy Cline songs! The audience was the appropriate age for this music, and there was a rousing round of "The Hokey Pokey" during a break in the singing! What a hoot!
Many park-goers were dressed in bikinis and bathing suits--trying to cool off in the lake. It was a madhouse of hot people! And the town was a true college town--lots of coffee shops and bars. We hung out until about 4:30 p.m. and then hit the road again for a campground a local told us about. Note to Neilie--we did bring along food for dinner, and David carried a watermelon along as a special treat!
There was a bike path part of the way up U.S. 95, but it soon became like a ride ona bucking bronco due to the tree roots raising humps in the path. Since we didn't want to be bucked off or break any spokes, we detoured to a side road until we had to join the main road for the last 5 miles into the campground.
When we started this trip, I thought we'd have no problem with a place to stay as long as we had a tent and a credit card. Not true. When we arrived at the campground, hot and tired, we were informed that it was an "RV-ONLY" campground! But they let us know that another campground might be about 5 miles away (or 10 miles--whatever). Five miles makes a difference on the bike and 10 miles seemed impossible, but off we went grumbling a bit.
Luckily, within 5 miles we saw the rollercoasters that marked Silverwood, a local theme park with an attached campground that ALLOWS tents! And there we stayed after only a few extra miles of riding.
So far, we have given Washington State an A+ for their hospitality and friendliness. We would be happy to return there whenever we can. At this point, the jury is out on Idaho, but were happy to continue exploring for another day...
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Smokin' in Spokane
Day 10: Colfax to Spokane, WA: 75 miles (!) Day 11: ZERO miles (day off!)
Today we broke the 500-mile milestone! Only 2,900 to go...
We got up early and got an early start from Colfax to try and beat the heat. And the day seemed like it would be good because there was only a 2-mile hill to start! All these little towns are in the river valleys, so it seems like we descend to get in and must climb to get back out.
And speaking of climbing, here are some traveler's definitions for you all. The word is first and it's meaning is in parenthesis afterward:
Anyway, on advice from other cyclists we met at our hotel, we left the freewqay behind and took to the side roads. It was much quieter--the hills were shorter and steeper--and there were times when we didn't see a car for 30 minutes. It was a nice change of pace from the many trucks that have whizzed by in the last 10 days.
But the heat wave is on here in the Northwest. We had a slight breeze, but suffered under the hot sun. The pavement seemed like it was going to cook us! During part of the ride, we were popping tar blisters in the road with our tires. It sounded like one of those popper toys kids run around with. As far as suffering goes, we have noticed a difference between me and David: David suffers in silence and I suffer boisterously! Sometimes that is not a great combination! But we made it through...
The backroads showed us some of the way of life here in the Palouse--beautiful, well-kept farms and houses. Definitely an agricultural community. We transitioned during this ride to a pine forest area--it was interesting to find a yellow pine forest after all that farm land. The smell reminded me of hiking at home.
We traveled through a VERY hot Turnbull Wildlife Refuge and I didn't see one wild thing (other than David). I had a slight meltdown because it was so hot and there was not any relief in sight--I thought there might be a visitor's center with water (and maybe free massage). I must have been hallucinating! But we finally reached Cheney (pronounced "cheen-ey"), and were revived with a drink at the local grocery store. Then we sprinted to Spokane (so to speak) to reach the post office before it closed.
We successfully picked up David's camera parts (thanks, James!) and searched for a good hotel. We found one! The Hotel Lusso is located right downtown and has a lot of great amenities, from free happy hour and breakfast to VERY comfy beds and gracious staff. We learned that there is a big Art Fest going on here this weekend and decided to stay an extra day! Contributing to that decision was the fact that the heat wave continues, and it is about 100 degrees here on Saturday.
So we are spending two nights in the lap of luxury, spending lots of money on art, and having a great time in the city of Spokane! There are lots of things to do here, and we'll only scratch the surface in two days. Maybe a return trip will be in order...
Next stop, Idaho! We head there tomorrow and will probably make it halfway to Sandpoint. We hear it's fantastic also!
Today we broke the 500-mile milestone! Only 2,900 to go...
We got up early and got an early start from Colfax to try and beat the heat. And the day seemed like it would be good because there was only a 2-mile hill to start! All these little towns are in the river valleys, so it seems like we descend to get in and must climb to get back out.
And speaking of climbing, here are some traveler's definitions for you all. The word is first and it's meaning is in parenthesis afterward:
- Grade (hill)
- Plateau (hill)
- Ridge (hill)
- Mountain (big hill)
- Rise (hill)
- Butte (hill)
- Crest (hill)
- Gulch (a hill is coming real soon)
Anyway, on advice from other cyclists we met at our hotel, we left the freewqay behind and took to the side roads. It was much quieter--the hills were shorter and steeper--and there were times when we didn't see a car for 30 minutes. It was a nice change of pace from the many trucks that have whizzed by in the last 10 days.
But the heat wave is on here in the Northwest. We had a slight breeze, but suffered under the hot sun. The pavement seemed like it was going to cook us! During part of the ride, we were popping tar blisters in the road with our tires. It sounded like one of those popper toys kids run around with. As far as suffering goes, we have noticed a difference between me and David: David suffers in silence and I suffer boisterously! Sometimes that is not a great combination! But we made it through...
The backroads showed us some of the way of life here in the Palouse--beautiful, well-kept farms and houses. Definitely an agricultural community. We transitioned during this ride to a pine forest area--it was interesting to find a yellow pine forest after all that farm land. The smell reminded me of hiking at home.
We traveled through a VERY hot Turnbull Wildlife Refuge and I didn't see one wild thing (other than David). I had a slight meltdown because it was so hot and there was not any relief in sight--I thought there might be a visitor's center with water (and maybe free massage). I must have been hallucinating! But we finally reached Cheney (pronounced "cheen-ey"), and were revived with a drink at the local grocery store. Then we sprinted to Spokane (so to speak) to reach the post office before it closed.
We successfully picked up David's camera parts (thanks, James!) and searched for a good hotel. We found one! The Hotel Lusso is located right downtown and has a lot of great amenities, from free happy hour and breakfast to VERY comfy beds and gracious staff. We learned that there is a big Art Fest going on here this weekend and decided to stay an extra day! Contributing to that decision was the fact that the heat wave continues, and it is about 100 degrees here on Saturday.
So we are spending two nights in the lap of luxury, spending lots of money on art, and having a great time in the city of Spokane! There are lots of things to do here, and we'll only scratch the surface in two days. Maybe a return trip will be in order...
Next stop, Idaho! We head there tomorrow and will probably make it halfway to Sandpoint. We hear it's fantastic also!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
