Big Sky

Yep, Montana is Big Sky country. And long ride country.

In yesterday's blog, I mentioned our Warm Showers and Adventure Cycling hosts, Arlen Hall and his wife Shawn. One thing I neglected to mention was diet. When you are burning 5000+ calories a day, there is no diet big enough to stop the crew from eating. So we tried out the Big Dipper, which Arlen said has been named one of the top 10 ice cream stores in America. So, we all got double scoops in waffle cones! And look ... we're still all skinny!

Then this morning, we had a humongous and delicious breakfast prepared by Shawn, and we almost made it out the door by 7:00 am, which would have been 6:00 am just a few miles west of where we were. But we had a good reason for setting off 10 minutes late. Could you pick out your own bike in this garage?

Of course you've heard the bike aficionado's answer to the question, "How many bikes do you need?" The answer:  "One more than I have right now." For Arlen and Shawn, there was a bike for all occasions. My favorite ... when Arlen travels to trade shows or planning sessions, he puts his clothes in a carry-on backpack, and checks his Bike Friday folding bike as luggage. At the destination, he unpacks the bike, puts his backpack in the extra-rugged suitcase, and drags it behind the bike to wherever he has to go. An all-in-one solution for luggage, bicycle, and ground transportation. And since he's the director of tours for Adventure Cycling, I'll be he knows all the good routes. He said they did something like 109 tours last year (he didn't ride all of them, but helped organize them).

Anyway, by 7:10 am, we did manage to roll down the street, through a maze of bike paths in Missoula, then up Highway 200, which will be our companion for the next several days. Today, we did 80.6 miles with 2601.7 feet of ascending. Tomorrow, we do something like 96 miles, including crossing the Continental Divide via Rodgers Pass (in the first 18 miles out of Lincoln, Montana, where we are being graciously hosted by the American Legion), then a long and gradual descent, ending at Great Falls, Montana.

We are doing a fundraiser for Operation Comfort Warriors, so the Commander and Adjutant of Montana Post 9 in Lincoln presented us with a check for $200 to help on our way to our goal of $10,000. And tomorrow morning, they will host us for a quick breakfast before we head up the mountain for another long day!

Time Zones and Mountains

After being out of range of phone service the past two days, I feel like so much has happened that I have to relate, and yet there is nothing … just some amazing country, some great rides, and great people!

To start with, I need to thank Pat Wollner, our support driver. She is a cyclist herself, and would love to be out riding with us at times, but she is instead exhausting herself (sometimes, at least) supporting the four of us who are riding. It is rather a thankless task (thank you anyway, Pat … without you, this wouldn’t be happening), and yesterday, with the high heat at Powell Campground, myself and the other three bike riders went up to Lochsa Lodge and stayed in the air conditioned room to use their very weak Internet signal. When we got back to the campsite, there was Pat practically passed out from the stifling heat, with her head wrapped in a towel trying to stay cool. I suggested she dip her feet in the river, but it was too far away. We finally settled on a good way to cool her down … the wet towel around the head, and a bucket of cold water for her feet. So, you can see below our Pat air conditioner at work. After a couple of hours, she was revived, and went to spend a cool evening by herself in the nearby lodge while I stayed behind to supervise the boys. Pat got all her communicating with boys' parents and with friends, then returned to camp to allow the boys a bit of free time. They took the truck up to the lodge, played pool, then returned to camp and were in bed by around 9:30 pm ... still daylight.

We got up early, had some Samurai cereal for breakfast, packed up the car, then got on our bikes and started up Lolo Pass. From our campsite to the summit of the pass, we climbed nearly 2000 feet, and that was during the first 12 miles of the day. I was far behind the three boys, who climbed the hill like mountain goats on bikes, but I finally caught up with them at the top of the pass, where there was a very comprehensive visitor center, free WiFi (at least on the Montana side of the building … that’s a joke, by the way), and free coffee. The picture shows the three boys getting ready for the long climb up the hill, most of it at around 8% grade. 

The picture below is a map in the visitor center showing how mountainous the area is. On the left of the picture is the valley where Missoula is located, and we have just traveled from right to left following the river valley that shows near the middle of the map moving from right to left.

Anyway, we got to Missoula in good time, and are spending the night with Arlen Hall, who works at Adventure Cycling, and his wife Shawn ... both avid cyclists. Shawn cycled with us to the Adventure Cycling headquarters, which is practically a shrine to American cycle touring. The company was started with the BikeCentennial in 1976, and has been supporting cycle tourism in America ever since. I'll post one picture just to give a small taste of what the office looks like ... decorated with bicycles from famous bike tours, each with its own story. The two couples who founded Adventure Cycling had the idea while riding from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America, documented in the May 1973 National Geographic.

Tomorrow, we ride towards the Continental Divide, which we expect to cross sometime in the next few days. Hopefully, the air at closer to 6000 feet will be a bit cooler, and we can start to out-race the stagnant high pressure area that is causing a record hot spell in these parts.

Oh, and the two pictures that I promised yesterday, of the boys "swimming in the river, and me emerging from the river after doing the laundry with my clothes on my back.

Water World

Surprise! I found a Wi-Fi hotspot at the Lochsa Lodge, near our campground by Lolo pass. Tomorrow, we have to climb to the top of the pass, cross the Idaho-Montana border, then zoom down into Missoula. Looking forward to meeting the folks from Adventure Cycling, who are practically the patron saints of cross-country bicycle touring.

The theme for the past couple of days seems to be water! We beat the heat by leaving early in the morning, reaching our campsite at the Wilderness Gateway campground by lunch time, then we went swimming in the cold Clearwater river. “Swimming is an exaggeration. We got wet, and cooled off. And I used up a good bit “camp soap” (biodegradable soap) scrubbing my bicycling outfit, my hair, and anything else that was exposed. It took about 10 minutes for everything to dry. If I can get past this very slow Internet connection, I’ll post pictures. Looks like I'll have to post pictures tomorrow when we get to Missoula. 

Earlier in the day, we ran into about a dozen boy scouts riding from Washington to North Carolina raising funds for an unrelated charity. They all wore identical outfits, rode identical bikes, and carried identical gear. I realized how rag-tag we must look to them, so I told the ride leader that we were the Astoria Irregulars. Ironically, Bryce, who organized our entire ride, had initially been inspired when he met up with the same crew (but a different bunch of scouts) two years earlier, and rode with them for 15 miles near Astoria. Now here we were crossing paths on the road. We get to talk to lots of folks out touring on their bicycles. Amazing how popular it has begun. Anyway, we may meet up with the other group of scouts sometime within the next few days, since our paths are similar for awhile.

Then today, since we only had to ride around 40 miles, we scheduled a stop at the Weir Creek trail and hiked a quarter of a mile to a hot springs. None of the boys had ever been to a hot spring, so it was a big adventure for them. For me, it was a chance to slip into 115 degree water and soak my tired muscles for a few minutes. None of the boys made it all the way into the water … too hot for them, but to me, it felt great! No pictures of the hot springs, because we all left our cameras behind except for Ryan, and he dropped his cellphone, putting him temporarily out of service with a cracked screen and an experiment in drying out the cell phone in a bag of couscous. Soon, hopefully, the phone will be “hot to Trott.”

We’ve been told by a couple of people to avoid Highway 12, but we’ve seen more cyclists than motorists, and it’s been a gorgeous ride so far. We crest the Bitterroot Mountains tomorrow, then start our ascent of the Rockies. Everyone will have tired legs before we get there, but everyone is riding strongly, so I’m sure we’ll make it with flying colors. 

Grampa Don and HOT HOT Weather

Something different today on our Bike Trip America journey. And something similar. Something old, something new, nothing borrowed, something very blue.

To start with, we rolled down a long steep hill from where we stayed last night, right through the middle of Lewiston, across a bridge, then we headed east toward our first stop, Orofino, the site of an enormous dam. It would have been a very pleasant ride, except that the temperature quickly climbed above 100 degrees, and stayed there for several hours. When we rolled through Orofino on the way to our end destination, we saw a time and temperature sign that read 104. Happy to report that everyone was drinking constantly, and there were no signs of anyone bonking. The only riding problem was a tire blowout on Bryce’s bike. He had to climb on top of the GMC Suburban and retrieve one of his spare tires.

At lunch, in a slightly forlorn looking park at the beginning of Orofino, I checked my phone messages, and discovered, much to my delight, that I had become a grandfather. We agreed beforehand that I would use the Welsh name for Grandpa, so from now on, I’m Taidie to our newest crew member, “little” Owen. He wasn’t in his bassinette for more than a couple of hours before he grabbed the side and pulled himself over. By the end of our bike trip, maybe Owen will be strong enough to get on a bike and come join us!

When we finally got to Kamiah (pronounced Kam-ee-aiy), we found small town America! We called the local contact for the American Legion got directions to the Legion Hall, where we were staying. It was a huge, nicely maintained but nearly empty building. The one nice thing about it, it stayed relatively cool in spite of the 100 degree temperatures outside. There were no more than a handful of active legionnaires in the town, and most of them could be accounted for on one hand. There was only one couple in town, the local commander, Ron and his wife Maryanne Funnemark, who took us to their house on the edge of town … the house where he had grown up … and provided a barbeque picnic, while the boys and Maryanne entertained each other with a game of “Lawn Yahtzee,” with 6 inch dice tossed from a milk pail.

Ron was trying to be helpful with our planning for the next day’s route, and called the next door neighbor to help him decide. “How far is it to Wilderness Campground?” “A fur piece, I reckon.” “Will it be hot?” “Seems likely.” After awhile, the neighbor came by to help us more seriously, and provided a lot of good advice for the journey. As a result, we will leave early to beat the heat, and will end at milepost 122 … or was that 3 miles past Fish Crick, which is milepost 138 … We’ll find our way, don’t worry. And maybe we’ll have Owen come navigate for us!

The Legion Hall has two interesting features. A disco ball hanging from the ceiling, and a jukebox. The boys managed to get both working, which made for an entertaining evening, what with Ryan’s strobing flashlight, a large empty building, etc. Now, off to bed so we can depart in a timely fashion!

Not sure when this will get posted, since we are low on options for Internet usage the next couple of days. If worse comes to worse, this will get posted in Missoula on Monday.

Triple Century?

I spoke before about a nested century ride ... anytime you ride a 100 miles, there is a metric century, a hundred kilometers, embedded within it. In other words, you can't get to 100 miles without first riding for at least 62.5 miles. So two century rides today, both in one day. And actually, we could make that a dozen, because there were four of us on the ride, and we are a team.

We started from near Astoria with four riders, and we were taking bets on who would be the first to surrender to the reality of how tough it is to live on the road. My bets are on ... nobody dropping out! Everyone is riding so well, I'm starting to think we could well reach NYC in mid-August with the entire team intact.

How tough was today? From our summer-long itinerary, we had only two century days planned, but a slight change in course made today into a century as well. So it will have been the third longest ride of the summer. The day also included 4000 feet of climbing (and 200 feet more of descending), so we ended at a slightly lower altitude ... going from Walla Walla, Washington to Lewiston, Idaho. We will start correcting that altitude change tomorrow when we venture into the Rockies, headed eventually for Lolo Pass in three or four days. So, the third longest ride, the climbing-est ride of the entire trip, and temperatures climbing toward 100 (see, there's the third century). And we still averaged nearly 15 mph for the day!

Only one thing could make up for that ... a real bed, a hot shower, a home-cooked meal, all provided by the Legion Commander in Lewiston, Ivan Ulmer and his wife Shelly, along with their two young dachsunds, Beanie and Frankie. They have been extraordinarily generous, making the tiredness of a long hot hundred-mile day melt away, and making us anticipate the bliss of a good night's sleep before rolling down the hill in the morning to ride a slow, steady climb towards Kamiah.

My cell phone, while not really broken, found itself doing weird things as it was stashed in the back pocket of my cycling jersey, along with some road snacks. First, the phone posted something to Facebook, giving me the status of "Ooo." I didn't type that. Ignore it. I'm not in pain. But also, the phone's screen went so dim that I couldn't see it, and therefore, took no pictures.

What would the pictures have been? Ryan with a flat tire (first one on the road for the entire trip!!!). A large and vicious dog trying to chase me until I told it to "Go Home!" The dog put its tail between its legs, then chased from a safer distance of about 20 yards. Having lunch in the cemetery entering Pomeroy. And taking a rest break at the top of Alpowa Summit, on the Lewis and Clark Trail, before plunging down towards the Snake River, and the twin cities of Clarkston and Lewiston. You'll have to imagine those pictures, because, for the most part, they were not saved for posterity.

Alas, what is one to do? Guess we'll just have to keep riding, and hope the weather isn't as hot as the weatherman is predicting.

Old Fashioned Travel

Tomorrow we head into the hills and several days of anticipated high temps, combined with 90 miles and over 4000 feet of climbing. We end the day with a fast descent into Lewiston Idaho.

How do you like our new support convoy?

Actually, there's  a Model A Ford gathering in Walla Walla, so there are dozens of these beautifully restored antiques...sort of like me! And our real support car now has real AC, reliable breakz, and a happy driver!

The next 4 or 5 days may be thin on Internet connections, so it will be tricky doing updates. But of course I will try.

Here's a final shot of our other bit of antique transportation, not quite fully restored.

Air Conditioning (Please)

We learned yesterday that early is good in these hotter climes. We only had 54 miles to go from Umatilla to Walla Walla, but still decided to set off at 6:30 after a good breakfast. One rider wanted to ride more slowly than yesterday, so I led out at an easy pace. After a few miles, we again picked up a tailwind, and clipped along at a good pace, getting to the Washington border (22 miles from Umatilla) within an hour. We lollygagged along at about 16 mph, taking a break to get some ice water at a mini-mart, and were approaching Walla Walla by around 10:00 am. Easy riding, but we could see the start of the mountains to the east. After a day's rest, we will be heading into Idaho.

Since we're resting and relaxing, naturally I went for a lazy bike ride into town (we're staying in the Walla Walla Assembly of God church school, which is out of session at the moment ... a gym, air conditioning, everything to boys could want. So anyway, as I said, a lazy bike ride into town, to the Starbucks on the corner of Main and 3rd. I believe I had a cup of coffee in the same Starbucks the day it first opened, which would have been about 15 years ago! I started talking to a couple of men who were admiring my bike, and it turned out that one of them, Mike Harting, had been an avid cyclist until he broke his leg in a cycling accident. He had just gotten the rod removed from his leg, and was proudly showing it off. He now does oil work in North Dakota, so we may encounter him later during ourtrip. You never know.

Mike's buddy, a Basque named Cesareo Texidor, wore a Special Forces badge on his cap. He had been a medic in the Special Forces, twice wounded. Just the sort of person who could benefit from the charity that we are fundraising for. Of course I told them about the blog, and about the group of us riding across the country, and our cause, Operation Comfort Warriors.

You can read more about our bike ride, and help us reach our $10,000 goal by following the "Donate" link on the Bike Trip America site at the link above.

Meanwhile, back to the subject at hand. Air conditioning. We are hoping for good weather all the way ... not too hot, not too cold, not to rainy, not too many mosquitoes. Not too many real early mornings. And for Pat's sake (Pat is our support driver), hopefully the shop in Walla Walla will be able to fix the car air conditioning once and for all. That way, maybe we can all reach the east coast in comfort, knowing that "comfort" is rather a relative term, both for those of us riding bicycles (approximately 1,056,300 turns of the crank), and for Pat, who has to handle the GMC Suburban on the blue roads of America (all those smaller roads that will lead us through the hinterlands).