Crusty Cassette

11 July 2003 Victor, MT to Missoula, MT 53.2 miles 3:54 riding time

Chris wasn’t going to cycle into Missoula with me today, but as I was departing at 9:00 a.m., he changed his mind. By 10:00 a.m. we were on the road. By the time we got to Lolo it was evident I’d have trouble meeting my goals 1) haircut, 2) visit Adventure Cycling Headquarters, 3) report to National Guard prior to 1700 hours. By skipping lunch, shorting some of our conversations with passing tourists, and by getting my haircut AFTER checking into NG, we did meet the goals. Today we talked to tourists: mother and daughter team cycling from Williston ND to Missoula and down to Jackson Hole, WY; a father 16 year old son & 13 year old daughter doing Missoula to Pueblo on the Trans Am; a couple doing a mixture of NT, L-C, & Trans Am from Wash. To Maine. We also saw a single guy we didn’t talk to as we were trying to make up for a 10:00 a.m. departure! Chris called Ken for a shuttle back to Victor and found out my uniform wasn’t there at 4:45 p.m., so I reported that while checking in. However, he wasn’t able to drive off until 5:30, and he met the UPS mail at the driveway!

12 July 2003 around Missoula 20.9 miles 1:47 riding time

Drill was a bit boring as they were checking equipment in after their 2 week’s annual training near Boise. After drill I rode the bike paths of Missoula and checked out the college campus. Wish I’d have had a big tube to go tubing in the rivers!

13 July 2003 motel to armory and armory to Wal-Mart, 3.9 miles 0:24 riding time

Chris got his digital photos processed at Wal-Mart where we met, and tonight got most of his web-site updated with photos for those of you following his site.

14 July 2003 Victor, MT to Lolo Hot Springs MT 61.8 miles 5:09 riding time

I’ll miss Ken, his hot tub, well behaved dogs, excellent cooking, and pleasant personality, but it does feel good to get back on the road again. Chris had Ken deliver him to Lolo as we’d already ridden this section on Friday on the way into Missoula, so we rode together out to the hot springs where we called the day a bit short of the plan while soaking and swimming.

15 July 2003 Lolo Hot Springs MT to Lowell, ID 89.1 miles; 6:20 riding time

A short but steep climb of about 13 miles awaited us as we left the hot springs and arrived at the new Lewis-Clark Visitors Center which was closed today and every Tuesday and Wednesday. From here, it’s downhill all the way to Lowell. About noon the prevailing westerlies kicked in. Just after noon we met Matt & Ben two 17 year old cousins soon to be seniors in high school. One is from Pasco where they started and the other is from Chicago. They’re cycling Pasco, WA to Pueblo, CO starting in Pasco, riding south to Baker, OR where they caught the Trans Am. I joined them for a hour or so of swimming, but I couldn’t convince Chris to get in the water, and he soon cycled on without me. Ben & Matt were full of questions about touring and specifically about single touring verses doing it with friends. Seems one like to sleep in, rest most of the afternoon, and get most of the miles in late afternoon when it’s hottest. The other doesn’t like that! Welcome to the world of cycle touring where finding suitable companions can be the biggest challenge! Their parents have forbidden their splitting up and meeting in the evening, so that wasn’t an option. They were still swimming with most of their mileage awaiting them when I left them at 4:30 MDT. I arrived at Lowell about 6:30 MDT (drats, I’m back in this accursed eastern enclave of Pacific Time and must set my watch back loosing an hour of light as Chris likes to be up by the clock more than by sunrise and the clock has some effect on me as well as the opening time of everything!)

16 July 2003 Lowell, ID to Kamiah, ID 33 miles 3:15 riding time

Seems almost like a day off to put in such few hours! However, with this heat and the pressure we were under to get to Missoula, we have a few easy days. Seven Mile Grade awaits us in the morning, and we hope to conquer it in the morning coolness. We talked to two older guys on custom Co-Motion bikes today doing the TransAm but adding the distance from Seattle to Portland and planning some extra miles back east. They were busy fixing a flat as we rode up on them headed east.

The STP bike classic began Saturday July 12 under a cloudless star studded Seattle sky. I lined up with several hundred other riders to be in the first wave out of Husky stadium parking lot. We wound our way down side streets, across lake union and then south along Lake Washington blvd. Temperatures were near perfect for biking, just under 70 degrees and low humidity.

It was somewhat dicey for about the first 15 miles or so as riders who pictured themselves in their own Tour de France were dodging in and out of the main bulk of riders. I did pass several altercations but none of them appeared serious.

Did I mention that at the start I lined up next to a young gentleman who was doing the ride on a large wheel unicycle!! He had a set of aero bars complete with a cycle computer attached to the seat post. At 10 mph his legs were a blur, can't imagine doing that for 200 miles..

As the ride continued south toward Kent and Algona we could see Mount Rainer in the east. Its snow capped peak back lit by the rising sun and a wisp of single cloud trailing from the peak in the breeze. The only significant hill came at about mile 44. Compared to the rolling hills around here it was not much to take on. All those training rides I had done with the club paid off. Riders were moving in loosely organized groups and pace lines for the first 100 miles. Food and water stops were well organized, staffed, and stocked with fruit, bagels, veggie wraps, muffins, H2O and power aid. The free food stops were spaced about 40 miles apart with community sponsored stops in between.

The first 100 miles were good. I made the half way point just after 10 AM and decided to reward myself with a longer break than I had taken so far. As I pulled into the food stop at Centralia the wind started to pick up to more than the slight breeze we had up to this point. The weather forecast had predicted a low pressure front would move in from the coast on Saturday. It seemed the last half of the ride was going to be more work.

From Centralia to the bridge across the Columbia river at Longview was way more work. The wind was gusting and at times my speed was down to 12 mph. I think it would be fair to say the wind was similar to that which the club had on the Tour of the Palouse ride, which I missed by the way. By now the riders were spaced quite a ways apart. The terain is not as flat as people say it is. They have their own version of rolling hills, not like the palouse but not flat either. At times I was riding alone with no one in front or behind as far as I could see.

Across the river and in to Oregon. We turn south east and the wind is now at more of an oblique angle so not directly in our faces. By this time the cloud cover has become solid and I can feel a few drops of rain. It never did really rain which I was thankful for. The road is relatively flat for the last 30 miles. It was along highway 30 which does get a lot of traffic. My only mechanical problem was a flat at mile 170. No sooner had I pulled over to the side of the road to fix the flat when one of the Honda Goldwing riders pulled up to lend assistance. They were patrolling the entire length of the route to lend assistance to those in need. He all but changed the flat for me, he even had a portable compressor. Flat fixed and I continued on. I did catch up to a larger group of riders 20 miles out of Portland and continued the rest of the ride with them.

We passed under the bridge that the STP used in previous years to get to the finish. The bridge was being worked on so we had to continue an additional 10 miles to the new finish line. The ride organizers said that this years STP was the first time the ride was over 200 miles in length, 206 to be exact. We passed some residential housing on our way in to Portland and then through a business district. While waiting at one of the stop lights we watched the police pat down some individual outside the front door of a bank. Perhaps he forgot to pay his over draft fee???

The finish line was at Holladay park. I was glad to see the banner and the lines of people cheering us on. I was met by my wife LeeAnn who was glad to see that I could still walk after 12 hours in the saddle.

I really enjoyed the ride. I saw bib number 7645 so I know at least that many people had registered. It was well organized. We were well fed and had plenty of support on the road. I would recommend it to anyone.

Chris & I spent quite a bit of time on the plan this morning. We'd be delighted to have any TRC members or affiliates join us for a few days. Here's the plan:

14 Jul 60 miles to Powell, ID
15 July 67 miles to Lowell, ID
16 July 44 miles to Kamiah, ID
17 July 45 miles to Winchester
18 July 42 miles to Lewiston
19 July layover, Lewiston, ID
20 July 76 miles to Waitsburg, WA
21 Jul 76 miles to Umatila, OR
22 Jul 85 miles to Biggs Jct, OR
23 Jul 45 miles to Hood River, OR
24 Jul 66 miles to Portland, OR
25 Jul 56 miles to West Post, Or
26 Jul 26 miles to Astoria
back to Portland and return to Lewiston TBD

1 July 2003: Malta MT to Havre, MT; 92.0 miles; 6:52 riding time

Did I mention that Earl (his real name) is 76 and doing the Lewis-Clark Route? He made a good campground companion last night when Chris and David ducked into a motel to escape the storm that didn’t happen. Earl did break camp about 4:00 a.m., but we caught up with him between Dodson & Fork Belknap. He had no interest in joining our pack as we were riding in a paceline to reduce the headwind. Earl caught us again at Ft. Belknap where we had our peanut butter sandwiches. Earl was determined to reach Havre at 92 miles, and his age and determination helped incline David and Chris to that decision. Just outside of Ft. Belknap we me Dan, a 20 something who is with a group of 4 young men doing the Northern Tier. They’re mostly bike shop employees from a bike shop in Tucson that was recently bought out by a chain. We talked to Dan for 5 or 10 minutes and caught the rest of his group 20 miles to the west in an ice cream store in Chinook (about 40 miles separated the two parts!). They ride 60 to 120 miles daily, sometimes sleep at the side of the road, and don’t require daily showers! I asked them if they were on a budget, and the response from one was that he had worked 5 jobs to pay for the trip, and he was not pinching pennies. Their youthful enthusiasm combined with Earl’s aged determination probably pushed David and Chris to support riding all the way to Havre! This jumps us ahead one day and makes it possible for me to drill in Missoula as scheduled.

2 July 2003: Havre, MT to Fort Benton, MT; 28.5 miles; 7:22 riding time (avg 7.22 MPH)

Once we got to Havre, David decided he needed a rest day and would like to take another in Helena, and since he didn’t want to ride Lemhi Pass anyway, so he left a phone message that he was splitting for another week planning to meet us outside of Missoula after my July drill.

Leaving Havre we turned to go southwest, and of course, the wind switched to come from the southwest at 5 to 20 MPH by late afternoon. As the wind built we started taking 2 mile turns in front and 2 miles of drafting (drafting is less safe on loaded touring bikes but often done in headwinds anyway). By the time we got to Loma Chris was saying he was going to hitch hike on into Fort Benton. After a break, some ice cream and lemonade, he decided to crawl back on the bike but said he was too tired to safely draft, so we split up for the last 8 to 10 miles. Fort Benton is a neat little touristy town, the last stop on any river navigation up the Missouri in days of old though nothing comes up the river anymore except tourist boats. We’re back in the land of customer service, and the local ice cream store agrees to put chocolate in the “blizzard”. It also has not big mosquito problem! The worst of Montana is over although I’ll be several more days recovering from the mosquito attacks along the Milk River. No wonder Lewis & Clark complained to extensively about mosquitoes!

3 July 2003: Fort Benton, MT to Great Falls, MT; 45.8 miles 3:15 riding time

There were lots of hills over the prairie above the Missouri bluffs, but not wind today! We spent over an hour in a health club’s hot tub today soaking in the sauna and Jacuzzi after today’s short ride. We’re staying at the B&B Hostel, run by Todd who cycled the Southern Tier in 2000 and enjoys cyclist coming by. He gives us the care of a good B&B for $13 per night! He’s a great host who obviously likes things clean and nice! Were it not for my National Guard drill, we’d have taken a planned layover day here. Todd says he can hardly stand to see us mount up and ride off the next morning as it makes him want to join us.

4 July 2003: Great Falls, MT to 8 miles S. of Wolf Creek MT, 67.9 miles; 6:56 riding time We took a lengthy break in Ulm this morning as we breaked with a local rider in the convenience store and then were met by a woman driving sag for a group of 5 doing almost the same ride we’re doing but a day ahead of us. About Cascade we reached clean clear waters in the Missouri before it picks up its characteristic mud. Wolf Creek had no city park or camping, but there are many undeveloped sites along the creek above town, so owe had dinner there, bought supplies for breakfast, and rode up. We were warned about rattle snakes which combined with the undeveloped sites seems to have made Chris (an Easterner) very nervous especially combined with his yesterday’s decision to mail home his flashlight! He gets up several times each night and doesn’t want to discover rattlesnakes in the dark! He camps in a pile of rocks instead of the overgrown grass to make snakes more visible.

5 July 2003: 8 Miles S. of Wolf Creek MT to 3 Forks MT KOA Campground, 97.0 miles; 7:15 riding time Riding through Helena was unpleasant. Red-necked drivers seemed to have learned from their brethren in Excelsior Springs, MO. We were screamed at a few times to get off the road, and a jeep literally came within 2” of Chris which gave me a good scare. That anti-cycling attitude seemed to follow most of the way down to 3 Forks, and is only the 2nd time in the trip that monster has shown its ugly head. We had a late breakfast here as Chris threw out his bananas (as too bruised) and ate only cheap granola bars for breakfast- which isn’t the breakfast of champions! That 8 miles we rode up Wolf Creek gave us a head start, and with decent tails winds from Helena on we decided to extend the ride from Townsend to 3 Forks which basically puts us into Missoula a day early! This is a nice KOA with swimming pool and friendly guests, but it’s 4 miles out of town, and we got camp set up maybe an hour before sunset! A neighbor drove us into town, and the busboy at the restaurant drove us back out to camp during the last minutes of dusk.

6 July 2003: 3 Forks KOA to Twin Bridges, MT; 59.9 miles; 5:01 riding time We didn’t want to ride into town and back out, so we had peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast. The restaurant in LaHood wasn’t opened and there was no restaurant in Cardwell (as listed on AC maps), so we got by on snacks until Whitehall. Winds were slight, but in our face today. For some reason Chris wanted a motel tonight, but I stayed in the country fairgrounds and enjoyed a swim with a couple families in the Beaverhead River, one of the forks of the Jefferson, which is also a fork of the Missouri.

7 July 2003: Twin Bridges MT to Grant, MT; 62.6 miles riding time 5:21 Another windless morning! Dillion was scheduled for some internet time, but their library is closed on Mondays as are half their cafes! We had to hang around the Dairy Queen for a few minutes before its 11:00 opening. Chris called up the AC number listed in Grant, and we leaned that business is closed on Mondays. However, she agreed to fry us hamburgers and allow us to camp there. It turns out there is a competing business across the road (Grant is nothing – almost like Gifford, ID). Noa, a Japanese man, is cycling the Divide, and was staying across the road at that business that was opened. Enjoyed hearing about his mountain-bike trip. He’s riding 75 to 100 miles daily on that route on a budge of $5 per day! I believe he had ramen noodles for dinner, and his camping spot and shower cost $3! We exchanged e-mail addresses, and I look forward to hearing more about his Canada to Mexico adventure when I get home. Grant is just a dusty spot on the desert, no river, no trees, just sand, sagebrush and these two small businesses.

8 July 2003: Grant, MT to Salmon, Idaho; 58.0 miles 6:17 riding time The woman in Grant didn’t go to work until 8:00, so with a late breakfast, we were off to a late start this morning at about 8:45. Headwinds were strong as we started out, and we were riding into the eye of a storm though in all other directions the sky was clear. Cold rain soon started hitting us. Chris pulled over in the desert, and I road on up to some shelter about ¼ mile away. About 10 minutes later Chris caught me; he was soaked. I was huddled dry but cold under a cattle loading shoot with even my bike out of the rain! It was smelly but dry! The storm didn’t last long, and we were soon cycling up the pass that we had most feared in this trip. The air was cold after the rain and the pavement soon ended. We had lunch as we reached the first trees. Some cowboys showed up to lassoo cattle. We watched them rope a couple and give them shots before taking off. The grade on the Montana side isn’t too steep; requiring my 26” gear only for a brief while, but I’m sure I would have wanted the 19.9” gear to get up the Idaho side! It was a steep descent! Chris has no mountain biking background, and really crawled down the mountain. Between the steepness, gravel, and washboards, it was a challenging ride down. Chris also had a flat about half way down the steep part which caused him to ride even slower afterward. I arrived in Tendoy with an average speed of 7.7 MPH! Tendoy, Idaho is green and clean and gave Chris a good first impression of Idaho. Getting back on pavement into Salmon for the ride along the Lemhi River was good, and I picked up the pace to 17 to 18.

9 July 2003: Salmon, ID to Victor, MT; 104.0 miles 8:33 riding time The schedule had us stopping in Darby, but Chris has a friend here in Victor, just outside Missoula, so we pushed hard. Down the Salmon to North Fork was easy and smooth, but then we started up and over the pass back to were the Bitteroots branch off the Rockies and into western Montana. We found nothing in Gibbonsville, where our maps had promised food. However, the woman who runs a group of cabins gave us the best peaches I’ve eaten in years, bananas which she was afraid would be wasted, and oranges, as well as a delightful pic-nic table under the ponderosas before we started up the mountain. In the hot summer weather winds are blowing up hill, so we had a tailwind up the mountain, but a headwind down into the Bitterroot Valley. We talked to an 18 year old Trans Am ride for 15 minutes. He was carrying 70 pounds on his bike; 20 pounds of which were on his bike! He’s preparing to join the Marines, so he says it’s good training! While talking to him, Ken, a day rider joined us. He’s a mountain biker on vacation. They’re in an SUV camping, and driving along each day until they find something interesting to ride. He was in a recent wreck, so he switched to a road bike while his 2 friends mountain bike daily. He did Odessey 2000- that around the world bike ride and made a very interesting companion for half a day. It was 9:00 MDT before we got to our destination, but our host fixed steaks and a great dinner. He has a hot tub, a great rural setting with a rapid creek flowing just below the deck. He has two computers with separate internet access. No reason to leave here!