Crusty Cassette

Linda and I survived Bicycle Idaho nicely arriving home about 1 pm Sunday afternoon. Sorry we missed seeing Steve and the pot-luck on Saturday. I'm glad the club came through for Steve.

We had a delightful time. I found the course to be less challenging than I had expected. I also found the first couple of days far dryer than I'd have liked. But the climb into Stanley made it all worth while. Feast your eyes on this sunset and then follow the links below to read a day by day account or visit the BikeIdaho gallery to see more pictures and find links back to the blog for each day.

1. Saturday
2. Sunday
3. Monday
4. Tuesday
5. Wednesday
6. Thursday
7. Friday
8. Last Saturday

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.