Goin’ home….

Here we are in Bozeman waiting for our flight home to NY…we are both stunned at how quickly we were able to dismantle the trip we had painstakingly planned for so long! The re-entry into our “regular” lives will be jarring, especially given the circumstances but there is no way we could continue with Michael’s Mom so sick. Our thoughts, concerns and hearts have already left the road and it’s time to go home.

Heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported us by following our blog. We loved reading your comments and knowing that so many were sharing our experience, keeping us close, and wishing us a safe journey. Love to you all,
Judith

August 26, Bozeman, MT, Complete Change

Since last week when we reached Yellowstone, we’ve been sightseers rather than active cyclists. Now we have a more radical change.
We are shutting down our trip and returning home. My Mom has had an emergency open heart surgery and quadruple bypass procedure. She also has very significant blockage of both carotid arteries that is still going to need attention. The first procedure went well and she’s in good shape right now but it looks like she’s going to be in care for a while. Family comes first, of course and it would be impossible to keep riding while knowing that we should be home with Mom & all the rest of the family.
Thank you to everyone who has been following our trip and our blog. Thanks for your emails, your comments and your support. Thanks to all the great people we met over the last month in Oregon, Idaho, Montana & Wyoming. It has been an amazing experience, beyond description really, and we’ll go back to it sometime in the future when we can.
Michael

Sat. and Sunday, Aug 22 & 23, West Yellowstone & Bozeman

Leah flies back today so we drove her up to Bozeman, part of the drive thru Yellowstone and of course it’s beautiful. We’ve decided to skip ahead somewhat across Wyoming due to the distance between services and the fact that our prime targets of interest are all in eastern Wyoming so we also pick up a rental truck which we can do as a one way and drop off somewhere east of here. We call it our Redneck RV and return to West Yellowstone. On Sunday, we catch up on laundry, do some in town museum things and we’ll head out of town thru the park over the next days. It’s turned quite cold and rainy and it seems today as if Judith is wrestling with a little bug so it’s a good thing we’re off the bikes for a little bit.
Happy trails.

Friday, August 21, Yellowstone Park

Thank god we don’t have to get back on the bikes today. For the first time in this trip my legs are totally gone, just numb and distant.
We got a nice breakfast and headed into the west entrance of the park. Great luck. Within the first 12 miles we see elk at a little distance, bison at a similar distance and then encounter a young elk crossing a road, wandering into a stream and basically posing for our cameras. Great stuff. We also passed a steep mountainside that had just had a huge rock slide, with dust billowing up all over. From there we drive into the fields of geysers which are other-worldly, we do the classic Yellowstone Old Faithful thing and then drive down to Grand Teton National Park which is very high on Judith’s list. The views of the mountains with snow and glaciers are really something. It’s amazing that it’s 80 degrees where we’re standing, the mountains are quite close and yet snow covered. American Alps.
We don’t see any more wildlife of significance but the drive back is beautiful, we had a nice dinner and settled in for the night.

Thursday, August 20, Ennis to West Yellowstone, MT, 75 miles

We got a nice early start, found a bagel shop so we could fuel up and then hit the road. Leaving Ennis we spook two good sized deer with big racks, at least eight points each, but it happens so fast we can’t get pictures. Fairly quick ride the 11 miles to Cameron and sure enough is has everything we would have needed for an overnight stay, but everything I closed up and shuttered. Good thing we caught that before counting on it. For a while the ride is pleasant, nice weather and temperature, etc. We see pronghorn antelopes for the first time on the trip (where the deer and the antelope play). They have a very funny way of running, they almost seem to bounce along from the ankles like a cartoon character. Our elevation map has shown that we’ll gain a 1000 ft over the course of the day but it should be a steady pull with no steep climbs. We’re counting on that (warning, warning). The first 20 miles are pretty easy but also become very boring, very little change of scenery and the horizon doesn’t budge. Sure enough it gets hot and we also pick up a head wind as the ride turns into one of those where we check our mileage every ¼ mile or so. Not good. We ride into some change of scenery at least with the river picking up palisades to our east which our actually quite pretty. But the miles grind on and we are all getting beat too quickly. Our path takes us towards Earthquake Lake (which was formed abruptly in 1959 when a 7.5 richter scale earthquake hit the Yellowstone area, killed a couple dozen people and created rock slides which dammed the Madison River) and we’re targeting the Rangers Visitor Center there as someplace to take a break. When we turn towards the Lake (oh no), the road goes straight up. By the time we get to the visitors center it is time for some serious reconsideration of plans. We’ve ridden 48 miles, most against a headwind and are tired. Judith is totally out of gas. After a break and some discussion we decide that Judith will wait here, we’ll leave all our gear with her so we can ride unencumbered and Leah and I will ride the rest of the way into West Yellowstone, get the car and come back to get her. We have 27 more to go but without the gear it will be easier. The first third is easy, despite a couple of climbs, the middle third just grinds. About 11 miles from our destination I have a little trouble with a soft back tire but pump it up and hope not to have to change it out. The last 8 miles turn into a direct headwind and take forever, but we finally find the motel, call the rental car folks, etc. Stash our bikes in our room and notice that my rear tire is totally flat. Drive back to pick up Judith who has survived her 3 hour wait and bring her into town. Late dinner by the time we get cleaned up and out but finally and fed and crash for the night.
What a day. Tomorrow – Yellowstone Park. Should be fascinating.

August 19, Sheridan to Ennis, Mt, 37 miles

We got a very nice breakfast in Sheridan before getting a good early start. We’re planning to ride from Sheridan to Cameron on Rt 287, splitting up out total remaining distance to West Yellowstone nicely and putting us in position to get to Yellowstone right on schedule. We have a motel and rental car lined up in West Yellowstone for end of day Thursday so Leah can see a little of Yellowstone on Friday before her return to Albany.
We saw a fully loaded solo rider zip by our motel just as we were loading up but he didn’t stop or even notice us.
A very pleasant morning, great weather and the ride to Laurin and then to Alder is relatively flat and easy going. Very shortly into the ride, I snap the cable to my front derailleur and we stop so I can replace it. We’re at a historic marker that explains the history of bandits, robbers who regularly struck stage coaches in this area and the subsequent rise of vigilante groups. Cool history. Around Alder we also see markers explain big time prior mining and the extent that it tore up the countryside. Soon we come across current small time mining doing the same and making all sorts of noise and dust, etc. Pretty messy and wild. About this time we are passed by a solo rider, who just waves going by until I notice he is riding a Rivendell (our bikes) and I call out to him. He turns out to be a young guy in his 20s from northern CA, near the Rivendell shop and quite talkative. He says maybe he saw us earlier and is the rider who went by our motel room. Says he had been “stealth camping down the road” (hates to pay to sleep) but had missed a sprinkler system when he set up so had gotten an early wake up call. Exchanged some horror stories about traffic and drivers then restarted. We offered that he was welcome to ride with us if was willing to go slow, he said thanks but I have to get to Yellowstone tonight, (our destination for tomorrow) says he’s doing pretty big daily rides, did 107 miles the day before and needed to keep booking. Then he disappeared into the distance.
We reached Nevada City and took a short break. This is an old time western town, assembled from historic buildings from all over MT, diverted and reassembled here, used for film set purposes and as a working village with hotel, saloon, bakery etc. Pretty cool. While hanging out here I happened to talk to one of the workers and when she heard we were targeting Cameron for the night, she said, geez, I don’t think there’s anything there anymore. Oh, oh. Need to check into that later today.
Leaving Nevada City we then went thru Virginia City which is a similar deal and then attacked another big climb. This is a pass that reaches 6400 ft but doesn’t even have a name. The indignity. We worked pretty hard getting up this one and at the top christened it “Cookie Pass”, celebrating with cookies. The descent from here extends about 6 miles and is very fast and even scary and takes us into Ennis. Ennis is a good sized tourist town with lots of fly fishing guides, shops, etc. We got a nice little lunch and I tried to find out more about Cameron, about 12 miles further and our planned destination. According to ouir waitress there is nothing there anymore and nothing for about 40 miles. I double check across the street at the Chamber of Commerce. Oh, yeah, there used to be a store, a campgrounds, a café and a convenience store. He gave us, everything is closed. That will not work for us, in terms of time of day, etc and so we decide to stay in Ennis but that means we’ll have a +70 mile day into West Yellowstone tomorrow.
We find a pretty nice little RV campgrounds with great facilities and a restaurant right next door so we’re good for today.
Two notes – during the night I am outside the tent for a while (nature calls) and the sky is absolutely stunning. We’re a long ways from any city of any size so there is no light pollution and it is so clear it’s like going to a planetarium. The milky way is awesome.
In the morning, Judith reports that we must have set up out tent over a gopher or mole because she has had something poking up at her through the bottom of the tent during the night! Too funny.

August 18, Wisdom to Dillon, Dillon to Sheridan, MT 38 miles

Oh my god! It’s 27 degrees when we wake up. We’ve been up most of the night listening to coyotes howl and the sheep in the field next to us being nervous. No way to get started. We head back to the Big Hole Crossing Restaurant and hook up again with the woman who owns and runs the place. As we order breakfast and talk with her about the problem of getting started she ends up hooking us up with a local from Dillon who has just come over to Wisdom to deliver some salt to a rancher and is headed back to Dillon in his pickup. After a little talk he’s glad to haul us to Dillon and we’re glad to take him up on it. We break camp quickly, load up his pickup while he has breakfast and then skip ahead 65 miles and 30 degrees of temp with him. Another blessing. (Also while getting breakfast I talk with a young guy riding west on the transam route, he has been averaging 90 miles a day!)
After he drops us off in Dillon and we regroup with snacks we decide to head off to Twin Bridges on Rt 41 and have a ripping good ride for about 25 miles. We had a nice little lunch in Twin Bridges’ lost most of the truck traffic which is going or coming to/from ID and then grind out the final miles to get to Sheridan, MT where we find a cheap but very nice motel room at the Moriah Motel. A decent dinner and we’re good for the night. Tomorrow we have to do one more climb to get to Yellowstone. In Sheridan we’re at about 5100 ft and have to get over a 6900 ft pass just beyond Virginia City and will then descend into Ennis. We have two days to get to West Yellowstone and have a shot if we can make the climb and then put in a long softly uphill day. We’ve had a chance to do laundry, dry out the tents, etc and will get an early start in the morning.
This is an awesome experience.

August 17, The Climb, Sula to Wisdom, 40 miles

Got a good early start, loaded up with pb&j sandwiches and started up the climb. The first few miles are easy but pretty quickly we run into the “chain up area” alongside the road. We have learned in this ride that those signs always mean the beginning of hard work and this time it is really the case. Sula is at about 4500 feet of elevation. We climb first thru “Lost Trail Pass” at 6990 feet (named by Lewis & Clark as they repeated lost the Nez Perce Trail they were trying to follow over into present day ID) and then the Chief Joseph Pass at 7241 feet of elevation which will also mark the continental divide. So we climb 2700 feet in about 9 miles. My inclinometer says we are riding at a 7% grade, popping to 9% and then to 11%. This is really hard going and I also feel some effect of the altitude, in that when I get winded it’s hard to come back. About 2/3s of the way up we begin to be passed by a number of riders who are not carrying any gear and soon find out there is a supported group ride of The Cascades Bike Club out of Seattle following the same course we are. They have a supported lunch waiting at the rest area at the top of the first pass and have invited us to join them there. Very nice. It seems like it takes a lifetime but we made the first pass, took a break with the Cascade group and hen head out for the final climb. We reached the continental divide and stop for pictures. Some well deserved celebration follows.
After that we enjoyed a long soft descent (good, we’re not giving up everything we just gained) and work our ways towards Wisdom, MT., our target for the night. Wisdom is pretty small and, no surprise, the Cascade group has taken up every available room and camp site in the area other than in a true dump called “Clem’s Coyote RV and Camping”. We take it out of desperation and take a very poor shower but get a very good dinner at Big Hole Crossing Restaurant. Settle in for the night, exhausted but very proud of ourselves.

August 16, Hamilton to Darby to Sula, MT, along RT 93, 33 miles

Woke up to a cold morning and a steady rain. Poked around for a while hoping for a change, hiked up to the gas station for some breakfast, hung around in the tent awhile, etc. Finally just geared up and got on and rode, but with a very late start.
Weather cleared as we rode on and we found a nice lunch in Wisdom. The fire damage all along our route from the fires back in 2000 is just stunning. The whole Bitterroot Valley was very hard hit and it seems like every other house we see is new construction since that time replacing homes lost in the fires.
We have a huge climb soon, over the continental divide and need to get as close to it as possible so we can hit it with fresh legs, but we are not seeing much and several places we should find have little to offer. Our last possible option is Sula (before the beginning of the climb and before a desolate stretch) and lo and behold, the Sula General Store has RV slots and “sleeping cabins” which are just a cabin with beds and heat, no plumbing. Sold. The only short coming is no food other than the store. But we got fixins for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and some other snacks and we are golden. Tomorrow a huge climb.
We are literally on the path of Lewis & Clark right now, so historically things are very interesting.
The Sula General Store sign describes the place as a resort and also says “Lewis & Clark came here”, sort of like “Washington Slept Here” signs everywhere back home.

August 15, Missoula to Lolo to Stevensville, Corvallis and then Hamilton, 63 miles

A very eventful day. We left the hotel early and discovered halfway across the parking lot that Leah’s bike will not shift in the 9 speed cluster. Headed right back to the bike shop, hoping possibly they open early, they don’t but someone inside sees us and tries to help. NG. Her shifter is stripped – which is frustrating given that the bike was supposed to have been thoroughly tuned up back home and then these guys here supposedly set it all up after it was shipped. Anyway, they don’t have one but target us towards a bike shop in Hamilton that should.
Headed out to Lolo in mixed rain and sunshine. Only thing open in Lolo is MickeyD’s, so we had a first for our entire trip. Back on the road and Leah immediately has a flat – pebble thru the tire and tube. She’s riding a thin tired road bike and it may be an issue going forward. But for now, a very quick tire and tube change and we’re good to go.
At a gas station before Stevensville we met a local (fresh transplant from CT) man who was very interested in our trip and incredibly helpful. He offered us a place to stay for the night and although that of course was not useful for us it was a very nice gesture. A few miles down the road he caught us with us again – he had printed up googlemap directions to the bike shop we need to find in Hamilton. So many people on the road are so helpful.
Struggled against terrible headwinds throughout as we rode down Rt93. Turned on to local rt 269 towards Stevensville to escape the traffic and quickly crossed paths with a farmer market that was being held by Hutterites – they are an upper mid-west Amish like sect that we’re likely to see more of.
Stopped at a small shop just before Corvallis for a snack. The woman there said she’d never ride a bike on 269. I said we had left 93 because of all the terrible traffic there. She said, yeah, but nobody gets hurt over there, everybody gets killed on this road. Thanks for the encouragement.
Headwinds make for very tough going and the bike shop – Red Barn Bicycles – is actually 3 miles past Hamilton, sort of deflating. We’re pushing hard to reach them before 4:00 when they close. Finally find them and the guy there knows his stuff, is very helpful, fixes Leah up perfectly and gives us directions to our campgrounds. Not far and not bad but no café or restaurant. So after setting up camp (after riding all day), we backtrack towards Hamilton looking for food. Found a gas station with a Quiznos and that was the end of the journey.
Back at campgrounds, we are right on the Bitterroot River and many people are fly fishing. Fascinating.
Two final notes – during the day we crossed paths with a sole young man riding transam for Parkinson’s disease. You can find him on the “teamfox.org” website, his name is Bailey. He was being supported on his trip by his father trailing in a van, his Dad is a Parkinson’s patient. Great story.
Other note – in Red Barn Bicycle there was a signed and framed US Postal, Levi Leipheimer jersey. Turns out the mechanic has a connection with him. Awesome stuff.

August 14, Missoula, MT

We took a rest day at the hotel, replaced some gear at a local outdoor shop, bought new pedals, did laundry, etc and hooked up with Leah. Had a nice dinner and early evening so we can hit the road tomorrow and head towards Yellowstone. Leah is towing a “bob trailer” for a first time experience so just as we had to adjust to weight; I expect she’ll have some challenges. But she is 20 years younger than we are, so she’ll be fine.

Thanks to Dad

Back in Riggins I mentioned that one of my pedals was self destructing and that I had to do a creative rebuild in my motel room. Well, the pedal made it all the way into Missoula where I was able to get some new pedals. Why thanks to Dad?
Years ago my Dad told me and showed me that you can fix almost anything if you look at it carefully and think about it for awhile. Without that frame of mind I wouldn’t have noticed the pedal failing, wouldn’t have dared to take it apart and would be stuck somewhere in ID trying to pedal up mountains with one foot. There’s a lot of substance in what he taught me. Thanks, Dad.

The Famous Michael O’Leary

Well, a couple of days back, when we rode from New Meadows to Riggins and stopped for lunch in Pinehurst, I mentioned meeting “the famous Michael O’Leary” (the biker with the six gun and the lady friend from Southern Cal). Later in that segment I mentioned the roadside signs declaring segments of the road adopted for litter control by Yahweh’s 666 Warning Assembly. Little did I imagine they were connected. I was curious enough to do a web search on the Warning Assembly and lo and behold, they are one and the same.
Check out the web site - http://eliyahsmessage.com/index.htm. Michael is a fundamentalist zealot living in the wilderness like the Israelites, preaching outside of bars in Riggins and wandering Idaho with a six gun.

Thru Lolo Pass, several days catch up

Thursday, Aug 13, Lolo Hot Springs into Missoula, MT, 40 milesWell, it rained all night and is showing no sign of letting up so we break camp in the rain and head for Missoula. We did a very quick 20 miles to Lolo where I had our first flat of the entire trip just as we found a gas station that had hot coffee and cookies. Not a bad rest break at all and a quick fix to the flat. Rolled into Missoula and sought out the Adventure Cycle headquarters so we could sign in and have our picture taken, where we also ran into Kevin for probably the last time. He’s headed up to Glacier National Park while we’re hooking up with our daughter Leah and heading south to Yellowstone. Headed off to our hotel (a free Doubletree for the next two nights, what a luxury as all the nights in Hampton Inns finally pay off), got a very nice meal and called it quits early.
Tomorrow is a complete off day, no riding at all, just connect with Leah, do some laundry and so on. Saturday morning we’ll head out to Yellowstone with a couple easy days followed by a very big climb up Chief Joseph Pass.

Weds. 8/12, Powell to Lolo Hot Springs, ID, 21 miles over Lolo PassWe started the day slowly. After such a long day yesterday and a short target (in terms of miles) today, we wanted to get a full breakfast and let it settle before starting out. We connected with Kevin and had a nice breakfast where we were also joined by a full gear cowboy, Phil Dawson. Phil is from ID and is the 2nd guy we’ve seen carrying a six gun. He is riding a quarter horse with a pack mule on a 2000 mile trek thru ID, WA and MT that is meant to be a fund raising effort for children needing organ transplants. Phil is full of horse talk and interesting stories about his struggles on the road. He can only cover about 15 miles a day, has had many animal issues and so far isn’t raising much money. He can’t give me a card so I can’t pass on his website. (found it – www.americafundraisers.org) He is an interesting mixture – he’s in full old timey garb (plus the pistol) but is also carrying a GPS device that lets his wife track him from home and post his progress on their website . Phil is very interesting, but talks so much (so slowly) I think he may do 2000 mile without learning anything about the people whose paths he has crossed.
We finally head out, with Kevin going on ahead, possibly to meet again. The first 7 miles of the climb to the pass are hard but doable and then it got really nasty, basically straight up (9-11% grade in the switchbacks) and we ride and walk, ride and walk. It got colder and very windy and the mountains around us are getting very sparse and desolate. Finally it levels off some, 6-7% grade but at this point we are also beat so the last 2 miles are a major struggle but we made it. Took a nice break at the Ranger Station at the top of the pass (this one is open) got some pictures taken and then started downhill. It’s supposed to rain soon and looks bad, so we target Lolo Hot Springs in order to get set up prior to the weather.
Lolo Hot Springs is somewhat dismal, basically a biker bar and a hot springs complex (that becomes clothing optional after 9:00 PM, at which point we’ll be long asleep). Camping is across the street where a major effort is underway to set up an outdoor concert stage for Friday & Saturday night shows by Dark Star Orchestra (a Dead tribute band). Vendors and deadheads are already showing up and I expect the weekend will be very interesting but we won’t be sticking around.
This was a day for the record books and we have earned a good night’s sleep.

Tuesday, Aug 11, Lowell to Powell, ID, 67 miles
Put this day in the books! It was very hard but did huge things for us in terms of getting us ready for Lolo Pass.
We started out with some breakfast at Ryan’s Wilderness Inn. A back room is full of mounted bear, deer, elk and two cougar skins. Both were taken right here in Lowell, one recently, which gives a little pause about the day. We loaded up with all the water we could carry and headed out. It looks like 25 miles to the first Ranger Station so I’m thinking we can reload there.
It’s a beautiful day for a ride but we are also pulling steadily uphill every inch of the way. Predictably, it gets hot, the Ranger Station is nothing more than some info signs and we fall back to the notion that there is a major USFS campground at about 56 miles which should have water.
We are riding steadily up river along the Lochsa. We pass camps on the other side of the river which are accessed only by cables & gondolas, much like ski lift systems. We are passed by a solo rider, fully loaded who doesn’t pause for much conversation but pushes on by. At one point, there is a gun blast somewhere not too far behind us that startles the hell out both of us. Latter in the day, similar situation with an RV passing us that blows out a tire just as they go by. Ouch. That makes you jump for the shoulder.
The big campground, Jerry Johnson, is closed. No water and now we are out. Fortunately we have only 8 ro 9 miles left to go and although we are running out of steam, we get thru them.
In one of the serendipitous events that make up this kind of ride when we arrive at the Lochsa Lodge in Powell it turns out to be a beautiful little spot with FREE camping, great facilities and a very nice restaurant. The young man who passed us earlier is also here, Kevin, he’s a musician from Portland who turns out to be a very pleasant and interesting guy.
A huge day. We gained 2300 feet in elevation over 67 miles, pushed hard every inch of the way and feel pretty proud today.

Monday, Aug 10, Grangeville to Lowell, ID, 53 miles
A very good day. Couldn’t find anything open for breakfast in Grangeville as we left but made do with coffee and the inevitable fig newtons. Left highway 93 and turned onto rt 13. Enjoyed a section of rollers, up and down hills but then hit a long stretch of serious downhill riding from Grangeville down into Harpster.
At this point we picked up the Clearwater River and crossed paths with a support van for “Womans Tours”, a fully supported women only cycle touring outfit. The driver told us to be on the lookout for 30 riders and we crossed with them for the next hour or so.
Somewhere along here we passed what we thought to be wild horses on the other side of the river and soon thereafter saw several mule deer who seemed as interested in us as we were in them. When we reached Stites the one restaurant (café) in town not only didn’t open until 11:30 but only opens Thursday thru Sunday. Great. There is a grocery store, which is going to be serving food in a while but the kitchen (on the way to the toilets) doesn’t look so good, so we snacked again and headed towards Kooskia. We’re in and out of Nez Perce reservation as we approach Kooskia which is fully within the rez. We crossed with a couple from London headed west who wanted to know about the climb they were coming to. We couldn’t offer them much encouragement as it had been a very steep descent for us. Oh well.
Pushing up river now towards Syringa, which is noted on our maps as having no services, we got a very pleasant surprise. There is a very nice little café here where we get great, very cold (it’s gotten over 95 again) iced tea and Judith also decides on pie and ice cream, which both turn out to be great.
We reached Lowell, where the Clearwater joins the Selway and the Lochsa rivers and we set up camp at Three Rivers Campgrounds. They also have a restaurant on site so we don’t have to get back on the bicycles at all. Good deal.
However…this turns out to the rowdiest campgrounds we’ve found yet, with many people doing camp fires, lots of drinking and loud stuff going on and teens running around thru the tent sites chasing each other. After several efforts shouting out to them to cool it, I end up getting up again, going out and being a serious grouch.
Have to get some good sleep because tomorrow is a very big day, all climbing and crossing a 66 mile stretch that has no services at all.
Michael

Aug 13, in Missoula, MT - thru Lolo Pass

We are mighty happy with ourselves right now, we made it over Lolo Pass, at 5235 ft of elevation and into MT totally under our own power. Will update more soon now that we have a connection.

Also, I did some editing and additions to the Riggins and Grangeville days previously posted. I had a minimal connection when I posted and was hurried. I'll catch everything else up now.
Michael

Sunday, Aug 9, Riggins to Grangeville, ID, 40 miles

Another terrific day. Riggins was so nice that we didn't want to leave but we finally did, somewhat late as we were planning a short day to White Bird. Beautiful day, more downhill, more headwind. Saw deer (mule deer, I assume) and quail and pheasants in the scrub. Also as we rode through canyons downriver we saw many holes in the rock faces and other remnants of small time gold mining operations
We were passed by a young solo rider who rode with us a while and talked. He was from Barcelona, Spain . He flew to NYC, rode from there to Florida, from there to Southern CA, rode up US 101 to Florence, OR (our start point) and was now riding the transam cross country to VA. Unreal. After a short time he said good bye and disappeared in front of us.
As the day went on we did some big time climbing towards White Bird and then dropped about half a mile into the village. Bad news. There is no camping here and the only motel is a total dump. We are faced with a terribly steep 6 mile climb that we had planned to do tomorrow while fresh, or a slightly less steep but 11 mile long climb or spending the night camping in "the town park" with no facilities. We wandered into a bar to get water and ask about other options. Judith asked if anybody there had any interest in giving us a lift up the mountain and a fellow at the bar said, sure, if you can hang around a while. We took him up on it and said we'd wait outside in the shade while he finished up. He was quite a while and we were starting to worry about how many rounds were going to pass before our ride and how exciting that might get when Judith went in for water and came back out with him. Introduced ourselves to "Cactus Merrill" (it was right there on his belt buckle) and he gave us a great lift up the mountain and some good advice about hills to come (he's been driving truck thru this area for years). Another blessing.
In conversation, Judy mentioned how beautiful ID is and how natives don't seem to leave while others come here. Cactus said “the only reason anybody leaves ID is to make a living, cuz they darned sure can't make one here”.
After his boost we were able to get all the way to Grangeville and have found a very nice campgrounds - The Bear Den - for only ten dollars. That and a good dinner in town and we are loaded for bear tomorrow.
While we waited for Cactus we met a couple going west who had just come over the big climb. They were both pulling bob trailers and carrying a lot of gear. Very grizzled, very odd couple. She recounted a number of incidents on the road with traffic, some of which had given her a pretty good battering and a buzz in her head. “Some folks pay for that buying drugs, I got it for free”. Okaaay.
One more note on White Bird: although this White Bird is named after a Nez Perce Indian of some historical note I had been carrying around a connection in my head to a special song from 1969, “White Bird” by “ Its’ a Beautiful Day”. This was an iconic hippy song, evoking beautiful images, fully of jazzy violin and I had connected the place with the song at some level. Double bummer to see the place.

August 8 Riggins, Idaho

Finally got out of New Meadows - it was a pretty dismal little motel in a pretty dismal little town but as we rode from the drizzle & cold into the sun my mood improved considerably....what a difference a day makes! Idaho is breathtakingly beautiful - the capitol is Boise, the flower is the mock orange and their motto is "Famous Potatoes" and it seems that everyone we meet is either a cowboy or from California! I can't seem to keep track of what time it is much less what day it might be and that's a tad disconcerting and but life on the road is getting easier. A day like today is just about as perfect as it gets and I'm reminded again of how lucky we are to be able to do this,

Judith

Saturday, August 7, New Meadows to Riggins, ID, 39 miles
Well, today was our reward for the last couple of days. It was an awesome ride through indescribably beautiful country. Plus we got several doses of interesting color.
To begin with, it was cold and raining, again. We hung around the motel hoping for things to clear but they showed little improvement. Riding in the rain, even cold, is not as bad as you may think, if it comes upon you while you are riding. But as a mental thing it is very hard to get on the bike and start riding into rain. We set a deadline and waited but things didn’t improve so we finally suited up in all our rain gear and headed out. The riding was fairly easy and, of course (as often happens), either the rain ended or we rode out of it in within 5 or 6 miles. Our ride for today was targeted to take us to Riggins, as the setup for going to White Bird, which in turn is the setup for positioning us for a very hard climb after that. Our entire ride to Riggins is somewhat downhill, or at least gives up a bunch of elevation in the course of the day. We rode downriver (finally), down the Little Salmon which is white water in parts and took us thru some beautiful canyons. Strangely enough, whenever the canyons tighten in us, the wind picks up velocity and as it is a headwind we end up having to work fairly hard to go downhill. This, like walking downhill a few days ago, violates a principle of cycling but, hey, it is what it is. Could be much harder.
We stopped for lunch at a small pullover called Pinehurst. Pinehurst General Store & Café. Turns out to be a tiny place that manages to contain a complete general store, a gas station and the café has a pretty complete menu. The place is being run by a father and three boys who are all very friendly, we had a good chat about growing up in this part of ID and the chance to move to Boise for something new (oldest son), although it’s very clear that Dad has made exactly the life he wants tucked away in this hidden part of Idaho. As we waited for lunch a fellow entered who had been riding on a motorcycle and was soon joined at the snack bar by an older, very thin woman. She looked very out of place – although she was dressed in river rafting style she also featured a very tight face lift and a full ‘do. She teased me some about my fashion statement – I was still wearing tights under my riding shorts as part of my rain gear and looked sort of like a silly elf. We got talking some and she introduced us to the fellow with her – the famous Michael O’Leary, as she put it. It was then that we noticed Michael had not only ridden up on his big bike (Iron Horse, he called it) in full cowboy boots but was also wearing a holstered six gun. Very curious for someone from NY where such things are not common (understatement). Anyway, everyone was very friendly and it turned out the woman, Beverly who runs the “resort” next door, is not only from southern CA (half the people we’ve talked to in ID are from CA) but she lived in Montecito and Santa Barbara where Judith is from. Bizarre. They chatted and compared stories about old Santa Barbara and we over hear a young fellow at another table mention the Adirondacks! He turns out to be from Hague (15 miles from us on Lake George in NY) spending his summer in ID interning with a whitewater rafting company. Too weird, what a proverbially small world.
The rest of the days riding was awesome, steadily against the head wind but beautiful and just what we had hoped for. Along the way we say a real oddity – for a stretch the road side signs describing who had adopted the roadway in terms of litter pick up credited ”Yahweh’s 666 Warning Assembly” for taking care of the highway. Well, we are in ID, which has been famous in the past for survivalists, paramilitary groups and off beat religious rapture and end of world groups.
Rolled into Riggins early and unlike New Meadows it’s actually a pretty little town showing some signs of life. Found a great value at the “Big Iron Motel” (yes, there’s a picture of Marty Robbins in the lobby) who offer a special rate for cyclists and are equal to a good campgrounds. Got a decent dinner and a good night’s sleep after a solid day.
Two notes. First – I’ve mentioned how the rough roads are chewing up our bikes. Tonight I made the chance to clean them both up good and go over everything. I found one of my pedals is self-destructing and spent part of the night getting creative with petroleum jelly, chain lube, tweezers and ball bearings trying to rebuild it well enough to get me to Missoula. Here’s hoping.
Second – I’ve had some great news, it appears the Bob Daniels has not suffered any significant damage from his stroke event and is both home and on the mend. Great relief.
Michael

New Meadows, Friday, August 7

Well. we're stuck here for the day. There is a severe weather warning for thunder storms and lightning with an inch of rain and the temps are in the low 50s. Not riding weather for sure. Especially when you add in tandem tractor trailers on our route. So here we are. Fortunately, the place we're staying has a very nice coffee shop (even tho the rooms are below basic)so it's way better than stuck in our tent somewhere.
Not much more to add today.
I'm posting two pictures from yesterday's trek in the rain. Two to be fair, if I'm putting up Judith's, I ought to post mine. Pretty silly looking, but it worked somewhat. We actually have rain covers for our helmets that don't look quite as silly but couldn't dig them out quickly and used the covers to our handlebar bags instead. Certainly made us highly visible, right?

Thursday, August 06, McCall to New Meadows, ID, 15 miles

Wow, what a difference. Today was the living proof of the maxim about being careful what you ask for. We’ve been suffering in the heat and wished for cooler temps. Surprise! We spent most of today’s ride in a pouring rain at 50 degrees.
Anyway…we started out at the campgrounds in McCall. Stopped for breakfast at a huge touristic place where the service was so bad and the servings so sinfully huge that I will never mention them by name (ok, it was The Pancake House and Christmas Shop). The sky was dark and looming when we entered and it was raining hard by the time we finished. We waited around as long as we could and then suited up in our raingear and headed off. First couple miles were easy in spite of the rain and then we began climbing, ending up over a mile up in elevation. We then began a 3 mile downhill where we violated a basic principal of cycling – we walked down hill. Unreal. We had no shoulder at all, traffic was heavy with both RVs and logging trucks and it was pouring. Discretion being the better part of valor, we walked.
We have a very basic, cheap room where we can get dry and plan our next segments. New Meadows was shown in tourist materials back in McCall as having at least three different restaurants and an outdoor equipment store – everything here is closed up and out of business. We ended up with sandwiches from a grocery store that also had a full hunting gear shop and everything from moose heads to rattlesnake skins mounted on the walls. Pretty good sandwiches considering.
Not sure what tomorrow will hold. We need to do either a 35 or a 70 mile day (almost all downhill) but there are severe weather warnings out and even if we can ride in rain, we can't ride in lightning. We'll see what the night will bring.
Side note: we had another night of violent thunder and lightning, listening to the Forestry Service planes and helicopters across the street at the McCall airport as they are fighting many fires back near Cascade (which we passed thru 2 nights ago). I’ve been entertained and impressed by the storms, not really considering the fire damage. Even more so not considering the lightning as dangerous. We learned at breakfast that the night before lightning struck the airport and seriously injured 4 fire fighters working on a helicopter. Two are hospitalized in serious condition. And last night I was lying in our tent listening and watching as it was striking fairly close and saying “how cool”. How stupid is more like it.
Michael

Wednesdays, August 4 – Cascade to McCall, ID, 30 miles

Wednesdays, August 4 – Cascade to McCall, 30 miles
Last night was pretty exciting. We had a fierce thunder storm early in the night and then a pretty good rain during the early morning. I was really encouraged by how well our tent held up in very heavy winds. When I first got up I had the presence of mind to throw some of our things in a drier and we broke camp and left both early and in pretty good shape. One more time I want to complement the Arrowhead RV and Camping Grounds, Cascade, ID for a very tidy little operation and a nice value.
We are sort of like frogs jumping from lily pad to lily pad now, in that, as much as possible, I want to plan our days so the worst of our climbing comes early. That obviously won’t be possible thru out but it lays out pretty well for the next few days. It means we target a short day today, with a hard early climb and the same thing tomorrow, followed by a long day. We’re headed into an area called Long Valley, so I’m pretty optimistic about the day. So we started out early under very heavy threatening skies, got a good breakfast and put in some miles under cooler temps. About 5 miles in we hit our climb. ( Looking back towards Cascade at one point, we can clearly see a lot of smoke and we’re thinking that last night’s lightning has started a fire) Some parts of the climb were quite steep and we did some walking but then as promised the ride opened up into a large open valley that looked somewhat like the Champlain Valley at home. We rolled into our half way point at about 11:30 where once again there was heavy construction going on, one way traffic, etc and once again the road crew was really great in terms of giving us all the chance we needed to get ourselves through successfully. We saw many more osprey and lots of cattle, some of which was very curious about us and came to the fence lines to greet us and followed us along the road. I saw cattle with actual brands on their sides which I think is a first. A very pretty ride also. We reached McCall at around 1:00. McCall is a very big tourist destination so traffic was pretty nasty, but all in all it was a nice ride despite temps once again climbing to around 100. We looked around some and chose a campground and settled in. The campground is a real bargain and has pretty good wifi so I’m able to catch up on some of these postings and on some email. Campground is right across from the McCall airport and there are Forestry Service planes and helicopters coming and going constantly so apparently our early morning view of the smoke really is a fire of some size.
Got some dinner in an okay Mexican restaurant and settled in.
All in all it was a really great day. Tomorrow should be very similar but shorter still, taking us a little past New Meadows which should then set us up for a long day following. I hope I’m not being deluded but based on the climbing we’ve already been doing and the time we have to get some more hard riding in, I’m feeling more optimistic about us going over Lolo Pass. That’s a huge target and who knows how it will actually work out but it’s a week away so far now I’m a happy camper.
Separate note: I haven’t been able to get any update on Bob Daniels so I am concerned about that and hoping to hear something tomorrow.
Michael