Trans USA backroads 2010

Signing off

2010-08-05T10:58:00.000-07:00

8-5-10: Southeast of La Cross, Wisconsin in an Amtrak Superliner bound for Chicago.

Well, I this is it. In another 4 hours I’m be in the Chicago station with a 3-4 hr layover for my Clev bound train. Can’t say that this has been a blast on the train, especially at night – not like I remembered some 20 yrs ago when I could just snatch a bulkhead seat and then sleep on the floor at night. Not on this train anyway. The bulkhead seats are reserved for parities of two. So I had to do a regular seat. Now they’re much bigger than airline seats, but sleeping in them – forget it. Especially when the train was full last night and I had someone next to me. It was just torture plain and simple. I got in every contorted position possible, and maybe, just maybe snagged 3 or so hours of total sleep. I even imbibed in some of my aged bourbon whiskey to kind of help the effect of slumber, but to no avail.

So really, that totally sucked, the sleep part. But what was interesting was going through Montana and North Dakota yesterday and seeing the stretches of road I rode on, and even going through some of the towns that I had stopped over at – brought back a lot of good memories. As we jammed through Montana I just couldn’t help but think back to all those ass-kicking days in that state, and the miles of nothingness. I even heard people on the train comment on how vast and wide that place is. It’s like a wide screen cinema in front of you, and it just wraps around every part of your senses.

I ended up not doing the diner car last night – just too much BS with dinner reservations, and then you kind of have to eat when they want to fit you in. I could have gotten in at like 5 pm, but I was in no mood to eat that early. So I eventually went to the café car and got a sub and a ham sandwich, both of which were pretty lousy. Thankfully I had brought a small arsenal of food on board, in addition to my alcohol, so I didn’t need to order but that one meal for 2 straight days of training across the country. This stuff was like the junk you buy in a convenient food store and pop in the micro wave. So I also got a couple of beers at the café and then went back to eat. So that was my grand dining experience.

Also steered clear of the observation car due to the converging of humanity up there to the point to where it was just chaos. Felt much better in my little cocoon coach seat. Pulled out my “stash” around 10 PM and have a couple of small waterbottles of whiskey. Woke up this morning feeling like I was a participant of some kind of grad student sleep deprivation study – on day two. Just pathetic feeling all the way around. Did like a mini “marine shower” down in the handicapped bathroom where I did just enough to get my face, pits and arms and hands swabbed clean for the good morning call. Woke up just around Fargo, ND, and finally became human around St. Paul MN. Did some skyping and eating my breakfast bars from the food stash, and then went to the café for some coffee. At least the coffee is quality!

We crossed the Mississippi River from Minnesota into Wisconsin, and I’ll tell you, that river is massive. I remember when I crossed it way the hell up in Northern MN, and it was just about the size of a creek. On the train, back there at the border, seemed like a mile wide! Train just now stopped at Tomah, WI, and I’m kind of running out of stuff here to say. I’m tired. My ass is some sort of sore from sitting. And I’m way to anxious to get the hell done with this all. The time is right to end.

So I just want to thank everyone for checking out the blogsite and sending me words of encouragement every now and then. I always felt like you were this invisible companion out there with me. This has been a dynamite trip, and I feel really lucky to have had the opportunity to do it. So until next year, whatever that endeavor that will be, I’m going to sign out for 2010 and say: All the best; have a great year; and………..I’m OUT!............Pete

Blogging on a Real Train

2010-08-04T13:29:00.001-07:00

8-4-10: Whitefish, Montana up to West Glacier, Montana in an Amtrak Superliner

Yea, I’ve been pretty lax in the blogging for the last couple of days. And with good reason, I mean seriously, other than doing an adventure - where life on the road can be funny, crazy, scary, the whole gamut - my regular life is pretty mundane, so I find it kind of laughable to think that it’s necessary to just “blog” my little “non-adventure” nothings and ramblings onto the net on a daily basis and believe that people are going to wait with baited breath to read such gibberish. So maybe like two more blogs to go then I’m going to pull the plug and get back to my day to day existace.

Spent the last two days in downtown Seattle, up in the Capital Hill district at my sister’s friend Duane’s appt. Duane was one heck of a great sport hosting me for 3.5 days. He has cats, and a couple of them are pretty skittish, so I was hoping I wouldn’t have the “Gladden” curse on them as my sister had a year or so back, where Duane eventually had to take one of the cats in to the vet due to a “bashful bladder” episode. Luckily, the cat felt more at home pissing in the litter box with me there than my sister! That made me feel good – take that Kim.

Now Duane has a great location, being just about 1.5 miles up above the downtown area. And his view out of the living room window is to die for, let alone one the roof where we hung out a couple of times and just knocked back a few brews and watched the sun set over the Sound. Saturday we strolled downtown and checked out the market place and scoped some places to eat. Ended up going back to that Vietnamese place where I had the massive spring rolls….then to this pretty tasty Indian restaurant. And that was pretty much the story of my stay there – walk around a bit (and leave the appt for a bit so Mr. Blue, the kitty with the bashful bladder, could have some piece and quiet so he could take a leak), eat, walk, eat, walk, and on and on. Have to say that I’d eaten more Vietnamese food in that 3-day stint in Seattle than all the combined Vietnamese sittings in various parts of the world. I was just STUCK on the Vietnamese food thing! Just love their soups – hearty, massive, spicy and filling.

It’s just been glorious to NOT have to ride for the past several days, yet I was still waking at around 5:30 each and every morning while at Duane’s appt. That’s still my rhythm of life, and I hope this train ride breaks the rhythm what with trying to sleep in a seat for 3 nights in a row. Boarded this #8 Empire Builder Amtrak Superliner yesterday at around 5:30 PM for the 2-day trip to Chicago. I had cooked some food for this trip at Duane’s appt. – fried chicken, chicken strips – and then purchased some additional items such as jerky, sport bars, trail mix ……..and a great big bottle of chocolate stout and a pint bottle of prime aged bourbon whiskey. Now alchohol is not allowed to be brought on board unless you have a sleeper car. Guess they figure that if you’re paying a thousand bucks to do a sleeper you deserve not to have to pay six bucks of a one shot mixed drink or four bucks for a bottle of beer.

But hell, you know me – scofflaw that I am – I’m bringing my own private stock by God! So anyway, we got rolling after a one hour delay and got my seat. Now the seating situation on Amtrak has changed since the last time I rode this – about 20 years ago I went 15 thousand miles all across the US. And back then you could just get any seat you wanted, and I always went for the bulkhead seats due to them having tons of extra room. Well, on this train, and it’s probably the way they do things now, they put up “reserved for parties of two” signs all over the coach, and the bulkheads were prime party of two areas. I laid out my Bob yak bag on the floor in front of me because it contained my food and drink, than and my computer where right alongside my seat. The ride goes along the very Rt 2 that I had ridden, and it was so much fun watching that road from a different perspective – especially seeing that the wind was blowing hard out of the west.

The train went north out of Seattle, right past where I finished the trip at the beach and lighthouse, and then veered to the right to go easy up to the Steven’s Pass area in the Cascades. I was a fantastic run up into the Cascades as we went over the Skykomish river numerous times on the climb up to the pass. That’s about the time I cracked open my chocolate stout – ahhhhhh, fantastic even slightly warm. Had some chicken and trail mix for dinner out of my bag. Which leads me to the next rambling: eating on Amtrak. Well, eating on Amtrak is analogous to eating in an airport – freaking stupid expensive. The meals in the dining car are fun, kind relaxing, and a neat experience, and I’ll likely have ONE dinner in the dining car out of the 3-day trip. But they’re portioned just a smidge bigger than airline meals, and they’re just too much money – like 13 bucks for pasta dishes and 18 bucks for meat dishes. They also have 10 dollar breakfasts and lunches, along with a café car where they sell sandwiches, small pizzas, beer, wine, pop, coffee etc.

So I brought enough food to last me all the way to Chicago allowing for just one diner car dinner. Anyway, after my chicken and trail mix dinner, it was starting to get dark and that was my chance to pop the top on my finely aged bourbon whiskey, and pour some into one of my strategically placed water bottles – ahhhhhhhh, wonderful! Just sipped whiskey as we climbed up over and then descended the Cascades. That was it, and the next 8 hours was positioning myself in like every crazy sleeping position possible on the two coach chairs I’m in – so far no one has decided to sit by me so I have two seats. I mean I was twisted up like a freaking pretzel at times trying to sleep. Had my camp pillow and an Amtrak pillow. I did sleep but it was about a 2 on a scale of 1-10, with one being just total shit! Woke at my customary 5:30 AM – Mountain Time Zone – and ate more chicken and trail mix, this time for breakfast.

Oh, get this, and this happened yesterday evening. I took my shoes off to relax in the seat, and I guess my socks and feet kind of stunk, I mean really stunk. And I had a foot on the very back of the armrest of the seat in front of me. Like it was nowhere near the lady’s arm in front of me. And in a bit this lady turns around and looks at me and holds her nose and says: “could you please move your foot, it smells!” And I’m like, “wooooooow, sure, no problem.” My feet seemed to smell like my feet do after having climbing shoes on for about two hours – stinky as all hell. I had specifically taken a shower just before I left for the train, because I knew I wouldn’t have a shower for 2-3 days. And I was kind of freaked, because all of a sudden I could really smell them. So I changed socks fast for the second time in a day - and then grabbed and took a whiff of my shoes – holy *&%&$^$#%^# - they were the main culprit, just absolutely horrible! And those shoes were right under this lady’s seat. I quickly got a plastic bag out of my yak bag and tied the shoes up – suffocating that rancid, rotten shoe smell. That did the trick and now I only take those stink bombs out of the bag when I need to hit the head or go get some coffee in the café car.

So we’re heading into West Glacier National Park right now, and there’s good old Rt 2 right out the window to my right. Feels fantastic to see that road from here, from a different perspective. Now I tried to use my air card on the train, but most areas are just totally blank with bars. I had to wait until we got to Whitefish to plug in, where I thought there’d be cell service, and then I quickly got on line and sent and received my emails – still pretty slowly. As soon as we got like 5 miles out of Whitefish the signal was gone. I’m hoping to send this blog out when we get to West Glacier where I think there will be some cell towers. If not I’ll have to wait until Browning, Montana or a bigger place that has cell service. Right now looks like a cloudy, overcast day out in the Montana Rockies. It’s funny, I’ve been on the train for like 16 hours. On my bike going west, that stretch had taken me about 7-8 days to complete. I’m really looking forward to getting on to the Great Plains and watching that gnarly stretch just flash by.

Well, that’s about it. I’ll do like one more blog from the train and then that will be it for this year on my blogging. Look forward to getting home and seeing everyone. All the best……..Pete

Postscript day 1

2010-08-01T09:27:00.001-07:00

8-1-10: Seattle, Washington: Noah’s Bagel Shop, Broadway Ave.

Well, just sitting here at 7:35 AM on a lazy Sunday morning in Seattle having a nice strong coffee, some sesame seed bagels and a spinach and egg panini. Damn does it feel good, for the second day in a row to not to pull on those dank cycling shorts, prep gear, and get on the bike and ride. Ending feels so glorious. Looking back on it all feels so amazing. But I know though that as the weeks start to pass, and August turns into September, and September gives way to October, be damned if I won’t start longing for those care-free days on the road again. I guess it’s in my blood – that wonderlust thing. Something about new places and new faces each and every day that just heightens and exaggerates the joy of being alive. Some days it’s like a spike in the arm the buzz is so great. But today, nope, today is part of that period of time for reflection on the adventure. You can’t be on the high forever! So I sit here in Seattle with a kind of post-adventure hangover.

It’s funny how everything involved in an adventure kind of goes together to make the whole experience so wonderful – the pre-trip preparation with the anticipation, planning and the nervousness; the actual trip itself where you go through a roller coaster of emotions for weeks and months on end, with good days, bad days, great days and stellar days; and then there’s the end, where, as you get closer and closer to the terminal point you ready yourself to be finished, both mentally and physically; and then when you’re done you can just sit down and let those memories replay like a endless film loop over and over again in your mind. It all seems to fit together so perfectly and seamlessly. And it’s this whole experience, the pre, during, and post, that stirs the soul for yet more and more adventures. So you probably think I’m leading into the next adventure…..no, not really. And that’s the big question I’m asked now that I’m finished: “What’s next?”

Honestly, I just want to savor this trip and these memories and experiences before I just let go of them in search of yet another adrenaline buzz down the road. Yea, for sure I have all these crazy ideas that constantly run through my head, and some rank right up there as real potential candidates, but for right now I’m quite content to let this trip’s imagery play and replay in my mind. The Canadian adventure and now my US adventure, they’ve kind of renewed my thirst for adventure, the thirst I had back when I was in college. Then, some thirty years ago, I’d spend countless hours up on the tenth floor of the Kent State Library pouring through old books and memoirs of famous adventurers like Alexander McKenzie and Lewis and Clark, just marveling at their grit, determination, persistence and thirst for adventure as they explored yet unexplored hinterlands of North America. I envied their experiences, and eventually developed what at that time I called my “hit list” of the trips I wanted to do in life. Today it’s called the Bucket List. Well, I still have my “Bucket List,” and it’s a faded piece of notebook paper that I keep in my top desk drawer. Up until last year, when Ryan and I decided to do the Canadian adventure, I hadn’t looked at that list for over twenty years. But just prior to, and since the Canadian Adventure, I’ve checked that list out numerous times. I’ve checked off yet another item having just finished my trip across the US.

Heck, and the crazy thing is that despite the fact that I still have many items left on the original list, be damned of I couldn’t, right now, ADD more items to that bloody list! To me, doing stuff like this is life changing, and very magical. And it all feeds on itself.

Examining this trip as compared to last year’s Canadian cycling adventure, I’d really have to say this was much more difficult, that because of two things – doing it solo and doing it from east to west. First the solo aspect: Soloing is something that I love and hate. I love soloing because it forces me to deal with myself on a full-time basis. You have to be comfortable with yourself to have to deal with yourself being alone so much – sometimes you’re your best companion! I really dig that, because it’s so bloody challenging. I can only depend on me each and every day. I talk to myself, think to myself, argue with myself like Tom Hanks did in the movie “Stranded”, and sometimes I think I’m going insane. I go through a gamut of emotions on an hourly and daily basis. I really believe that soloing makes you a stronger person, both mentally and physically.

But there also a part of soloing that I hate, and that’s the lonely part, the part where you cannot share the experiences with anyone at the end of the day. No taking and rehashing, no sense of kinship, no bonding, no brotherhood and sisterhood stuff in the solo. It’s something that cannot be shared. It’s a selfish endeavor. And no matter what I tell you, explain to you, show you with pictures, you’ll just not “get it” like I did. Take my “Billion Dollar Day” in the blog, the second to last day of the trip where Barney joined me. THAT is sharing an experience. That day, that moment, that ride – he get’s it! And I was privileged to be able to share that day with a friend and fellow adventurer like Barney. Sharing that experience heightened the moment, and eventually the day – and the trip!

The second aspect of this trip VS last year’s Canadian trip was of coarse the fact that I did it from east to west, bucking all traditional conventions. Going east to west was going counter to the prevailing winds, the same winds that sent Ryan and I across Canada on 120-150 miles days with tailwinds that were just beyond amazing. Yup, there were days where we’d average over 20 mph for nearly 100 miles due to the westerlies – and that was with our pulling some 85 pounds of gear. On this trip, I think the very, VERY best day I had I averaged about 16 mph, and that was with a tailwind. Most of the time my average was in the 10-12 mph range, with some sort of headwind each and every day. And what I lucked out on by not having the super tough Rocky Mountain climbing this year that I had last year, well, I gained the toughness factor back x 100 in the headwinds I took on each and every day.

Now I wasn’t stupid, and totally knew what I was getting into when I decided to ride east to west. But for the life of me, I’d done west to east – I just had to try east to west for the challenge of those winds, those same winds that sent me into a state of crazy back in ’09 at times crossing Canada. I think when I had headwinds back in ’09, I was pissed just because I expected the prevailing to ALWAYS be out of the west – “that was our right by God!” Well, not really, but I can only surmise. So this time, I fully expected the winds to we out of the west each and every day. And that was so tough, especially from a mental standpoint, getting up each morning and wondering just how hard the wind was going to be blowing against me, all day long, mile after mile. Go through the blog and look, from about Minnesota onward, the winds were just ferocious. And as I worked my way out of the forests of Minnesota and into the treeless Great Plains, those winds became exponentially tougher – nowhere to hide on the plains!

I remember at a stop in Ray, North Dakota, where I was talking to a couple of locals, and the guy told me: “you think the winds are bad here, wait till you get into Montana!” And he was right. Montana broke me and crushed me like a bug being hit by a semi truck. Montana forced me to dig into places I haven’t dug into for over 11 years – ever since I stopped racing. Montana made my legs hurt so bad that I think they just never recovered from the effort of 450 miles of pain in the plains. Montana was like this foe that I so respected I was humbled by it. Montana forced me to develop gameplans that I’d never done before when doing cross-country bike trips. But Montana gave me the biggest sense of accomplishment once I left her border. Montana made me a strong man!

So there it is – ramblings of a mad man. I really do look forward to coming back to Ohio to see my friends and family. Despite all the places I’ve seen and experienced, I still have the invisible bond to my roots, to my home. I’m anxious to get back and rejoin the real world again, so anxious that I was kind of bummed out when I could not get an Amtrak ticket to start home any earlier than this Tuesday afternoon. Believe it or not, Amtrak was booked solid thru this Monday, that or I had a choice of coming back on Monday in a thousand dollar sleep car …….ah no on that one! So I’m here in Seattle until Tuesday at 4:40 PM, when I board a train and actually retrace over 1500 miles of my trip, but on a train. There were numerous times when I was out there riding and I saw the Amtrak train going by me east or west. So I’m just totally looking forward to seeing those same old stretches of road, but from a train. No headwinds. No sore ass. No watching the miles slowly tick by.

Now it’s not exactly a BUMMER, that I’m kind of stuck here in Seattle for another 2.5 days. It’s a beautiful city with just a ton of stuff to do, so I’ll not be bored. I’m going to walk around the city and shoot pics, eat at some new types of restaurants (I ate at two Vietnamese restaurants last night – more on that later), and just savor this awesome place. As I said, last night I just had to try some different dining options – no Subway, no buffet! So the first place I hit up was a Vietnamese soup restaurant, and it was just crazy good. I had no clue, here, other than the fact that I’d dined Vietnamese many years ago when Judy and I were in Ottawa. And the soups were off the charts good. So I looked at a menu that I just didn’t have a clue, and ended up ordering this rice noodle soup with brisket & and “tendon.” Yup, tendon, the chewy, crunchy stuff! And they had like 4 different sizes: small, medium, large, and XL. What did the foodaholic do” Yea, XL! And dude brings me this bucket of soup which could have fed a small Vietnamese family.

Haven’t used chopsticks and oriental soup spoon for years, and with no silverware on the table I wasn’t about to be Joe Tourista and ask for them. So I muddled by with the sticks and spoon. The soup was just awesome, and though I must have looked like a really rookie using those chopsticks, I was still able to get the noodles in my mouth. I left feeling pretty satiated, but yet wanted just one more “taster” for the evening, so I went to another Vietnamese place just up the street. This place had regular dishes in addition to the soups. So I ordered up the Vietnamese spring rolls and a charred pork and noodle dish. Again, the spring rolls were more like sushi, a wrap with rice and shrimp with a peanut dipping sauce. The pork dish was atop a heaping helping of rice noodles. Another homerun. I was just stuffed when I walked out of there. On the way back I stopped at this awesome grocery and picked up a Ben & Jerry’s for myself and for Duane, who was back at the Appt.

Earlier in the day, Barney and I had come here to this bagel shop for breakfast, and then we walked down to REI so I could buy yet another duffle bag for shipping gear home. Must have spent 2 hours in the place mulling about, and then watching kids climbing on this 6-story indoor climbing monolith. Walked back and then helped Barney load his SUV for his trip back to Vancouver. Got to tell you that Barney is just a fantastic guy, and I wish you could all meet him. I get this feeling that we’re like long lost brothers, him being my older brother, and me being the impetuous young pup. He’s an amazing guy, and I was blown away by the fact that he took the time and energy and money to come down here to Washington and ride me in to the finish. THAT meant more to me than I can convey to you! So the time came for us each going our own ways, and as usual we did a firm handshake and the dude hug thing, and then Barney hopped in his car drove away down Boyleston St and off to I-5 north to Vancouver. Thank you again Barney!!!

Well, that’s enough for the day, a day where I didn’t even ride a lick and yet I’ve been typing away for far too long. Been here two hours now sipping coffee and tapping away at this computer. I’ve got to get on to some work - enough blogtime. Talk to you tomorrow from Seattle………Pete

Finishing the trip in Everett, Washington

2010-07-31T06:41:00.000-07:00

7-30-10 Day 55: Gold Bar, Washington to Everett, Washington: 39 miles in 2:23. Rt 2 west to Everett Ave to Broadway Ave to Mukilteo Blvd to Mukilteo Speedway Rd.

The journey is complete – Houlton, Maine to Everett, Washington, 4012 miles across the United States, crossing Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Washington. I’m feeling a great sense of accomplishment and finality to the journey. More on that later.

First to bring you up to speed on the rest of last evening. Now I’d be fibbing if I were to tell you that I didn’t get “shnookered” last evening drinking five bottles of Black Butte Porter prior to going downstairs to eat, that after devouring about 2 pounds of cherries. Barney had some Hop Czar beers and the both of us watched this crazy show on the tube about knuckleheads doing crazy stunts on bikes and skateboards and such as I was finishing up the blog. Then it was downstairs to this little restaurant for dinner. And let me tell you, this was just the best. Now I’m not taking like 5-star restaurant thing, being all fancy and posh. Nope, just the opposite. This was a mom and pop place with a hometown atmosphere and a friendly, jovial waitress slinging grub!

Menu looked really interesting, but it ended up the we both got the very same dinner – Chicken Fried Steak. Yea, you’ll all probably rolling your eyes at that. But I’m telling you, there was just something about the restaurant and the atmosphere that told us to order the Chicken Fried Steak – like a voice from God or something…..”Order the Chicken Fried Steak with all the delicious, fattening gravy, and the scrumptious home made mashed potatoes …..order it and you will be happy cyclists.” Well, we must have both heard that voice because that’s indeed what we did. I also threw in an order of onion rings. And when those plates arrived and we dug into that thick, rich gravy – ahhhhh we were in another dimension! That was sooooooo good that I literally spooned up every last spackle of gravy from the plate. Barney enjoyed a glass of wine while we just talked life, our bucket lists and anything else that kind of flickered through our minds on the end of such a marvelous day.

Then I convinced Barney to walk over to the grocery to quench our – MY – sugar Jones. Got inside and right in the entry isle was a display of sugary treats – Eclairs! “Got to have those,” I thought to myself. So with that treat ingrained in my mind I wandered over to the ice cream isle and picked up a Ben & Jerry’s New York Style Fudge. Barney meanwhile was eyeing these “dessert wines.” Now I’d never heard of a dessert wine, my being more of a suds-aholic, so this stuff was like totally foreign to me. Well, he snagged it, and it was just this thin little bottle in like a paper casing. And on the way out I snagged the éclairs to go with the ice cream. Well, we got back, Barney opened that wine and I’ll BD, that stuff was sweet and alchoholly, really good! Perfect with the ice cream and the éclairs. And those éclairs were SUPER for being bought in a grocery – A-1.

I ate way more than Barney, finishing probably ¾ of the ice cream. And that bottle of wine was gone in like a flash. We finally settled down to watching the 2010 Giro De Italia on Versus – and we both literally ended up being knocked out on the beds snoring by 11 PM. I woke up all grogged out and Barney was just sawing logs like a lumberjack in the adjacent bed. Off went the TV and lights and that was a wrap for the day – a most memorable day indeed!

Got up at a casual 6 AM on this, the finial ride of the trip, and tapped out some blog while Barney was still sawing logs – and yes the man is a human chain saw when it comes to snoring. Once he rousted we went downstairs for a breakfast, and be damned if they didn’t have the chicken fried steak of the breakfast menu. DONE! Barney just was amazed that I went for the same freaking thing for breakfast as I had just had for dinner the previous night. But to me, that dish was just gastronomic heaven! Got two eggs and toast with it and life was good. We packed up and were on the road by about 9:15 AM, probably the latest start I’ve had in over a month – but who cares, I just had to ride 39 miles. The morning was cool, and fog enshrouded and off we went down Rt 2 west to the town of Monroe to dump my yak and panniers in Barney’s SUV. That ride took us exactly an hour. We checked into the Monroe Visitor’s Center for some route information to Everett, to kind of find a good end point for this trip, because hell, this was no “Cape Spear” like the last trip. On the Canada trip that was THE absolute end game. Here, I had no real designated place to call the end – I just wanted to make it to the Washington coast.

So we got a good map of the city of Everett and picked out a nice section of the coast where there were several parks and beaches. Picked a spot along a road called Mukilteo where there was a lighthouse and beach, and bingo bango, done. Then took off all the junk off mand stowed it in Barney’s vehicle and off I went to meet up with Barney in Everett at the intersection of Everett Ave and Broadway Ave. Ten min in I had to strip off my long sleeve Underarmor and leg warmers as the sun had finally broken through the thick fog. The ride was another pretty easy section that, now naked, I could just zing down at nearly 20 mph. The traffic was just thick as hell, but luckily I had this bomber berm to ride where there was no hassles from the vehicles.

Barney stopped a couple times along the way to take some pics and sag behind me. Round about an hour in I could see the downtown of Everett – and feel the crisp, refreshing scent of the ocean. The end was near. But I had one more obstacle, and it was like a carbon copy of our last day or riding in Newfoundland, where we had to get on a section of “restricted” highway, meaning no bikes allowed, to get to our destination. Yup, Rt 2 had a sign posted about 2 miles outside of the city that said: Motor Vehicles only! And it was there that the road really turned into freeway entrance ramps for I-5, which goes into Seattle and Vancouver. My berm narrowed down to about 2 feet wide and it was like this massive stretch of elevated interstate leading right into downtown Everett. And there was no getting around any other way, I mean I had to traverse this intercoastal marsh and a river up on the elevated highway.

It was just so close that I said to myself, *&^&^$# it, I’m going for it. What’s an officer going to do, tell me to throw my bike in his car?” “It’s just two miles.” So I just clicked down three gears and hammered it on this thin, crappy section of berm into Everett, on the very final two miles of Route 2, a road I’d been on since Ignace, Michigan up in the UP. I rode like my life depended on it hoping to make it through there without a policeman spotting me. And I did, right past the I-5 entrance ramps and into the city of Everett. I rode over to Everett Ave and that’s when Barney caught up to me. Then it was on to Broadway Ave, and finally Mukilteo Blvd, which was to snake it’s way down to and then along the coastline of the Sound. We had a bit of trouble finding that road due to recent construction, but finally got situated.

This pup was not easy, as it had some pretty stiff little ups and downs. Thankfully they felt pretty easy with me not having a yak to drag. Made it to two parks, but both had no, or very limited access to the water. As we were in one of these little community parks I asked a lady parked in a car where the parks were where we could go to a beach area. She gave me directions for a place three miles down the blvd, and off we went again, with my climbing and descending these rollers. The road finally dropped right down to the water at a ferry crossing for Whidby Island where there was a lighthouse and beach area. THAT was the endpoint – looked good, had all the elements for taking some finish pics. DONE.

The beach by that time, just after 11 AM was just packed with people. Was as if it were a Sunday afternoon down there on a Friday morning. The parking areas were darned near full. We got Barney parked and then I rode to the beach gravel, and then walked the bike down to the water, putting a front wheel in the Sound. And that was it – trip complete! We shook hands and then …….time for a beer and lunch. Ended up going to this awesome little micro brew pub that makes their sandwiches by bring you out this hot slab of rock, supposedly at a temp of 700 degrees, where you cook your sandwich meat on the rock, yourself, at the table. Pretty cool little gig actually. We each ordered our beer and then got the same sandwich – the sliced prime rib with beer dipping sauce – awesome!

Next up – on to Seattle to the REI store for a bike case and a duffle bag. And let me tell you, you think that traffic is bad back in little old Ohio…..hell, from Everett to Seattle it must have taken us 1 hour in bumper to bumper on I-5 south, around noon time to boot! And the distance is only like 20-22 miles. Got to REI and I was going to buy a Thule bike case, but coming back on Amtrak, they have weight stipulations on luggage – 50 pounds max – and the weight of that case and my 29’er was way over 50 pounds. So I talked it over with the folks at REI’s bike dept, and they suggest that I just use a regular cardboard bike box. And these were awesome people, as they gave me the box, the tape, the bubble wrap, and directed up to drive Barney’s car into their shipped dept bay where we could tear down the bike and gear and pack at our leisure. Between tearing apart the bike, yak, and all the gear, that took us 3 hours. But we got it done, even with the help of REI’s mechanics having to use a 2-foot long pedal wrench to break loose my clipless pedals. Great folks there. I bought a duffle for the broken down yak and even more gear and we got everything loaded in Barney’s SUV, and next up – finding my sister’s friend Duane in Seattle for our place to stay.

That was a breeze as he lives just 6-9 blocks from REI. Duane was kind enough to let Barney sack out for the night on the floor, and let me hang for a couple of days as I get my Amtrak stuff taken care of. He has this breathtaking view of the city from his living room window – I mean it’s like spectacular. So got all our gear up in Duane’s appt, and then we all went to a local restaurant just a block or two away for dinner and drinks. Had some great meals and just kind of relaxed. Couldn’t help but get the guys in the mood ……by taking them into going to a grocery for some Ben & Jerry’s ice cream for our night cap. We each got our own pint and then went back to Duane’s place, and up to the rooftop to eat ice cream, drink a beer, and look up on this fantastic night cityscape.

The day was done. Mission accomplished. Man, it feels Soooooooooo good to be finished! I just love doing stuff like this, but there always has to be an end point, something to think about once in a while, a goal, a place, the final destination after all the effort. That’s what makes these journey’s so satisfying – the end. Well, this is it. I’m going to sign off for the day, but tomorrow I’ll put up my …….kind of post trip synopsis. And I’ll blog for my journey back to Ohio on Amtrak. But once I reach Cleveland, that’s it for another season. So anyway, talk to you tomorrow from beautiful Seattle, Washington…..cheers…….pete

The......Billion Dollar Ride

2010-07-29T19:11:00.000-07:00

7-29-10 Day 54: Wenatchee, Wahington to Gold Bar, Washington: 95 miles in 7:31 hours all on Rt. 2 west.

THIS was the best day of the trip. It was like the Grand Finale of the cross country journey. But first let’s drift back to last night. Barney and I walked into the Wenatchee Downtown District to search out a good local pub/restaurant. Walked about 2 miles south and did indeed come to a really neat little downtown, with old style buildings and motif. We were sent to a place called McGlinn’s, and it was definitely a great place. Barney got the home made pizza and I got a chicken burger with the taste of the west. Our beers were micro brews that were awesome. We chowed in a big way and ripped through several mugs of suds. As we were at the bar the storms rolled in, and I mean they were just gully washers, with the rain coming in horizontally at times. We managed to time it right and walk back to the Motel 6 in a window of no rain. That’s about when my sugar Jones kicked in and we ended up going to this pie restaurant for some home made pie and ice cream. I got 2 slices and Barney one, and each of us got a scoop of ice cream. I feel kind of like a bad boy encouraging Barney to eat like a freaking hog like I’ve been doing.

Back to the motel and then the rain returned with this just amazing lightning and thunder storm going on through 10 PM. It was still storming like crazy when we hit the hay.

Got up around 5:30 AM, and we readied our gear to hit the road. Decided to skip breakfast there, and ride up to Leavenworth and then stop for breakfast. So the plan in place, and off we went. And it was a climb up as soon as we left the Wenatchee city limits, and that’s about the time Barney dropped my sorry ass up the non stop series of rollers stair-stepping up into the mountains to the west. From the get-go you could see the snow covered Cascade range from outside of Wenatchee. It was just amazing to see this because to me this meant that that was my final barrier to getting to the west coast. The day was just stellar, with just the perfect starting temp – somewhere in the mid to upper 60’s. I was tank top from the start. Now you could tell that the day in Wenatchee was going to be a scorcher, and we were riding the heck out of that and into the cool, crisp mountains.

Barney waited for me a couple of times as we worked our way up to Leavenworth, which as it turned out, was like about 20 miles or more from Wenatchee – we had it figured at about 12 miles. So just a little more time in the saddle to work up an appetite. Made it to Leavenworth in about 1:45 hrs, and it’s a wonderful, charismatic little town, looking like a some hamlet tucked way up in the the Austrian Alps. Just a very cool place. It was surrounded by all these high, snow covered peaks, and just had character oozing in every direction. Barney got the dope on the best breakfast place and there we went. I opted for a coronary clogging delight – biscuits and gravy, eggs and sausage – I needed something heavy to get me over 40 miles of climbing. Barney at least opted for some cakes and eggs and bacon.

Got our coffee Jones to finish off breakfast and then off we went – for the amazing 40-mile climb up to Stevens pass. Yup, 40 miles of climbing up to this pass, and hell, we’d already climbed about 18 miles up to Leavenworth, so add 40 more to that…….and well, you do the math. I mean the day couldn’t have been any more perfect – cloudless blue skies, light breeze out of the west, cool, crisp mountain air, on bikes climbing up the Cascade Range, and we’re totally surrounded by these amazing mountain peaks. The pitch of the highway was quite low at this point, being somewhere in the 2-3% range, and it was not bad at all. Got me thinking that hell, this day was going to be a breeze if the climbing was all like that. Barney was point man riding strong and easy up front. I’d draft off of him on occasion. Stopped numerous times to snap pics, so I drifted a bit back for a while. And the climb just went on and on and on with this marvelous false flat into the mountains. There were points where we were ticking off the miles at like 13-14 mph, and then others where the pitched bumped up a bit and dropped us down into the 9 mph area.

About 1:30 hrs after leaving Leavenworth we hit a sign that said that Stevens Pass was just 19 more miles, so I was pretty jazzed to have completed the first half of the climb in under 2 hours – we had figured that we may average 10 mph for 4 hours to complete the climb, so we were well ahead of schedule. Got me thinking, “shit it just can’t be this easy.” And it wasn’t! Right after that sign things changed, at least for me, in a very big way. Yep, the pitch increased to like 4-5%, and I’ll tell you, it felt like much more than that, and that’s when we really started to gain elevation. Up to that point I’d done all the climbing in the middle ring. But we were getting into sections where I was in my easiest gear in the middle ring and starting to feel the effort – big time. Barney…..he went up those pitches seated and just left me in the dust, riding like he was on a mission. I was out of the saddle trying to keep a rhythm and stay away from that damned little cookie.

Finally got to a point to where I was just hanging my arse off of the end of the saddle cranking in that middle cookie, and I said to myself, “ok dude, time to suck it up and drop into the little cookie.” And with that I relinquished and dropped down to the mini. Damn that felt good, just spinning away at like 5-6 mph. So Barney was gone by then and it was just me, the mountains, the beautiful day, the second to last day of cycling across the United States. Life was good no matter how tough the climbing could get. I was just in a state of ecstasy doing this ride. So bring it on! About this time I started looking at on occasional mile marker to get a handle on how far we’d gone on the climb – that and the time. By three hours into the climb I was just amazed we’d been climbing so long. Never had I done just one climb that lasted this long. This was just off the charts amazing!

Now I was plodding along just getting into the moment when I saw a sign that said that the road gets steeper, and I’m like, “damn, I’m already in the little cookie.” And the road sure as heck steeped out again and I was in my easiest gear, in and out of the saddle. It was appropriate though, this being the very last mountain range to climb before the finish, that I get throttled just a tad by the mountains. So it was just the breeze, the mountains, my breathing and my pedaling up, up, up. Now there was a point where I was really starting to think that I was close to the pass. I mean the elevations were going up by like 400-600 feet every 20-30 minutes and the last elev. sign I saw was 3800 feet. Add to that the fact that it looked as if I was about to kind of go across this little saddle between two really high peaks. So I just kept it going in and out of the saddle. Then I saw these cars parked on the side of the road and people mulling about several hundred yards ahead of me. That was it, because there off to the right was Barney standing and taking pics of me coming to the top of the pass. Damn that felt good – about 3.5 hours of non-stop climb up the mountain. We hit the top and got some water from a couple of folks who were headed east in their car. There were no services up there, and this gentleman offered up some ice cold water to Barney and I when I had asked him if there was anywhere around where we could fill up our bottles.

After getting our water fill, we just sat on some concrete barriers and ate our lunch – beef jerky, gorp, and a couple of sweet and salty bars. Man I’ll tell you, I was worked on those last 19 miles of climbing. Felt so good to sit on that concrete barrier and hand my sore arse over one end and just relax. We were up there for about 30 min. And we talked about having gotten there so early, why not just bypass Skykomish, where we were going to camp for the day, and just ride all the way back down to the town of Monroe where Barney had parked his car yesterday. DONE. We were going to go for the full Magilla. Barney said that it was just a descent for 40 miles. So might as well go for it.

Got back on the bikes for this BALZ descent down the west side, where the pitch was crazy steep, and the mph was going well over 35 with us hitting the brakes on a regular basis, but the crazy thing was that once we got going down on the west side, the wind had picked up to this just nasty gusting and blowing. I really had to grip the bars a bit more than normal, and this really started to pump up my forearms after about 30 min of straight descending. I mean we were jamming down the mountain, with these guardrails on our right, protecting us from taking multi-hundred foot screamers down the mountain if we screwed up. I’d look off to the right and like a thousand feet below I’d see the road and these tiny things moving – cars! So we were each shaking out our hands and arms on occasion to get the muscles limbered back up again to grip the bars. So we just had this steep section where we descended about 6-8 solid miles and lost like 2000 feet of elevation. Then it settled out a bit, and that’s when the gusting wind really affected us. I mean we had this big time headwind in our faces, and you could look over at the trees and see the branches and leaves just bending to the east with the force of the wind. It was definitely slowing us down in a huge way.

We’d hit little sections where the road kind of flattened out, or conversely, where the road just pitched up a tad, and what with the headwind, it was as if we were right back there climbing up the mountain, except that we were DESCENDING! So our decision to ride all the way to Monroe, that was beginning to look like a pretty tough cookie to complete with the wind. We passed Skykomish and just kept it rolling down. And when the pitch was fairly steep, it felt ….just ok. But when the pitch settled down, wow, that wind really put a damper on our descending efforts. Round about this time both Barney and I started to get the bonk going on. Me, I was starting to get the shakes. And with that I knew that I had to get some sugar in me asap. Barney stopped to knock down a gel or two. I told him I had to ride on to find a place to get a coke and candy or cookies. So I kept going. About 2 miles further I just had to stop and get some of my emergency stash – a couple of strawberry yogurt energy bars. Munched them down like they were my only meal in days.

Barney joined back up with me and we kept it going, with me still wanting to find a place for a coke – the proverbial heroin spike in my veins for riding. And we found it just a few more miles down the road, in the hamlet of Baring. Stopped at a little place that was post office/diner/general store/hardware store. Got a Pepsi and this coconut, chocolate chip thingy which Barney and I split. THAT was the ticket. We chatted for a bit with the two ladies there about our trip. I asked about the distanced to Monroe, and they told me it was about 30 miles away – a bit too far for me to make, as we were already at about 81 miles for the day. She suggested staying in the town of Gold Bar, about 13 miles away, where there’s a little motel, a restaurant, and a grocery store. So we decided that Gold Bar it was for the day’s destination.

Did that last 13 miles with a bit more energy from all the sugar I ingested in Baring. I pulled a bit and Barney pulled a bit. About a mile outside of Gold Bar Barney pulled into this little stand where a lady was selling cherries. Barney bought probably 5-7 pounds of them!! And again, off we went, into the town of Gold Bar about 1.5 miles down the road. We got a motel, actually a really laid out place with a full kitchenette - really awesome place. Ended up with about 95 miles of riding in 7:30 hours of saddle time. Damn what a day. This was the penultimate day of the trip – great scenery, amazing weather, awesome friend to ride with, a journey that is just 39 miles away from being completed. All the elements were there to make this so very memorable.

We got settled in, got some micro brews, skyped our ladies, and we’re just sitting here veging and waiting for me to finish this blog so we can go downstairs to eat dinner at the restaurant. This is a very cool little town, surrounded by mountains and river. Great place, great day. Tomorrow is a casual day. No early start. No big day in the saddle. No more tomorrow. The trips ends in 39 miles. Time to go eat dinner. Talk to you tomorrow from the Pacific Ocean…..Pete

Welcome Barney

2010-07-28T14:25:00.000-07:00

7-28-10 Day 53: Ephrata, Washington to Wenatchee, Wahington: 50 miles in 3:31 hours northwest on Rt 28 to Rt. 2 west.

Well gang. Almost there. One teeny, tiny little mountain range called the Cascades, and then it’s a dash to the ocean. Been a long haul man, a real long haul doing the majority of this thing solo and fighting headwinds on and off for the past 4000 miles. I’m looking back fondly at the hard days I endured to get to this point. Heck I kind of had this moment in my head way back in Maine, but I just couldn’t even attempt to conjure it up for more than a few seconds. No, you really just have to have the goals set from smallest onward: Goal for the hour; goal for the day; goal for the week; goal for the month; and then the overall goal – the end of the journey. And son of a gun, I’m like 2 rides away.

No I have to come to the confessional right now with respect to yesterday. You see I ate at Subway around 12 noon, and then went to Safeway and got a Ben & Jerry’s New York Style Fudge. THAT was a lot of food! Ok, so fast forward to yesterday evening. What did I do? Went back to Subway and got two more foot longs, and be damned if I didn’t eat 1.5 of the two. So I ended up with like 3.5 sub sandwiches in my stomach. Then, to add insult to injury, I needed a sugar fix, but was too lazy to go back out for something, so I got a fork and just ate peanut butter right out of the plastic jar. I feel so ashamed of myself…….not really! I swear, the less you ride doing a trip like this, the more time you have to just eat all day. Well, that was the case for yesterday. Then, to top it all off, I got on the net and map quested Wenatchee to see if there was a Subways close by the cheapie motels, and I hit a gold mine – a Chinese buffet. It was centrally located in the city, so I got the address and saved it for when I pulled into town to kind of line up the lodging with the Chinese buffet. Pretty sick isn’t it?

So today….Well, it was the same old same old for the morning and my usual routine – except that I had .5 of a Subway sub to add to the bananas and yogurts. Got on the road at like 5:45, despite the fact that I had just 45-50 miles to ride today. But the forecast was for super hot and mildly humid out, so I just wanted to get the riding out of the way before the heat machine was turned on high. Pulled out of Ephrata with the temp at 68 degrees, and I was in the tank top mode from the get-go. Had what seemed to be a nice little cross tailwind out of the southeast. Got into Quincy at about 15 mph average and was feeling ok. But then I started doing this climb, and it was steep at first and then kind of leveled off, but was a false, false flat. I mean I was looking at my mph and it was just killer to hold 10 mph, and I’m looking down at my tires to see if I flatted. NOPE. Looked behind me and I could see this ever so subtle false flat. Ok, shifted up a gear or two and just spun, and this thing went on forever. The only good thing was that I could see, way off to the northwest, the snow covered Cascade range.

After some 3-4 miles of this gradual false flat I finally kind of topped out, but I topped out on nothing. Wasn’t like I was at the top of anything, and there ahead of me was a steep descent sign, you know the one with the icon of the steep slope and the truck going down it. And I was looking around thinking, “what the hell, not as if I just climbed a steep pitch here.” “Why in the heck is there a steep descent sign here?” Well, I rode on for about 200 yards and then I saw it…..this massive descent, long and sweeping that had to be 3-4 miles long, taking you all the way down to the Columbia River. It was mind blowing to look at this thing. Shot a few pics at the top and then down I went, and it was just wild, totally out of control, and I had to feather the brakes just so I could stay in an “under 40 mph” mode. Get going any faster on a bike loaded down like mine and if you get into something bad, like chuck holes, rocks, junk on the berm, you’re just going to fast to react safely and then it could be ……BAD. So I stayed at a good speed and just descended and descended. Descended so long that when I finally did have to pedal my legs felt like I’d been sitting around doing nothing for 10 min. They were stiff and unresponsive.

Well, I needed those puppies to perk up fast, because I had a series of rollers to get over once the big descent ended. But I still wasn’t right down on the Columbia, nope, it was down in a gorge and several hundred feet further down. Now by this time the temp had climbed up to the low 80’s, and add to that just a hint of humidity, so the heat machine was definitely on it’s way up. I’d hit sections, because I was now riding in a northwesterly direction, where I was shaded by the canyon walls, and the temp difference was just amazing – felt great. So I was climbing small grades, and then descending even more for a bit, ever so slowly working my way down to the waterline of the Columbia.

Got to one section where there was a warning sign about super strong crosswinds, and it even had a wind directional down at the base to let you see how hard the wind was blowing and from what direction it was blowing from. Well I hit that area and like out of nowhere, and I mean from nowhere, the wind just cut into me like a gale as a headwind. Was as if someone had just turned on a giant wind tunnel. Well, it had something to do with the wind funneling down into this canyon at a specific point to be super concentrated. And it was, for about 3 miles with me struggling to maintain 10 mph, and I thought that I’d be just creeping into Wenatchee with a headwind like that. But be darned if the road didn’t kind of turn back to a westerly direction and the wind was darned near gone. It was just beautiful down there riding along the mighty Columbia, but a big dam just south of the town of Rock Island kind of put a damper on the wild river thing.

From Rock Island up to Wenatchee it was like cycling through the desert, very much similar to riding in the Flaming Gorge area in the US – hot, hot, hot! The foothill mountains were just blank and hot looking, with just a smidge of trees here and there. For the most part this place with just an inferno along the deep blue Columbia. That wind never really quit, it just softened out a good bit, but it was still blowing in my face. I just plodded along knowing that I really had a mellow ride for the day, not some killer 80-miler in the wind and heat. Finally looked at a mile marker and it read 4, meaning I had four more miles on Rt 28 to get to the jcn with East Wenatchee – totally doable no matter how hot it had become and how tired I was (telling you, I’m just totally beat down right now, fully functional on my bike of course, but I’m really spent with respect to the legs – they’re hosed!). Made it to East Wenatchee, and then crossed the Columbia River on a bridge and rode another 2 miles through town and bingo bango, I was in Wenatchee.

Scouted out the street where the Buffet was on which is Wenatchee Avenue, and then got a motel – got a motel for two people! Yup, Barney is on his way, or maybe even at the Wenatchee bus station as I write this. He will ride with me for the last two days of the journey, and I’m really looking forward to hooking back up with this guy – he’s one hell of a good traveling bud. Now there were a couple of cheesy places here as far as efficiencies go, but with Barney coming I thought I’d get something in the middle, not a 8x10 prison cubicle with a frige and microwave with a bed, so I went to Motel 6 and snagged a good sized room that would accommodate the both of us and our bikes. Problem was that it was just 9:30 AM and the dude did not have anything ready to move into on the first floor at that time. Said I could have something on the second floor, or wait till noon or one pm for a first floor room. Second floor it will be!

Got my gear in and got my computer going and found a message from Barney’s wife, Val, telling me that Barney had gotten up at 4 AM and was on his way. So I skyped him and he was just getting into the town of Monroe, Washington where he was going to catch a bus into Wenatchee with his bike on board. Done! Went to my little Chinese buffet and just went crazy. Another great buffet. I’ll spare Barney the buffet routine this eve, so I just really put the feed bag on and went to town this afternoon.

So that’s about it. I’m kind of hanging here waiting for Barney to arrive – got some beer in the refrig – and enjoying the AC. It’s just a purgatory out there right now, although I see clouds moving in from the south as I look out the window.

Barney thinks we can make Skykomish tomorrow – a 70-mile ride – and then do an easy Friday ride by descending down to the coast. We’ll likely be camping up in the mountains tomorrow in Skykomish, so I may not have internet access, and thus no posting of the blog that day. So if nothing’s up, that’s probably the reason. Anyway, almost to the end here. I did check out Amtrak, and it looks pretty good from the perspective that I can take all my junk on board and not get charged anything extra – well, save for a $5.00 charge for a bike box. Yup, five bucks to ship the bike with me! So I’m leaning heavily on doing Amtrak back home. The neat thing here, not accounting for the fact that I just love trains (I used to hop trains when I was a kid – sorry mom and dad), is that I’ll be traveling along some of the very roads I cycled along. That I think is very cool, to look out at what I’d just ridden for 1500 miles.

Well, Barney just made it here and we sat around and BS’ed for a good hour, with a few beers of course. He’s putting his bike together right now. Going to be a very awesome two days to the finish. More to come tomorrow. Cheers all……..Pete

Spared from the heat

2010-07-27T14:13:00.000-07:00

7-27-10 Day 52: Wilbur, Washington to Ephrata: 60 miles in 4:01 hours west on Rt. 2 to south on Rt 17 to west on Rt 28.

Man, I’m just really beat right now. Think it’s just part and parcel of riding cross country and going at it day after day. I think I had like 4 off days for the trip, and I’m starting to feel it. Thanks goodness these last few days are just mini-rides and not gonzo rides.

So did my usual breakfast thing with yogurt and bananas and got on the road at about 6:15 AM. Hell, I knew it was just going to be a 60-mile day, but I’m always waking up at 5 AM now, so I saw no use in just sitting around and twiddling my thumbs. Plus the weather folks out of Spokane were forecasting a front moving in from the south from Oregon that had the potential for some isolated storms later today. So, I got it rolling knowing that it would be a short ride into Ephrata, with an ETA of like 10 AM!

Got going and it felt much better than when I got up. The wind was light and out of the …EAST…..nice one there. This first section of Rt 2 west out of Wilbur was just rolling and rolling and rolling. With nice little hills and swales. The terrain was more of the farmland type as I’d experienced in the Great Plains. Off to the south, sure enough I could see the front moving in ever so slowly. Now the temp this morn was pretty sweet considering it damned near hit 100 yesterday, and that they were forecasting the same for today. But with the blanket of cloudcover moving in, the sun just wasn’t able to penetrate like it did yesterday, at least making it appear cooler out. Rode with the long sleeved jersey for about an hour, and then it was tank top time.

Made it through a couple of tiny towns and then arched southwest towards the the next big town – Coulee City. I hit a nice, fairly flat stretch and just jammed to Coulee City in no time. Made it there from Wilbur in like 1:45 hrs. Now I wanted to take somewhat of a detour from Rt 2 today and get away from just the desert and Great Plains type topography, so I opted to go on Rt 17 south through this monster gorge that was formed from a gargantuan flood eons ago. This rather than just ride west on Rt 2 to the town of Waterville where there are limited amenities. Plus, by going south through the gorge, I’d only have to do a 60-mile ride today and a 47-mile ride tomorrow, and be able to have my stopover in the town of Ephrata, which has a lot of stuff compared to most of these towns along the way. So 17 south I went, and it was just spectacular.

On the opposite side of the Grand Coulee and south of the Dry Falls dam, is this three and a half mile-long scalloped precipice known as Dry Falls. It’s supposed to be ten times the size Niagra Falls, and thought to be the greatest known waterfall that ever existed. Geologists speculate that during the last ice age epic flooding channeled water at 65 miles per hour through the Upper Grand Coulee and over this 400-foot rock face. At that time, it’s estimated that the flow of the falls was ten times the current flow of all the rivers in the world combined. According to the Visitor’s Center, nearly twenty thousand years ago, as glaciers moved south, one ice sheet plugged the Clark Fork of the Columbia River, which kept water from being drained from Montana. Consequently, a significant portion of western Montana flooded, forming a gigantic lake, Lake Missoula. Eventually, enough pressure accumulated on the ice dam that it gave way. Geologists believe that this process of ice-damming of the Clark Fork, refilling of Lake Missoula and subsequent cataclysmic flooding happened dozens of times over the years of the last Ice Age.

So I checked this Dry Falls out from the Visitor’s Center and it was just amazing to think of water cascading over it. And the gorge below was just wild looking. I rode down into the gorge for about a 2-3 mile descent, down to Park Lake, Blue Lake and Lenore Lake. There were places on the sides of the gorge where you could see the flood residue cemented together, these giant boulders and cobbles that formed giant sand bars of sorts, but this wasn’t sand, it was stuff as big as tables and basketballs and cars. Above that are these basalt cliffs with vertical columns of basalt just as I’d seen in Iceland. Matter of fact it looked just like a couple of the river valleys I passed on my cycling trip around Iceland – topography and terrain was almost identical.

Really happy I took this deviation, though it will add about 10 more miles on to my trip west – big deal there hah? The road undulated up and down along the string of lakes up alongside the basalt walls. Now just about 4 miles from the town of Soap Lake, about where the gorge was opening up back to plains, I started getting bitten by these horse flys, and damn they were viscous. Got a bite on the shoulder, back, hip…..ass! I mean I thought I was going to be in the hurt locker with these things for the remaining 10-12 miles. But as soon as I got away from the water the flies were gone.

Outside of Soap Lake I got on Rt 28 east and headed back towards Wenatchee and my destination, Ephrata. This was a nice flat stretch with a slight southwesterly headwind, but at that point I was just 10 miles away and couldn’t care less. Made it into Ephrata in just about 4 hours for 60 miles. Not a bad average for a day where I was just feeling tired and beat down. Got a little place on the west end of town – two blocks from a Subway. The cloud cover had set in by then and the temp was no where near what was predicted. Almost looks like it could rain for a bit.

So looks like a go to meet up with Barney tomorrow in Wenatchee. Then we’ll cycle across the Cascades to Everett for the finish. Looking forward to seeing Barney after nearly a year. So that’s it. Was a short one today, and even shorter tomorrow. I’m pretty beat and tired but really happy that my goal of coast to coast is just over the final mountain range. That’s a wrap for the day…….Pete

Cycling through the Washington inferno day 1

2010-07-26T14:46:00.000-07:00

7-26-10 Day 51: Spokane, Washington to Wilbur, Washington: 70 miles in 4:40 hours all on Rt. 2 West.

Knew this was gong to be a hot trek across the Washington “Badlands”, so I had talked with Barney last night and pushed our meeting time to Wednesday due to the long distances I’d have to cover Today and tomorrow to get to Wenatchee on Tues. So we settled on Wed, which actually worked out better for him. Me to, hell I just have to do 3 60-70 mile rides through this freaking purgatory instead of 90-mile rides for two days in a row.

So I asked politely at the Comfort Inn reception desk if they could let me eat my free breakfast at 5:30 rather than 6 AM as is stated in the hotel. This so I could get on the road at 6 AM. Heck, I had a free breakfast coming, and that I did not want to miss. Got to get my money’s worth when I’m splurging! And they were just totally cool with letting me in a half hour early. So I got in the breakfast room and chatted with the gal who puts out all the grub. Nice lady and she was more than accommodating with my early arrival, and when I told her I was riding west across the desert to Seattle on a cross country trip, she just flipped, telling me that that was crazy to ride through Eastern Washington on days like today. I assured her that I would be fine, and that this is why I was eating early so that I could stop before the heat of the day set in. Then she started asking me a host of questions about my riding cross country, the first of which was “what is your cause?” I’m getting this like every day - my cause. So I explained to her that my cause was time and mortality. Got to do it now, or maybe I’ll never do it. Yup, my cause is mortality …go for it, Iive life and push yourself into situations that are just totally out of the norm. The reward is just an amazing sense of accomplishment. I don’t think she totally “got the pushing yourself” part but she was very cool in trying to figure it out. She even said she had read a couple of books, one about a guy who walked across the US, and the other about a guy who biked across the US, so obviously she has an interest in stuff like this were people go out there and just do it – living rather than just existing. If I can impart anything to people about doing things like this it’s: go out there and take a walk outside of the comfort zone, take chances, live your dreams, experience life. Yup, life’s about taking chances. If you don’t take chances you leave so much on the table. Enough said there.

So I had this great breakfast at the hotel, with biscuits and gravy, some eggs, yogurt, muffins, doughnuts. Yup, I was just packed. And then off I went, riding into downtown Spokane to try to beat rush hour and the impending heat of the day when I reached the desert. The hotel staff had given me a route to get through the city rather than take Rt 2 onto the I-90 – which is a no, no. So I road a net descent down into the middle of the city, and then turned on 2^nd Ave and finally onto Sunset Blvd which exits the city west to eventually hook back up with Rt 2 which comes off of the interstate west of the city. Didn’t really have much of a problem what with the early hour and the light traffic in the downtown.

Then got on Sunset Blvd and began riding west – right into this monster climb. Now I’d just made it across the Rocky Mountains without using the little cookie, but when I caught sight of this puppy my stubbornness evaporated – it was little cookie time! I’m telling you, this thing was a bitch. I dumped it into the little cookie and just spun in the third easiest cog in the rear, and occasionally dropping a gear and getting out of the saddle to change it up a bit. Must have taken me 15-20 min just to get up this climb and out of the city. Half way up I just stopped and stripped my long sleeved jersey due the profuse amount of sweat just running like small braided streams down my upper body. I was soaked half way up!

Finally got to the top and junctioned with Rt 2 off of the Interstate, and then it was just nice and flat. Went by like this massive strip mall complex outside of the city with some pretty heavy traffic. Good thing was that I had this just glorious berm that was a lane wide and smooth as glass with fresh asphalt. Once I got through all the suburbs and strip malls I was suddenly out in the middle of nowhere, just farm country, where I was surrounded by wheat fields as far as the eye could see. It was wild how fast I left the foothills and trees and entered this gargantuan basin. That’s where the road went back to single lane, and where the traffic just dwindled off to a low to moderate level. And that was it. Goodbye Spokane.

The early morning temp was around 65-70 degrees. But by the time I’d passed the suburbs to the west it had climbed up to the low 80’s. I rode a series of rollers and straights into what looked to be more and more like the very Great Plains I had left several days ago. This is definitely not the way most people picture the state of Washington. I mean there were just all these rolling hills as far as I could see containing wheat fields. It was actually quite beautiful to see the fields of golden wheat on one side, and green wheat on the other. The play of morning light on the fields was pretty cool. I had a light crosswind out of the southeast that enabled me to keep a really nice pace of 13-17 mph depending on the rollers.

About an hour later the terrain really changed drastically, like it was very reminiscent of the lave fields I experienced in Iceland when I pedaled out of the Reykjavik airport – just rubble fields of basaltic rock everywhere. I looked intimidating and menacing with such scorching weather. Yup, it was the desert for sure. I could just feel the heat magnify out there. It was wild. But I still had a coolish breeze from riding so I was being cooled off. No humidity here. This is just Arizona type heat. Eighty degrees felt ok. So I kept rolling on. Made it past Davenport with no stop needed, but damn, the last 13 miles up to Davenport seemed like a total false flat, just neverending. I mean I was doing like 15-17 mph going up this thing, but I could see cars just disappearing over the horizon each and every time they passed me. And when I’d got to the top of what looked to be the end, it just continued on to another top, and on and on and on.

Once past Davenport it was bloody well hot, really hot. I was going through these zones where it would be farmland fields of wheat and barley and then these “no man” zones of basalt and desert. That’s about the time my mouth started getting dry and cottony. I’d sip my water bottles to wet my whistle and just plug on. From Davenport it was 29 miles to Wilbur, with the small town of Creston about 20 miles in, and 9 miles from Wilbur. So I figured that at the very least I had plenty of water – 4 bottles – to get me that far. More false flats and rollers, and then long stretches of flats amidst these basalt fields that just looked like a freaking oven. My holdout for Creston was broken when I came upon a rest area with water. I stopped and just guzzled water by the bottle full for a good five minutes. Drank so much that I nearly had a stomach ache! But I was well hydrated and continued on to Creston.

I’ll tell you, now I can barely understand people living in like eastern Montana amidst …..just really nothing. But this place? It’s like a hell on earth out here. Just this one main road, Rt 2, and then nothing but these little one lane dirt roads that go off into the horizon, into the heart of the freaking oven. It’s a literal hell hole in some of these places. And there’s a farm here and there, just nestled down in a hollow with a grove of trees where there must be a water source. It’s just crazy to see people living their lives in this area. And the kids? Wow, such a different life. Made it through Creston and it was just a blink and you’re through it kind of place. And the final 9 miles to Wilbur were hot, hot, hot. I had toyed with the idea of pushing on to Coulee City, another 34 miles west, but by Creston that was a definite negative. Nope, just didn’t want to ride on into the scorching part of the day. I was going to go as planned and bag it at Wilbur.

That last stretch was a nice one where I could jam on at nearly 17 mph. And seeing a town out here was just like seeing a town out on the Great Plains, where you can see the grain silos from miles upon miles away. You can see the town 5-7 miles before you get to it just because of the nothingness across this vast landscape.

Made it into town and hit a little efficiency and got situated. I asked for the “guy biking across America discount” and the lady was kind enough to give me the room with no boarding tax. By the time I entered Wilbur it was round about 92 degrees…and just smoking hot. Now this is not much of a town, and again, I just am amazed that people live their lives here….like this little oasis of humanity amidst a massive desert of basalt and wheat fields. Just like two little diners to eat, so I opted for the local grocery store and ended up getting like this big bag of frozen dinners. Got the Banquet specials! Got lunch, a Ben & Jerry’s snack, and dinner….+ a few beers for this evening.

I sat on a picnic table under this huge willow tree in front of the motel and had a beer. Damn, I was very glad I’d decided to bag it here. Going for the extra 30 miles would have been just insanely toasty. Nope, I’ll do short 60-miler tomorrow to Ephrata, and then a very easy 47-mile ride to Wenatchee on Wed to hook up with Barney. And that will get me out of this desert. I’m now about 220 miles from the coast. Yipppe!

Well, it’s like 2:45 PM PST right now. I’m all done with everything really. I can work a bit on the computer and then take a nap. I’ll venture out for some photos later in the evening when the heat backs off and the light gets kinder. But right now I’m cocooned here in the AC loving life. Did my Ben & Jerry’s and feel very comfortable.

That’s it from Eastern Washington in the badlands. Late……pete

Welcome to Washington

2010-07-25T16:50:00.001-07:00

7-25-10 Day 50: Sandpoint, Idaho to Spokane, Washington: 72 miles in 5:11 hours all on Rt. 2 West.

Today was kind of a celebratory ride for me, as I entered Washington state after the first two hours of riding and am finishing up what I believe is my final week of riding on this cross-country trip. Great day. Hot day. Really hot day!

Got through my usual morning routine and got going on the bike at 6:15 AM. Not I had thought that it be a good idea to get going early as the weather was predicted to top 95 degrees today. Got going with no leg warmers and just a light long sleeved jersey out of Sandpoint. Had the roads to myself all the way through town and out into the mountains. Not a cloud in the sky, perfectly blue. Just a fantastic morning to ride. I just didn’t know what to expect today after yesterday’s mountain foray, so I just rode on the conservative side, spinning up the gradual rollers and keeping it mellow on the flats. I wanted gas in my legs in case I hit a substantial climb today. I was riding along the north side of the Oreille River all the way out of Sandpoint and to the west towards the Washington border.

This was a nice rolling section of highway, with plenty of berm and just some great scenery along the river what with the sun popping up on the eastern horizon. No tough climbing here, just rolling up and down along the river. Got to the town of Priest River, Idaho in two hours. Crossed the Oreille River and presto chango I was in Washington state, and on a section of berm that was just pure heaven – glass smooth and about a lane wide with a rumble strip on the far left side. Welcome to Washington! Yanked the long sleeve jersey off and it was tank top time, what with the temp hitting 65 degrees in the town of Newport, Washington. Pure sunshine. No clouds, and dry heat. It felt just wonderful. Good to be alive!

Seemed as though I was doing more down than up as I continued southwest in Washington, and then when the road went dbl lane, I was doing some serious down, for several miles. The landscape was more on the dry, almost semi-arid side with lodgepole pine and white pine all over the place, than and a sandy soil. After the big descent there were several little ups and downs but nothing major. Got to tell you that by this time I was OUT of the Rockies. And that had to be the absolute easiest traversing of that mountain range I’d ever done. This was just not that bad to ride across. Now I didn’t plan the trip specifically around this, but I knew that the Rockies in Montana were not anywhere near as extensive as they are to the south in Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. But those Great Plains of Montana – that made up for the lack of true mountain climbing. Really though, I just kind of lucked into a totally easy mountain crossing, where I never even used my little cookie for any of the climbing. Hell, I had a WAY tougher time crossing New York state and the Allegheny range!

By this time the traffic really started to pick up, what with everyone coming back to Spokane, or leaving Idaho for the day. Thankfully I had that giant berm as my security blanket as the big RV’s and 5^th wheels moving past me. I stopped at a mega gonzo gas station/diner about 30 miles out of Spokane for an ice cold coke. Guzzled and off again, onto a series of long rollers where I continued to loose elevation rather than gain it on the way to Spokane. Road went dbl lane again and I started to see signs of a big city a good 20 miles outside to the north. The traffic was just amazing for a Sunday, but with my berm – I was golden! Now it was around 10 AM by this time and I had seen a time and temp sign where the temp was listed as 83 degrees. And as I said, this is a dry heat, kind of like the desert southwest, so that 83 actually felt pretty comfortable, but I know that I wanted to be done in another hour because that temp was really beginning to climb.

Put it down as best I could for the last stretch, loosing my berm as I entered the city limits of Spokane, and a final out of the saddle climb up to and across the Spokane City Limits. Made it the 72 miles in just over 5 hours. I was feeling in a really great mood – hell I made Washington state and was less than a week away from completing my journey. Time for a treat! Yup, no little efficiency today, nope, I decided to splurge on a real hotel, the big time – Comfort Inn! I know, not exactly the Hilton, but to me, and all the cheesy little joints I’ve stayed in across this country, this was a freaking palace. Yup, 87 degrees out by the time I finished and I was just happy to get my salt encrusted ass off of the saddle and into the AC.

Got checked in, showered, skyped Judy and then off to this Chinese buffet, and this pup was like the KING of all Chinese buffes – they had it all and it was just fantastic. I had 5 plates, a bowl of soup and a cup of frozen custard. Waddled out like a duck for gosh’s sake, and by then the temp was just torrid. Went back and grabbed a nap with the AC just jamming….and here I sit. Just feeling really great about this last stretch of riding.

Now I have a desert of sorts to ride through in the first half of Washington. And the forecast is for 98-100+ degrees for the next two days, and nothing but sunshine for the next week. So this is my window to complete the journey in. I’m suppose to meet Barney in Wenatchee on Tuesday evening, but I just bought a map of Washington and that means that I have to really jam on tomorrow’s and Tuesday’s rides, maybe like doing 90+ miles on one of those days. I’ll have to line up all the towns just right on this stretch because there are sections like I rode back in Montana where there is just total nothing for 30-40 miles at a crack. So you have to lay up….or go for the green. And going for the green with it’s 100 outside is not what I’m looking forward to. Heat is my Achilles heel, so I just DO NOT want to be on the bike past, say 1-2 PM max. Just have to see how soon the heat sets in, and how strong a headwind I may have. I’m not going to bang it out into a 15+ mph headwind with those kinds of temps for 90-some miles!

Then it’s just a matter of one more mountain range to traverse – the Cascades, where the temps go down and the road goes UP!

Well, that’s it for today. It’s just so freaking hot out that I’m not even going to go out and walk around. I’ll see the city of Spokane tomorrow as I ride out of here early in the morning. That’s my photo opp time.

From the state of Washington…..I’m out……Pete

No legs today

2010-07-24T16:01:00.000-07:00

7-24-10 Day 49: Libby, Montana to Sandpoint, Idaho: 82 miles in 6:17 hours all on Rt. 2 West to Rt 2/Rt 95 South.

I’m just rocked….totally beat to hell, completely done for the day. Well, I’ve said it when we were riding across Canada: Always expect the unexpected. And today was one such day.

Up at 5 AM and on the road at 6 AM, and I expected today to be even easier than yesterday – a little climbing, but a lot of flats along river valleys for a pretty mellow day. NOT! Got going out of Libby and did some gradual climbing on my to Troy, Montana. Now, just a slight backtracking about Libby. I really enjoyed this little mountain town. Was a shame I couldn’t hang out longer and soak up the atmosphere and do some hike in the nearby mountains. This is a totally “no frills” town. No nonsense, no junk shops, no bumper cars and giant slides and goofy golf courses. This was much bigger than East Glacier, and had a ton of character as did East Glacier. Wish I’d of had the energy to go out and scout around, but hell, I was in bed at 9 PM and sleeping way before it even got dark out. Too bad.

So anyway, started out with temp at about 49 degrees, wearing my leg warmers, and dbl long sleeve set-up I had on yesterday. I got going up these mellow climbs for a bit, taking my higher above the Kootenai River. The scenery was just fantastic as I entered a kind of gorge that the river had cut into walls through the mountain. There was on point where there was a local park called Kootenai Falls just off of the road, but the sun hadn’t even crested over the top of the peaks, so everything was in shadow. Was pretty cool to look down at the rapids, the falls, and the turbulent water several hundred feet below me. Took a few pics, but the lighting was just not there yet. So I just motored on. Round about on hour and a half in the sun finally started to illuminate the higher echelons of the mountains, and that’s when I did my first climb up towards the town of Troy. This wasn’t too bad and I made it in about 15 minutes, but man, the legs were just so lethargic, in or out of the saddle. Troy also looked like a pretty cool little town, and I salivated smelling fresh bacon and eggs cooking at a little diner along the side of the road.

I was so tempted to just stop and pig out on a big breakfast of greasy food. My 2 bananas and two yogurts were totally overshadowed by that smell wafting through the cool mountain air. It was all I could to keep the bike pointed straight ahead and keep rolling. But I plugged on. And the riding instead of being this nice flat stretch along the river was a long and endless series of power climbs. Now part of my mistake was listening to the owner of the efficiency who had told me yesterday that it was a bit of a climb up to Troy and then just soft pedaling the rest of the way. Funny how people who do not ride bikes often mistake the terrain I’m riding on by their “automobile conscious” judgments. Well, he totally didn’t perceive the moderate power climbs that undulated along the river, and then the biggie, the climb that really made my legs just suffer like a dog. Yup, he totally forgot about that one!

This pup came about 8 miles from the Idaho border and it was round about 3 miles long, and at a pitch of somewhere between 10-12%. And it felt LLLLLLOOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGG! I was in and out of the saddle for probably like 25-30 minutes, all in the middle ring in the easiest cog in the back. It just kept switch-backing around and around until I finally topped out with about 5 miles to the border. Then I was treated to a mild descent, not loosing anywhere near what I had gained. Nope, I was up on the top of a mountain, and I was there to stay for a good bit of time. I finally came to mile marker #1 on Rt 2, the last mile in Montana. I was so jazzed that I stopped and took a pic of mile marker #1, and kind of shouted out “Love ya Montana, but gotta go!” And I pedaled on into Idaho. Nothing really changed. I was still up on the mountain on a single lane road out in the middle of nowhere.

And this is where the riding just got downright gnarly, what with these long, gradual swales I had to go up and down. It was like non-stop, just a series of rolling up and down, what nary a chance to get into a rhythm. Nope, shift down two gears and pedal slightly down, and then shift up 2-3 gears and get out of the saddle and get over the top, again, and again, and again. Just felt my already tired legs totally getting the hammered, getting thoroughly tenderized by the rollers. This is where I realized that today was going to be a LONG, hard day. The scenery was just wonderful, so I tried to concentrate on that, and stop occasionally to take pics. But I’ll tell you, when the legs are like pillars of concrete, the mind just cannot fully get away from the pain.

I did notice that I was kind of riding away and out of the higher mountains and into an area that was more of foothills and plateau. I ended up stopping just short of Bonners Ferry, about 51 miles in, at a mega gas station/restaurant. Had to get off of the bike. Had to get some food in me. There was no “riding through” this one today. It was going to be a bit of a battle on the physical side. I stumbled in and sat down in the restaurant, noting one of the waitresses bringing out an order of biscuits and gravy. So when my waitress told me about the biscuits and gravy special, I was there. That and a cup of coffee and all the ice water I could drink down. I must have wolfed down the 4 biscuits and gravy in like 5 minutes. Sucked down several waters and a coffee and then back on the bike again.

I had 31 miles to get to Sandpoint, and I had to literally pry myself out of that booth for fear of getting rigor mortis if I stayed too long. Yup, that was going to be a very trying 31 miles, especially when the heat was just climbing by the minute. Now I had gained an hour by crossing the border and entering my final time zone – Pacific Standard, so in actuality I left Bonners Ferry at 9:30 AM instead of 10:30 AM for Mountain Time. But still, the temp had just started to skyrocket by then. Now riding south on Rt 2/Rt 95 I had stripped off my first jersey back before that long climb, and now I had to get ride of the long sleeved Underarmor and the leg warmers. That happened when I descended down and across a bridge over the Kootenai River and spotted another gnarly looking climb going to the south. So I put a tank top on, and rode with shorts for the first time in three days. Lucky thing I peeled when I did because I must have climbed for a solid 40 min, up a steep pitch at first, where it leveled out for about 2 miles and then went back up on a very long gradual.

Luckily my legs actually started to feel “back” what with the breakfast I’d consumed back in Bonners Ferry. So this climb was ok, long, but ok. Got to the top and started to feel a gradual increase in the wind – out of the south of course. And that made the riding much tougher, especially when the temp was just climbing as if I were in an oven. Onward. And again, it was just this endless series of rollers, gradual climbs and gradual descents, on and on and on. After another 15 miles of that my legs were right back in the hurt locker. By this time I noticed that I was really in a different type of climatic zone, one more hot and dry, where it felt as though I was in some kind of high basin with mountains way off to the east and west of me, and much lower in elevation, more like foothills than actually mountain ranges. And man, you could really tell the difference with the heat just kind of blazing away in this basin. It felt like the day we left Barney and Val in Penticton BC in the Okanagan Valley and rode to Kelowna. It was hot, windy and I was just totally spent. Ditto today.

Finally I saw a another giant gas station complex and just had to pull in for an ice cold coke. Well, no coke but I had a cherry-Pepsi fountain drink, like a 32-oz guy just chuck full of ice. Sucked it down and poured the ice into an empty water bottle and continued. Seemed like I rode for another hour just kind of hanging on, watching and waiting for some sign of Sandpoint. Finally saw a mileage sign down the road, and I was expecting the worst, thinking that maybe it would be 14-15 miles to go. But a great surprise – 8 miles. “Yup, I can do that,” I muttered to myself, “let’s take it home.” Rode into the headwind just kind of thinking about food, icewater, stopping, resting, being done.

Made it to Sandpoint about 30 minutes later. And I was just so happy to be done. That was a tough ride today, on totally lethargic, heavy legs. Got a place and then got situated and filled a bucket with ice and just sat in my room and poured ice and cold water into bottle after water bottle. Showered and then hit a Subway down 2 blocks. Did the same old thing with 2 footlongs. One of the young guys inside asked me if I was going to eat both of them, and I responded yes, that I’d just ridden 82 miles from Libby. He laughed and I told him that yesterday at the Libby Subway the girls working the deli stared at me as I was eating, like I was a bloody freak show, as I consumed 2 footlongs in like 15-20 minutes. I had told this young fellow to “load em up” because I was so bitch hungry. I literally had the hypoglycemic shakes waiting in a line that took some 30 minutes before I was up to bat.

After the Subway went straight-away to a grocery and got a six of on Oregon micro brew, a porter, and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s to feast on back at the efficiency. So that’s where I’m at now. Done with the ice cream, and still drinking ice water one bottle after another. The temp outside is now about 91 degrees, so TG I’d finished as early as I did. Tomorrow I hope to make Spokane, about 75 miles away. But it’s going to be a hot one, with the forecasted temp up to about 98, so I have to leave early and finish early.

Tentatively I’m to meet up with Barney from BC at the town of Wenatchee, Washington. He wants to ride the last several days with me to Seattle. I’m really looking forward to hooking up with him – that should be a grand way to finish this trip up. He’s looking at driving down to Monroe, Washington, and then taking his bike on a bus to meet up with me in Wenatchee. Then we’d ride up the Cascades together and down to the coast. So far it’s looking like that could happen on Tuesday, when we’d meet up that afternoon after my ride. Keeping my fingers crossed that his schedule remains as-is so that this plan is a go.

That’s it for the day. Tomorrow – Washington state here I come. I hope the legs get a quick recovery!.........Pete

Half a million dollar ride

2010-07-23T15:19:00.001-07:00

7-23-10 Day 48: Kalispell, Montana to Libby, Montana: 88 miles in 6:23 hours all on Rt. 2 West.

Another just stellar ride in the mountains. Now there were little things that kind of dampened the mood just smidge, but overall this was an amazing day on the bike.

Tell you what, it rained like heck yesterday, especially later in the afternoon. There were thunder storms and 60 mph gusts that downed trees and knocked out the electrical. It was something to watch as I sat in a Wendy’s waiting for my Chicken something sandwich. I had to wait a bit for the rain to die down before I left. Otherwise I’d of gotten soaked in like a minute. And it pretty much stormed all through the night. But the trusty Weather Channel guaranteed that today was going to be great out here in Western Montana. So I went to beddie bye with visions of great weather to ride in for Friday.

Got up at my now customary 5 AM, readied my gear, slammed 2 yogurts and 2 bananas – which is now my tried and true pre-ride food – and got out the door and on the bike at 6:15 AM. I just LOVE starting early and finishing early. That 8:30 AM starts stuff is for the birds. It just puts you too far into the afternoon and into the toughest heat of the day. Today’s expected high was forecast at 88 degrees, so I wanted to be off the bike no later than 2 PM. Out here the temp just continues to climb up to about 5-6 PM where the hottest part of the day is.

So got rolling into a really cool morning – 46 degrees – with a very large blanket of cloud cover still looming over Kalispell and stretching off to the west, the remnants of the front that came through yesterday. So I had long sleeved Underarmor, long sleeved jersey and my leg warmers on. There seemed to be a slight breeze out of …..you guessed it – the west! But no real hassle for riding. Rode out of Kalispell and then on to the west on Rt 2. Now the bummer was that the berm just deteriorated from this 6-foot wide behemoth to a real nothing, in a matter of like 5 miles. And that was it. It was just this token little berm of like 1 foot wide. Now this isn’t too bad early in the morning as there is little traffic on the road with me, but later….I was kind of bumming there because I just didn’t know how long this would last. Could be like just a mile or two, or could be like the whole way to Libby.

I was riding in this valley surrounded by foothills, very reminiscent of or the ride on Rt 36 out of Boulder, CO up to Lyons. And then I started slowly climbing up these little stair step climbs – until I just started climbing with no relief, and I eventually dropped into the easiest gear in the middle cookie. This was definitely a pass, as I was climbing out of one drainage system and up to what I hoped was a drainage divide. Now this pup was may harder than the Marias Pass I had climbed out by Glacier National Park. Yup, this guy was longer by far. But no little cookie. I topped out on what was indeed a divide, and then I was in fog, actually the thick cloud blanket that I’d seen from Kalispell. And I rode in the fog, on a shit berm for nearly 15 miles. There were spots where the sun broke through, and there were other spots where it was just totally fogged in.

I did have the occasional log truck and gravel truck pass me, but they ALWAYS went well to their left to give me room on the thin ribbon of berm. The rest of the traffic was just as courteous. I was still a bit wigged about the fog and the lack of good berm. But at least people could see me and were giving me some space. Rode along the top of that divide for a long way, and then slowly began to descend down to another river valley – the Kootenai River Valley. This is where I started to run into a string of mountain lakes, McGregor Lake and the Lower, Middle and Upper Thompson Lakes. Some sections of this string of lakes area were ever so slightly illuminated by the sun through breaks in the low cloudbank, and then other sections were just totally fogged out. When I’d go though the sun areas I could see these wonderful mountains on both sides of me. In the fog, hell all I could see was about a third of the way up the sides of the mountains. But this was just awesome terrain.

Round about the Thompson Lakes area I got a great section of berm that took me all the way to this little, damned near nothing of a place called Happy’s Inn. Now that was my bail point if the day really sucked today, 49 miles west of Kalispell. But no way Hose’. I was bound and determined that with yesterday being an off day, I was going to do the 80-some miles to Libbly. So I stopped at one of two places in Happy’s Inn, the gas station/diner. Got a cold Pepsi and 2 muffins down my stomach in 10 min and back on the bike for the final push to Libbly. From Happy’s Inn I was doing a nice pace along the river, riding ever so slightly downstream at like 13-15 mph. Felt great.

Entered Kootenai National Forest and that’s when the thick blanket of low cloud cover finally broke. And when it did I was just treated to some unbelievable riding down in the river valley surrounded by the Salish Mountain Range. It was just spectacular with the sun out, shining down on the mountains with blue sky and cotton ball clouds up high. Ended up pulling off my long sleeved jersey as the temp was really starting to rise once the cloud cover had broken. I had to do another small pass as I rode northwest towards Libby and away from the Kootenai River, but this was no where near as hard as the fist pass of the day. And at that climb that’s where I lost my good berm again. Back to a little nothing of a berm the rest of the way. But the truck traffic had really died off by then, so again, not as bad as it could have been.

Once I topped out and descended I was on a pretty flat section of road that really resembled just a state or local road – but with these amazing mountains on both sides of me. It was just crazy beautiful to ride along this section. I was making much better time than I had figured on, because on this section there were points where I was jamming away at 15-18 mph. Yup, good to be alive! I rolled into Libby at about 1 PM, just before the heat really got going. Got a place a block away from a Subway. First things first – sink wash both tops and both bottoms and leg warmers. They were all pretty sticky by the time I got finished. Just set them outside of my efficiency door in the grass to air dry in the 88-degree sunshine. Then I just sat on a picnic table basking in the hot sun with shorts and no shirt with a big water bottle of ice water. Once I was hydrated beyond belief, I moseyed down to Subway for my 2 footlongs. Let’s see……ride 88, do wash, eat at Subway and it’s all done by 2 PM! That’s what I call a good day. Got a couple of Fosters Oil Cans for later at the local grocery and I’m set.

Tomorrow the temp is supposed to climb up to 94, so again, I’m going to shoot for a 6 AM start and hopefully shoot for the city of Sandpoint, Idaho. Yup, I’m just 32 miles from the Idaho border. I just cannot tell you how long Montana is. When I entered the state on Rt 2 the mileage sign read round about 670 miles! So I’ve ridden through 640 miles of Montana and I’m still freaking here. The panhandle of Idaho is very short, roughly a day and a half of riding if the weather is good, and then I’m in Spokane, Washington. I’m hoping to make Spokane by Sunday afternoon. You know, I can kind of smell the barn at the end of this ride now.

Well, I’m going to scrub down the drivetrain of my bike and then have a few beers in the hot Montana sun. Talk to you tomorrow…….pete

Rainy day in Kalispell

2010-07-22T15:26:00.000-07:00

7-22-10 Day 47: Kalispell, Montana – Off day due to weather.

Let’s chalk up another off day today. Now I can’t say I’m bumming big time. Not really. I actually just lazed the day away napping like three times and doing my little Chinese buffet again. It all started like this…

Got up and readied my self at 5 AM for a 6:30 start. The weather forecast was pretty dead on from yesterday, as storms were supposed to move in during the late morning-the early afternoon. Checked the Doppler Radar and sure enough there was a system moving to the east/southeast out of Northern Idaho – I’m only like 120 miles from the Idaho border. Went for some morning coffee and noted that the wind was strong out of the west. So my choices were to shoot for Happy Inn and/or Libby with storms looming to the west, or, stay put and look forward to nearly a week of forecasted sunshine. The other factor was that Happy Inn is just barely a place of human habitation, with just barley any amenities, and more than likely I’d not beat the weather the full 84 miles to Libby where my choices were much better.

So I just decided to wait until tomorrow and relax here in Kalispell. So that was it. Came back to the efficiency and went back to bed for a couple hours of sleep. Then, round about 10 AM I got up and saw that the front had moved in and the sky was pretty grey and ominous. By 11 AM the rain had started. Felt pretty good that I wasn’t out in the mountains of Western Montana, out in the middle of bloody nowhere, riding into a gnarly headwind in the rain and regretting not waiting a day to have a pretty clean weather week of riding ahead of me. So it’s been kind of off and on storm/clouds/sun for the last 4 hours today here in Kalispell. It’s supposed to blow on by by early tomorrow morning.

I hit the buffet again round about 12:30, donning my anorak and walking down there in the rain. Did 4 plates and a cup of custard. Probably could have gone for 5 plates, but I just didn’t want the buda belly grumbling like an angry grizzly bear for a couple of uncomfortable hours. Then another round of napping post feeding frenzy. Funny how this cycling every day thing for 4-7 hours just really beats you down. It was like I went into the hibernation mode once I didn’t get on the bike today. I mean I crashed HARD on that third nap, waking up with drool on the side of my face! Must have conked out for a solid hour and a half of dream world.

Just looked out the window and it’s raining yet again. Coming down pretty hard this time. Well, I think I’ll just hit the grocery for a bit of hops and barley and get a smoothy at Wendy’s on the walk back! Yup, when you’re taking an off day it’s B. B. & IC – buffet, beer and ice cream. Have a great day and I’ll check in with you tomorrow……..Pete

Million dollar ride

2010-07-21T16:08:00.000-07:00

7-21-10 Day 46: East Glacier Park, Montana to Kalispell, Montana: 88 miles in 6:07 hours all on Rt. 2 West.

This was one of those “Million Dollar” rides. You don’t get many of these on a trip, so I just savored it despite having an awesome day with respect to the time and distance I covered today.

Hit the hay on the late side last night – round about 10:30 – because I was NOT going to get up at 4 AM to get on the road for a 5 AM send-off. Nope, got up at a leisurely 5 AM and prepped for the mountains. The morning temp was an amazing 29 degrees, so I popped out the tights, the Underarmor long sleeve, gloves, ear warmers and long sleeve jersey. Slammed a couple of yogurts and 2 bananas and got ready to roll. Hit the road at 6:30 AM and off on the road all to myself for the first day in the mountains. Now I knew I had a pass to get over today – Marias Pass – and then whatever else the mts threw at me.

Got going with what felt like a very slight wind out of the west, but nothing that was gnarly. Did a little descending to a mountain meadow and then started gradually moving upwards. It just felt great to have all these trees surrounding me. I had a couple of trains going by, as the RR was just to my right. Got in the middle ring and just started climbing, in and out of the saddle. Nothing really tough though. Stopped numerous times to snap pics as I was climbing upwards. And I was thinking that this was pretty mellow, so don’t get lulled into some kind of false sense of security and think that the whole climb was going to be like that. Dipped down a few times and then right back up. And then, round about an hour in I got up to this sign on the road that read: Marias Pass: The Continental Divide. I was bloody stunned. I was expecting that I’d be using my little cookie and just stopping for an hour working up to the pass. But this was just totally sedate. It was easier than Sunday Pass that we did back in BC on our second day in the mts.

Then I thought I’d get throw a couple of nasties somewhere along the way where I’d still have to drop down into the little cookie. So I rode over the pass and went through the town of Summit. Nice camping up there with plenty of cabins and little efficiencies. And then the descent started, and it was just a zinger, where I just kind of plummeted down for a good 12-15 miles. Now by this time I realized that the real challenge was doing Marias Pass from the west to east, because what I was descending looked just wicked to climb from the other direction. I had lucked out in a big way. All that false flat riding I’d been doing on the high plains had given me the altitude over days instead of just the several hours you’d have to put in on steep pitches going west to east. Then the Middle Fork of the Flathead River came alongside the road and the pitch kind of lessened out a bit, but still descend to where I could comfortably ride at like 15-18 mph. Now there were spots where the road arched back up to small 5-10 min rollers, but nothing crazy and long. Route 2 and the RR just hugged the Flathead River for a long, long ride down to West Glacier. The road had been repaved so I had some awesome road surface to descend down. The berm, well, a bit iffy in places but I felt pretty good even with the smallish space I had to ride in.

The scenery was just stunning, and I was off the bike every 20-30 min snapping pics of the mts and the river valley. Sometimes I’d roll up a couple of hundred feet above the river and RR, and other times I was right down along the river. There is camping and lodging all over the place along this beautiful stretch of road. The smell of pine just lingered in the fresh mountain air. After a while there were just loads of busses hauling up people and rubber rafts east up the mountain to put in somewhere along the Flathead. Looked like a very cool river to raft down. By this time I realized that I had gotten away VERY easy on this day with respect to mountain climbing. All the sweat and blood on the high plains had put me really high up in the mountains by the time I’d gotten to East Glacier. That took hundreds of miles to gain the elevation. But from West Glacier, all that elevation is gained in just 35-40 miles to Marias Pass. Also realized that I’d be in West Glacier, my destination for the day, in a matter of 4 hours of less. And that’s when I started mulling over the idea of riding to Kalispell, some 31 miles further west from West Glacier.

Got to West Glacier and the sun was out. Hell, I’d stopped about 15 miles out of town to strip off my jersey, gloves, ear warms because the heat had climbed up to the mid 60’s. NOT what was supposed to happen back in East Glacier. There the high for the day was predicted at 56 degrees with afternoon thunder storms. Much different climate on the west side. Well, I got into West Glacier at 10:45 AM, in roughly 3:45 hours. And let me tell you…..West Glacier is an ugly sister of Estes Park, Colorado, what with the bumber cars, slides, goofy golf course, junks parlors and stupid shops. It was just crawling with people - a zoo. NOPE, no stop here for food or drink. I just decided Kalispell was game on, and I’d grab something to eat and drink further down the line to the west, maybe in Coram, Hungry Horse, or Columbia Falls. So I just kept riding.

By then the temp had climbed up to mid 70’s, and those damned tights were getting a bit sticky! Didn’t want to stop though so I kept rolling along the Flathead River to Coram. By now the Flathead was not a fork or branch, it was a river that is very wide, very clear and clean and it looked quite inviting what with those cold rumbling waters. Got to Coram, and sign read: Columbia Falls 8 miles. So I kept rolling. Got to Columbia Falls and the sign read: Kalispell 15 miles. That was it, I was rolling all the way to Kalispell non-stop. Coram and Columbia Falls were just a smidge better than West Glacier with respect to the commercialism, but still, there was a lot of junk out there. Now as I began to ride towards Kalispell, the mountains really opened up on the north and south sides and suddenly I was riding in this massive basin which was pretty flat and dry. The high, snow covered peaks were behind me in West Glacier, and now surrounding the basin were much lower mountain ranges.

About 8 miles outside of Kalispell you could just feel that you were nearing a big city, with all kinds of commercial places along the roadway. Traffic was thick, but I had a nice 6-foot wide berm to ride on into the city. Got into Kalispell in just over 6 hours and 88 miles in. this was just a great day to ride, and I’m pretty happy I took advantage of the weather and the net down I had all day. By the time I got into town the temp was in the low 80’s. And you could just feel the dry heat. Actually from what I was expecting for the day – a high of 56 – this was awesome. Got a nice little place and then beat feet to a Chinese buffet down the road, just a block from my old standby Subway. Nope, this was a “buffet day” indeed. I think I did like 4 plates and a cup of frozen custard. Wonderful. Hell, I did the whole day on nothing but two yogurts and two bananas from the morning, so I was just massively hungry. Got a few beer to drink back at the ranch and I was just totally pleased with this day. Not only did I have a stunning ride, but I also made some great distance in great time. Can’t do much better than that when you’re riding cross country.

Tomorrow I’m in a bit of a quandary because of the distance I traveled today. I can either do Happy Inn, Montana, about 47 miles away as a “lay-up”, or I could go for the green and shoot for Libby, Montana, another 41 miles further west. There is nothing, and I mean nothing in between the two places. The forecast for this area tomorrow is for afternoon thunder storms, and wind out of the south. I’m just going to have to wake up and ride to Happy Inn, and then see how I am with respect to time, wind, terrain etc, to see if I go for the green and ride to Libby. Should be interesting. So that’s it. I’m down to 120 miles left in Montana – 2 to 3 days of riding depending on the conditions. Then it’s a short piece through Idaho, about 80 miles and then I’m down to just Washington state.

Well, time for another beer. All the best…….Pete

Trees and mountains - yes!

2010-07-20T12:19:00.000-07:00

7-20-10 Day 45: Cut Bank, Montana to East Glacier Park, Montana: 48 miles in 4:10 hours all on Rt. 2 West.

Trees again! Damn does it feel good to be out of the Great Plains. This time compared to the Canadian trip the Plains just felt like forever. I’m super stoked to be at the base of the Rockies now, and next up is the traverse of the range into Idaho and Washington. I have roughly about 200 miles of Rt 2 to go in Montana.

Decided I’m just done with getting up at 4 AM and tackled this morning at 5 AM, and was pretty casual about it, making a little pot of coffee and watching the local Helena, MT news and weather while sipping java. I had bought some yogurt and two bananas and had those for breakfast rather than the almost unchewable bagel and PBJ. I’m just totally burnt out on the bagel PBJ thing. Don’t even want to look at them again, not with PBJ slathered all over them anyway. So I figured on getting out on the road between 6 and 7 AM. The hell with the early start at 5 to beat the wind and heat. Today the temp was supposed to be just above 40 degrees, so heat was zero issue. Now it was just the wind, and according to the news station the wind was about 3-5 mph out of the northwest or just about calm. So with my itinerary of 47-50 miles for the day, I didn’t care if I was out there for 6 hours. That would still give me a finish time at 1 Pm at the latest.

Now what with the weather report of temps in the low 40’s, I had gotten out some clothing that I thought I was just lugging around like a noodnik just to add more weight to my load. But be damned if they actually came in handy. Got out the leg warmers, the ear warmers, gloves and my Underarmor long sleeve for a base layer. Popped my head out the door, and sure enough, I could just about see my breath. Yup, chilly start for sure. Get ready and was on the road by 6:30 AM. Wind was just a hint out of the northwest. The morning started out cloudless. From the western edge of Cut Bank I could see the Rockies off in the distance. Finally. I mean this was way different than in BC in Canada, where we could see the Mt ranges for several days on end before we got there. Nope. Here in Montana I never saw the Rockies until I arrived into Cut Back yesterday, and the fact that the storms and clouds were so thick yesterday, it was hard to even discern the mts.

Today, different story with zero cloud cover in the morning. There they were just looming some 50 miles away to the west. I had to do this little screamer of a descent down to a small river to start the day, and wow, what with the chilly temps, that was just totally bone chilling to begin the ride. Then there was the climb out of the small valley, and it felt like my chest was going to explode what with only 5 min of riding and cardio in my body. Went from like 0-60 in several min, with me in the little cookie stomping out of the saddle to get up this climb. But it just kind of leveled off and continued up in what was probably a 1-2% grade – for 20 miles!! Yup, I was climbing west up to the Rockies, and despite the darned near negligible headwind, I could only muster 11 mph. Again, felt like a had a brake stuck or a tire flat. But nope, just a false flat.

Now I had entered my final Indian Reservation of the Montana journey, the Blackfeet Nation. And I hate to say it but this stretch of road, what with its spectacular 6 foot wide berm for me to ride on, it was just littered with broken glass. I mean I just had to concentrate so hard on what was in front of me that I could not enjoy the ride west as the mts were getting more and more in my face. Hell no, I had to dodge, swerve, tilt and bypass just mile after mile of broken glass – most specifically beer bottles. I decided to name this stretch of highway the “Crushed Glass Highway.” And it wasn’t fun. Constantly I had to put my right hand down, with glove on, against the front and rear tires to make sure that glass hadn’t adhered to the rubber. Two times I actually had my gloved hand kick off pieces of glass stuck to the front and rear tires. Very good thing I had those gloves on because the one time the glass was a sizable chunk on the front tire.

This had to be the worst stretch of highway with respect to the glass that I’d ridden for the whole trip. I was shouting out some pretty saucy expletives every 10-15 min and then going through the same process again and again, dipping my right gloved hand down and holding it across the front and rear tires. This as I just continued to do a false flat climb on an arrow straight stretch of highway that just drifted off into the western horizon.

Got to the Indian town of Browning, about 34 miles in about 3:30 hours of ride time. Now I had been kind of warned about this town. Advise was just continue through. Do not stop, do not pass go, do not spend money or time there – just keep riding. And that I did. Heck I rode through at about 9:30 AM, so things were really subdued there. It’s almost like some of the towns I’d seen in Mexico, where shacks and old trailers dominate the town – not a pretty place. Now there were all sorts of signs inviting tourists to stop here and there, but really, this was a get in and get out kind of place. It’s the worst of the Indian towns I’d ridden through. So I got through Browning and then the traffic just kind of dropped off by half or more, what with some traffic going south to Great Falls or north towards Canada. Just a smidge of the traffic, and most of it tourist traffic, continued on Rt 2 west. So that was kind of nice to really have things settle down. Still had the great berm – and still had the Crushed Glass Highway.

Did this little butt kicker of a climb out of Browning which forced me to take off ear warmers, gloves and long sleeved jersey once I got to the top. I mean I was sweating up a storm despite the fact that the time was only about 56-58 degrees. During those 3.5 hrs of riding I’d stop every 20-40 min to take pics of the mountains as they just got closer and closer. No hurry these next several days, that’s for sure. Nope, I want to be casual and be able to stop every now and then to take some nice photos. So I got to about 4 miles east of East Glacier and then I could see the trees coming back into the picture, trees climbing up the foothills and into the mountains. What a beautiful sight – stands of trees just covering the hills and mts. I’d been riding a solid 800 miles of plains, and to see this, well, I just had to shout out loud in ecstacy! “Trees,” I yelled out, “I love you.” So long Great Plains, hello Mountains.

Ended up doing this screaming descent down to East Glacier and into town. East Glacier is a nice, quaint little place, so unlike say a resort type town at the foot of a National Park like Estes Park, Colorado. No, no Estes here. This is just a cool, very little place. No bumper car gigs, no giant slides, no dog and pony shows, no main street just oozing with junk shops and candy shops, hot dog shops and outfitters. This little place is just so far removed from that schlock that it’s very refreshing. I’d taken the time last night to research the amenities out here on my computer, and I found a little efficiency in town at a super great price compared to the two main hotel/motes, so I booked it. Told them I could be in early, like 11 AM, and they were really cool, saying they do their best to have it ready for me despite they normally have the rooms ready at 2 PM. Really friendly folks. So I got there at 10:30 AM, and the gentleman suggested that I hit the diner next door for coffee or breakfast and that he’d have it ready by 11. DONE. I went next store to a very, very cool little diner run by a couple of “Granola” type folks, and had some spectacular French toast with huckleberries, that and a cup of really good java.

What a difference here compared to the last 450 miles of places I’d just ridden through in Montana. I mean it was like I just landed in a different country. This was an outdoorsy, vibrant environment, with young long hairs stopping in before or after a backpacking trip. With kayakers, cyclists, canoe enthusiasts, just it is totally different than say Havre, where these monster trucks driven by dudes with cowboy hats dominated the landscape. This is a different Montana here at East Glacier, the kind of place that I just love to hang at and soak up the vibes.

Well, true to his word, the gentleman had my efficiency ready to go at 11. I rode back down the road 2 blocks to the place and it’s really a neat little gig. I mean I have satellite TV, bed, shower and a little pine desk in a smallish room. It’s really cozy. Now they have wifi, but I only get like 2 bars, so I popped my air card in and I’m up to two bars there, but with much better upload and download time. So far so good. So if I do not blog tomorrow, you’ll know that I ran out of signal. This could be the case for the next several days as I ride west over the mts.

Right now it’s clouding up pretty good here, just like it does in the mts…..clear in morning and early afternoon, and then clouding over with the potential for thunder boomers in the later afternoon and evening. This on the weather forecast for this area for the next 2 days. And get this, the low tomorrow and Wed is supposed to be 29-degrees! You know, I’ll take that any day over 80-90 degrees and torrid humidity. I like the cold, I do better in the cold, I welcome the cold. The highs for tomorrow is supposed to be 56-58, and around 60-62 on Wed – perfect for cycling for me. Chance of afternoon storms are a possibility for both of those days to. So I’ll likely try to get rolling about 7 AM and put in like 5-7 hours so I end by early afternoon each of those days.

Well, just checked all my tires and they good. THAT I just cannot believe. I’ll likely be doing a check every 3-4 hours just to not have to wake up tomorrow morning and see that I have a slow leaker. Going to get out and explore this little town a bit and visit the Amtrak station in the center of town. It’s made of wood and looks like an old train station rather than the ugly metal building that most of the stations are made of. Probably check out a couple of the eating establishments to, one of which is this place called Serrano’s, a mex place that looks to have a pretty cool menu. And the beer? Well, this little grocery had micro brews in big bottles, just like the brews Barney and I went nutz about in Quebec City. I’ll snag a couple of those bad boys for sure.

Tomorrow I’m shooting for my first day in the mts and getting to either West Glacier or maybe even Columbia Falls if the weather and the wind are kind to me. Hope my legs are kind to me to. That’s it. Time to enjoy the fruits of my labors over the last week – time to enjoy a little mountain town at the foot of the Northern Rockies.

All the best……..pete

So close, but not today

2010-07-19T16:12:00.000-07:00

7-19-10 Day 44: Shelby, Montana to Cut Bank, Montana: 24 miles in 2:15 hours all on Rt. 2 West.

My today was somewhat humbling. Sometimes the math just says it all: 2 days and 190 miles of hills and headwinds/tailwinds = dead legs. So I got on the road today thinking that at the very least, I could bag it in Cut Bank and make it a really easy day….OR I could do 71 miles to the foot of the mts at East Glacier. Man, was it cold – 52 degrees, and the weather just looked totally ominous, with these gnarly thunder clouds to the north and big curtains of rain falling across the northern landscape. Weather report called for morning thunder storms and winds out of the north/northwest at 10-20 mph.

Now it was dead calm when I started, but damn, the rain lighening off to my right just scary as hell looking out there in the middle of the plains with just nothing but me and the road. Noted that when I got going my legs were just so heavy and lethargic that it was just killer to go up the long gradual climbs. Out of the saddle felt horrible. And then with all those storms just kind of banging away off to the north, that kind of had me riding with a heightened sense of need. Just didn’t want to get caught in a storm with temps of 52-56 degrees. That could spell hypothermia. So despite the heavy legs I just had to keep a good rhythm to at least Cut Bank to try to beat the storms.

So I kind of struggled on with my eyes on those storms, like 3-4 of them out to the north and one off to the south. West, well that seemed to be the only open spot in the sky. Kind of gave me hope that I could traverse the storms and keep rolling west into good weather. But about an hour in I saw something on the western horizon. At first I thought it was the mountains I was seeing in the distance. But as I got up atop on one of the higher rollers I saw the real picture – this big, massive, menacing looking wall of black moving towards me. And that’s about the time the wind just picked up out of nowhere. Like bang, headwind. And within a few minutes I had gone from 11 mph to 7 mph, just like trying to bust through a wall of wind. It was the storm approaching, and I had about 8 miles to go to get to Cut Bank. That’s about the time I started looking at place for shelter – anything. But there was just nothing. I was out in the middle of the plains.

So I just had to try to keep it rolling and hope like hell I could make it to Cut Bank. The front brought in some cooer air with those winds, in addition to a slight misting. I though I was pretty much SOL at that point but the on coming traffic was not wet or using their windshield wipers. And then it looked as if I was riding through this massive grey fog bank….and way up ahead I could see Cut Bank. So I just tried like heck to keep some power on the pedals. I finally made it to the point to where I was passing an old barn here and there, and then finally a few business establishments, and then a sign that advertised Mickey D’s as being 5 miles away. By that time it looked like I was going to make it without getting dumped on.

Made it into town and pedaled to the Mickey D’s as a safe haven from the weather, which still looked pretty threatening. Got a hot coffee and a couple of McSomething’s. Hung for about an hour and by that time I just decided to bag it, as the wind had picked up even more, yet the weather looked like it could clear. But riding 47 miles into a 15-20 mph headwind just was not in my legs today. I went and found a place to stay and returned for some more coffee, and more McSomething’s seeing that they wouldn’t have a efficiency ready till like 11 AM – 12 PM. That’s when I met fellow cross country rider Arron, biking west to east coming from Seattle.

He and his bud, Phil, have been three weeks on the road, having just crossed the mts and today entered the plains. They’re kind of doing the gig that Ryan and I did last year where we were camping most of the way and doing on the thin – just bagging it out in the middle of nowhere at times. They’re both new to cycling, and Phil, well, he just quit smoking. But be damned if they didn’t make it across the mountains. Kudos to them for their guts and perseverance. Arron was riding ahead of Phil, as Arron got up first and had to bivy last night without a sleeping bag – the wind blew it away! It stormed like hell last night and the wind picked up to pretty intense velocities.

So Arron and I talked for a bit and sipped coffee. He was telling me about some people he had met in the mts doing the cross country thing, but they would occasionally hitch hike or throw their bikes on a bus and skip hard sections. The way he described it was pretty funny, like he just couldn’t believe that people would do that, him not even really being a cyclist. Actually I feel the same way as him. It’s a matter of you cheating yourself. Cheat……..NEVER! That means having to start over to not break the thread. Stop and bag the day, rest, relax, stand still, sit in a field…but don’t break the thread, don’t quit!! Arron will make it. He’s got a good attitude. Arron is also self-employed like me, and a computer IT guy who also works while on the road as I do. His bud Phil came in about an hour later. Phil seems like a hardy, pretty funny dude, a guy like I said who just quit smoking due to riding across the country – cross country riding and smoking do not mix. Now Arron had made some kind of deal at the place I’m staying at to shower in a shower room, so they headed over there after checking a local sporting goods place for a sleeping bag replacement. No go there – nothing but heavy, bulky junk. I had to wait outside the motel because my little room wasn’t ready yet, or I’ve had had them shower there.

Now something happened where the morning person at the motel had given Arron the ok to take a quick shower, but the new shift an hour later said no. But Arron somehow went in and showered nonetheless. Phil? They told him no and he kind of just left pissed off, not wanting to do the stealth deal that Arron did. Tell you what, I’m just too old to put up with trying to travel like that. It’s just a total pain in the ass – an aggravation on a daily basis. Like last night they slept in these old grain silos that had tears in the sides so they could get in. They’re probably 20 years younger than me, so that helps doing something like this on the skinny. So they took off and headed east to Shelby or Chester. At least they have a hardy tailwind with them. Good luck guys and email me your progress – be safe.

So I got in my room and got set up and then went to Pizza Hut for the salad buffet. Then came back here and have been working ever since. The weather has indeed taken a turn for the worse and now it’s raining pretty good outside. You can see the storms out here coming in from just massive miles away, so it’s pretty cool looking out the window and seeing these things rolling in from the north.

Tell you what though, when I get up from my chair my legs are just so stiff and tired. Man, I really need some legs for the next 12 days, as that’s what I think it will take me to get to Seattle. I’m going to shoot for East Glacier at the very least tomorrow, 47 miles away, and Essex at the best, probably another 25 miles west. Essex is just over the first mt pass. Again, weather will pretty much control my day – be it long or be it short. I’d kind of like to do smaller chunks across the rest of Montana so I can stop more often and take pictures. Then in Washington, I’ll get it cranked back up again in mileage for the finish.

Hoping for fresh legs and a good day tomorrow. All the best…..Pete

Every east to west numskull gets his bone once in a while

2010-07-18T15:23:00.000-07:00

7-18-10 Day 43: Havre, Montana to Shelby, Montana: 103 miles in 6:25 hours all on Rt. 2 West.

Once again every once in a while Mother Nature throws me a bone on this ride. Today that bone was the femur! Yup, wind out of the northeast at 10-15 mph.

But first just a little flashing back. I reall had a great time visiting with Ken and Kim in Havre yesterday. Wish we could have spent just a bit more time hanging out, but I had to keep moving west and they had to head back north to Edmonton. We’ll definitely be hanging out again. Now Havre is the biggest place I’d been to since Williston, ND, and that was like five days before. Nothing but this little towns in between the two. So when I arrived in Havre it was like a culture shock to me – a city! And the thing that I was the most taken aback with were the pick-up trucks. Now this is Montana, and I guess this is where men are really men and trucks are really trucks. The pick-ups in Havre are on a massive dose of steroids. I mean these things are just totally laid out and beefy. They must be dropping 40, 50, 60+ G’s on these machines. Their almost all diesel, and they are just loaded with power, so much that when they get going these things just whine like hell. They sound as loud as freaking Harley Motorcycles. They’re usually on lifts and just decked with these massive exhaust systems.

So while I was waiting for Ken and Kim to show at the Havre RV place I was just sitting and watching these trucks go up and down the strip. It was like they were all on parade, like roosters in a chicken coop just strutting and showing their stuff. The light would turn green and these monsters would accelerate and damned near lift the front end off of the street they were so freaking powerful. And it was all makes and models of American trucks. No one brand stood out. Anyway, I think Havre should be nicknamed Pick-up Truck World.

Last night I was just flaming tired, and must have hit the hay at about 9 PM, only putting in about an hour of work on the computer before I had to crash. I decided I’d just sleep a bit later because I had a 60-mile ride to do today, and I was not going to get up and be on the road before 5 AM. Needed an extra hour of sleep. So I got up this morn at 5 AM rather than 4. Looked out the wind at the trees – and the leaves were a blowing! Which way I wasn’t sure, but they were blowing. Forced down a bagel and a half with PBJ and that was it. I just cannot really chow bigtime in the morn. Almost had to force the stuff down. From here on in, I’m going to get yogurt and fruit. That’s much easier to get down at 4 and 5 AM. It’s like when I’m up that early in the morn, I have zero appetite. Usually eat around 8 or 9, so this 4 and 5 stuff has got my system goofed up.

Got on the road at app. 5:45 AM. No PR today! And when I cycled out on to Rt 2…….wind out of the northeast, a bloody cross tailwind! Now that’s a good way to start the day when you’re riding east to west. So I was thinking that instead of spending like 6 hours to go 60 miles to Chester, it may take me like 4 or 5 – an easy day for sure. And the wind was moderate, providing a good push. But today, even the wind with me would push me up all these super duper long gradual false flats. On the flats I could go a solid 14-15 mph with my gear. But on these false flats, I’d sink down to 12-13, maybe 14 mph. A couple times I looked at my tires thinking that maybe I was flatting because the pedaling was so damned hard – with the cross tailwind!

Now Ken had told me that I was pedaling up all through eastern Montana as I was heading west to the mts. And that makes sense. It’s like from the Mississippi River to the Rockies of Colorado, you’re actually climbing ever so slowly until you get to Denver and you’ve gained several thousand feet in elevation. Same thing here. Except I bloody well felt it each and every mile. I could see traffic just coming up over a horizon line or disappearing over a horizon line, and then I’d get up to that point and see that the road ever so subtly stair steps up again for another couple of miles. Well, it would do this for 5-8 miles at a crack. So I could not get a really good rhythm going with that cross tailwind.

Yea, I know, bitch, bitch, bitch. Never perfect. And that’s true. So I just tried to enjoy what I was given and that was that. Would have loved FLAT, FLAT, but it was FALSE FLAT and I had the wind at my back for once. So life was good, despite my displeasure with this king of all false flats roadway. Early in my start I had the road all to myself for the first hour or two. And being a Sunday, even when 9 AM rolled around the traffic was still pretty light. The berm would go for 6 feet wide with a rumble strip to this ridiculous 3 foot berm with the rumble strip on the right side. Who was the Eisenstein Engineer who thought that one up?

About 8 miles outside of Chester those false flats all culminated in a super long gradual descent into town. I was doing like 26 mph for 5 miles at least and then I popped into Chester. Made it there in 4 hours on the nose. Now prior to Chester I was mulling over the idea of going for the green and shooting for Shelby – another 41 miles west. That would give me over 100 miles for the day. Mentally and physically I just wanted to crash in Chester, but with that rare cross tailwind, I really felt that I had to take advantage of it. I mean that could be the difference between riding those 41 miles at 14-15 mph today, or waiting until tomorrow and take a chance of having the wind out of the west again and grinding me down to a mere 10-11 mph. So I had decided that I’d get to Chester and see if the wind was still holding as a cross tail. If it was I just had to keep the train rolling.

My average for getting to Chester was an amazing 14.8 mph. Much to my surprise what with the gazillion miles of false flat climbing involved. Yup, I was going on to Shelby. Hell, it was only 9:45 AM when I arrived. I felt duty bound to keep riding. So I hit a little grocery and got a fountain coke and ice and a couple of breakfast burritos. Munched down in about 15 minutes and then was back on the bike. And the good thing was that the wind had picked up. And once I was rolling I was amazed to be doing 17-22 mph on some pretty long stretches. This……..was glorious! Just kept telling myself that I was almost out of the Great Plains. Time for the mountains. Time for a change. Time to get er done and make it to Seattle.

The wind just got more and more kick to it and I as just flying. Bad thing was that I went over like 3 different patches of broken glass. I’d swear at the top of my lungs, then pull my right foot out of the pedal, slide it down in back of the front tire and let it rub off any shards of broken glass. For the rear tire, well had to do an old roadie trick that can be painfull if done wrong…..I lightly held my hand against the front of the rear tire to knock off any shards of glass. If you hold your hand back there too hard, and if a piece of glass is stuck in the tire – ouch! Got to have light hands when you do this. Now as far as I can tell no glass had penetrated the two bike tires. Couldn’t tell if the yak had any shards in it.

And then those blooming false flats started in on me again, some seemingly going on for 5-8 miles, just stepping up and up and up. But I could keep a steady 17-18 mph on these now that the wind had picked up. No complaints. And I even toyed with the idea of getting super greedy and going for Cut Bank, another 24 miles west of Shelby. But really, I was pretty tired, and I pretty much dismissed the idea the closer I got to Shelby. All along the way I was being passed by these massively long freight trains and one Amtrack train. The RR parallels Rt 2 amost to the tee. Sometimes you’re just 10-100 yrds away from the tracks, and you can actually feel the breeze from the trains speeding by. Very cool indeed.

Now I had figured on getting into Shelby at around 2 PM, but with the wind picking up, shoot I arrived in the city at 12:30 PM, knocking out 103 miles in 6:25 hours! Shelby is another one of those Plains cities where it’s just smack dab out in the middle of no where. There is a super big freight train yard here as there was in Havre. That and a gazillion trucks at this massive Travel Center. There’s a town center and then there’s the strip where there’s the Travel Center. You see Shelby is located at the intersection of Rt 2 and I-15, so this is a major gassing up/lodging point in Montana. I got a nice little cheapie efficiency and was good as gold what with a Subway just a short walk away. Got my room and hit the Subway asap for my 2 footlongs. I just love the way the workers at Subway look at me as I’m ordering and then consuming 2 footlongs in their establishment – all in the course of about 20 minutes. I mean I tear into a footer and consume it in record time.

So…….I just love getting in a good long day and then being able to shut it down before 1 PM. That was today – done with a century by 12:30 PM. That way I have tons of time to eat, work, do laundry, nap, work, eat, drink bear, nap, eat, work, drink beer and skype. Yup, life on the road! So I’m 71 miles from the East Glacier National Park entrance. Not bad huh? So my strategy is this: let’s see what Mother Nature has in store for me. If it’s just gnarly headwind, I could opt out and just ride to Cut Bank, 23 miles away, and just where I’m supposed to be tomorrow according to my latest schedule. Today’s ride put me a half day ahead. If it’s a good day tomorrow, I could opt to ride those 71 miles to East Glacier and make that the day, putting me a full day ahead of schedule.

I like the fact that if it’s just terrible tomorrow, I don’t have to kill myself with a “headwind from hell” ride. So we’ll see. I have to check with weather report and at least see what’s in store for tomorrow. So that’s it for now. One way or another, I’m just a stone’s throw away from the mountains. Yup, thinking back, I’ve just ridden across about 800 miles of Great Plains and Great Headwinds. It’s been one hell of a challenge. Oh yea, and those mile markers all along the way on Rt 2, the ones that started at like 660-something when I entered Montana, well, we’re down to 280! So that’s it right now. Hope to give you good news of reaching the mts tomorrow. Late………Pete

A day with great friends

2010-07-17T19:58:00.001-07:00

7-17-10 Day 42: Malta, Montana to Havre, Montana: 87 miles in 7:05 hours all on Rt. 2 West.

Today just goes to show that there’s no rhyme or reason to the weather out here. I got up early, and I mean super early to get a good start on the day as I had done yesterday - specifically to beat the wind. Well, this morn I got up and was on the road at 4:50, yes, yet again a new PR for departure time. And be damned of the headwind machine wasn’t just cranking from the get-go. Like I thought I had a system down here and Mother Nature just threw me an upper cut! So I got going out of Malta this morning before the sun had even crested the eastern horizon. But it was not dark, just kind of twilight, and definitely not dangerous as there was ZERO traffic on Rt 2 at that time.

Last night I had corresponded with my friends Ken and Kim from Edmonton, and they were going to meet me today at 10 AM at Chinook, then take my gear in their camper and let me ride naked on my bike to Havre to a campground Ken had prearranged for us to stay at. But when I got on the road this morning, what with the 10-20 mph northwesterly headwind, I knew that I’d made a bad call by telling Ken I’d meet them at 10 AM. Hell, all I could muster was a pitiful 10 mph into the wind, and Chinook was a good 67 miles to the west. Crushed again by the wind! So much for my scientific logic to the ways of Montana weather. Rode knowing at 10 mph that I’d be a good 1.5 hours later than I’d told them. But it is what it is. So I just got into a comfortable gear and spun into the headwind through the early morning twilight towards Chinook. It was actually quite surreal pedaling this early with the sun not even on the horizon yet, with like nothing on the road and out in the middle of freaking nowhere. I figured that Ken and Kim would either wait in Chinook or drive further east to see where I was, so I was pretty cool with the situation.

Now I had another stint going through an Indian Reservation, but it was so early that I had no impact on anything. My only problem on the Indian lands is the fact that there are 100% more broken glass on the berm than in non-Indian roadways. Take that for what it is, but that’s definitely the case out here in Montana. So I just road out on the roadway, seeing that no traffic was coming or going in either direction. Now my speed was definitely better than my day from hell on Wednesday, when I could only muster like 8 mph for a high side. Today it was more like 10-11 mph, and let me tell you, that 3 mph makes a huge difference. So I spun up to and through the reservation, which was only like 30 miles across. Had plenty of water and food, so I just kept it rolling.

Now the nice part was that I was anticipating meeting up with Ken and Kim, which, when you’re on your own for like a month, that’s pretty sweet hooking up with friends who feel like family. Just having their companionship for a day was really going to feel great. So I had that going for me as I was just puttering along into the wind. That and I had to revert to like going over episodes in my life, going back and rethinking and reliving episodes so that it would take my mind off of riding so slowly into that wind. I mean you just have to play these incredible mind games with yourself to get through an hour of riding. And then you do it all over again for another hour, add infinitum.

The landscape is just the same again, with miles upon miles of open rangeland, with gradual rollers, bluffs, flats, and this openness that just makes every mile feel as though it’s 10 miles. Tell you what, when we were riding across Canada and riding a tailwind most of the way – the way you SHOULD do it – it was quite a different feel. Now, with a headwind, it just makes each mile feel soooooooooooo big. And it make me feel sooooooooooo small. But I’m going to get this thing in the bag come hell or high water.

So I made it to a little convenient store just before the reservation ended where I stopped for a pop and a sandwich. This was still reservation, but on the line. It just feels so weird going through these places. I mean I’m totally with the Native Americans in that we, the white people, pretty much screwed them in a very big way. And I feel pretty self-conscious when I go through the reservations. I feel that there’s this animosity towards me and what I represent, but of course I cannot say for sure that that’s the case. The Indian population just kind of looks at you differently. And that’s how it was at the store. I had a lot of eyes just kind of checking me out. Was it my lycra cycling kit? Was it that I was a white? Was it both? Don’t know, but there’s definitely an underlying “thing” going on. A “vibe.” You can feel it. I did not feel threatened. I was not hassled. But I felt this vibe.

So I rode out of the reservation and passed through Harlem, Montana and just up the road I see this camper kind of due a U-turn in the road. And I pedaled closer and by gosh it was Ken and Kim. They pulled off and I saw Kim wave to me. Now they had come about 20 miles further east to meet me than we had arranged. GOLDEN! We hugged and they asked if I wanted to throw my yak and panniers in their camper? DONE. So new plan was to ride to Chinook, about 20 miles west, hook up again, and then ride another 20 miles west to Havre. And man, got that junk in their camper and got going and it was like I had to learn to ride again. Felt just amazing. Now I was able to bump up the speed from 10-11 mph to 14-15 mph – quite a difference when you’re talking riding for 5-7 hours.

The wind was still there, still blowing like hell, but man, without all that weight it was just fantastic. So I kept it rolling into Chinook. Got there but I did not see them parked at a motel or any of the gas stations. I figured that they just took it on in to Havre, so I continued to pedal west. And like all of a sudden the wind really died down, didn’t shut off, but died down significantly. So I was able to crank it up to the 16 mph area. Glorious! Still had to alternate in and out of the saddle all the way to Havre, but hell, this was a cake walk compared to pulling gear. Ended up hitting Havre in just a smidge over 7 hours for 87 miles. Now if it weren’t for Ken and Kim I’d of bagged it in Chinook for sure. So I got an extra 20 miles out of the day, and it made my day to Chester and Cut Bank that much easier.

Pulled into the Havre RV Campground that Ken had told me he made reservations at and then scouted the grounds for their camper – not there. Ok, I’ve been through this one before where support vehicle and rider/s are off cue. So I went into registration and found that this was indeed the place where Ken and Kim had camped the night before, so I just bought a coke and muffin and waited at the entrance gate. I figured that they or me had missed one another at Chinook, and eventually they’d figure that I’d ridden to meet them at the RV campground in Havre. Sat there for about an hour and then they pulled in. We gathered at their campsite and just feasted on sandwiches and Rickerd’s Red beer – several! It was just so cool to hook up with these folks again, people who I thought I’d never see again, and now I was having lunch with them in Montana. Very cool, no just totally incredible on their part to go out of their way to meet up with me on their vacation time.

Now Ken bless his soul had pre-paid for a camping site for me at their campground, but it turns out that it was not where all the RV’s were, nope, the tent camping was like in back of this big gas station/grocery/casino, along a big fence between the RR tracks. And I scoped it out and even asked the registration gal if I could just camp by their camper. No go she said. I had to use the little devil strip in back of the station/store/casino. That got the wheels turning as to what to do. I didn’t like the fact that I couldn’t camp next to Ken and Kim, and I kind of didn’t like the fact that I’d have to be wedged in between Rt 2 and the Amtrack RR line. To make a long story short I got Ken a refund on the camp fee he’d so graciously paid out, and found an efficiency a block away for like 32 bucks. Life was good.

Then Ken took me in this little casino and bought me 2 big oil can beers as we talked for a good hour at the bar. It was just great reminiscing with Ken about the Trans Canada trip and our short time together in Edmonton. And here we were, a year later, sharing a part of our lives again. Many great memories. Well, I went back to my efficiency worked for a bit and then met Ken and Kim at a steakhouse for dinner. Had great meals, with me kind of eating everything not nailed down and then it was time to say goodbye - again. Man, these are some awesome people! You know, for all the pictures and places I’ve seen on these trips, it’s the fact that I’ve met people like Ken and Kim, and Barney and Val. Those are friendships that are just very special. We all have this bond. Ken and Kim - I love you guys. Take care and have a very safe trip back to Edmonton. I WILL see you down the road.

Tomorrow I hope to make Chester with a 61-mile day. Could be easy, could be a bitch. Let’s see what Mother Nature has in store for me. Getting closer to the Rockies, just three rides away!

Take care all……..Pete

Early start to beat the heat & wind

2010-07-16T14:32:00.001-07:00

7-16-10 Day 41: Glasgow, Montana to Malta, Montana: 72 miles in 4:54 hours all on Rt. 2 West.

No, that was not a misprint. I did indeed do 72 miles at over 14 mph for an average. I’m super stoked to have made a good move what with the heat and the wind being a big factor today. This will be a short blog because it was about as uneventful as they come. My strategy was to get up super early and get on the road super early to beat the predicted 96-degree heat for the day and the predicted west/northwest winds at 15-20 mph. So I went to bed at 9:30 PM and got up at about 3:55 AM so I could leave as the sun was just cresting the eastern horizon. By 4:10 AM I had brewed my coffee and was making a PBJ bagel. Got packed while I ate and was locking the efficiency door at about 4:50 AM. Riding at 5 AM – new PR for a start. Got to have those PR’s right?

The temp was nice and cool, about 57 degrees with just the faintest of a breeze, almost dead calm. I had my long sleeved jersey on and it felt just right, just a tad cool as I cruised out of Glasgow. Not a car on the road. I mean it was just paradise. Half hour in and no wind. I felt as though each and every half hour I could get in before the wind machine cranked up, the sooner I beat the monster heat of the day, which up here, keeps getting hotter up into the 5-6 PM area. The heat just builds all day long. About that time the sun was trying to pop up in the easy, casting this massively long shadow of me on my bike riding on the desolate road. I mean I was almost riding with a sense of urgency, trying to get in every precious mile before the wind kicked in. I almost felt that feeling I used to get prior to a big race, the heightened sense of awareness, the jittery feelings, the anxiousness, the pumping heart. All that was there this morning as I rode west.

Now it took the sun just a little longer to get at me what with the bluffs kind of keeping it at bay. For the most part the road was pretty flat, with a gradual roller every once in a while as I crossed a draw or dry creekbed. Got to remember that I’m pretty much paralleling the Missouri River on my left way off to the south, so there is some small drainages that flow into it. But mostly these creeks were dry or extremely small. An hour in and the sun was almost over the eastern horizon and I’d gotten from a starting speed of like 13 mph to a whopping 16-17 mph. I had to look behind me just to make sure I wasn’t getting a tailwind. But nope, that was all just little old me cycling in this dead calm.

Yet that sense of urgency was just always there, with me scoping out the individual plants on the side of the road to see if they were starting to bend with a emerging wind. But nothing. Just a stellar morning of riding, and the road all to myself for the second hour. And before I could look down I was through the first of two small towns along the way, this one by the name of Hinsdale, which was 29 miles from Glasgow, and I’d done it in under two hours. Next up was the little town of Saco, about 14 more miles down the road. I didn’t think for a minute that I’d get to Saco before the wind machine kicked in. But I just kept on cranking in the 15-17 mph range, just feeling great and totally amazed that I was going so fast. I mean this was TWICE as fast as my last ride on Wed, there I was just creeping at 7-8 mph for an average.

Traffic picked up just a bit as I went on, and I eventually got on the berm and rode the just slightly less than optimum road surface. The trafficked lane to the left of the white line was pretty pressed down and polished, and I could definitely feel about a half a mile per hour faster average on that end. But with the traffic picking up just a bit I thought it prudent to take the mph loss for the safety. With the rumble strip I still have about 3 feet of riding surface on the berm. It’s just all the gravel, the small rocks and the occasional glass that I have to dodge while in there. Not bad, but it just take one piece of glass and the whole show stops for a bit.

Three hours in and I unzipped my long sleeve jersey as the temp was definitely up in the mid to high 60’s. Also hit a stretch where there were a few pretty long gradual climbs that had me OTS and working a bit. Passed a single cyclist going east, and I though, “yea I may be the dummy crossing east to west, but I have less than 1000 miles to go! I’ll take my position right now wind or no wind.” Got to the town of Saco and saw a group of cyclists just getting their gear packed up. They must have camped right across the street from this little quick shop store in Saco, about the only thing in this 20-30 home, blink and you’re through it town. Still, no wind.

And it couldn’t have been like 5 minutes after I noted that there was no wind, that the wind just like suddenly appeared. Like out of nowhere it started cracking, every so slightly. Could tell not only because me effort of 15-17 had gone down to 14 mph, but also could hear the wind in my right ear again, like it was blowing out of the northwest. Yup, it was back, but you know what, I didn’t really give a hoot, hell I was just 17 miles from Malta! “Blow you *^&$#)(^ blow”, I thought, “I’m damned near there.” And the amazing thing was that it was at like 8:45 AM, and I’d ridden over 50 miles. I was on target to do darned near the same mileage as I had on Wednesday, but in about 3.5 hours less time! And over that last 2 hrs the wind just continued to get stronger as a headwind. Yea, “IT”S BACK!” Down to 13 mph and then 12 mph as the wind continued to get stronger. The temp was definitely up more to, probably in the mid 70’s by that point. But great thing was that I was going to finish by about 10 AM or a little after.

Hit a few more long graduals and I could start to see signs of civilization again. I’d been riding through these massive stretches of nothing but rangeland, where cattle instead of crops now dominate the landscape. It’s big and it’s desolate, and it’s pretty cool to be riding a bike across a place like this. As I’ve said before, kind of make you feel pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things. And you really have to schedule your stops accordingly. Now I had 4 water bottles on board, and with the early start I just decided to go without a stop today in Hinsdale or Saco, but they at least had little quick shop stores or a gas station. But lodging, that’s a different story. They’re like every 60-70 miles.

I had gotten a little greedy back around Saco, thinking that maybe if the wind held off I could make Havre, some 84 miles from Malta. But that was a pipedream, hammering out 140 miles on a day that was supposed to hit 96 degrees was not smart. Nope it was a layup, especially with these super long distances between towns, and then with the wind actually picking up in speed I knew that Malta was the right move. Havre would be possible tomorrow if I could get the same kind of start. So I just continued on with Malta as my ironclad destination for the day as planned.

More and more civilization in sight and I knew I’d gotten away with a pretty easy day. I arrived in Malta at 10 AM, with 72 miles in the tank in 4:54 hours. Got a little efficiency from a sweet 70-something year old woman by the name of Martha. She gave me a room off of the road so I could sleep if I wanted, and offered up a library of DVD’s in the office if I wanted to watch a movie later. Got in my room and it’s a nice, tidy little place. Martha adds these nice little touches by putting in like little fake flower baskets and a nice, home made drape on the window. I like these little mom and pop places. They really do try to make you stopover a comfortable experience. If I were camping here in Malta, it would be a freaking furnace, so hot that I couldn’t even enter the tent. Nope this little room is just the cat’s meow!

Walked down to the Albersons grocery store and grabbed some frozen stuff for my brunch and my dinner later on. No Subway here in Malta, just a DQ, and I’m not into DQ stuff today. I snagged some yogurt, bananas, and some frozen dinners…..and some Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia…….and a sixer of the Moose Drool Nut Brown Ale! I’m set.

Came back and just crashed for two hours with the AC on. Man was I tired. Feel ok now, and may even go out and take some pics later. The wind has gotten to its full 15-20 mph strength by now, at 3 PM MST, and the heat…..well, I washed my kit in the sink and set it out on a plastic chair to dry, and they were dry in one bloody hour! It’s hot. Tomorrow the temp is supposed to be down around 85, and the wind about the same, so I’m going to go with the same strategy as today – early start, early finish. Want to get to at least Chinook, round about 60-some miles west, or best case if the wind holds off, to Havre, about 84 miles west.

Late………Pete

A day to recharge

2010-07-15T16:16:00.000-07:00

7-15-10 Day 40: Off day in Glasgow, Montana:

Forgot to tell you, yesterday, I saw 3 groups of two cyclists going west to east, and a single cyclist going west to east. NO ONE is stupid enough to do what I’m doing. So this last group of two that I was passing by, they actually stopped and their side of the berm and watched me, and then started clapping. That totally stoked me for a bit, sending goosebumps all over my body, and getting me motivated for a good half hour more of riding before the dull ache of mental anguish set in again. That was very, very cool. This route 2 gets a lot of cycling traffic going cross country.

Ok, so today. Well, I was totally rocked yesterday. My legs were sore to the touch, my low back was sore, shoulders sore and arms sore. I must have stretched the legs and back out for about 45 min. Went to bed 9:30 PM after just sucking down those ice cold beers. Well, woke up at about 3:30 AM, and man I was just beat, thinking, “wow, got to get up in just over an hour to pack and get on the road.” And then this little voice in my head starting chanting, “off day, off day, off day.” Heck yes. I just kind of turned over and thought, nope, I’m getting a good 9 hrs sleep in and enjoying a day off. Hell, I’d just put 3 days of riding into two very gnarly days. So that was that, I was a day ahead of where I wanted to be. Woke at a leisurely 8 AM. Legs still really stiff and sore. Re-upped for another night here at the La Casa and then went across the street to a coffee bar and grabbed a dbl Red Eye and came back to the room to work on the computer for a few hours. Got a ton done, then waltzed over to a little casino for a breakfast, that place recommended by the motel owner. And he was right, it was just the best little greasy spoon. Got this massive Western Omelet that was as big as a plate. That and this monster side of hash browns and some toast, and I was just in hog heaven.

Came back to the motel and took a nap for nearly 2 hours. I mean I crashed hard. Felt just stellar not to be grinding for a day. Now the wind was light and out of the southwest at 5-15, and I really didn’t notice it a bit first thing in the morning when I got the coffee, but later, it definitely picked up – but nowhere, and I mean a capital NOWHERE like yesterday. Forecast is for a good week, with the wind out of the southwest and maybe even the southeast. But tomorrow is going to be 93 degrees, so I’ll have to get going by like 5:30 AM just to not to have to ride in 93 degrees with a light cross headwind.

I map-quested my route from here to Seattle and it came out to 938 miles. Damn, to me that sounds like NOT a whole lot. I have 3042 miles on my cyclocomputer right now, so I’m over three-fourths of the way done. I think I can finish by 7/31. Still have the Rockies, but heck, I’ll welcome that compared to grinding away on the flats into a headwind day after day as I have been ever since Crookston, MN.

Well, it’s short today. I’m going to hit Subway for a footlong Cold Cut Combo and a footlong Seafood Salad + some Ben & Jerry’s icecream for a snack this eve. It’s now about 88 degrees at 5 PM with about a 15 mph westerly. Definitely need to get rolling at 5:30 tomorrow morning. This was one day where I felt zero remorse for taking a day off, this and the day in Bismarck. Time to vegg!

Have a great evening all…….Pete

The wind and the suffering

2010-07-14T16:57:00.000-07:00

7-14-10 Day 39: Poplar, Montana to Glasgow, Montana: 72 miles in 8:32 hours. Rt 2 west the whole day.

Going to tell you something…..I’ve done Ironman triathlons; I’ve gone nearly 28 mph for a 40K TT with a brain just totally numb from the pain; and I’ve suffered like a dog mentally in several “bad” marathons, doing everything I could do just to finish the damn thing – forget the PR! Today ranks right up there with the above mentioned - from a mental standpoint. I’ll tell you, it took all I had to force myself to mentally not crack from today. The weather reports was for a “windy” day, and that was brought home on the Weather Channel by that little windy icon for today’s forecast. I was prepared to buck up and have a tough day, but what I endured was beyond that with the headwind. The wind was out of the west/northwest at 15-22 mph with gusts of 35 mph! Yes, thirty five freaking miles per hour gusts.

I got up early today so I could get an really early start so as to maybe beat the wind, which seems to get worse and worse as the day goes on. So I was up at 4:50 AM and on the bike at 5:40 AM, a new PR for getting on the bike in the morning – yes us sports schleps always seem to tag something with PR! I had eaten 3 peanut butter/jelly bagels for fuel. So I got out on a cool morning where the temp was 53 degrees. Then, like some kind of ditz, I got muddled up and road around the town of Poplar trying to get back on Rt 2 west. God, this place is just unbelievable , what with the really gnarly housing and these “wild” dogs sleeping in the streets and just roaming all over the place barking. I had one chase me and I put it down getting the hell down the road. Finally got oriented right and west I went – into an already stiff headwind.

Two miles down the road I knew that today was going to either totally break me or totally make me. That wind was just neverending and in your face ferocious. Was all I could do to maintain a 9-10 mph average while trying not to cook myself. And I’d have to alternate with in the saddle in like 3 different positions – low, upright, and seat forward – and then when my arse was just totally sore, out of the saddle for like a half mile to a mile at a crack. Started out using the cog that was about 4^th from the top. Two hours in I had to concede and to the 3^rd from the top and back down to an average of 8-9 mph. I hit the town of Wolf Point about 2.5 hrs in, and I’ll tell you what, if it were like noon, I’d of bagged it right then and there – a total cop out but the wind was just sucking the energy of of my legs like a bloody vacuum sweeper. But, having started at 5:40 AM, it was only 8:15 AM when I pulled into town, and the weather looked good – other than the fact that the wind was just howling out of the west/northwest.

And honestly, I really wanted to see if I could actually deal with that wind for a 72-mile day. So I stopped at a quick shop and got a Dr. Pepper and some ice water, and like a NASCAR pit crew, I was off and back on the bike in 10 minutes. The sign in town said that Glasgow was 49 miles away, and a smaller town, Nashua, was 35 miles away. Took a big swallow and on I went, doing the math in my head, and figuring that I’d be in the saddle anywhere from 7-10 hours, based on how much worse the wind would get. And man did it get worse, much worse. Soon I was just struggling at 8-9 mph, so I bumped it up to yet another easier gear. Now my average was 7-8 mph. It got so bad that I started doing anything to NOT think or dwell on the wind. I started singing out loud, at one time singing the Ballad of the Edmund Fitzgerald, where I changed the lyrics to “Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the WIND turns the minutes to hours.” And it did. Between my cyclo computer and the mile markers, I just had to NOT look at either. The singing got me going for a while, and then I started thinking back to the beginning of my trip and trying to go over each day of cycling to try to pass the time and take my head out of the wind game. That worked to.

Made it through another little town, the town of Fraser, where I was planning on getting a coke and a cookie or something, but this was another gnarly little town on the reservation and I did not want to turn off of Rt 2, which is what you had to do to get there, and go test the waters of the place. So I just kept riding and was hoping that I could make it up to Nashua. And again, always doing math in my head for getting to the destinations. And what with Nashua being 35 miles from Wolf Point, I had figured that it would take me 4 hours at 8 mph to get to Nashua. Yup, 4 hours to go 35 miles – actually more than 4 hours! But I just looked at it as if it were 4. And in the town of Fraser, I was just two hours into that four hours. “When the wind turns the minutes to hours,” I kept repeating to myself. I was just determined to not let the headwind get into my head like it had done a couple of times last year when crossing Canada.

My alternating in and out of the saddle became a kind of game I started playing, going like a mile ITS and then a mile OTS, but I wasn’t using the mile markers, I was just kind of guesstomating it. Another hour went by and the wind continued to pick up, again forcing me into the easiest cog in the back, and down to like a 6.5-7.5 mph average. When I’d go OTS, I could actually go faster, putting it in a big gear and just slowly plodding along with these big lopping pedal strokes. My new goal was a 7 mph average for the rest of the day, so between ITS and OTS I was hoping it would add up. About 3.5 hrs into that four hours to Nashua, I was just really starting to feel like my legs were beaten to a pulp, the quads were sore and my low back and shoulders were sore from the OTS riding. My thumbs were even going numb from putting pressure on the grips when OTS. Man I needed a stop. Now I was prepared to stop if need be and grab some stuff out of my manbag, but I really wanted to just park the bike and sit down and collect myself for a bit with an ice cold coke and some grub, so I kept pedaling to Nashua.

It just seemed like it would never appear, and as the miles ticked off the wind continued to pick up in intensity. There were these gusts that would just hit me like a wall, where I’d have to get out of the saddle and just crank like hell to maintain a silly 6 mph – on the flats! I mean I was literally laughing out loud at how insane it was, how insane I WAS to do this ride. Finally saw some buildings up a slight roller and about two miles away. And it seems that whenever you really want to end something and take a break, that the wind just howls like a witch, like it’s out to make your life so damned difficult for that last stretch, to make you suffer more than anything for just a little longer.

Now Nashua is the end of the Indian Reservation, and I was pretty good with that, and at that line was a little dinner. DONE. I was off and parked and walked in there like I’d just taken a couple of shots to the head by Mike Tyson. I mean I was just totaled. The waitress gave me a couple of glasses of ice water and then a fountain coke. I’d done that 35 miles in 4:15 hrs! Sounds totally crazy, but that’s no joke – and I was DAMNED happy with it. I ordered the special: Burger of choice and side dish. Got a macaroni salad with the burger and consumed in like 15 min, just enough to not loose much time, but enough to get a bit of a break from the wind and rest my legs, arms, shoulders, butt, neck…….pretty much my whole body.

Some folks in the booth next to me asked where I was going and I told them Glasgow for the day. And they said it wasn’t far, just 14 miles up the road. I told them with the wind that 14 miles could very well be 1000. Figured that it would take me 2 hours at 7 mph.

Got rolling again, but this time I was counting down the mile markers. The gusting was just crazy hard, and very frequent by this time of the day, forcing me to a mere 5 mph in the saddle and 6 mph out of the saddle. In, out, in, out, just following the mile markers going a mile in and a mile out. And I counted them markers down, one at a time. By the time I got to 3 miles to go I really felt like I’d accomplished something huge. I mean physically this was just brutal, but it was the mental component that was even tougher. Finally rolled into Glasgow and hit a downhill and saw a sign for this motel, an efficiency called the La Casa. DONE. Thirty five bucks for the same gig as usual: regrig, microwave, coffee maker and some coffee. Good deal, and I was just flamed. Showered for about 30 min, just standing in there and soaking up the hot water rolling down my beaten body. I did the ride in a totally ridiculous 8:32 hours. Now the guy at the motel told me that this was the most vicious wind they’ve had here in a month. Ok, I’m good with getting that one under the belt, and doing like 2-3 of these kinds of days in a row…..NOT! Don’t know if my mind and body could do it. So I was really glad to hear that this is not the norm. Now I obviously expect headwinds, but 35 mph gusts – that’s just unreal to ride in for 8 plus hours. Went to Subway and ordered 2 foolongs. Finished 1.5 and took the extra .5 back to the motel for later. Also picked up a sixer for later. When I finish this blog and after I talk to Judy, it’s beer-thirty for sure.

Tomorrow – Malta, a 70-mile day, hopefully with winds that are much tamer. I can deal with the 10-15 mph stuff where I average 11 mph. But today? Wow, I’m praying that the wind dies down. Getting up again for an early departure, and hoping to do about the same time as yesterday because the temp is supposed to go up to 85. Well, that’s it. I’m going to just be a total load, laying in the bed and vegging on the cable. All the best……Pete

Big Sky - Big Wind

2010-07-13T16:49:00.000-07:00

7-13-10 Day 38: Williston, ND to Poplar, Montana: 77 miles in 6:46 hours. Rt 2 west the whole day.

Whew! Another day of taking my dose of ass kicking by the headwind. Today it was out of the northwest at up to 15-20mph. First I’d like to thank Mark and Sue for their hospitality. They were just wonderful hosts, making me feel so at home for a day’s stay in Williston. Their kids are just great, all four girls, all involved in some form of sports, and all very well mannered and polite to the tee. Great family. Mark served up some burgers from the grill and tuned me into several Red Stripes for refreshments. Sue had made some muffins, a fruit salad and some raw veggies. Fed like a king! The evening ended with the celebration of their daughter Riley’s B-Day. So I had some B-Day cake and then off to bed for another early riser in the morning. Again…..thanks so much Mark and Sue!!

Slept awesome and got up at 5 AM, quietly putting my gear together and getting ready to roll at 6:30. Mark got up and wished me well, and after a couple of bananas and a bagel & peanut butter I was on my way. It had rained, actually thunderstormed last night several times so the morning temp was quite nice. Now Mark and I had been watching the weather reports for the next few days and he told me that this day looked good and they had downgraded the winds, from like 20 or so mph to abut 10-15 out of the northwest. So I left knowing that I had some serious wind for the day. But when I started it was just a faint breeze.

Took the business Rt 2 out of town and I probably should have just backtracked and taken the truck route out of town because it seemed as though I got a complete north, south, east and west tour of the town, to finally head west into the nothingness. Already the oil folks were just hustling and bustling all the hell over the place. Mark had told me last night that in Williston they just cannot provide enough infrastructure to keep up with the mass influx of new people. Told me they still need thousands of new workers to keep up with the boom. Most of the traffic I saw was turning onto two routes: Rt 85 south and Rt 1804, both of which are two of the potential cycling routes I was going to ride on on my way to cycling through the ND Badlands. I mean it was just lines of trucks turning off of Rt 2 and onto these roads.

So these routes took care of a good bit of the traffic on Rt 2, but still, there were oodles of gas wells and derricks and storage towers along the road, right along with the truck traffic to serve them. Route 2 west eventually merged to a single lane on both sides, this after nearly 500 miles of dbl lane roads and the berm from heaven I had been riding on. The berm on the single lane dwindled down to about 3-4 feet, and was still filled with all sorts of red gravel and sand that they pour into the well areas. It’s a pain in the ass to have to watch for that stuff because it’s pretty sharp edged if you hit a big chunck, and could just possibly slit a tire. And along with the road gravel were the gradual climbs up and down the road.

After about an hour and a half, and without even a welcome sign or any kinds of fireworks or marching bands I entered Montana. And looking at that first mile marker sign was a sobering experience: 668 mile mark! Freaking outrageous ouch. Long, long state indeed, and about 400 miles of that is flat and rolling high plains with a headwind – my future for the next week. Almost immediately I hit road construction where the berm was totally gone and where there were several flagger points where the traffic was stopped and pilot cars were ushering traffic east and west. Since I was on a bike I was allowed to proceed with care. In places the road was just a total mess, bumpy crap with loose gravel. And …….the wind was picking up. My progress through this section was just pitifully slow. That’s about the time I saw a group of cyclists riding by, a group of women who were participating in a Tour De Cure ride from where I don’t know to where I don’t know. They had a support truck and the whole gig. Up ahead I some gals changing a flat. Stopped to see if they were ok, and indeed they were. They thanked me and I cycled on into what was now a pretty tough headwind and out of the construction area, where the berm was a measly 3 feet wide. Good thing was that the traffic was really, really light. Hardly any big rumbling trucks.

When the road would wind in just the right direction is was down to 8-9 mph. The landscape was spread out in from of me in this just amazing panorama, making me feel so freaking insignificant amidst such massiveness – 668 miles of massiveness! I was thinking, “damn, this is going to be THE single biggest challenge of this trip.” “Yup, dealing with an almost daily headwind with just no cover and then looking down stretches of road where you can see nothing but horizon, it can do a real headtrip to you!” Yes, it’s Big Sky country out here, but for me it’s Big Landscape country. Save for maybe a farm here and there, it’s just limitless landscape that’s so big that it blows your mind.

Throw in the wind and you feel like you’re removing sand from a giant pile just a grain at a time. Yea, that’s how 8-9 mph feels in such a big place. Now I had kind of decided that I’d see how the weather was and ride to Culbertson if the wind was bad, or push further is the wind was good. Well, about 3 hours in I had decided on Culbertson because the wind was just relentless. The only good thing was that I had picked up an hour by riding into Montana and the Mountain Time Zone, so I was at 8:30 AM 3 hours into the ride. So I pushed on to Culbertson thinking I’d make it a mellow day – well, mellow is not the word when you’re pushing into the wind hour after hour.

Made it to Culbertson in 4 hours, and that last half hour, where I could see the town from afar, but it was still like 6-7 miles away, and into the ever increasing wind, that was tough. Checked out an efficiency but the lady said they were totally booked by the women’s bike tour I had seen. Seems that was group number one. A second group was supposed to arrive later in the day. She did make a call to Poplar to another place and asked about availability. They were good – all I had to do was ride another 30 miles into the wind. Suck it up! She gave me a couple of glasses of ice tea and said I could relax in a room for a bit if I wanted, but I just wanted to keep rolling, and not let the wind pick up even more, so I thanked her and pedaled on to Poplar. The lady also told me I could take another road to Poplar, where I’d miss some rollers.

Got going and it was climbing central, and headwind central. The lady at the motel had told me I’d go five miles and then take a left on Hwy 1. So I climbed up and down and got worked by the headwind at the same time. Actually started to feel ok from the Dr Pepper I bought and the two ice teas the lady had given me. Felt reinvigorated actually, and started thinking of going for the gold and trying for Wolf Point, another 20 miles past Poplar. Yea, kind of hemmed and hawed about Poplar V Wolf Point. And as usual, when the wind was just ferocious, it was Poplar. When it was it had temporarily mellowed out, it was Wolf Point.

Got to the turn-off the lady told me about …….but there was a sign that read: Rough road ahead. NOPE. I’ll take the hills rather than take a chance on some garbled up piece of crap road where I get my eyeballs jittered right out of their sockets. Give me them there rollers!

Now I’m riding in an Indian reservation right now, and it’s about 100 miles in length, and the first town I passed was Brockton, and it was kind of a shabby little place. Kept it rolling. By the time that Hyw 1 rejoined Rt 2 the rollers ceased and it was just super easy false flats and just plain flat – BUT with a 15 mph headwind. Yea, you can just call me MR. Headwind at the end of this trip. I need to have my head examined for challenging myself to this east to west gig! I bloody have nightmares of these gale force headwinds just picking me up and taking me all the way back to Ohio.

So 20 miles down through Brockton, and 13 to go to Poplar. Did the 20 in about 1:30 hours. Figured on another 1:10 hours to get to Poplar. By noon, the winds had really picked up and my progress was grinding down to a slow, plodding, snail’s pace. Yup, poplar it was – no way was I going to fight for another 20 miles from Poplar to Wolf Point. And that decision was cemented on the final stretch to Poplar, where I could see the town’s water towers from like 7-8 miles away, but the wind was just brutal, making it seem as if I was seeing a mirage. Slowly, painfully I approached those damned water towers, and then on the final stretch, like the last 2 miles, the wind almost seemed to have a mind of its own, and a deviant one at that, where it was really gusting. That was a monster stretch.

Arrived into town and hit the Jolly Swagman Inn. Yup, I’m not making this up. Looks like a minimum security prison, but surprisingly it’s a dynamite place, what with a flat screen TV, microwave, regrig. Nice place. The lady was just wonderful, welcoming me to Montana and kind of giving my direction on how to go about my business in a reservation community – keep bike gear inside (like I never do that?) don’t wander around after dark, and just be friendly. She said we’re very good here, but that some of the folks out here get a bit tippsy at night, so just don’t go bar hopping or night exploring in Poplar! Hell, I was just torched so taking a tour of the town was like way down on the “must do” list.

Walked a block to the grocery and picked up a bunch of frozen dinners for lunch and then dinner. She had told me that there’s a restaurant in town, but that the service sucks – they just don’t care. So I opted to do my own gig here in the efficiency. Came back with 2 hungry man frozen dinners that I heated up, and then had two of these cup of soup ramen noodle things. Got PBJ for later also. So I’m pretty set in my little prison motel. All is good.

Today I made up a half day on my schedule through Montan, so tomorrow I hope to make another longish ride to make up another half day – to give me a full day ahead of Montana schedule. I’ll shoot for the town of Glasgow, about 68-70 miles from Poplar, and out of the reservation. Bad thing is that the wind is expected to be out of the west at 22 mph! This could be another toughie, and I’ll get on the road at 6 AM just to try to get a jump on the always increasing winds. They tend to max out at around noon to one.

That’s it from Big Sky country. Late……..Pete

Knocking on Montana's door

2010-07-12T14:27:00.000-07:00

7-12-10 Day 37: Stanley, ND to Williston, ND: 72 miles in 5:23 hours. Rt 2 west the whole day.

Before I go over today let me finish off with yesterday. I kind of left you after I’d come back from the grocery. Well, Arden came back to the barn to work on a thermometer to put up in his yard, and then asked if I’d like to join him on has Case Scout 4-wheeler for a tour of his old property he’d sold to the oil company and to go over and check on his horses at a friend’s property. I was totally cool for driving around in this enclosed, decked out to the nines 4-wheeler. I mean this thing is probably as expensive as a freaking Ford Fiesta, and it can traverse 4 feet of snow, ponds, mud pits, and ascend 45-degree hills! So I jumped in with my camera and off we went, zooming down the gravel roads of Stanley. Along the way he showed me all the petroleum development along the way. There were “Man Camps,” these massive complexes where the workers lived in these trailer parks. They just truck in living quarters, dining quarters, recreational quarters and plop them down on a bulldozed area and bring in the workers. He showed me a petroleum complex where they pump the oil into rail tank cars, where the building is 900 feet long and holds umpteen cars at a time. Then there are the “mud vats” that they use for the drilling muds. And there’s the miles of pipelines and pumping stations. I mean this is just on a scale that I’ve never seen before. And the whole time I’m wondering WHY it is that I had no idea that this existed in the lower 48? Again, Arden told me that this part of ND is the “Saudi Arabia” of America.

The roads are just smashed to hell from the tankers hammering up and down. I mean you can actually see the depressions that are like craters in the roads from the heavy truck traffic. New housing is going up in Stanley as fast as they can build it. Some workers are just living in RV’s and little trailers. Others are renting in these new, prefab apartments for $1500/month! So as we’re going down this dirt road there are oil trucks left and right moving down the roads. It’s a boom for sure, and nowhere displays these changes more than the town of Stanley. Arden tells me that he used to visit the café and know everyone there. Today, he says there are probably only 2-3 faces out of the 25 each morning that he recognizes.

Farmland that typically sells for $300/acre can be purchased from the farmers by the petroleum companies for as much as $20,000-$45,000/acre. Properties and old businesses were snatched up by the petroleum companies such that now much of the commercial business in Stanley is petroleum based – anything associated with wells and drilling. We stopped at Arden’s friend’s property and Arden fed his three horses. Then he showed me his old property that the oil company purchased. This is where they put in the distribution center for filling the tanker cars with oil. Arden said they just made him an offer “he couldn’t refuse.” He sold off a chunk of his acreage and made a monumental profit. Said that many a farmer has profited from the oil boom. But there’s good and bad he admitted. The roads are just shot. Not enough housing. Shoddy housing. Trailer parks. Sprawl. Pollution to the environment. From a quite little agricultural community to busy and bustling frontier town. Rumbling trucks 24-7. There’s bad with the good out here as the development outstrips their ability to keep up with it in a well thought out manner. Welcome to the oil boom of Northwestern ND! This is the new frontier, the wild west, the place where you can come to work and make some good money. There are license plates from all corners of the US here in Stanley. Many strangers in town. We have to feed our hunger for oil, and here in Stanley, ND you can see where it all begins!

So I sat in the camper last night having a few beers and listening to the local radio kind of going over all that I’ve discovered about this oil boom. Yep, we have to get ourselves weaned off of foreign oil, but at what cost? Look at the Gulf Coast disaster. And then I think about what is happening out here. The oil derricks are littering the landscape. Traffic and the influx of masses of humanity are having a giant impact on these little sleepy little agricultural towns. The landscape is changing. And for me, just a passer by through this new world, the boom is so dramatic that I had to change my itinerary because I was afraid that I’d be killed on my bicycle by the oil traffic that rumbles up and down damned near every road out here. Thus, no opp to visit some to ND’s most remarkable landscapes! But I cannot be selfish about my losses, which are so fleeting, because some of these farmers who have toiled all their lives just to survive are now profiting like kings. The state of ND is in a budget surplus. There’s good and bad. What’s the answer? I’ve no clue – there’s just so many issues here!

So I got up at around 6 AM this morning, and the only reason I wasn’t at my 5 AM get-up time was likely because the barn kind of deadends the light, despite the fact that Arden had put a long skylight at the top of the bay. So it kind of felt as though it was still dark outside since I’ve just been getting up with the morning light. I raced to pack my gear, and put on some coffee in his office and ate some yogurts and Danish I had bought yesterday at the grocery.

What an awesome dude Arden was to let me have that rig last night. To end last night I just kicked back after chatting with Judy on Skype and listened to NPR Minot last evening to a program that was Native American music, kind of chanting and very relaxing music. That and a couple of brews and that was a day.

Got rolling this morning at 7 AM sharp, going down the gravel road roller coaster and back up to Rt 2 west. And off I went for Williston. Now Tammy and Tim from Bismarck had hooked me up with Tim’s relatives in Williston for a stay today, and I’d called and confirmed with Sue last night about my arrival to Williston. So I didn’t have to worry about the oil boom folks displacing me for another night. I was set with a place to stay, and that felt pretty good. The wind was out of the southwest, but let me tell you that it felt more like a tailwind than a cross headwind – for sure. That enabled me to keep it going at a nice steady 13-14 mph.

Again, miles and miles of flat prairie land as far as you can see. That and the slew of oil wells, oil derricks, oil holding tanks, oil equipment, and of course all the oil trucks rolling east and west along Rt 2. This is just amazing, and the roadway berm is like stained red in places with red rocks and red dust due to all the red dust blowing off of the tankers that had just gotten off of the gravel roads and onto the asphalt. Hell, there’s a couple of times that I saw tankers pulling off of a gravel road and onto the highway and they looked like Pigpen with a cloud of red dust flying behind them as they accelerated down the highway. I was told to look for the nuclear warhead bunkers, as they are out here along the road. Yup, the nukes that are supposed to be the BIG deterrent to WW3, many of those are planted in the ground in ND. Arden told me I could take pictures of them from the road, “but don’t go near the fences,” he warned me. Well, I never saw a one of them. Maybe it was because I was too consumed with not hitting those damned red rocks that the oil company trucks have littered the berm with. They’re sharp, and could easily cause a flat if I hit one just right.

Arden had warmed me up for this big climb on the way to Williston – told me it was 4 miles long and a real biggie. Well, again, I came to the bugger but it was really just a very long gradual roller – yes Laura, a gradual roller! Nothing more. It was actually kind of fun to pedal up as I was able to maintain a good 12 mph with the cross wind behind me. Then I just put it into cruise control and pedaled on to the town of Ray for a breakfast stop. Got to Ray about 9:45 AM and went into a little dinner for food. Needed a coke for sure and then decided to sit down for a breakfast. That should get me to Williston. Ordered up a couple of eggs, hashbrowns and toast, along with a great big tall glass of fountain coke – which I refilled 3 times. The folks there, and everywhere for that matter, kind of look at me like I’m a freak with my cycling kit on. So anymore I wear my helmet in and take it off when I sit down just so they ABSOLUTELY know that I’m a bike rider and not a cross dresser clad in lycra.

Had a good meal, albeit very slow service, but had a chance to talk with some of the folks in the dinner about my trip. Usually the same thing: “Where you headed,” they’ll ask. And then I tell them Seattle. “Where’d you start,” is usually next. And then I’d reply with Northern Maine. That’s about when they shake their heads in amazement. Now, almost 3000 miles in, I feel like I’ve actually ridden somewhere. Way back in NY state, well, when asked those questions I was a bit reticent about expounding on the whole story. Now, hell I’m damned near in Montana! Anyway, had a good talk with them and off I went to Williston, riding the crest of the cross wind. BUT, that cross wind was only good for 20 miles west of Ray. Then Rt 2 does this 90-degree turn to the south for the last 14 miles to Williston. So I was riding the crest on borrowed time.

There was a stretch where my berm virtually disappeared. I mean it just vanished and I had but a tiny 1 foot berm and then gravel. NOPE. I rode to the eastbound lane and got on that 10-foot wide berm and rode for a good 10 miles until my west bound berm reappeared. No way was I riding next to those freaking oil rigs! They’re like giant vacuums as they blast by, just sucking everything into their wake. So that worked out great – riding against traffic on a giant berm.

Then the inevitable – the 90-degree into the southerly wind. It was if I’d hit a wall – an insurmountable wall at that because the road gently trended up into a gradual climb for like 2 miles. I was reduced from my 14 mph to a miserable 6-7 on that long gradual into the wind. I mean I was in the middle cookie in the giant pie plate in the back, out of the saddle just poking along on this. Got me thinking that those 14 miles into that vicious headwind could take nearly 2 hours to complete. Turns out that there were like three of those kinds of climbs. So just when I’d get to the top I’d be able to get going at 11 mph and then descend at 15 mph, and then right back into another freaking long ascent into the headwind. I think it took like 1.5 hrs to get that stretch in, and finally it flattened out and I arrived at the Williston Corp limit sign. Made it.

Sue and Mark lived about in the center of town, and just past the street I was supposed to turn left on, well, there was a Subway. I passed the turn and went straight for the Subway for my 2 footlongs. Man they hit the spot after fighting with that wind for an hour and a half. It’s just so bloody tough riding into the headwind. Takes so much more concentration and effort. So after my stuffing I rolled over to Sue and Marks. Felt some rain drops along the way, but nothing really developed. I was welcomed by their children, and there are four of them and right now I can only remember two of their names. Abby showed me the garage for my bike and yak storage, and then showed me my downstairs room that her sister Riley had graciously given up for the night. Very nice children and a very cool house. I’m in a basement bedroom that adjoins a wonderful rec room/bar/living room area that’s fully carpeted. Beyond Palatial compared to some of the efficiencies I’ve stayed in!

Then I met and talked a bit with Sue. Her and her husband Mark are avid runners – he an ultrarunner. Sounds like they were quite good not too long ago to. They are also triathletes, but this freaking truck traffic has Sue so scared that she will not go out on any of the bermless roads outside of town to ride. Just too dangerous she says. As an aside, it turns out they’re headed my way on Rt 2 west this Sunday, as they’re driving out to hike and recreate in Glacier National Park.

Showered and doing the computer thing right now. Feel great to have a place to clean up and relax what with the crazyness of all this oil boom stuff going on outside. Williston is even more intense than Stanley! It’s like the gold rush out here. Well, I’ll sign off and put up any additional stuff on the blog tomorrow.

Montana here I come……….Pete

Thanks to Arden and Janis in Stanley ND

2010-07-11T15:36:00.000-07:00

7-11-10 Day 36: Minot, ND to Stanley, ND: 60 miles in 4:43 hours. Rt 2 west the whole day.

Man, I was one tired pup from the ride yesterday. Got up really late compared to the last couple of weeks – at a recreational 6:30 AM. I decided to just get in a great night of sleep and try to recover from the heat and the distance from my Bismarck to Minot ride. Got packed and hit a gas station for a couple of muffins and a coffee and was rolling by 8 AM. Plan was to see what the weather presented and then see how I felt for my day’s itinerary. Well, the wind was light and out of the northwest and my legs felt like lifeless stumps, so I was pretty sure that I’d just lay up and shoot for Stanley rather than do a massive 130-mile grunt and go for Williston. Now there are a couple of towns west of Stanley, but they’re pretty small little guys, and still would make the for at least a 90-mile day. So I really had it in my head to shoot for a light day to Stanley where there are more amenities. Got rolling and found that the cross headwind was not really too bad, as I could at least maintain a 12-13 mph pace. Traffic on Rt 2 was pretty light this Sunday morning so I was just kind of enjoying the mellow day. This was a really flat section of landscape, with occasional rollers that I had to do in the middle ring out of the saddle. But nothing really long and gnarly. I’m now pretty used to this kind of massive landscape where you can see down the road 10-30 miles. It’s pretty wild to see like a water tower of a town and then take 40 min to an hour to ride there.

Now I did have a pretty good climb – about 1.5 miles – at the Rt 2/Rt 52 split, but again, nothing that really worked me too hard. It was just a steady out of the saddle in the middle ring. Once I got through Berthold I started to see the impact of this big oil boom up here. There were derricks and completed wells along the side of the road and these speedy oil tankers zooming east and west along Rt 2. Luckily I have this massive one-lane wide berm to ride on so I feel real comfortable with the trucks. And most of the road is in excellent shape with my berm as nice as a regular asphalt highway.

I’d been told by the gang back in Bismarck that this oil boom has had a major impact on the small towns in the area. Most all of the efficiency motels are booked 24-7 by the oil people, the truckers, the well workers and damned near everyone involved in the industry. Good for the economy, bad for the people traveling through the area. Even the campgrounds are filled with oil people living in campers and RV’s. I’m told the towns and cities are scared to go into a building boom to satisfy the influx of new oil people because this happened once before and then the oil industry out here went bust, and the area was left with all the new building and no new people to occupy them. Burned once and now shy to build again, so there’s a massive housing shortage out here in this northwest quadrant of ND.

So I had a good head’s up that I could be in dire straights when looking for any place to stay anywhere between Minot and Williston. Anyway, the weather was just fabulous because a cold front had moved in last night and the morning temps were in the upper 50’s. Forecast was for mid 70’s for the day – great for cycling. So I was not worried about the later than usual start today. My cross headwind was actually quite mild and no where near as big an issue as the prior week of cycling into the wind. So part of me wanted to just shoot for the town of Ray, about 36 miles west of Stanley. As I rode I hemmed and hawed about bagging it in Stanley or shooting for Ray. But whatever the case, I still had to consider the possibility of where I’d stay what with the oil people sucking up all the lodging spots. Must have decided I’d go for Ray two or three times – on the total flats when I was cooking along into the cross headwind at 14 mph. Then I’d think twice and reconsider on the long gradual climbs where my legs felt like cement stumps and get my mind made up to just go for an easy day and bag it in Stanley, the biggest place I’d hit for the day for sure. Ray and Tioga are mere specks on the map.

As I got closer to Stanley there was a noted increase in the truck traffic and the amount of oil wells and pumps on both sides of the road. Most of the stuff looks pretty new. And I could see the water tower of Stanley from quite a distance away, so it just loomed on the horizon for a while as I pedaled on. Finally hit town at about 4:45 hrs in the ride, and a mellow 60-mile day. The town is just off of the Rt 2 thoroughfare, and I passed it with a bug up my rear end to maybe just go for Ray or Tioga, depending on how much the mileage was. So I rode up to a mileage sign: Ray – 36 miles; Tioga – 29 miles. That would give me a 96 or 89 mile day, and my legs were just beat. So I did a U-turn and rode into town. Decision made – Stanley it is. Time to look for the lone motel in town.

Rode around this little town for a bit and saw nothing. Actually it was very quiet being a Sunday afternoon. So I finally stopped and asked a gentleman loading some shingles on his pick-up at the local lumber store. Nice guy, stopped what he was doing and explained to me the oil boom and that I’d have an ice cube’s chance in hell of getting a room anywhere around here – not here, not in Ray, not in Tioga, not in Williston. Nowhere! Said even the campgrounds are full, but that they may let me just pitch a time somewhere on the premises. He called a buddy over and his friend concurred. He thought for a minute and said that he’d let me sleep in his trailer, but that it was out of town at a lake. Then he asked his friend of one of their friends has a trailer in town, and thereby called that friend.

Well, the friend didn’t exactly say yes, but invited us over so he could kind of check me out. I followed Kelly to his friend’s house, just a few blocks away. Out of the house came Arden, a 60-something year old gentleman. We shook hands and then Arden’s wife Janis came out and invited me in for lunch. Kelly left and in I went with Arden to have some lunch. Janis got out all sorts of lunch meats and breads, cookies, nuts, coke, and pbj. It was quite a spread. We ate and talked, each sharing a bit about our lives etc. Really awesome folks. Arden was totally cool with putting me up in his camper that’s located in a new building just a mile from their house outside of town. I thanked Janis with a big hug and followed Arden in his pick-up to the building. He took me down this roller coaster gravel road that paralleled Rt 2. Have to admit that the second climb had me in the middle cookie in the easiest gear and out of the saddle with my rear tire slipping in the gravel. But I made it and got to the building.

The place is brand new, and massive. He’s got his horse trailer and his 5^th wheel parked in the main bay, and then several smaller areas partitioned off for office, work areas and stables. In his office is a refrig and coffee pot. Then he commenced to showing me around the place, in addition to hooking up the 120 to the 5^th wheel. Said I had a computer with an air card and I was wondering if I could get cell reception our here. Well, he pulled out his cell and showed me 4 bars, and then walked me outside and pointed to a cell tower about 300 yards in back of his building. Yup, wifi in his 5^th wheel!

Arden is a Vietnam war vet and a huge horseman. There are pics of him all over the office area on horses. He even leads horse packing tours in the ND Badlands. He told me that he sold off 20-some acres of his farm to the oil industry and it looks as though he was paid handsomely what with this building and all the goodies inside. So anyway, he showed me my abode and then said he had to get rolling to do some work at the house and another property of his. Told me to make myself at home and off he went, telling me that maybe he’d stop back later in the day.

I checked my computer for wifi with my aircard and dog gone if I’ve got a hardy 4 bars. Changed, and rode into town with just an empty front pannier to go food shopping. Bought some pre-made sandwiches, yogurt, and a Ben & Jerry’s for dinner at a little grocery and then got a couple of beers from a pub for later this eve, and back I rode to my little abode. Should be a really peaceful night here in the camper that’s in a building - what with pretty regular train traffic just about a half mile away. It’s the same train track line that Amtrak runs on, as I saw a Amtrak west-bound liner blasting through today as I was riding along. I just love trains, and hearing their horns is very soothing for me, especially at night. Actually I’m seriously considering taking Amtrak to go home when I finish this trip. I’d just ship my bike back on UPS or Fedex and jump on a train for a nice couple of day ride back along some of the very terrain I pedaled west on.

Tomorrow I’m shooting for Williston. Now I had just placed a call to Tammy and Tim from Bismarck. Tim had told me that I’d have a very tough time finding anywhere to stay between Minot and Williston, as he does business on the road a lot in those areas and has a devil of a time finding a place to stay. Anyway, Tim offered me the opp that if I cannot find a place to stay in Williston, that their son lives there an may put me up for an evening. Sounds like that may be my only option there what with this lodging boom out here. So I’m supposed to call Tammy back at 7 PM CST to see if it will be possible.

I’m also told that once into Montana I will not have this oil boom problem to deal with, and lodging should be easier to obtain. Hope that’s the case. So that’s the story from here in Stanley, ND. It’s actually amazing to think back to when I started this trip way the heck out in Northern Maine. And now here I am about 80-some miles from the Montana border. Talked to my dad today and told him where I was, and his response was: “You’re still in ND, damn, you’ve been in that state for a week!” I laughed and explained to him that these are some BIG states out here, and that Montana is 630 miles long, so I’d be in that state even longer! You just can’t get a true picture of the massiveness of these states until you ride a bike across them. It’s just a day at a time, and then after a week you really see your progress. You eventually fold up the tattered state map, throw it in the garbage, and then you get out the next crisp new state map and do it all over again – one state at a time.

Cheers…….Pete

The wind at my back

2010-07-10T15:58:00.001-07:00

7-10-10 Day 35: Bismarck, ND to Minot, ND: 110 miles in 6:43 hours. Burnt Road to River Road to Rt1804 to Rt 83 north to Minot.

Whew! Big ride day for sure. Stated the morning getting up around 5:30 AM at Carol’s to ready for my ride north up towards Minot so I can continue west. Now this was quite a topic of discussion Thursday night as I had wanted to go on a route that would take me into North Dakota’s Bad Lands in West Central North Dakota. Supposed to be quite beautiful place. BUT….there’s now oil in them there hills, and this has created a real problem. Problem is that it’s supposed to be as big as the oil fields of Saudi Arabia, but there are environmental issues to deal with to. Not all roses. And for me, a lowly little cyclist who wants to ride out into this area to view the stunning scenery, it’s not a good idea. Nope, I’m told that the roads are narrow, some bermless, and that the oil tankers moving north and south along these state and county roads just blast along at massive speeds. There’s been a cyclist killed out there by a truck, and numerous people had warned me NOT to take those roads.

Many at the potluck on Thursday were trying to figure out a way for me to get into the Badlands of ND, but each and every road they looked at was now a trucking route. Couple that with the fact that Lake Sakakawea, a extensive damed area of the Missouri, blocks most northerly roads up to Rt 2 west – it’s a bridgeless barrier. I was given some phone numbers, to call people in the know, but honestly, I just did not want to risk riding on any of those roads if it’s as dangerous as I’d been told – numerous times. So, I opted to go right back up to Rt 2 via Rt 83 north. But, Carol and the gang showed me a alternate route along the Missouri for about 42 miles up to the town of Washburn where it jcn back with Rt 83. So that was the plan for today, to ride this stretch along the Missouri, and then big it in the town of Underwood, about 56 miles north of Bismarck.

Got going from Carol’s at 6:45 AM as her and Tammy were off to a sprint triathlon. I took Carol’s directions and had no problem getting down onto River Road along the Missouri. And it was just otherworldly in the cool morning. Just a fabulous ride on a little road that is flats and gentle rollers up and down the buffs. I actually had the road to myself almost the whole time. Again, a pinch-me kind of ride. Thanks for the great beta ladies! Stopped several times for pics along the way. The wind was non-existent to ever so slightly out of the southwest, but almost the whole time along the river I noticed zero wind. Then I jcn with Rt 83 and on to Washburn. By Washburn the wind just started to stir, and I was wondering if it would shift to a westerly and make the day’s riding much harder, but by the time I reached my destination, Underwood, it was a solid southwesterly – at about 5-10 mph. Now came the dilemma – stop in Underwood with 52 miles under my belt, and hell, it was only 10:30 AM, or make a day of it and go for the green by riding tomorrow’s ride today, to Minot. I decided to go with the gamble and hope that the predicted 90+ degrees for the day wouldn’t crush me, and that the wind would stay out of the southwest.

Did a super quick rest stop at a convenience store for a coke and a sandwich, and bought some emergency goodies for the next 58 miles to Minot. Got on the road and man, just 15 min pit stop and it had felt like the wind picked up by another 5 mph. I was able to pedal at a very steady 16-18 mph, and wow, what a great feeling that was, big ring and just steamrolling down the road. Went across this 2-3 mile section that separates the massive Lake Sakakawea and Lake Audibon – very, very impressive. After that the road trended dead to the north, and it felt like the wind was dead from the south – mph up to 17-19 mph! I was just flying. Back in Underwood I was figuring on getting into Minot at like 3:30 PM, but now I was recalculating to get there at 2 PM!

I was warned that this particular section was pretty boring, really flat and featureless compared to what I had wanted to ride through on my way to the Badlands of ND where the scenery is supposed to be stellar. But damn was I flying. I mean I was eventually ticking off miles at 22-23 mph – a thing of beauty! My butt would get sore and I’d get out of the saddle and hammer at like 20 mph. Made Minot at like 1:48 PM, for 110 miles! Got a cheap motel with wifi, refrig and microwave. Even has Versus on cable for the Tour De France.

Temp was 93 degrees when I pulled in, but it was of the dry heat variety. Now that’s not to say that I wasn’t tuckered out. Hell, I was covered in rings of salt around my neck, arms and powdered all over my legs. When I stopped it felt like a freaking blast furnace. Showered and then went down the street for a Subway that the owner had told me about. But along the way I spotted a Chinese buffet. DONE. Did 4 plates and one soup! Waddled back to the motel and work on the computer and ice some new micro brews in the rigrig – Summit Great Northern Porter, brewed and MN. AWESOME stuff on a super hot day.

So…I made up a day, and am now about 3 days off schedule. But honestly, I never really figured on riding 38 straight days in a row to get to Seattle. What I experienced in Bismarck was something that totally justifies NOT just hammering day after day and never getting to know a place. So tomorrow I’ll just see what the weather has got in store for me. If it’s an odd ball day, where the wind is in my favor, then I may shoot for Ray. If the wind is out of the west and the day is another torcher, then I’ll opt for just 60+ miles to Stanley. Good day or not, I just don’t think I have it in me to hammer out a 130-mile plus day to Williston, ND tomorrow.

Getting closer to meet my friends from Edmonton, Ken and Kim. They will be driving south to Cutbank, Montana and then driving east on Rt 2 to hook up with me. Will be super to see them again and hang out for a bit. Can you say Richard’s Red? Ken tells me he has a couple of cases. And surprise again…..may even have a chance to ride with Barney from Vancouver again. He’s kicking around some ideas to hook up with me also in far western Montana or in Spokane Washington.

Anyway, seeing those faces from last year’s trip will be really incredible. Well, that’s it from Minot, ND. Damn is it hot up here! All the best……Pete

A day in Bismarck ND

2010-07-10T15:07:00.001-07:00

7-9-10 Day 34: Bismarck, ND for an off-day.

Sorry about no blog this morning, but after a really full day of sight-seeing and a whirl wind tour of Bismarck, I was just beat yesterday and bagged it to bed to prep for the ride today. So let me kind of go over my Friday in Bismarck. Now all I had ever really knew of Bismarck is the little blurbs I get from my Bismarck cycber coaching clients about the weather, and it was usually the winter weather they described to me that made me shudder. So I arrived in Bismarck on Thursday and it was about 88 degrees. Then yesterday the temp was about 88-90 degrees. Not the sub zero place I was always hearing about for sure.

Started the morning yesterday by running a group through a “bricklett” workout, which entailed biking, running back to back for 4 reps. I suited up in my cycling gear at 8 AM and rode the 10 miles to a college track with Laura, Carol and Tammy. For me, I was hoping for a noodle to the track, but being Mr. Coach, I wasn’t going to bitch if they were jamming, and I kind of had an idea that they would be riding a good WU as I usually require on the way to the track – be it my rest day or not! And it was not a noodle – thanks Laura!! So we got to this awesome track at the U of M, situated up on this big bluff overlooking the city and the Missouri River. It’s a stunning setting for a workout on a just fabulous sunny day.

We met Ron, Laura’s hubb at the track and he joined in on the workout. I had a total blast coaching them through 4 very solid bricks of like 2 laps around the U on the bike followed by a half mile rep on the track x 4 times. After the workout I was given a cycling tour of parts of the city of Bismarck. This is a really awesome city, and it really reminded me of something like Boulder, CO, a kind of front range place – except that there are no snow covered peaks looming off to the west, just these big rounded bluffs. The cottonwoods were shedding their seeds so much that at times it looked as if it were snowing out on some of the routes we rode on along the Missouri River.

They tell me that all the new housing right down along the river, the cribs that go for a mill or so, they could very well be involved in a very major flood somewhere down the road. They’re putting in marinas next to some of these developments that are just incredible. It’s quite a beautiful place down along the Missouri, but it could be a real mess with one of those 100-year floods. Ended our cycling tour de Bismarck at the top of this bluff where you could really get a bird’[s eye view of the river and the bluffs on the other side. I mean you can literally see for 10,20, 30+ miles out to the west. Just so massively expansive that it’s amazine. Nope, I ain’t in Ohio no more!

Laura and Ron took us out to lunch at a totally dope place. This was the bomb for sure. Laura suggested I get this hot/cold salad plate, but I just wasn’t sure about that one and ordered a Cajun chicken pasta dish that was great. But I’ll tell ya, when that salad dish came out for Laura and Carol, my jaw dropped. That thing was the king of salads, and I’m not talking lettuce and carrots. Nope this thing had damned near the whole garden on it complete with asparagus and olives. Glad I don’t have this restaurant at home cuz I’d be spending a ton of money there!

My tour de Bismarck continued with Carol taking me to Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park to check out General Custer’s barracks prior to the infamous “Last Stand” in Montana, and a Mandan Indian village. Pretty cool stuff. We ended the Lincoln State Park gig by going up to these reconstructed lookout towers on a massive bluff that Custer’s troops used to watch the Missouri River for Indian attacks. The view from the tops of these 3-story towers is just off the charts crazy. And the amazing thing was that Friday was like a dead calm day – no wind out of the west. No wind at all! And we’re up there looking at the miles and miles of Great Plains stretching out in every direction, with the Missouri River and Bismarck far below. You could only imagine what this looked like back in 1875 when the troops were standing up here looking out at the millions of acres of grasslands in front of them. With no wind stirring the hot afternoon, it was just so cool to stand up there and listen to nothing but the birds singing and the crickets chirping. Very cool.

Finished the day with a swim in the Missouri River at a place called Double Ditch. I had thought that wading into the Missouri would be like wading into the tepid Pine Creek of PA in the summer. NOT. No, this pup was cold, and it took me about 2-3 min to get the gumption to go for it and dive in. But once I did it felt wonderful. Got to tell you that this is just a fabulously beautiful area, and way beyond what I was expecting way the hell out here in North Dakota. They tell me NOT to tell people about the place – don’t want everyone moving out here! It’s special, and I can totally understand their love for this area – even in the dead of winter when temps can dip to 40 below.

Many thanks to Carol, my hostess for this awesome day of R&R in Bismarck. Also, great meeting Laura and Ron, Tammy and Tim, Marnie, and Darcy and hubby. All great folks, and I’m very happy to have finally matched faces and personalities to the names and voices I had known. All the best to all of you, and thanks so much for your hospitality. I’ll remember this visit always……..Pete

Landed in Bismarck

2010-07-08T20:56:00.000-07:00

7-8-10 Day 33: McClusky, ND to Bismarck, ND: 65miles in 4:58 hours. Rt 200 west to Rt 41 south to Rt 83 south.

Today’s ride was a thing of beauty. Awesome sunny day, great roads impressive scenery and……a very, super, incredibly light headwind from the west. Yup, even a schlep like me who decided to ride east to west gets a crumb thrown my way occasionally. Today was that day. I got on the bike at 6:15 AM and let me tell you that it was a bit nippy outside. I had put away 3 of these peanut butter sandwiches on wheat buns for fuel to get me all the way to Bismarck. No coffee though despite the fact that this little efficiency had about everything you needed to make a Thanksgiving dinner inside – except coffee! So got on the road and noticed that the wind was just barely a hint out of the west, and with the chill in the air I was able to really put on some speed – 13-14 mph. Whoopee!

Yesterday when I had finished the day, I had gone to a little pub/grill called The Union to have lunch, and inside I had talked with several old timers having their daily coffee klatch. Well they took one look at me with all that lycra on and I just had to chuckle out loud. They gave me a bit of good natured shit about my cycling cloths, just like one of my participants in my fitness class does – yes you Jim – and I laughed along with them. Well, we got to talking about my cycling and the route through ND, and one of the fellows had told me than having made it to McClusky, I’d just have flat road all the way to Bismarck. And I think I mentioned that in my blog yesterday. Well, may be flat when you’re driving a car, but on a bike lugging 70 lbs, It’s anything but flat!

Nope. Flat to me means not shifting – ever! It means only getting out of the saddle because your behind is sore from pedaling in the same gear for so long and never hitting a hill or riser. Nope, this was definitely not flat. But I’m ok there. Hell, if I just wanted flat for 3000 miles I’d of done loops around a mall parking lot! So on Rt 200 west, it was gently rolling, with these little swales I’d have to go OTS on every now and then. Yet with the beautiful morning, I’ll take it. I passed pond and lake and pond and lake, just at the bottom of each and every swale. And I’d see these water birds that I’d never seen before, really beautiful birds. The ponds and lakes were just filled with them and their young paddling around in water that was reflecting blue sky and white clouds. Stopped several times for pictures.

It’s mornings like this where I feel such a zest for life, where I feel that my senses are heightened and I have this really deep appreciation for experiencing new places and new surroundings. It just brings out so many cool emotions. So I was just really digging the countryside and all the kind of exotic waterfowl I was seeing on my ride west on Rt 200. Make that 13 mile stretch in about an hour and then it was a turn onto Rt 41 south. Again, a road that the boys from The Union Bar and Grill said would be flat. NOT. But again, no big deal. Again, another just spectacular panorama of landscape laid out in front of me. It was just amazing how I could look up the road and see this two lane road just dwindle down to this threadlike little ribbon way off in the distance, dancing over swale after swale. And I swear that you can see for like 5, 6, 8 miles down the road in front of you.

And just as on Rt 200, at the bottoms of the swales are ponds and lakes teaming with waterfowl. Now some of these swales are not just little bumps that you pedal over. No way. Some are like 1-2 miles gently down, and then 1-2 miles right back gently up. Up and over, up and over, up and over, mile after mile. The section on Rt 41 south was really wonderful to cycle, and anyone who loves to ride a bike just has to experience riding across terrain such as this. There was really no berm, but the traffic was super light and everyone was very cool about giving me plenty of room. And I’ve noticed quite a lot here in ND that many folks are waving to me or giving me the thumbs up. I always try to acknowledge them with a corresponding wave, but sometimes when I’m OTS it’s not possible, so I kind of give them a head nod.

Now I had mentioned that you can just see forever in front of you in this area of Central ND, and just to test my theory on how far I could see, I noted a mile marker at one particular point, and way off in the distance I could see a water tower, which I surmised was in the town of Wilton. The mile marker read 10 miles – ten miles to go on Rt 41. And Wilton was at the end of Rt 41, and so was that same blue water tower. I found it amazingly that you can see like 10+ miles up ahead of you at the tops of some of the swales. Now maybe I’m just gushing on and babbling because I tend to do little mind games things like that with myself while riding solo. So sorry if this little piece of trivia was not really that interesting or pretty off the wall?

By the time Rt 41 deadended into Rt 83 at the town of Wilton, I was 3 hours and 40 miles into the ride. Decided to take a rest break at this super mega gonzo gas station/store. Got a 32 oz fountain coke and ice and went out and sat on a bench and relaxed. It was there that I felt like I could just go to sleep sitting in the sun and mellowing out. Really felt the legs to, as they were just kind of dead tired and lethargic. Probably has to do with 4 + days of riding into a headwind. I finished my soft drink and kind of did some head nods. That’s when I forced myself to get up, and get er done to Bismarck. By then it was round about 10 AM and the temps was climbing up into the mid 70’s. Not really humid, but nice and toasy. Put on the tank and my sunglasses and got it rolling down Rt 83 south.

This is a US route, and is separated dbl lane road with a monster berm on each side, just perfect riding again after a long hiatus from monster berm on Rt 2. With the light westerly wind I was able to crank it. And I mean I hadn’t been in the big ring for like 3-4 days – can’t remember when it was really. And it was kind of “swaley” on this stretch, but only once did I have to drop down in the middle cookie to climb on of the longer swales. Made just super time riding south to Bismarck, and arrived in the city just before noon.

My plan was to stop at a Subway despite the fact that Carol, my hostess for this stopover and a client of mine here in Bismarck, had told me in an email that I could grab some food and beer in the refrig when I got there. She would still be at work. But I really didn’t want to kind of just go into someone’s refrig, so I stopped at a Subway about 2-3 miles from her house, right at noon time. And this place had people waiting in the doorway to order. I mean it was just jam packed. Didn’t even get off of my bike. No way. That was an eternity of waiting in a line for food. So I just kept riding to Carol’s, thinking that maybe I’d pass another Subway on the way over there. But not to be. Not too far down the road I took the several turns and got to her house.

Went inside and timidly opened the fridg and made myself a small sandwich and had a couple of bananas. I had to keep the gremlin at bay, and what’s more they’re having a potluck dinner tonight so I’ll just kind of hold off and go for it then! So I’m here by myself in her computer room catching up on emails and doing a bit of work. That’s about it right now. Maybe more later in the day.

Onward to Bismarck

2010-07-07T19:07:00.000-07:00

7-7-10 Day 32: Fessenden, ND to McClusky, ND: 61miles in 5:24 hours. Rt 15 west to Rt 3 south to Rt 200 west.

Another fairly early start today as I got on the road at 6:40 AM. I’d scarffed down some bagels with peanut butter that I’ve been carrying for my “efficiency breakfasts” and had some motel do-it-yourself coffee. My bike friend from yesterday had told me to just continue straight across Rt 52 on what he called Old Rt 15, though it wasn’t marked at all. The morning was nice and cool, almost too cool for my hands, as they were a bit chilled for the first 30 min of the ride. The wind – it was ever so slightly blowing out of the west. But I knew that in a couple hours it would be in it’s full glory again. So that first stretch west on Old Rt 15 was gravy in that I was at least spared from battling a headwind from the gun like yesterday.

I had this 15-mile stretch of road damned near to myself. Felt really awesome to be out there just me and the road and the early morning. The road was flat as paper, and I could keep it rolling at around 14 mph, though in the morning, first thing on the bike I tend to just soft pedal to warm my legs up, so despite the lack of headwind, I really tried to keep it mellow. I’ve found that it takes me a good 30 min to one hour to get my legs warmed up on something like this – riding cross country day after day. They’re usually kind of stiff and a bit sore first go in the morning, and hammering out of the gate is just not the way I like to get the day going. That’s when my legs tend to mutiny on me and I get all these ghost pains in the knees, hips, and ankles.

So I kept it mellow up to the jcn with Rt 3 south. And I had this berm from heaven, just awesome stretch of road for another 15 or so miles. The bike guy from New Rockford had told me I’d hit this long gradual climb on Rt 3, and as soon as I got on the road, way up ahead, round about 2-3 miles I saw what he was talking about. I just kind of loomed out there on the horizon for tens of minutes. And when I hit it, it wasn’t like climbing a mt or anything, but it was just this long grind up, with one false summit after another. Must have taken me a good 20-30 min to get this thing surmounted and then it was just a flat stretch into Hurdsfield.

Next was the jcn with Rt 200. And west I went. Now by this time the wind had picked up to about 10-15 mph headwind. As I said, I’ve noticed that as the day goes on the wind gets more and more furious. Made the decision to ride on to the town of Goodrich and then take a brunch break. So on I went, and let me tell you, this was one gnarly stretch. Don’t believe that it’s flat out here in Central North Dakota. NO FREAKING WAY! I hit so many rollers on this stretch, and then add in the headwind and I was just creeping along. Same old MO right? Riding west – getting worked by the headwind. What else is new? By now I’m pretty resigned to the fact that if I can maintain 9-11 mph, I’m in utopia. You just cannot go any faster while pulling 70 lbs of gear.

But there’s a downside to just spinning into the headwind – and that’s the pressure on your rump! When you apply pressure to the pedals you thereby take pressure off of your butt. But spin, and apply less pressure to the pedals, and your butt ends up taking a beating. And that’s been the case with me for days on end now. So I end up having to ride 1-2 miles in the saddle and then get out of the saddle and ride for 5 or even 10 mins, at the same speed as I was pedaling in the saddle, just to take the pressure off of my butt. So my average today once I started to go due west was about 9.5 mph. And that got me to Goodrich where I was planning on having a coke and sandwich. But I pulled into town rather than stay on the truck bypass, and there was nothing there. No store, no gas station, nothing but some houses and a few commercial est. that had nothing to do with food.

That’s the problem with doing an itinerary at home on your desktop computer and just kind of googling and mapquesting routes and places. Sooner or later run into places like Goodrich where there are just no amenities. Good thing I had a plastic coke bottle that I saved and filled with extra water for occasions such as this. So I still had plenty of water, and my next stop was my final destination – McClusky. There were no towns of any significance on the way. No choice but to just keep riding, so I exited town and proceeded west on 200. And then I saw this just massive low angle climb that seemed to roller coaster up, swale after swale, for miles, as far as I could see. So just for *^&$%^# and giggles I looked at my trip time, and started climbing, in the saddle, out of the saddle, on and on and on. And at the beginning I picked this point way the hell up the road, almost on the horizon, that I would use as my finish point, hopefully at the top of the climb. So I began climbing, up and up and up. When I finally topped out I looked down and saw that I’d been climbing for over 40 min. And this is NORTH DAKOTA!

Four hours in, at just prior to 11 AM and the headwind was in full force. It had just every so subtly gotten harsher and harsher each and every hour until it was just bending the weeds and crops down in a big way. Another hour of riding on way less hilly terrain and I got to the town of McClusky. My options were few, and as I’ve said, that’s part of the strategy of riding out here – timing your final destinations right. I was just around 60 miles in, and to go for Bismarck would be another 60 miles. So it took me over 5 hours to go 60. Shooting for Bismarck would be an 11 hour day in the saddle. My closest town with amenities prior to Bismarck is Washburn, which is 40 miles and definitely out of the way for my ride to Bismarck. Everything else is likely just what I found in Goodrich.

So McClusky was it. Found yet another efficiency and got settled. This one has pots and pans and silverware. So no need to go out and hit a restaurant. Nope, went to a little grocery and bought some Ramen noodles and some frozen dinners to put in the microwave. Do my own cooking tonight! I’ve been told that the rest of the way to Bismarck is pretty flat. Hope so, as I’ve got a solid 60+ mile day tomorrow. Looking forward to a potluck dinner tomorrow night at Carol’s house with the Bismarck tri-gang in attendance. Should be a really fun evening. My air card is JUST barely working right now, so if I cannot post this tonight, that’s why. This is the first instance where my reception is ZERO bars, but I was able to eek out a couple of emails. Skye? I tried, but just an impossible situation there. Hope this isn’t a sign of what’s to come in Western North Dakota. All the best……Pete

Onward to Bismarck

2010-07-07T18:54:00.000-07:00

7-7-10 Day 32: Fessenden, ND to McClusky, ND: 61miles in 5:24 hours. Rt 15 west to Rt 3 south to Rt 200 west.

The wind and the withering

2010-07-06T17:07:00.000-07:00

7-6-10 Day 31: Devil’s Lake, ND to Fessenden, ND: 66miles in 5:54 hours. Rt 2 west to Rt 20 south to Rt 57 west to Rt 281 south to Rt 15 west.

Whooo. What a day, and I mean awesome scenery and sunshine on the plus side, and just incredible headwind on the negative side. I am one whipped puppy! And I just did 66 miles.

Got an early start at 6:30 AM out of Devil’s Lake and rode into the middle of town and picked up Rt 20 south. The wind was already pretty stiff out of the west. Now Rt 20 bicects Devil’s Lake, running right down dbl shoreline. As soon as I hit the section where the road has lake on both sides …..WHAM ….the westerly just demolished me as a brutal crosswind. Was funny, but on the west side of the road the lake was just whipped up into a frenzy, with wave pounding into the rock barriers as if I were riding along the ocean. On the east side of the road the lake was dead calm. Crazy looking for sure. That crosswind had me creeping along at 6-8 mph, just straining to make headway. Felt like gale force winds for gosh sake.

Then I jcn with Rt 57 west and it got even worse. It was truly punishing dealing with those lake winds as a headwind. That lasted for about 2 very long miles. Then the road kind of hugged the shoreline a bit instead of having right out there in the middle of lakes, and the intensity of the wind was lessened just a tad. So I suffered through that lake section and then continued west as the road left the lakes and up onto a bluff. This lake region is very beautiful – wooded areas surrounding with just awesome lakeshore as far as you can see. This area is all Indian Reservation – Spirit Lake Reservation – and it’s very sad to see some of the squalor and poverty that exists just off of the lake. Some of the homes are pretty much just shacks and shanties.

Again, the wind from the west was pretty stiff despite me being completely off of the lake. About the only thing I can relate to those lake winds are the winds that whip off of Lake Erie in the winter – just as stiff, but not cold. Finally got to Rt 281 and went south, where the wind was a crosswind again. At least there I could pedal at a reasonable 13 mph. BUT…I was in this massive truck corridor where I was being passed by these massive gravel and grain trucks, sometimes 3 at a time. My berm was meager but at least I had a couple feet. And most all of the drivers were cool about going way out of their way when passing me. They were about all the traffic on the road – very little cars in this section. And as I got on that road, I was thinking; “wow, what kind of road did I get myself into?” The scenery on the other hand was like out of the movies, just this massive, wide open stretch of landscape unfolding in front of me. The road was rolling up and down these big hummocks, and along the side of the road were cattle and bison farms. This was the West for sure. Riding alone as I am in a setting such as that kind of made me feel very insignificant. I mean it’s just so massive and expansive, and then there’s little old me pedaling down the road – just a bug on the pavement, a speck on the landscape. A very humbling feeling indeed.

So luckily the truck traffic really ended when I passed these massive gravel pits just before the town of Sheyenne. Once I got through Sheyeene, I was really just enjoying the truck-free ride on the small little berm. Got a good rhythm going despite the crosswind and made some time to the town of New Rockford where I decided to take a coke break. Now my plan for the day was to just ride to Carrington for the day since the distance between towns out here is a pretty major deal in planning where you end the day. So I went into a little convenience store for the coke, and a guy was kind of checking me out. Asked how far I was riding, and I gave him my shpeal. Turns out he’s a rider – has 8 bikes! I like this guy! Anyway, he asked my itinerary so I got out the map and ran my routes past him.

He warned me about going 281 south into Carrington due to the severe truck traffic I’d run into once I make the jcn with Rt 52 and go west on Rt 52 as I work my way to Bismarck. He says 52 is a major truck thoroughfare between Fargo and Minot – and it has no berm. He instead suggested that I take Rt 15 west to the town of Fessenden and overnight there. Said there is a B&B and a small motel. Hey, I’ll take a cyclist’s advice anytime over my desktop intinerary! And that’s the thing about making a route sitting down at your desk and just kind of mapping it out with google maps or mapquest – you just don’t have any info on the berm, the traffic, the condition of the roads. So this gentleman’s advice was well taken.

We talked for a bit more, and he kind of talked in envy of me for doing what I’m doing. I get a lot of that, but on a tough day, a gnarly day where you’re spilling your guts out there trying to make headway, I wonder if they truly grasp that facet of something like this. Oh yea, it’s romantic, and it is very romantic at times, but let me tell you, there are days where you really earn your keep! And THAT is the challenge of doing something like this – enduring those tough days. Those are the ones you remember when all is said and done!

He wished me well and I shoved off, down the road two miles and then right on Rt 15 west. And I knew that this would add 12 miles to my day, in addition to putting me into the eye of the tiger for 24 miles at a time of the day when the wind just is at it’s greatest force. As soon as I made the turn – BANG – right into the headwind. The road was flat, flat, flat, but I could only muster 11 mph at my best. I’d have to stand up and shift down every half mile or so just to stretch my legs out and just to help my poor lower back. It was just crushing at times when the wind would kind of gale, forcing me down to a mere 8-9 mph. There were mile markers on the road and I really had to try NOT to look at them so as to make the time go by without being a marker watcher, and having the time just go in slow motion.

Now the landscape was so flat, and the terrain was so low that these mile markers just stood out like telephone poles, so I’d always see them up ahead, but try not to look at them with the mileage numbers on them. Every once in a while I’d see a number and then have to start playing the game all over again. Those 24 miles went on for over 2 hours! What I had endured in the morning, coupled with this 24-mile stretch just had my legs screaming for mercy. And I mean I was spinning, not mashing, but even spinning was a chore. The last three miles I was looking at the mile markers for sure, I was done, finished, spent, ready to get the hell off of my bike. Got to the city limit sign, past a massive grain complex in the middle of town, and then, like a mirage, there it was – AJ’s Motel. Like a little oasis in the middle of the desert. I’m home!

Again, another efficiency, and just a tad over thirty bucks for the night. Inside the office was off site beer and liquor sales, and I bought an ice cold sixer of Killians right then and there. I have Versus on the cable so I cracked a beer and watched the end of the 3^rd tour stage. Took a shower and then pulled up a chair outside me room and just relaxed in the sun. Wow, I mean I was just hammered. So later I rode just several blocks into town and got a pizza at the local pizza parlor – Rosa’s. Got a 14 incher and just barely finished it. Great pizza in a wonderful little town. Very friendly folks out here. Back now in my efficiency and watching rebroadcast of the Tour.

I’m shooting for McClusky, ND tomorrow, about 60 miles, and then Bismarck, another 60-70 miles, for Thursday where I’m really looking forward to meeting several of my cyber-coaching clients, in addition to an IM athlete, Carol, who I’ve met before at one of my indoor cycling classes a couple of years ago. This will be fun to have a bit of company for a day or so. Never been in Bismarck and I’m looking forward to seeing the city.

Well, another day done. Early to bed and early to rise and let’s do it again tomorrow. All the best…….Pete

Early start/Early finish

2010-07-05T17:12:00.000-07:00

7-5-10 Day 30: Larimore, ND to Devil’s Lake ND: 67miles in 5:07 hours. Rt 2 west the whole day.

Yesterday was the most subdued 4^th of July I think I’ve ever experienced. As I said, I was in tiny little Larimore, ND, a quaint little town with a big dose of small town ambience. Seems everyone knows everyone here, and I stuck out like a sore “lycra clad” thumb! But folks were very friendly and helpful the whole day. So a little recap on the rest of yesterday.

After I hung for a bit in the sun on the porch of my efficiency getting half toasted on some Killians I purchased at the local pub, I wandered over to have some dinner at Larson’s Drive-Inn, a cool mom and pop diner just next door to my motel. I ordered the Larson Burger, and it was a monster. Got the onion rings to – amazing amout! And I was full. Yup, full. Really full! It was so quiet there with just a few patrons coming in for dining and carry-out. Owner said most everyone was on picnics at the lakes and that she was closing early at 8 PM that evening. After dinner I retired to my motel and watched some more Tour. Amazingly, not another soul settled down at the Del Mar, my motel, that night. It was just me in a vacant little motel. I drifted off to sleep listening to the locals shooting off fireworks in their yards. Nothing obnoxious, actually kind of soothing hearing some activity out there in this small Great Plains town. And I slept like a baby the whole night.

Woke early and decided to get a quick go on the day because of potential afternoon thunderstorms, the wind and the heat. All three were enough to get me motivated to get going asap. I rolled over to the convenience store for dannish and coffee, and then wolfed all down, packed and out the door. I was on the bike at 6:10 AM. Yup, one of the earliest starts I’ve had in ages. But this was a GREAT idea because the wind was calm, only ever so slightly out of the southwest. The heat…….no heat! Had to put my long sleeved jersey on because it was nice and cool. What a wonderful way to start the day. Got to do this out here. Late start can mean bad wind, bad heat and getting caught in afternoon pup-up thunderstorms.

Felt awesome out there for the first hour. Really just me and the road. I could do a comfortable 14 mph with nice fighting of the wind. Now that doesn’t mean that every morning will be this way, but I had hoped that the wind machine, which I’ve noticed really gets going after 10 AM, would be subdued for the first several hours. And this proved to be the case today. Sunny, almost calm winds, low traffic, and a long ribbon of highway stretching out in front of me as far as I could see. The morning was just so crisp and clear. Went through Petersburg, Michigan, and finally Lakota. Hit Lakota in about 2 hrs feeling a bit parched so I stopped at one of those super duper convenience store/gas stations for a Powerade.

Now I had complained about the berm on Rt 2 yesterday, but today, it was pretty good, and in some places just excellent, where brand new asphalt had just been put down, and where I was on cloud 9 with the negligible rolling resistance on my bike’s tires. It was one of those “pinch me” moments where everything was clicking. By 10 AM, yup, the winds picked up to about a 10 mph cross headwind from the southwest – still nothing compared to the gales I endured yesterday. I did notice that the road was not REALLY flat, but rather had these super long false flats. I mean you could look back and not really see a pitch, but on the bike I could just tell because the pedaling got harder and harder. Then of course the highway would dip ever so subtly when crossing a creek or river. Also noticed that I was riding by just miles worth of wetlands alongside the road, miles and miles of interconnected ponds and lakes with tons of waterfowl. Even saw some pelicans, which if asked are there pelicans in ND, I’d have answered an unequivocal NO.

The wetlands were just gorgeous sparkling in the early morning sun, and filled with a gazillion ducks, geese and birds I’d never even seen before. Three hrs in and the wind continued to pick up, so to did the heat. Ended up taking off the long sleeve and putting on the tank – no more bulldogs thank God! Four hrs in and was making pretty good time, averaging just over 13 mph. Now that may sound slow, but let me tell you, you just don’t know slow until you’re working your ass off and just breaking 9 mph, THAT’S SLOW! Yesterday’s average was 10.9. Today, getting those extra 2 mph was massive. I mean that kind of mph can really make or break a day in the saddle. Multiply those 2-3 mph by 5-6 hrs in the saddle and all of a sudden it’s the difference between getting somewhere and feeling like you’re getting nowhere. Pulled into a final rest stop about just over 4 hrs in. Got water and looked at a map to see if going further would prove a good move today. But……nothing but a casino between Devil’s Lake and New Rockford – a bit of camping but with no amenities. And New Rockford is over 40 miles away – with a pretty stiff southwesterly wind to ride into.

Nope. Decided to “lay up” in Devil’s Lake and push for Carrington tomorrow. I had 67 miles in by Devil’s Lake, and pushing to New Rockford would likely be a nasty grunt of 9 mph for 4 hours. “Hell, this is a vacation not RAM,” I told myself. And with that I was in the efficiency mode hunt. And just as I rode into town I saw the perfect candidate – the Topper Motel, with a sign that said $29 single. Done. Yup, the Topper, my kind of place! Stopped and ended up talking to the owner for like 20 min. Well, I should say “listening” to the owner, as he told my about his divorce, his kids, his clan scattered all about the country, his X being so dumb that she turned the sump pump off in his former house because it “ran too much,” thereby flooding the basement. Nice guy, and I kind of giggled and nodded at times as he proceeded to tell me all this stuff. Hell, I don’t even know how we got on the subjects. But he was a good sort and I tried to be courteous nonetheless.

So I had finished at about noon – not bad when you start riding at nearly 6 AM. Got my room, but SSSSSSHHHHHIIIIITTTT – no Versus on this cable TV. So I had free wifi, and I immediately pulled out the computer and tuned into the live feed to watch the end of the Stage 2. But I’d really like to see the whole stage, so I’ll try to see if something on the net has a rebroadcast. Versus is being a bit greedy now, charging $29.95 for unlimited access to the stage broadcasts via computer. May have to cha ching the VISA. Then I was off on the bike, down Rt 2 about 1.5 miles to the Subway for my two footlongs. And man, they were just excellent – coldcut combo and seafood salad.

Devil’s Lake reminds me of Flaming Gorge with all the vacationers out here. Now this may not be as big as Flaming, but this is a pretty big place. And the amazing thing, at least up here at Devil’s Lake, it’s like there is no topography – the lake is just there sitting in the middle of the Plains like a piece of mirrored glass atop the fields. It’s quite pretty.

Short break.

Well, not more than an hour ago I had just told Judy via skype that I was eating well…..well, as if I hadnn’t learn a lesson from the KFC and the ice cream incident. No, the tummy gremlin knows no sensibilities, and I was lured to Dairy Queen where I ordered this monster half pound dbl cheeseburger and onion rings…..followed by a banana spit! Damn, hadn’t had a banana split in 20-some years. Ummmmmm! Sooooo I may get that tummy ache around 3 AM. I just cannot fight the gremlin. Not fair, not even close. It’s like I’m a zombie blindly walking, arms extended out in front of me, into some junk food place and dropping 10 bucks, as the saliva just builds up in my mouth like a starving dog. Then, when I’m done I’m still freaking hungry! Oh well, at least I’m riding a solid 5-7 hrs a day to burn all those calories.

That’s it from Devil’s Lake, North Dakota. Good day…….pete

The winds of the west

2010-07-04T16:35:00.000-07:00

7-4-10 Day 29: Crookston, Minnesota to Larimore, ND: 57miles in 5:10 hours. Rt 2 west the whole day (actually got on wrong west trending road in Grand Fork for about 8 miles and then back to Rt 2).

What a difference from yesterday – at least with respect to the heat and humidity. I was just completely spent from yesterday, and opted to get more of a leisurely start today by grabbing another hour of sleep this morning. Still managed to get up at 6 AM to ready for today. Now my gameplan was to go for a mellow ride to Grand Fork, ND, but the more I thought about the more I kind of wanted to go further. So I decided that if the wind was bad, I’d just go for Larimore, at either the camping area at the dam, or at an efficiency if one existed; or if it the wind was not too bad, then I’d shoot for Lakota which is about an 85 mile ride from Crookston.

Snagged a couple of doughnuts and a coffee and was on the road at 7:30 AM. The morning was overcast and looked like rain what with a cold front that had come through last night, bringing with it just a bit of rain. Just didn’t want to sit there and wait to see what happened so I went out on the bike and hoped that the forecast would come to fruition with a good day ahead.

Right from the get-go this was going to be tough. Today, just wind, and wind from the northwest at up to 20 mph. No 14 mph today, no 13, no 12. Nope, this is what the plains is known for – a nasty westerly. Yup, it was just blowing and gusting up a storm. Temp – great at about 62 with low humidity. Yesterday in contrast, the day ended at 92 degrees with 74% humidity. No wonder I was just toast!

Today the goal was to just get used to dealing with the wind on an all day basis. It will likely be my constant companion for nearly 500-700 miles to the west. Just cannot fight this kind of a wind. I put it in a comfortable gear and just spun, at 9-11 mph. And with that kind of headwind and cross headwind, there’s just no use in mashing through it for hours on end. It’s impossible to do that. You have to pace yourself with this, and I thought it important to kind of take breaks every couple of hours to break up the monotony of headwind riding.

Now I still had these grandioise visions of making Lakota if I could endure the wind for ………7-8 hours. But anyway, the day was beautiful and I just enjoyed the fact that I could ride without crumbling in the heat for a second day. Just had to get the right mindset and ride into the wind. I had noticed something way back in Ohio while riding through the farmland, and that was when I was riding into a headwind or cross headwind with tree cover on the sides of the road, it was about 25-40% easier. But take away those trees and it’s totally GAME ON with the wind. Well, today was GAME ON with the wind. Hardly anywhere where I could get a break. I was so noticeable that just going past a farm lined with trees, I could see my speed increase about 1.5 mph. Then get back out into the open – WHAM, blasted again by the wind.

This is such a mental challenge that I had to just shake my head at times as the wind buffeted me on the berm. And speaking of berm, well, the awesome berm in Minnesota went to hell here in ND. It’s wide all right, but the condition is pretty gnarly in spots. Not smooth, and riddled with cracks and loose gravel, it’s a challenge to loose even more speed what with a crappy road surface. Thanks God I have 35 C tires or I’d be freaking a bit with crap berm and gravel. At times, when the road really got crap, I just went out on the side of the lane and rode – here it’s double lane which is separated on both sides. I made East Grand Fork, MN, and then crossed the Red River and rode into ND, and Grand Fork. Made it in just over 2 hours. This is a great, beautiful city, and I really kind of wanted to just bag it there, but it was about 9:30 AM, and I just couldn’t see stopping with a mere two hrs in, so I decided to keep rolling west. And at times I was thinking Lakota, and others…….forget it, I’m done in Larimore. Well, after about 3 hrs of fighting the headwind I just had to take a break and eat and drink some coke. The heat had climbed up to about 80-degree and the wind just parched the hell out of me, so in the town of Elmerado I saw a sign for Subway. DONE.

Pulled in and did about 64 oz of coke and then another 64 of water, in addition to a footlong cold cut combo. Felt much better, and asked the lady how far to Larimore and Lakota. Answer was 16 to Larimore and 44 to Lakota and she said there was camping and motels at each place, BUT nothing between the two. So it was another one of those “lay up or go for the green” days. Wow, I just didn’t know if I wanted to put in another ass-kicking day and go for Lakota. So I pretty much decided then and there that Larimore was in my future, and my home for the 4^th of July 2010. Was in and out of the saddle for countless times riding into the wind. Had to use the middle cookie and just spin at 9-11 mph. It’s amazing when you’re riding that slow. It’s like time is standing still. Distance is skewed to the point to where riding 10 miles feels like riding 30. You do the math in your head and it’s just staggering how slow you’re going and how much time it takes to get from point A to point B.

Tell you what, riding east to west across the plains is HARDER than riding across a mountain range. I guarantee it! It’s flat, it’s never-ending, and it’s punishing. Got two more weeks of this!! I’ll totally feel like I accomplished something when I get done with this kind of riding.

So I just kept it rolling, in my tanktop, in the sun, into a cross headwind - sans the bulldogs who are way back in the forests of Northern Minnesota. Great day to begin the Great Plains. Finally, came to a rest stop and a sign designating Larimore down the road by 2 miles. Stopped in at the rest stop and downed several water bottles full of water. Then rode towards the Larimore turn-off, and a sign up ahead read: Lakota 34 miles. At my 10.9 mph average, that was to be over three more hours away. Now I had 5 hours in already, and the thought of doing another 3 into the headwind and the increasing heat, well, just wasn’t into that today. Nope, time to take an easy day and recharge for the push to Bismarck.

So I rode down to Larimore and down to the Larimore Dam where there’s camping for 20 bucks. Thought about it for a moment and then decided to check out the motel in town – the ONE motel in town. Got to the place and there was a note on the door to call one of two numbers for a reservation. Now this little place is like a hole in the wall, not bad mind you, but just so out of the way from anything that I’m surprised it exists. So I went next door at a convenience store and asked the lady if I could dial the number and find out a price. She was totally cool and dialed the number for me. Got like a caretaker and was told price is 30 bucks. YUP. I’m there – with AC, cable a shower and a bed for 10 more bucks. I’m in the weenie mode this year, and if these efficiencies are this way all the way across, I’ll be in the weenie mode the rest of the way. This is just so different than the prices we experienced in Canada last year. Hell, for a dive up there we generally paid at least 50 bucks. And sometimes we had to pay 20 bucks apiece just to pitch our tents and camp in the same site.

So the caretaker said she meet me in 10 min. In the meantime I chatted with the lady at the store, and she filled me in on where to eat and buy beer. Got in my room and this is a nice little abode for 30 dollars! Watched a rerun of the 1st stage of the tour with a sixer I got up the road at a pub. Then I decided to sit in the hot sun on my chair outside the room and enjoy the sunshine with a cold beer. Felt great to relax. This is such a quiet place. It’s like every once in a while a car drives by into the convenience store for something, but that’s about it.

Even with temps in the 80’s, it’s bloody hot! And I think I’m going to really focus on getting on the road at 6:30 AM on this Plains crossing so I can be done before the heat really gets major, which is at about 2 PM to about 7 PM. Need to get 6-7 hrs in each day and hope like hell I can continue to average 10 mph. Anything less and it’s a S.L.O.W. go west!

Well, that’s it for today. Tomorrow I hope to make Devil’s Lake, which is about 63 miles away. Again, I have to plan accordingly due to the long distances between towns with amenities. Some days I’ll have to lay up, and other hopefully I’ll be able to have some wind with me instead of against me. In cases like that I’ll shoot for long days and long miles.

Late…….Pete

Heat, heat, heat

2010-07-03T15:28:00.000-07:00

7-3-10 Day 28: Bemidji, Minnesota to Crookston, Minnesota: 87miles in 6:11 hours. Rt 2 west the whole day.

This was THE hardest day of the trip, and had to be one of the hardest days I’ve had experienced in a long, long time. Heat, cross headwind, humidity. Wow, it just crushed me mentally and physically.

I had that KFC/Ben & Jerry’s combo early last eve, and it just didn’t sit well in my stomach late last night. Woke up with one of Judy’s infamous “tummy aches.” Kept me up for an hr or so before I drifted back to sleep. Then I got up early, at 5 AM so I could get a good start on the heat. Heck the sun pierces through the side of the tent at that time so I sure as heck didn’t need an alarm. Already, at 5 AM you could just cut the air with a knife, and I knew as I packed my gear up that today was going to be a real test. Ate a couple of muffins I bought at the KOA lobby last eve and got going. I was riding at app. 6:15 AM. The wind was still really strong out of the southwest. Got it rolling and found that I was either fighting a cross headwind or partially enjoying a crosswind, as I could kind of lean into the wind and tack a bit to get a push. But whatever I did I just could not get my speed in a good 14-15 mph mode. Maybe I was just tired and still a bit on the sour stomach side.

The first 22 miles to Bagley were filled with these little gradual rollers, so I was constantly slowing down and then speeding up. Just no continuity to the ride. And the heat…..man I was dripping sweat from the gun, wiping my forehead clean of the dripping sweat just 15 minutes into the ride. Was a bit worried that this kind of heat was going to crack me for sure, no matter how mellow I tried to keep the pace. Made it to Bagley and low and behold there was indeed a little efficiency motel there, contrary to what some folks had told me yesterday, and I kind of regretted not just pushing forward so that I’d have cut this day back to just over 60 miles. But….you never know. Could well have gone the other way and I’d have been doing a knock-knock or pitching it in the woods. So anyway, 22 miles down and 65 to go.

Once through Bagley the terrain really flattened out and I felt as though I’d just entered real prairie land, just possibly the be beginning of the Great Plains. Lots of farmland stretched out in front of me like this massive panoramic image. It was pretty awe-inspiring. BUT, with that open farmland came the wrath of the winds, going on full gale mode without the trees to take the bite out of the blow. At times I was buffeted around my 10-foot berm like a paper bag being blown around. Thankfully I had so much room to ride on, plus, the traffic today, being Saturday July 3^rd, was pretty mild indeed. I had decided that I’d probably need to take two rest stops on a day like today, so the first I had decided would be in Fosston, where I stopped at a gas station/convenience store for a coke, Powerade and a couple of chocolate chip cookies. I was soaked in sweat and just sticky as all hell. Downed the stuff in 10 min and was back on the bike fighting the wind and the torrid humidity. And like yesterday, as the road twisted and turned was the way the wind blew. At times – great cross. At other times, this ferocious cross headwind that just ground me down to a stall, forcing me to go in and out of the saddle like a metronome just to keep some semblance to rhythm. Still, I wasn’t killing it on the pedals, knowing that if I expended just a bit too much energy on a bigger gear, it could very well cook me an hour or so down the road. Nope, had to keep spin in the stroke.

Then the road took this nice turn to the north and I had a wonderful cross tailwind for about 8-10 miles, enabling me to put it down to 15-17 mph. Felt awesome and I kind of thought that that might be my future for the rest of the day. What a great escape that would be. NOT! That’s about when I saw the sign for Crookston – 16 miles. And the road twisted back right into the jaws of the wind. Upshifted like three times until I found a gear that I could spin and still make some headway – at 10-11 mph! It was mentally very challenging to just keep plugging away. I finally had to take my sunglasses off because the sweat was just pouring down my forehead. I also had grabbed a fist full of paper towel from the gas station where I got the coke, and I had it stuck between my handlebar bag so I could wipe my forehead and eye sockets occasionally.

And on that 16-mile stretch, I was using that paper towel a lot. My eye sockets were just stinging from the sweat. My forehead burned because I had been rubbing sweat off of it for over 5 hrs. My head hurt, my breathing felt labored, and I was just getting my arse handed to me by wind, humidity and heat. Felt like I was riding in an inferno – and it was only just a bit after 11 AM! To make matters worse, the beginning of that 16-mile stretch was supposed to be where my second stop, but there was nothing, and I mean NOTHING in the area – not even a house off of the road. Just miles of field. And at times I must have seen mirages because I’d think I saw a stoplight way, way up the road, where maybe there’d be a gas station. But I’d ride for 10-15 minutes – and nothing.

I finally just stopped, got off the bike and grabbed a the Powerade bottle I’d filled with extra water. Drained it immediately. Colleted myself and then started riding again. And this went on for another 20 min or so until I figured that there would be NO other stop, at least not at a gas station. And that’s when I passed a farmhouse. I did a U turn, pulled in the drive, parked my bike against a barn and went over and knocked on the house door. A gentleman came out and looked at me rather curiously, seeing that I was drenched in sweat, with my hair hanging out of the front of my helmet in these sticky, stuck together strands. I asked if I could fill my bottles with his spigot. He instead invited me in and brought out 2 bottles of ice cold bottled water. I guzzled them down in no time. Then he brought another. This one I kind of swigged on as we talked. Told him about my trip – the why’s, where’s and how long’s.

He asked me about my cause. I chuckled, as I’m seeing and hearing about nothing but “causes” for everything everyone does nowadays. A cause for this, a cause for that. Got to be a cause. I laughed and told him my cause was ME. “Call it my mid life crisis,” I told him. “I’m doing these things because I may never have a chance again in my life to do things like this. That’s my cause – my mortality!” He and his wife got a kick out of that one. Said that they were also 53 years old, and he totally understood where I was coming from. He went out to the frig and grabbed me yet another ice cold bottle of water while his wife fished out some little bite sized pieces of candy for me – Kit Kat and Snickers.

They are a farm family and he had been in his AC building working on some farm equipment when I arrived. His wife offered my a Gatorade and more food but I declined. I swear that they would have had me sit down to dinner for gosh’s sake but I really needed to just keep moving on to Crookston, which he said was just 5-6 miles up the road. I was totally into finding an efficiency, a motel, a hotel, anything where I could just lay down and sleep. I mean I was feeling like I’d just done a marathon in the heat, and I was dragging my tail in a very big way. So I thanked them profusely and got back on the bike and pedaled into the cross headwind.

Kept telling myself that it was just 5 miles, from Hampton Hills to Truxell Road. Put it in an easy gear and just spun at 10-11 mph, in and out of the saddle, one mile at a time, craning my neck to see a town looming in the horizon. Nothing. Time was just standing still. Then I went around this sweeping turn and got a change in the wind direction, a cross tailwind. Dropped it down a couple of gears and pumped on the pedals, and there it was…first the Crookston Corporation Limit sign, and then the town itself. The farmer had told me that there was a little “cheapie” motel on the west side of town, so that’s where I headed. Finally, finally saw it. Cost…35 bucks, and I’d of paid double that just to shower and then lay my sorry butt down on a bed to pass out.

Got in and be darned of the start of the Tour De France coverage wasn’t on. So I showered, washed my sweat soaked cloths in the sink, laid them out on the sidewalk to dry, and then crashed on the bed with water next to me to watch the Tour. I mean I was just totaled today. But made it 87 miles in just over 6 hours. I feel good about enduring the day and finishing what I’d set out to do this morning. Great feeling indeed. There’s a Chinese buffet a block away, and I’m going to totally destroy that bugger in another half hour.

Tomorrow – North Dakota here I come. Weather is supposed to be much cooler, with the chance of a thunderstorm coming through this afternoon and evening. Looking at low 80’s tomorrow with much less humidity. Well, we’ll see. The weatherpeople have been wrong much more than right on this trip so far.

Late…….Pete

Burning up in Northern Minnesota

2010-07-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

7-2-10 Day 27: Grand Rapids, Minnesota to Bemidji: 78miles in 5:15 hours. Rt 2 west the whole day.

Damnation was it hot! Got up at 5:45 AM and packed. Then went over to the little office bldg for their free breakfast. Had a several breakfast muffins with strawberry jam and some coffee. Loaded the bike and was rolling at 7 AM. Forecast for today was for high 80’s in temps and a WSW wind at 20+ mph. Yea, gnarly wind today in the future. But when I started the wind was just barely noticeable out of the southwest. Sure wasn’t the cross tailwind from yesterday.

Could tell from the first pedal stroke that the heat was going to be a factor. But not only the heat, but the dewpoint, which was forecast at 70%. Now I started with my light longsleeved jersey, and this only because of one thing………the freaking bulldogs. Yea, I’m back in bulldog country, and yesterday they were swarming in 10 or so at a time. They were bouncing off of my helmet and smacking into my hands. But my jersey really helped to keep them from biting my shoulders, arms and back. So as much as I wanted to cycle topless or with a tank, just couldn’t take a chance getting bitten and/or enhancing the “swarm attraction” of the big old bulldogs.

Yesterday I had talked about how awesome Rt 2 was when I entered Minnesota, but today….well the first 20-25 miles were on the nice big berm, but the nice big berm was just a mess in places. There were cracks that ran perpendicular to the berm every 10-20 feet. Some weren’t noticeable and others were like riding over big broken sidewalk cracks -kind of jolting on the bigger ones. Then, and this was the closer on how bad it was, there was the sections where the dude who put the rumble strips on the left edge of the berm, well he was either falling asleep or drunk. So places on the complete berm were shaved with rumbles. I mean it was hideous – ten feet wide and completely shaved with rumbles. Had to admit that I was cussing out loud at times with how bad that was. Couple that with the bulldogs, the heat and the wind, and ouch!

Nice thing was that the day was just awesome, with blue skies and cotton ball clouds. I stopped at the Mississippi River crossing. Now up here in Northern Minnesota is the headwaters of the Mississippi. And the crossing where I was at on the Mississippi, the river was just like a big creek, not more than 20 feet wide. Finally got on a much better section of berm. By this time the humidity was just all encompassing, kind of stifling and suffocating. Didn’t dare take the jersey off though because the bulldogs were in the attack mode. So I just tried to keep it in the moderate range and not push too hard to where I’d be expending way too much energy and work into cramping my legs up. Felt kind of like I just was loosing gas fast. The heat made me lethargic and not really able to put some meat into each pedal stroke. Heat is just NOT my element!

As I had said yesterday, I was going to push on to Bagley today if the wind was right and the day was good. Well, 4 hours into the ride today I was thinking otherwise. By 11 AM the temp had climbed to 85 and the humidity was…..well, pretty torrid. At times the wind was totally a crosswind, and other times it was a cross headwind or a cross tailwind. Just depended which way the road twisted and turned. But it was against me way more than with me. I had my sweatband bandana on and it was just soaked by 11 AM, and I was forced to remove my glasses pretty often to wipe the sweat off of my forehead. I mean it was just running like a spigot by then.

I stopped at a visitor’s center at Cass Lake, which is this massive expanse of lake bisected by Rt 2, and I asked one of the people about camping/moteling in the town of Bagley up the road 22 miles west of Bemidji. She said she wasn’t aware of any amenities in Bagely. Drank about a half gallon of water at the water fountain and then continued on the final 17 miles to Bemidji. Still kept kicking it around as to going for Bagley, or laying up and hanging back at Bemidji. And there were stretches where I was thinking “go for it,” and other times where I was just feeling totally spent from the heat and considering hanging it up in Bemidji. Then I came to the Bemidji exits, four of them. Rode past the first three thinking I’d shoot for another 22 miles. But at that last exit I decided to stop for a coke at a gas station to get some sugar back in my blood. That and just to take a break in the shade out of the burning sun.

Asked a local about the amenity situation in Bagely and he said I wasn’t aware of any. Well, that about solved my dilemma. So I bagged the coke idea and decided to just ride up the road and see what I ran into. Found the KOA campground just outside of town, the one I had researched when I was putting together the itinerary. Nice place, though a little too much for camping – 30 bucks! They have a good air conditioned lobby with free wifi, so that kind of makes up for the high camping fee. First thing I did was to about drain the water cooler in the lobby and ask the lady if there was a Subway back in town. Affirmative on the Subway. Set my tent up and got on the bike and rode into town to a Subway and destroyed a Chicken Teriyaki and a Seafood footlong each. Just hung in the Subway for an hour soaking up the AC and continuing to drink glass after glass of ice water.

Rode back to camp, showered and then came into lobby to work on computer with the AC in here. I mean I’m a weenie today with this heat. It’s just crazy freaking hot. Don’t even want to go near the tent until the sun goes down. Just too hot, even with the vestibules open on both sides.

Well the forecast calls for the potential for showers and thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow evening. If I get a good jump on the day I might be able to make Crookston before the thunderstorms start firing up. It’s a solid 80+ miles away. But….temps are supposed to soar into the 90’s up here tomorrow – that will put a crunch on me for sure. This heat spell has kind of come along day after day, with each day getting like 5-10 degrees hotter. Tomorrow is the culmination of the heatup, and then more reasonable weather is supposed to come along, back into the 70’s. I hope to make North Dakota on Sunday and then ride on to Bismarck to visit with some of my clients out there.

P.S. Man, the tummy gremlin is in full go. I had to go back to town for more food…….a 6-piece bucket of KFC and a dessert of Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia at the grocery across the street. Ate them on the spot. I feel disgusted with myself for giving in to the gremmie. Not really! Damn, I just cannot eat enough. So I had that great Subway food earlier, and then the junk ……fried chicken and ice cream.

Also, I had seen two groups of two riders pass me today, both groups heading east – smart move for a crossing. And I also ran into a couple doing some touring on recumbents. Got to give them credit for cruising along fully loaded down on recumbents. They weren’t doing the trans USA, but had ridden from Portland way up to Northern Washington state. Then took a train to Grand Forks and were heading back by bike to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That’s a hard way to go. From now on, when I bum at only being able to do 11 mph for the day, I’ll think back to Vern, the gentleman on the recumbent today. Here’s to you Vern. Late…….Pete

A day of tailwind

2010-07-01T17:10:00.000-07:00

7-1-10 Day 26: Duluth, Minnesota to Grand Rapids, Minnesota: 85 miles in 5:35 hours. 40^th street to Skyline Drive to Rt 2 west.

Another stellar day in the saddle. This is what I live for. This is what sets me in such a state of tranquility that it’s pretty indescribable - riding a bike on a gorgeous day like today as I’m rambling across the United States. Did a quick eat and pack at the motel in southern Duluth and got going about 8 AM. Now the receptionist had warned me that I’d have to take a detour out of town because of the road construction on Rt 2 in the city. The reroute sends traffic on the interstate for about 3-4 miles, and obviously I couldn’t ride on the interstate. She had mapped me out the directions yesterday, and it looked like a no-brainer.

A small front had moved through last evening and last night and put some rain down, so it was just a tad cool out. Couple that with the winds off of Lake Superior and you have some locally nippy weather. Plus, the wind was blowing pretty hard out of………………the southeast!! Yes, at least it looked as though I’d have a cross tailwind. So I got on 40^th street, right next to the motel, and you could just see the thing go up into the stratosphere, winding it’s way far up onto the bluff the surrounds the Duluth to the west. I knew it would be little cookie material. Two minutes into the day I was climbing in the little cookie, and this motha just kept going. Then I was out of the saddle, in the easiest cog, a 34, and just pushing it on this super steep pitch. Now I’d NEVER walked a climb in Canada, but be damned if this little sweetie might break me. I mean I was humping it HARD on this 2-mile climb. About half way the pitch gentled out a bit and I was able to go seated and finish the thing out.

May have started out a bit chilly, but by the time reached the jcn with Skyline Drive, I was just drenched in sweat, what with my long sleeved jersey on. Made the left onto Skyline and the climb continued, but nowhere near as steep as on 40^th street. Came to a place where I had a great view of Duluth down below, but kept going since that was kind of a gnarly gravely parking area with some glass in it. I figured that there would be several vista points on the 4 or so miles of Skyline. Turns out that was it. By the time I realized that I was moving further away from the cityscape shot, it was too late, and I just kept going. The traffic was darned near nonexistent and I could ride this kind of beater road out in the middle with zero problems.

Skyline always had a slight pitch to it, so I was still climbing, but not in the little cookie. Then I came to an intersection and a “Road Closed” sign for Skyline. Now I had no idea where the hell I was other than what I was told to do: take Skyline all the way to the jcn with 2. So I figured that being on a bike I’d have a good chance to skirt the construction area up ahead. And that’s indeed the case, as I just hit a stretch of gravel road where construction vehicles with entering and exiting, and bing-boom-bang I was on Rt 2 west.

I was in a state of bliss with the berm Rt 2 had in Michigan, but here in Minnesota……wow! Berm is as wide as a lane and just fantastic, especially the section I had started out on which was fresh, glass smooth asphalt that was still being manicured by the MDOT folks. The cross tailwind out of the southeast was just a joy. “Man,” I was thinking, “this is what it felt like riding across Canada with a bloody tail or cross tailwind the lion’s share of the days. Felt amazing to kind of have that push down the highway. The terrain up here is pretty darned flat with just a smattering of these very gradual rollers every now and then. Nice thing about the graduals is that I had a chance to get out of the saddle and stretch out the legs. Bad thing about the flats is that my butt was really starting to rub me the wrong way!

Nonetheless…..cross tailwind, beautiful day, rolling across Northern Minnesota on my bike – heaven indeed. At times I was doing 20+ mph just flying down the highway. I noticed that the woodlands were changing since I had left Superior behind. The trees up here seem to be smaller, and there’s few areas that I rode through that had hardwoods. Most of the stuff up here is a shorter type of pine and then there’s softwoods like birch and aspen. And all the water – lakes, streams, rivers, ponds. It’s everywhere. It’s kind of like the prelude to the Great Plains, and reminiscent of the terrain we encountered in Manitoba. Hell, Western Ontario and Manitoba are just to the north of me. Very wild out here.

I had figured that the doughnut and pbj breakfast I had at the motel this morning would get me through the day. Lately it’s kind of been that if I eat in the morning then I can ride the day. OR, ride with no breakfast and then get something about 3-4 hrs in. Well, today with the temp getting hotter as the day wore on, I had to stop for the ice cold coke and candy bar. By 4:15 hrs in I had gone through a bottle and was really starting to dream of a coke. And despite a sign saying “Grand Rapids 19 miles” I still had to take a break and quench my thirst. That and my butt was just raw, so a break off of the saddle was much needed. While I was in this big petrol/grocery place I was in line and a trucker asked me if I had been chased by a bear? No I told him. “How about a moose,” he questioned again. “Nope,” I replied. Asked him why. “Been any cyclists chased by bear and moose,” I asked him. He said no, but that he’s had to toot his horn at both of them. Thought it was kind of funny.

Took the last 19 miles into Grand Rapids like I was on fire what with the sugar boost I got, and then it was time to hunt for a place to camp or lodge. There are several campgrounds out here and the one quoted me 20 bucks and it was about 2 miles outside of town. So I told her I’d go further into town and check out the efficiency scene situation, and if that was a no-go I’d at least be able to go to a grocery store for or maybe even a Subway for food. Got into the east end of town and saw this little motel. Stopped and found that it was 15 bucks more than camping. DONE. This efficiency thing on this trip is just incredible. I mean it’s like: put up a tent, load all the gear into the tent and then roll over to the shower room and then ride into town for dinner. OR spend ten or fiften bucks more and have a bloody room with a refrig, shower, microwave and bed. No brainer for me. Better yet…..Subway 200 yards down the street.

Real nice little mom and pop place I’m at. Went to Subway and tried to vary my diet a bit by ordering the brand now Pulled Pork footlong and the Seafood footlong. Gone in 15 minutes. By this time the temp had gotten up to a solid 85 degrees. I mean it was bloody well hot out there, so I was glad to have finished by 2 PM. Gameplan if this heat is here for a bit is to start early and end early. By 3 PM the heat just got amazing. Ended up getting a sixer of this great microbrew at a store across from the Subway that’s called Moose Drool Brown Ale, brewed in Missoula, Montana. Then just pulled up a chair outside my room and sipped on an ice cold brown ale and toasted in the sun for a few. Great way to end the day – subs and brews!

Tomorrow could be one of those “layup” days because the next fair sized town is Bemidji, 69 miles away. The town of Bagley is 20 miles further west. Now if the wind is out of the southeast again, then Bagley is a good possibility. If it’s out of the west or northwest, then 90 miles could be a real grunt in this heat. I’ll wait till morning and see what the weather brings me. That’s it for today. Have a great one……Pete

Entering "God's Country"

2010-06-30T17:58:00.001-07:00

6-30-10 Day 25: Ashland, Wisconsin to Duluth, Minnesota : 70 miles in 5:05 hours. Rt 2 west to Rt 53/2 west to Rt 2 west.

Yea, this was like a rest day ride compared to the previous several days of riding. Intention was to just keep it short today and relax in Duluth for the rest of the day at a little efficiency. Broke down gear, got packed and rode down to a gas station for coffee and some breakfast. Got a couple of bagels and a couple of Danishes and I was rolling down Rt 2 west by 7:45 AM. The wind was really light out of the west and the days opened up just stellar, with blue sky and much warmer temps than yesterday morning. Had to be ten degrees warmer than yesterday. And as mysteriously as the hill climbing had ended out of Michigan yesterday, it had begun again outside of Ashland, Wisconsin. These weren’t big hills, but long and gradual where I had to get OTS and use both the big and little ring. Pretty country though, so I didn’t mind the changing up in the riding styles as I floated down the highway.

Heated up to the point where I was juuuuuust about ready to switch out the long sleeved jersey for the tank, but the cool breeze coming off of Lake Superior make me think otherwise. There was a beautiful stretch through Chequamegon National Forest where it was just covered with fir trees, and kind of felt like I was riding on top of the mountains in Colorado. You could just soak in the smell of pine in the warm morning sun. This was the section that was the “rollingest” of the day. Made it to the jcn with Rt 53 where the road curved in towards Lake Superior and the town of Superior. This was kind of a crappy section of berm as it headed down towards Minnesota and Duluth. So I took this 2/53 down to where I thought I was going to go over this bridge, the Blatnik Bridge, and into Duluth. But as I neared the bridge there was the sign I was afraid of seeing: No pedestrians, bicycles, farm machinery, blah, blah, blah. No go there.

Turned the bike around and walked it back down the entry ramp way off on the berm and then road over to a gas station next to the entry ramp. Asked a guy pumping gas how the hell do I get to the downtown Duluth area without using that bridge to get across Saint Louis Bay/Superior Bay. He pointed me down the road to an alternate route that has a bikeway/pedestrian walk along the bridge. So I got on this Alt. Rt 2, Belknap Street, and took this towards the other bridge, the Bong Bridge. Yup, bong bridge! But as I was riding west I saw that there were barricades separating the lanes about a half mile up to the bridge, and then all the way along the bridge, and these things were like 5 feet high – and the walkway was on the eastbound lane! So I had to turn my rig around and ride against traffic on the crumbly old berm for a quarter mile to get back to the point to where I could cross over onto the opposite lane and then ride against traffic so I had access to the bikeway on the Bong Bridge.

Pure idiocy with no signs, no nothing to let you know where the bikeway is. So there I was riding again against the traffic to get to the bikeway. And slowly, off to my left, totally fenced in is the bikeway, separating me, riding the wrong way to get on the damned thing, from it. Once I got to the place where the bikeway fence ended, I still had to surmount a 4 foot high concrete barricade to get off of the berm and onto the bikeway. Dismounted, took the trailer off, and I lifted my bike and panniers up and over the barrier, hoping that I wouldn’t blow my back out. Then I picked up the trailer and set it on top of the barricade, climbed over and the took the yak to the other side. Hooked it all back up and started riding across the bridge. And it was actually worth all the work as the view was pretty darned cool. Had to be a hundred or two above the Saint Louis Bay, where in the middle is the state line between Wisconsin and Minnesota. Below a railroad bridge had just allowed a train through, and then turned around by 90 degrees to open the channel back up for barge traffic. Bridge had to be a mile and a half long.

Got to the other side and I was in Minnesota. Nine states down with 5 to go! Choice now was where to go for a place for the night. Downtown would be WAY too high rent for me, so I opted for a place just down the road a piece from the good old Bong Bridge. Ended up at a Super 8, where I pleaded for the “Old guy biking across America discount”. It worked because she knocked off 35 bucks from the bill!! Got a nice place for 40 bucks, with downtown harbor access about 3 miles down the road. I’m going to ride there and watch a couple of the barges come in and depart. The receptionist gave me a slew of departure/arrival times of the big barges down on the warf. I’ll head down there in a few and continue this later this evening.

Rode down to the harbor, half on road and half on bike lanes, and had a nice time just kind of people watching and ship watching. Duluth really reminds me of St. John’s Newfoundland, what with it’s mariner atmosphere and the plethora of pubs and restaurants down along the waterfront. It’s also situated on this bluff overlooking the harbor just as St. John’s is, and the streets run up the flanks of the bluff to the top. Wish I had the time to hang here for a bit with friends, as we’d have a grand time at the pubs!! Had to beat feet and head back as a little rain front was moving in and it was a 30 min ride from here at the motel down to the downtown district. Made it back just in time.

Tomorrow I’m going to ride up this monster looking climb up the bluff and out of town on Rt 2 west. I can see the climb from my motel and it looks like little cookie all the way. What a way to start the day. Then it’s Rt 2 west through northern Minnesota, and past a zillion lakes as I ride my way up to Grand Forks, North Dakota. With good weather I think I can reach Grand Forks by Sunday July 4^th.

That’s it for the day. Good day all……..Pete

Let the sun shine!

2010-06-29T16:56:00.000-07:00

6-29-10 Day 24: Watersmeet, Michigan to Ashland, Wisconsin: 93 miles in 7:05 hours. Rt 2 west the whole day.

Haven’t had a stellar, sunny morning to late afternoon day since back in Indiana and lower Michigan!! And that’s no kidding. Been dealing with rain, severe storms, drizzle, fog…….and total &^$^#%$# weather longer than I can remember. Just crazy. Well today I got something back – in the way of just a super day to ride. Got up early, packed my gear, slipped out of camp and onto the road without a thing. Just didn’t feel like stopping at a gas station for coffee and doughnuts. I wanted to RIDE! So I figured that I could go 3-4 hours before I filled up the stomach…or maybe even just go the day on the junk I ate last night.

Which reminds me, last night I rolled over to the casino, about 3 miles away, and hit the buffet. This was the saddest, crappiest buffet I’ve done in years. Total looser for 11 bucks. Now the casino there was just amazing, lines of machines with fat people loading money into them. The was the “poor man’s” casino, not really much. I had to walk by all that junk to get to the casino restaurant. So the buffet: came with salad bar, which I should have just done that alone, and then there was a pizza and pasta bar. I got the both of them, and hit the salad bar first. Really nothing fancy, and I hit most of the veggies. Wasn’t anything more than cottage cheese to go with all the veggies. So next to the pizza. And that was the worst ever! Cardboard with tomato sauce and cheese. Just pathetic. Had 4 pieces and then I just couldn’t stomach any more of that crap. Next the pasta…….bowtie, rigatoni, and noodles. The sauce – the very same cheap tomato that coated the pizza and a sickening looking Alfred sauce that scared the living hell out of me. And there was meat……this pan fried burger meat that looked like it belonged in a Taco Bell taco. Total nightmare stuff. Like I said, this place is the poor man’s casino.

Did one plate of the pasta noodles with the hot tomato paste and the fried ground beef. Looked like a 6-year-old made the meal! Yup that was it. No more. Paid the bill and high tailed it away from that dump back to my little Hellie in the woods.

So anyway, that experience kind of pushed me into NOT going back to the BP at the casino for coffee and breakfast. Just wanted to ride and ride the hell out of there. Got rolling at about 7:38 AM. And the wind was just wicked out of the west-northwest. So if I was to reach Ashland today, it was going to keep me on the saddle for a very solid 7 hours. So be it. Again, like yesterday, I had the road all to myself at times, with zero traffic in any direction and nothing but the ribbon of highway amidst this massive, expansive stretch of woodlands. Felt just awesome to be out there alone pedaling west in the sunshine. Now the temp had to be below 50 degrees when I first got on the bike, and I even had my anorak on to take the bite out of the headwind. Had some pretty chilled knuckles for the first hour. Got off the bike several times for pics of the nothingness of the western UP region.

Had to be about 40 solid miles of nothing between Watersmeet and Wakeman – save but for a few cottages and a 3-4 homes town with zero amenities. The road was my wonderful 6-foot wide berm and it really began to roll with some super long gradual climbs in that 40-mile stretch. Between that and the headwind I was stuck in the 13 mph zone forever. By the time I got to Wakefield I had decided that I had to stop to eat. My legs just felt like jello with zero energy and totally noodled out. Today was not going to be one of those days where I could ride the whole day on nothing. Nope, hot when fighting a headwind and doing a boat load of climbing. Had to get food. So I decided to push to Ironwood for a lunch stop. Good thing I layed up in Watersmeet last eve because if I’d have tried to push on and “make the green” by riding to Ironwood, I’d of spent nearly 11 hours on the bike. Either that or I’d of slept in the bush last night with no food.

By the time I got to Ironwood I was totally trashed, and that was on 60 miles into the day. Saw a Subway and did a big U turn into the parking lot. Did a footlong and probably 50 oz of fountain coke. Then back on the bike, and I’ll tell you what, it couldn’t have been more than 57-60 degrees out. Had to put the anorak back on just because I was pretty chilled coming out of the Subway. Couple of miles in I was over the state line and in Wisconsin and taking the anorak off again. Thankfully the stretch in Wisconsin was way flatter than the Michigan stretch I’d just finished. My big beautiful berm from Michigan….It was gone, down to a mere 3-4 feet with no rumble strip. Still though, the road was an asphalt that was glass smooth and I felt pretty secure on that berm. Traffic was not really that bad, and everyone gave me plenty of room to ride on my smaller piece of berm.

Seemed as though the topography had changed to more of a flats with heavy coniferous forest, with Lake Superior just off to my right several miles to the north. At times I could see a sliver of deep blue water through breaks in the forest. Just wonderful riding on this stretch and the headwind was just a thing that I was feeling more and more at ease with. Can’t fight it, it’s just there all the time. Best thing to do is to just spin into it and not mash. Between Ironwood and Ashland, there’s just a tad more civilization than the barren 40-mile stretch I had done between Watersmeet and Ironwood. Mostly just me and the forest. By the time I saw the Ashland City Limit sign, I was really ready to be done. That Subway break had totally energized me for another 3 hours worth of riding, so that was a very good move. Had I attempted to do the whole thing sans food and coke – it could very well have been a death march. Finished the day with 93 miles in just over 7 hours of saddle time. That headwind just really takes it out of you, and it did again today.

Was amazing how much stronger my legs felt just 30 minutes after eating. I found an RV park in Ashland down by the lake, and set up camp and then beat it out of there for some dinner – Subway, where I downed another 2 footlongs! Also picked up a couple of bottles of James Page Burly Brown Ale. This is a Wisconsin micro brew and it’s a sweety for sure. Back to camp to work on the computer in a gameroom area that has wifi while I drink these delicious beers. May have to go back for a couple more!

I’m a little disappointed in Ashland. I had though that it would be this really cool, kind of sports oriented, hip place being right on Lake Superior, but it’s really nothing that great. Pretty flat around here and there’s a big coal fired power plant right smack dab in the middle of the city right out on the water. Not rocky or craggy like I had pictured it. The temps finally cracked the 60’s by the end of the day, and it feels very nice out now at about 6 CST. Forecast is for a good 4 days of sun, with the temps bumping up to the 80’s by Saturday and Sunday. Have about 72 miles to make Duluth tomorrow. May just make it a short day tomorrow with that 72 miles and enjoy the rest of the day in downtown Duluth and try to find an efficiency in town by the lake. Supposed to be great weather.

Finally made it all the way through Michigan. Now think about it, I’ve spent 10 days riding through this one state. Now we can 86 two of those days, one for weather and one for a mechanical, and come up with 8 solid days of riding to get through Michigan. I don’t believe that there’s a state much bigger than this to ride through other than maybe Texas and Alaska. I mean I’ve ridding for over 600 miles through just one state, north for a boat load of miles and then west for a boat load of miles. Today I can throw my tattered Michigan map in the garbage. And let me tell you, after 10 days it’s totally beat to hell!

Well, that’s it. Talk to you tomorrow. Love and kisses to you Judy!!!! Love also to mom and dad and Kim. Got you all on this one…….Pete

Last full day in Michigan - 600+ miles in one state

2010-06-28T18:03:00.000-07:00

6-28-10 Day 24: Iron Mountain, Michigan to Watersmeet, Michigan: 76 miles in 6:25 minutes. Rt 2 west the whole day.

Pretty whipped today with only 76 miles in the day. Had a lot to do with a northwesterly headwind that gusted at 20 mph and all the hills between Iron Mountain and Rapid River, and there were some pretty long ones!

Slept leisurely today and woke at 7 AM instead of my normal 6 AM. Awesome accommodations in Jim’s fifth wheel, where I slept in this king sized bed that took up three fourths of the room with a cable TV up in the corner. Damn, felt like I was in a honeymoon suite - without my honey! Slept well. I put all my gear together and Jim followed my down to his hangout, the Citgo Station where his daughter Nikky works. We got some coffee and I jammed on 2 nice big gooey cherry Danish slices. Figured that I’d just have coffee and 2 Danish for the day and not stop at all during my ride.

Now the morning had begun just spectacularly, with clear blue skies and a moderate wind out of the northwest. BUT….by the time I rode down to the station, clouds had raced in and it looked as if it was going to storm – pretty ominous looking to say the least. Downed my Danish and pounded the coffee pretty fast so I could get a jump on the weather – yet again. It’s freaking Groundhog day with this weather up here. You know, and I’ve talked about this before, but when you’re on the road like this weather is EVERYTHING! It can crush you. It can make you ecstatic. It can totally bum you out. Well, I’m getting more and more of a lean to the latter. This just cannot go on forever.

Nikky and Jim wanted to do some pics of me, and then of Jim and I, so we did that for several min. Then I gave Jim a big hug, and with my eyes kind of tearing up, I departed, giving them a hearty wave as I rolled on down the road. Will I ever meet this guy again? Don’t know but I sure hope we stay in contact. Funny how close you can get to a person when you’re doing something like this. What he did for me was just so heartwarming. So if I never do see this kind soul again, he’ll always be in my memory of this trip. Thanks again Jim!!

Got going with a slight spritzing of drizzle in the air and a gnarly headwind working me from the front. Then I hit berm where they had just repainted the white line on the far right hand side of the lane, and mysteriously the big wide berm from heaven ended and I was squeezed into a 3 foot berm between the gravel and this freshly painted line with cones atop of it every 100 yards. It sucked! So as I’m riding along there, squeezed in, I hit a hill, and out of nowhere I heard this horrible sound, kind of like my bottom bracket was ready to implode. Sent shivers down my spine what with all the work we went through yesterday trying to get it fixed. So I rode it for another couple of miles and it just kept getting worse. I mean it sounded like the bearing were just mashing, grinding, wearing away to nothing. So I slowed down, shifted into the little cookie and then stopped. Got off and pulled the chain off and set it atop the bike’s bottom bracket so I could spin the cranks freely. And they felt great. I could give it a push and the cranks would spin around on their own for a good 4-5 revolutions, so the young buck from Marquette did not tighten those things up too much as I had begun to think could be the case. OK you mystery people, can you guess what the problem was?

Put the chain back on and the sound was just getting worse and worse, a gnarly grinding, cruching sound. Figure it out yet? And then it hit me, I’d been riding on this thin strip of berm next to a freshly painted line. And do you know what those lines are made out of? Paint….and a gazillion of these little micro glass beads that help to reflect headlights that are shining on the lines. Yup, I was ready to bet the farm that all those micro glass beads had stuck to my freshly lubed chain and were just causing a total mess to build up. Got off the bike again and found pieces of paper on the side of the road that I wiped down the chain with. God, it was just choked full of gunk, and I could for the life of me get all the crap from between links, on the cogs, and on the chainrings. “Had to be the glass beads” I kept telling myself outload. Figured I would go to a gas station and settle the mystery once and for all by finding a hose and washing the shit off of my drivetrain.

Well, I entered Wisconsin for a short stint, and in the town of Florence I went by a car wash. Did a U turn and pulled my rig into a bay. The owner just charged me a buck rather than the usual 2.50 to use the high pressure hose. Let me tell you, I washed out just a ton of gunk from chain, cogs and chainrings. Finished up, took a deep breath and got going again….and YES!!! No sounds at all. It was all the glass beads clogging up the drivetrain. By Florence there was just another quarter mile of fresh paint left, and I rode out to the left of that freaking paint the rest of the way. I had ridden nearly 12 miles along that fresh paint, and it just built up so much that my chain looked like it was filled with mud. Later, I looked at my yak cover, and even that was coated with those glass beads!

The drizzle continued on and off all the way thru noon, and so to did a long series of climbs going through Crystal Fall and into Rapid River. It least my berm from heaven was back, so I could ride in my little safety zone and feel unthreatened. As far as the climbs went, none were of the little cookie variety, but they were long and had me down to 6-7 mph and out of the saddle in the middle ring. Jim had told me of those climbs and he was right, they were enough to convince me that trying to make Ironwood for the day, a 126-mile day from Iron Mountain, would be nearly impossible unless I wanted to ride until dark. What with the hills and the headwind, and the ominous weather, I just knew going for Ironwood was like trying to hit the green with your second shot on a par 5. I decided to lay up, and not go for it. Once through Rapid River I had a slight reprieve from the bigger climbs, and got more of the long gradual variety. And that’s about the time when the sun began to peek through the heavy cloud cover. Then, a half hour later the cover broke up and it was beautiful sunshine. Finally!

Outside of Rapid River I had seen a sign saying that Watersmeet was 29 miles. Yup, that was my destination, and would give me 70+ miles for the day, and leave me with 55 to get to Ironwood and another 30 or so to reach Ashland, Wisconsin. Done. But I’ll tell you, that was a HARD 29 miles what with the freaking headwind. Now don’t feel sorry for me what with all the headwind. I asked for it when I signed up for the east to west crossing. I knew it would be a big player in my ride, and it’s been that way most of the time thus far. That’s a big part of the challenge of doing the crossing from east to west. My mph is much lower than on the Canada trip, and I have to ride longer to get some of the same mileage amounts that I did up in Canada when going west to east. It’s tough!! And I can’t imagine what I’ll encounter in North Dakota and Montana.

The last stretch, between Rapid River and Watersmeet, is just 29 miles of wilderness. No amenities. Very little traffic. There were times where it was just me out there with the headwind kind of whizzing past my ears and this big beautiful blue sky above me….and then nothing but forest and a long ribbon of highway. Made me really feel aware of my surroundings, of me, of the trip. Felt good for a change to savor the weather and the surroundings instead of kind of dealing with them or surviving them.

These are the times when doing a solo feels really good. I can smile, talk to myself and just soak in the day, live, revile in life. I made Watersmeet by about 2:30 PM. Any thoughts of going further were tossed out when you look at a map and see that there just isn’t anything out there between Watersmeet and Ironwood. Like I said, I had to lay up in Watersmeet rather than push for another 55 miles at 11 mph into a headwind. Nope, not in me today to do a death march. I found some camping in the Ottowa National Forest, set up and then rode into town to buy sandwiches for my post ride eats. The BP is pretty well stocked, and I just don’t feel like cooking – too much work. I can get wifi with my aircard, so that’s pretty good to. Seems that coverage is pretty good out here as I have three bars to work with.

Next to the BP is a casino, just a freaking goofy place for a casino way out here in the middle of nowhere. Saw an ad in the BP for a buffet in the casino restaurant, and went over and found that they have a buffet that goes to 8 PM, so I’ll go back to munch down later on. They said I could park my bike inside the lobby when I go eat. Might even take my computer and do some work and skype in the lobby after dinner. Well, good day for sure and my legs are pretty tired from taking on the hills and headwind. Tomorrow I’ll be looking to make Ashland, Wisconsin, which is right on Lake Superior. By Wed I should be able to get to Duluth, Minnesota.

Well, that’s it for the day…….Pete

Jim to the rescure!

2010-06-27T20:45:00.000-07:00

6-27-10 Day 23: Norway, Michigan to Iron Mountain, Michigan: 10 miles in 40 minutes. Rt 2 west the whole day.

Yup, that’s right…..10 miles today! And it all started like this: Yesterday on my ride I noticed that I had a bit of “slide” on my ride hand pedal/crank side, and kind of assumed that my right cleat was getting worn. Noted it. Then, last night as I was cleaning my drive train, I usually check my cranks and pedals and cleats to see if they’re showing any signs of wear, and I remembered that slop problem. Checked the pedals. OK. Checked the cleats. Not bad. And low and behold when I checked my cranks arms there was some side to side play. Not good when you’re out of the saddle every 10-15 min hammering with all your weight on the pedals. So I called my mechanic on skype this morning and he told me it could be loose on the axel, or worse case, the bearings could be shot. He told me how to kind of check out axel vs bearings, and it seemed as though the axel was loose.

Got up this morning and got on the net while it was still raining and found that there was a bike shop in Iron Mountain, and I called but on answering machine. Bad thing was that it’s Sunday and I didn’t place much hope in the place being opened. Packed my gear and headed into the drizzly fog from Norway to Iron Mountain with the intent of stopping at the bike shop a check on the bottom bracket. Well, got on the bike, and man, since I noticed that play in the efficiency, I REALLY noticed it slopping back and forth when riding it. Not a good feeling with your cranks kind of slinking from side to side. So I road the 10 miles into Iron Mountain but couldn’t find the shop. Stopped at a Citco gas station and went in to ask for directions to the bike shop. A gal at the desk and a gentleman standing there talking to her told me where it was, but said it would be closed. They even called for me and go no answer.

Then they got in the yellow pages and found another shop in Niagara, Wisconsin, just over the line. The guy was closed but said for my situation he’d go to his shop at noon. The gentleman in the gas station, Jim, said he’d take me up there with the bike. Then he asks if I wanted to kill the 1.5 hrs with a little sightseeing in Iron Mountain. Yup, serendipity all over again! Jim, a wonderful 61-year-old man, and a retired Iron Mountain city employee for the better part of his life in numerous capacities, pretty much came to my rescue and became my sight-seeing tour guide for the day. He knows every nook and cranny of the area. We went up to this 90-meter ski jump on the ski mountain and it was just out of this world. Winter sports are king out here, and this ski jump Jim tells me, attracts a multitude of people for the jumping competition. You just have never seen anything this amazing until you stand under it or upon it.

We then went up to Niagara in Wisconsin to meet this fellow by the name of Tim, owner of a small bike shop who was kind enough to take time out of his day off to look at my rig. Now Tim doesn’t have this tricked out shop full of thousand dollar rigs, but what he does have is a very firm grasp on being a damned good bike mechanic. This guy ripped into my bottom, and came to the determination the the cranks were indeed loose and that the drive side bearings race was probably gone. He got it tightened up and it was the bomb…..BUT there was this horrible creaking that was emanating from the drive side of the bottom bracket. He had figured that when he tightened the arms to the axel the crappy bearings race on the right side started squeeking. He said I could likely ride on it BUT for how long? Didn’t know, and that creaking was downright scary to hear. Sounded like the thing was just going to explode. Nope, the BB was trash.

Just goes to show that despite all the shit I carry with me, and let me tell you I carry about 8 pounds of tools and spare equipment, I did NOT carry a spare bottom bracket. My bad to because when I had my bike tuned up before this trip I neglected to have my mechanic put in a new BB. This one is all on me and me alone. So that brings us back to my pickle…..Tim did not have that “hollow” type BB in his shop. So he called around, in Green Bay, in Iron Mountain to the guy who’s shop was closed, to Iron River, to Ironwood, to Escanaba – either the place wasn’t open or the shop did not stock the BB. Tim even called his daughter to see if one of her bikes had that hollow BB that he could remove, but she had no idea what the hell he was talking about when asked about what kind of bottom bracket the bike had on it.

This was looking pretty grim. Looking like I’d have to ride this creaking sick dog a hundred of two miles to Ashland Wisconsin or Duluth Wisconsin before I could find the proper BB. It would be a gamble that the thing just wouldn’t go Kaboom as I was riding along!! So he made a call to Marquette to a bike shop, and that guy didn’t have this BB in stock…but there was another guy in the shop by the name of Brian who worked for a different shop, and Brian was put on the phone. Yup, he had that BB in stock his shop. Tim tells us that and Jim immediately says that he’ll run me up to Marquette – 1.5 hrs up and 1.5 hrs back!!. Blows me away. I mean I had just met this man in a gas station and now he’s running me all over hell trying to get this freaking rare part. Couldn’t thank him enough.

I filled his truck with petrol and off we went to Marquette. I mean this was a drive mind you, kind of like driving to Columbus and back from Akron! So we get there and this young buck opens up the shop and puts the BB in in no time and was done. Visa and out the door. Didn’t even ride it because it was freaking raining pretty hard out. I just assumed it was done right and that was it. This guy was no Tim with respect to torking it down to the nine, but he was pretty good and very decent to open his shop and give me a hand on a Sunday. Then Jim gives me a tour of Marquette, down to a park called Presque Isle, to these massive ore and coal loading docks for barges, and past the new Superior Arena which is where some of the NCAA March Madness games were played this past year. Sun popped out and it was just beautiful along the coast of Superior. We stopped at a couple really beautiful spots and walked out onto the rocky coastline for me to take some pics.

Then another 1.5 hrs back to Iron Mountain. I took Jim out to a Chineses Buffet – and for those of you who think that was my idea, oh no grasshopper, as I had asked him where he’d like to go and that was one of the two places he named!! Awesome chowdown for both of us. I’m sitting here in Jim’s fifth wheel, which is as laid out as you could ever want, writing my blog. He apologetically offered me this option to spend the night as if I was picky about where I sleep while on the road. I think his fifth wheel is like the Grand Hotel for God’s sake. I’ve got a bedroom in the back and this whole dining area where I’m writing right now. There’s a cable TV in here and I’m cranking on some Steven’s Point Brewery Amber Ales.

It’s crazy how things go when you’re on the road. People like Jim are the memories that make trips like this so amazing. Yup, it’s people like Jim here in Iron Mountain, and Tim in Niagara, and Brian in Marquette, and then from Canada: Barney and Val, and Ken & Kim, and Clayton & Diana, and all the awesome folks from our 2009 trip, it’s these people who bring the trip to life, give it that human touch. This human touch is that intangible that you can never factor into your itinerary. It’s serendipity.

So……despite gaining only 10 miles of forward progress, I’ve had a wonderful time today with Jim as my guardian angle/tour guide and now my host. Looks like 6, count them, 6 good days ahead weather wise……I hope! According to weather channel it’s a good for nearly a week of stellar weather up here. Could I make it all the way through Minnesota with that stretch of weather? We’ll see. Tune in tomorrow for another chapter. Late………pete

The weather holds for a day

2010-06-26T14:20:00.000-07:00

6-26-10 Day 22: Manistique, Michigan to Norway, Michigan: 96 miles in 6:35 hours. Rt 2 west the whole day.

Another kind of ominous day, with a very thick fog hanging over Manistique this morning that pretty much blotted out all sights in and around Rt 2. Matter of fact there was a very light drizzle or spritzing of rain from the thick fog I was riding through. Got on the bike around 7:50 AM and was hoping to make either Norway or Iron Mountain today with close to or a bit over a 100-mile day. I was cruising along at about 13-14+ mph early with a very, very slight westerly wind, but no hard enough to really make it feel like I was working to push into it. I’d hit stretches along the lake but could barely see out onto the water due to the really pea-soup thick fog.

Cant’ complain though as the temp was a very good 62 degrees. I had bought a quick gas station coffee and a couple of muffins so I though about just trying to go the distance without making a lunch stop. Temps like that are great for me because I don’t sweat a lot and I don’t get super hungry or thirsty. Made it to Rapid River in good time and noticed again all the little mom and pop businesses that were OOB. There I spotted 2 out of five little efficiency motels that were still viable. The other three had for sale signs on them. Same with several restaurants. Made me sad, myself being a small business person, seeing people’s lives gone down the tubes with this crappy economy. It’s hard enough to make it nowadays when the times are good in that business, but what do you do when the flow of tourist traffic just kind of dries up as it appears to have done over the last few years?

I mean it’s just crazy up here, almost like in a depression state. Makes me pretty thankful for what I have and what I’m able to do. So anyway, I’d pass through these little towns that used to be much bigger players in the tourist trade, towns like Rapid River, Masonville, Kipling and Gladstone, and just see so many places OOB. Seems that the tourists are now just completely bypassing these little places and going straight to the bigger cities like Escanaba to find hotels/motels, gas and food. I say this because when I went through Escanaba it looked to be pretty healthy. It’s a fairly big place for the UP, and has all the big grocery stores and the bigger hotel chains and fast food restaurants. My thoughts are that people traveling just go an extra 30 min or hr down the road to the bigger city rather than staying in some little place just off the beaten track. Add to that the fact that many people just are not traveling like they used to – and this is what you get – near ghost towns with no services available. Sad state indeed.

So I made it through Escanaba in 3:20 hrs, and decide that I felt pretty good, had decent weather and just might as well put in a 6:30-7 hour day in the saddle. Better make hay while there’s hay in the field. Rt 2 stayed totally awesome with that great big spacious 6-foot berm. It’s just wonderful riding on something like that where you don’t have to cringe when semis come barreling by. And the rumble strip kind of keeps all the vehicles out of my little lane. Went through Spaulding and Powers, and they displayed the same ghostly appearance as many of the other little towns. When I got to Hermansville the road began to roll more. Now I’d been dealing with these long, long gradual false flats for the better part of 2 days. But west of Hermansville there was more of a roll in the road. Not enough to make me hit the middle cookie, but enough to send me out of the saddle time and again to get up over the crests of the rolls.

I’d made 2 stops by the time I hit Hermansville, and those were just quick bathroom breaks. Made one more stop just outside of Cunard at a rest area where I refilled my water bottles. From there I just kind of decided that I’d make it the whole way without a food or coke stop. Had an average of 14.5 and enough gas to finish in either Norway or Iron Mountain. About 7 miles outside of Norway the road really started rolling up into tougher pitches. Kind of made me think: “yea stupid, that’s why it’s called Norway!” So went from pretty flat to pretty rolling all the way to Norway.

By Norway I had 96 miles and a choice to make: take it another 7 miles west to Iron Mountain or just find something in Norway. Didn’t see any camping on the way into Norway so just for the hell of it I stopped at one of those little mom and pop efficiencies – the Viking motel. It was totally dead, and just a block away was a Subway. Went in and was dumbfounded that the room was 25 bucks. That’s 5 dollars more than a campsite!!!!! It’s totally crazy. Got the efficiency and it’s pretty dog gone nice for 25 bucks – shower of course, with little frig, cable, air. I mean it’s just unbelievable how cheap lodging is up here. And that was 25 bucks out the door – no tax.

Got settled in……and I even have motel wifi…..and then went to Subway. Got 3 footlongs, 2 I ate there and the third I got for this eve or tomorrow morning. Again, the weather could be a factor for tomorrow as the all knowing weatherpeople are forecasting rain for tomorrow with a chance of severe storms. If I get up and it’s not dumping down rain – game on. Drizzle – game on.

Now if you had read the itinerary you notice that I deviated off course today, staying on Rt 2 rather than going north on Rt 41, and then west on Rt 28. I did this because I’d been through that 41/28 area numerous time in the past, several times when I was in college and doing solo tours up here in the summer. So I’d seen that territory before up around Marquette. Decided last night to go into some territory that was new for me. Never been on the stretch between Escanaba and up to Ironwood. This area is so unlike the Michigan that most people know of and are familiar with. This is like a different state up here, kind of like the bush country of Ontario, Canada. It’s miles and miles of nothingness. I really dig this kind of countryside!

If I’m able to ride the whole day tomorrow I’d like to try to make Ironwood, but again, that would be a solid 100+ mile day. Need decent weather and not 100 miles of rollers like I experienced on the way to Norway today. Well, that’s it for today. Take care from up here in the beautiful north country of Michigan……..Pete

Rain, rain and more rain

2010-06-25T16:42:00.000-07:00

6-25-10 Day 21: Mackinaw City, Michigan to Manistique, Michigan: 88 miles in 6:20 hours. Rt 2 west the whole day.

Man, the weather these last several days has just been a real pain in the rump! Popped my head out of the tent this morning and what I saw just didn’t look good – totally grey and ominous skies. I raced to get packed before I got dumped on and then beat feet down to the the call box in downtown Mackinaw City to call for someone from the bridge to pick me up for the bridge crossing. You cannot ride a bicycle across the Mackinaw Bridge. Can’t even walk across it but for one special day a year. I learned that the hard way back when I was a young pup. Yep, I bet a buddy that I could get away with riding a bike across the bridge back when I was doing a 2-week bike trip up into the UP. Got almost all the way across that 5-6 mile bridge when a very P O’d bridge guy stopped me, yelled at me, and threw my bike in the van and took me across the final 1 mile. I was young and kind of stupid, and now, can’t believe that I thought I could get away with it.

Now at 53 years of age, I’m definitely out of the idiot stage of life, and had no problem ringing the bridge people and waiting the 30 min for a worker to drive a truck over to pick me up. As I was waiting the rain began to set in. And by the time the truck pulled up to load all me gear into his pick-up truck, it was a steady rain. The bridge guy told me that the forecast was for partly sunny – yea right. It looked totally socked in as far west as I could see. Got across, paid my 2 bucks, put my rig back together and then set out in the rain with my North Face anorak on. And it came down pretty strong for about a half hour. As I was getting soaked I kept telling myself that I’d rather be out there than sitting in a tent or motel room……hmmmmmm don’t know if I was totally on board with that as rain was spraying all over me, but what the heck, I was out there and wet, so might as well make a day of it. Then I saw the sign: Manistique: 88 miles. OUCH!! Going to be a very long day if the rain continued.

Well, I at least had a really good road to ride on, Rt 2 west, which has the mother of all berms, nice and smooth and about 6 feet in width with a rumble strip on the left side to keep pesky traffic away from me. Rode out of the rain, took the anorak off and continued, thinking that maybe I got away with just a short soaking. Nope. Then came another road. And another, and another. Anorak on. Anorak off. Over an over. I hadn’t had breakfast or even a coffee in the morning with my rush to get packed and across the bridge with the way the weather looked, and with the rain just continually reappearing, I didn’t want to stop for fear of chilling out – the morning temp was 52 degrees to start! Not bad when you’re riding in the rain and it’s 70 degrees out, but 50’s – not good, and my fingers were a bit on the numb side to boot. So I kept it rolling into a very light 5-8 mph westerly headwind. Yipppe, at least the wind wasn’t kicking my ass!

Was maintaining a 13 mph average on relatively flat roads that go across the very top of Lake Michigan. But it’s deceiving in that there are these long, long false flats that just go forever. You only notice it because it’s just harder and harder to maintain the pace you’re doing on the flats. And when I looked back to see if I was indeed climbing, I just saw this ever so subtle false flat the went for miles behind me.

It’s really beautiful up here, what with the north country feel and the Great Lakes, but with the rain, I wasn’t about to stop and snap pics around every turn! Couple of times I was so tempted to stop for food and coffee, but the clouds and rain made me decide otherwise. I wanted to get in at least half the day before I stopped, so I kept pushing. Finally I hit a dry spell, and since it was around 3:10 hrs into the ride, and I’d knocked off 44 miles, I stopped in the town of Naubinway for a bite to eat. Went to a little mom and pop restaurant for some breakfast. Very nice lady waited on me and was asking me about me trip, having seen my bike and my pretty disheveled look of having been rained on for 2.5 hours. I ordered the 2 eggs and 3 pancakes, and was about to order more when she stopped me and warned me that the cakes were monsters. She even told me I’d not be about to eat them all.

Thanked her for the head’s up, but told her I’d probably be able to finish off the cakes. She smiled and refilled me with some piping hot coffee. When she came back with the eggs and cakes my jaw dropped. I mean these cakes were each as big as a dinner plate. No &^%^#$#. No lie. I ended up putting on a half pound of butter and a quart of syrup – just kidding but I put a lot on for sure. And be damned if I could NOT finish those cakes. I got down to one half of one cake left and I was just stuffed. Didn’t want to get back on the bike and just feel like I had a belly full of cement. So I told her I surrender. Rarely do I quit on food, but that massive stack of cakes just whipped me.

Got on the bike…..and the rain had started again. And it really cranked up again, forcing me to don the anorak again for the umteenth million time. Lost count of all the anorak on’s and off’s. Still kind of cold and not very agreeable, and……the westerly wind was picking up! So I was soaked again and riding on great road, with roadkill that was just stinking to high heaven when I’d ride by. Just add a little rain to the ooze on the road and it’s a pretty nasty sight and smell. Matter of fact a fresh roadkill had splattered fresh bits of flesh, bone, hair, teeth and all sorts of goodies on a stretch of berm and I just dreaded getting something thrown up on the wet tires and sticking to my leg or torso. I slowed down and picked my way through the mess.

The rain finally let up, and then the sun actually cracked through the sky for a stretch….and the westerly headwind got even worse, working into the double digits in intensity, which made my day pretty tough for the finish. I was in and out of the saddle for the last 2 hours just trying to keep some semblance of pacing. From the 115 miles yesterday, my legs were pretty shredded by 75 miles in today. Butt was pretty sore to. I just tried to enjoy the Lake Michigan scenery when it wasn’t raining and press on. Five miles out of Manistique I saw this wall of black in the west, and I was wondering if I’d make it into town before then heavens opened up in a very big way. Clicked a few gears down and really tried to push it in. With a mile to go the rain started as a drizzle.

No tenting tonight. Nope. I went straight for one of those little efficiencies. Now this is a vacationer’s market up here. Unfortunately there are just so many businesses that have gone under that everyone is giving discounts on lodging. Matter of fact I went through one little town and there were 5 motel/cabin places…..and only one was still in business. It’s staggering how many little places are OOB up here – motels, restaurants, tourist traps, gas stations. For every little town I road through, I saw at least one motel/efficiency OOB, not to mention all the other side businesses that deal with tourism.

So I found a great deal for 30 bucks. Just as I pulled the bike in the rain came down, harder, and harder, and harder. Went over to a little place to eat and by the time I sat down the rain was just coming down so hard you couldn’t see 200 feet out of the window. True gully washer! And it rained like that for 45 min straight. I sat inside eating the dinner buffet – and it was just out of sight. Tons of salads, veggies, and meats. Just sat and munched as the rains came down like no tomorrow. By the time I left it had let up enough for me to go back to my little abode. Feels pretty good knowing that I don’t have to deal with this rain the rest of the day and night.

Forecast – for what it’s worth – is calling for a decent day tomorrow. Yea, I’ll believe that when I get up, as today was also forecast as being a good day! Locals tell me that it’s just been raining like crazy up here, day after day. They say that next week things will change, as the jet stream is supposed to move away and cooler Canadian dry weather is supposed to move in. Well, we’ll see. Late…….Pete

A hundy plus

2010-06-24T16:50:00.000-07:00

6-24-10 Day 20: Lake City, Michigan to Mackinaw City, Michigan: 115 miles in 8:21 hours. Rt 66 north to Rt 131 north to Rt 31 north to Rt 108 north.

Kind of got up this morning with a bug up my ass – a bit disappointed that I kind of frittered away a decent day of riding the day before. So I awoke at 6 AM and was on the road by 7:15 AM. Got a shot of coffee and 3 doughnuts at the gas station next door for my first round of fuel. Now the illustrious weather people were good enough to call the severe storms last night, but they called for an awesome, sunny day today. Well…when I got rolling it looked like the heavens were going to unleash another round of storms – just totally grey with thick cloud cover. AND the killer nasty northwesterly headwind! Damn. I got it rolling and was working to just maintain 11-12 mph, which immediately led to me doing math in my head to figure out how long it would take me to do the ride to Mackinaw City….let’s see….that’s 12 mph for….oh something like 9.5 hours! Long day, and I didn’t really know if I could keep it jamming for nine plus freaking hours into that cross headwind.

Tried not to think about the time and speed and just enjoy the ride. Let the chips fall where they may, and no use in busting it too hard into the cross headwind, as that would only blow me up by hour number 6. Nope, just took a moderate Z2 pace and used a higher cadence and tried hard not to look at the cyclocomputer’s time and distance settings. I surprised myself by making Kalkaska just 2:10 hrs in. Good deal, and then I did this little jag west to jump on Rt 131 north. And this is a real main road actually and it had a great berm, something like 6 feet wide with a rumble strip next to the lane line. And after a couple of hours my legs warmed up enough to push the pace to about 13-14 mph – and it felt good. By the time I passed Kalkaska I felt I was really entering the north country of Michigan, with many of the trees being coniferous in addition to the birch, aspen and cottonwood. Also noticed that the vast stretches of farm country were essentially replace by endless tracts of woodland.

I’m sure that getting away from the long stretches of open farmland cut down on the cross headwind I had experienced in the first hour of the ride. I mean you ride past these wide open farm tracts and the wind just cuts you down because there’s no wind breaks. And you can feel the difference every time you ride from farmland to forestland – bumps my average up a good 1-2 mph!

So I had that going for me. I had figured that I’d just do Petoskey if the wind destroyed me, but by the time I was rolling down Rt 131 I was totally thinking that I’d shoot for the stars as I had planned and keep jamming to the bridge. Got through Wetzel and Alba with no problem, and just outside of Boyne Falls I stopped for a break at …..Subway. Yep, it came at just the right time, about 4:10 hours into the ride where I was getting that coke craving and gremlin in the belly. Knocked down a footer and probably a liter or so of fountain coke and jumped back on the steed. It was almost like a NASCAR pit stop for God’s sake, where I hammered the sub and cokes and was back on the bike in fifteen minutes!

Through Boyne Falls and then the climbing began. Now not crazy climbing, but climbing nonetheless, where I had to get out of the saddle for long one mile ups in the middle ring. Not killer but certainly taxing with the number of climbs there were. Went right by Boyne Mt ski area and I knew I’d be climbing even more. And I did. Last one took me up above Petoskey for a nice view – but not very appealing from the camera’s perspective what with the still heavy cloud cover.

Petoskey is an upscale place with lots of foo-foo restaurants and coffee shops, along with a gazillion touristy shit shops in the downtown. Pretty much had decided that I’d go for the big dog and ride all the way to Mackinaw City. That rather than hang out in touristy Petoskey the rest of the day. Besides, I’d made it there by 1:30 PM and still had plenty of time to ride. Good thing was that I had bumped my average up to 13.5 mph by the time I reached Petoskey. So I rolled straight through town without a look and kept it going. Got on Rt 31 north and then noticed that the wind was at my back and I was riding in the big ring and rolling along at 18-20 mph – thing was that the road took an easterly jag outside of town for about 8-10 miles. I’ll take it!

As soon as the road straightened out and went due north again, man was I slammed by the cross headwind – HARD! And to add insult to injury the road, Rt 31 was a real mess to ride on. It had that wonderful 6 foot berm, but it was cracked, crevassed and riddled with all kinds of junk – broken asphalt chunks, rocks, gravel, a total mess. So that really slowed me down. And the I saw the sign: 17 miles to Mackinaw City. Now by then I was 98 miles in, I had my hypoglycemia thing going on, the cross headwind was just crazy hard, as the wind had really picked up, and the road was a total piece of &%^#$ to ride on. There were times where I was just creeping along at 9-11 mph, which got the gears turning in my head again trying to figure out how much longer I had to ride. Heck, at that pace it could well take 1:30 hours!

Finally I got off the freaking berm from hell and got on a ribbon of berm next to the outside lane line where the surface was way better. That seemed to help me get the pace back up again. Have to say that that 17-mile stretch was just one long motha, but finally way the heck down the road I saw some signage that I figured signified the place where Rt 31 merges with I-75. From there it would only be about 4 miles into town. Did it!!!

Stopped at the jcn of 108/Rt 31 and downed a couple of Sweet & Salty’s to quench my sugar low, and then got on Rt 108 which parallels I-75 and began riding into town. It went pretty fast and before you know you it I had found a nice little campground in town and a place to buy my Bell’s microbrew and get some food. Got set up, walked into town and ate at this little local pizza shop where I had a full grinder and onion rings. This grinder is as big as 2 Subway footlongs, and the owner kind of thought I was crazy when he brought it to me out on the patio. I mean these things were huge! But I scarfed them down in no time at all. So basically I’ve eaten 3 foot long subs today.

Got the Bell’s Amber Ale and my world is very, very nice indeed, what with 115 miles in my legs, with me totally making up for yesterday’s ride to be back on schedule. Feel pretty good, not maxed out or wasted. Probably because I chose to put more saddle time in rather than fight the cross headwind and knock maybe, just maybe an hour off of that time. Tomorrow I begin my trek west on Rt 2 in the Upper Peninsula. I’ll be on Rt 2 for the rest of the trip. Not doing 115 miles tomorrow, that’s for sure, and I may even sleep a bit later and start a bit later after today’s ride. Well, time to crack a beer. Adios…….pete

The weather dodged me!

2010-06-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

6-23-10 Day 19: Stayed in Lake City, Michigan: No mileage due to “weather”.

Well, on three previous rides I had felt I dodged the weather bullet. Today I decided to play it safe and not ride into severe weather……..and the weather dodged me! Yup, woke up this morning to all three of the major local TV weather stations predicting this horrific storm front that was moving in from the west across Lake Michigan. Got on my computer and same thing, and even looking at the hr by hr, the prediction was for 5-7 hrs of severe weather. So I kind of took my time while watching and looking at the continual updates. My last glance at my weather channel Doppler map, at 8:30 AM showed the front just 30 min away from Lake City. So I hung out. And sure enough at 9 AM the rain started, and it rained pretty hard for a bit. Enough to convince me that today would be a total wash, and maybe even dangerous with the severe weather warnings of high wind and hail. So I rebooked my little efficiency for another day and thought I’d done well to avoid dangerous weather.

Then, by 10 AM the rain stopped with just the wind blowing 20-25 mph out of the southwest. And I started second-guessing my decision to stay put. But again, weather reports warned of a second round coming through just behind the first front. Ok, I’ll hang. And be darned if by 1 PM the freaking sun didn’t come out for little bits and pieces between the thick cloud cover. Turns out that just south of where I’m at, at about the Rt 55 boundary, the weather was indeed severe, with heavy winds and strong rain. But up north of 55, just cloudy and windy. Matter of fact this same front hit Ohio around 3 or 4 PM today with some really bad weather.

There was this rain free zone about 50 or so miles from here north that really didn’t experience anything but about an hour of rain. By 3 PM I was just shaking my head in exasperation knowing that I could have made it to Petoskey with relative ease. Just goes to show that the weather people are NOT as on top of it as we’re led to think. So…….I’ll pick up again tomorrow and try to get an early start, and maybe, just maybe I’ll be able to do 100+ miles and make it to Mackinaw City from here. If I can get in that ride I’d be caught up with my itinerary. If not, oh well, that’s life on the road. Guess it’s better to be safe than sorry.

On the plus side, I got a ton of work done on the computer. On the minus side – I just HATE sitting around all day when I should be riding. This is truly boring! Can’t really stomach too many more of these kinds of days. Now if it were storming like hell, well, I’d at least feel vindicated. But being hoodwinked by all the weather hoopla, that sucks!

Had to hold back in a massive way with my eating, holding out until 3:30 PM before hitting Subway for my 2 footlongs. Seems as though the hungry gremlin hits much harder on an off day. Probably because there’s just so much idle time – time to think non-stop about food! Between working I managed to catch 2 episodes of the Beverly Hillbillies and 2 Andy Griffith Shows…….and a WHOLE lof of Weather Channel, the same folks who goosed me today!!! Hope to have something more substantial for you tomorrow than a day like today of sitting on my (*^*%$ in a motel room..........Pete

Heat & headwind part 2

2010-06-22T15:24:00.000-07:00

6-22-10 Day 18: Edmore, Michigan to Lake City, Michigan: 71 miles in 5:25 hrs: Rt 66 the whole way.

I was awoke by the strong sounds of thunder and lightening last night around 3 in the morning, just as the evening news had forecast, and a front had moved in and nearly out by the time I cracked the drapes at 6:45 AM. Looked really windy though, and I was a bit concerned that my wonderful southeasterly from the day before would have turned out of my favor what with the bad weather coming from the northwest. Turned on the morning news and found out that the severe weather created power outages and some downed trees in the surrounding areas.

Good move to hit the cheap motel last night rather than get blown away in my little Hotel Hellie! Got on the road at 8:30 AM and started pedaling back to Rt 66 north, and I was fighting a northwesterly headwind from the first pedal stroke. It’s funny, but when you’re not doing something like this you really don’t think too much about wind velocity and wind direction, but ride a bike in it everyday for 5-7 hours and it becomes such a huge deal. You’re thinking about it all the time. Some days you’re graced with a killer tailwind and cranking out fast, effortless mileage. And other days you’re killing yourself riding into a vicious headwind where you can barely muster double digit mph. Today was the latter!

Then you add a everything but the kitchen sink to your trailer….and walla…….it’s a massive struggle to keep a rhythm. Once back on 66 I was fighting a gnarly crossheadwind and working pretty hard to maintain 12-13 mph. My wonderful berm from yesterday took a hiatus on me just north of the Rt 46/66 jcn, and for nearly 20 miles I was riding on this measly little 1-foot ribbon of berm – up and down a long series of rollers. At that time even averaging 11 mph was a major victory. Took me all the way to the town of Barryton before the ribbon berm and the undulating roadway ended and I got back to long, gradual climbing on a berm that was 4 feet wide.

Bad thing was that, and I’ve found this to be the case in my cross-country touring, as the day wears on the wind just keeps getting worse. So the 10-12 mph wind from morning had graduated to 15-20 mph by noon. I mean it was literally standing me up on the flats just so I could get my speed back up. And the wind keeps getting tougher as the day wears on – by 1 PM it was like riding into a wall! Rode 4 straight hrs before a stop, and that first stop was in Marion. Got a liter of ice cold coke and some bottle refills and hopped back on the bike. Now by Marion I was seriously questioning my route making decisions, as I was planning on taking Rt 55 west to Cadillac where I had found several good camping options. But with the wind just getting nastier and nastier I really couldn’t fathom going 10 miles west on Rt 55. And when I stopped and looked at the map at the 66/55 jcn, I saw that I’d simply be adding 10 miles to the day and get no further north than I would if I were to just ride into Lake City instead of Cadillac. Matter of fact I’d be about 5 miles further north in Lake City and put in a shorter day. Problem was that I didn’t have any camping info for Lake City.

What sealed my decision was the fact that Rt 131 out of Cadillac jcn with Rt 66 up in Kalkaska. So I’d save myself 10-15 miles of riding if I simply just stayed on 66. DONE! Not riding into the jaws of that headwind if I didn’t have to. So on to Lake City. By 2 PM the temp was a solid 85, and I mean it was freaking hot. Going through bottles of water pretty fast during the final hr of riding. But with Lake City being a big question mark for camping or even motel I tried to get it in my head that I may have to ride all the way to Kalkaska to find anything – that was the point in going thru Cadillac. By round about 5:25 hrs of saddle time I came into Lake City, and what did I see in the horizon………a Subway sign! Stopped at a gas station adjoining the Subway and checked about camping and the dude didn’t know of anything, but he said there was a motel just a block down the road.

Decided to check the motel just for the hell of it before I decided anything, and be darned if the owner didn’t tell me that since I was on a bike he’d give it to me for 40 bucks out the door. I’ll tell you, times must be tough up here in the vacation lands of Northern Michigan because there’s a lot of these little places that are now OOB. I jumped on the offer since it was just 15 bucks more than a campsite. Now this ain’t the Hilton mind you with candy on the bed and a bloody full complement of toiletry items. Nope, it’s a small efficiency room that’s got a fig, cable, a desk, and it’s clean and ……it has a freaking shower – perfect!

Heck the dude was so glad that I accepted the room that he ran in and get me an ice cold Mt Dew and a bottle of water. Went in and showered off another shaker’s worth of salt from my body and then went to the Subway and used my Subway card for 2 footlongs – a cold cut combo and an Itailan. Woofed them both down in 15 minutes. Then I went back and sat in a lawn chair in front of my room. They’re right smack in the sun, which I used to dry my cycling kit that I washed in the shower. While I was checking out my map an old timer was walking by to cash in his “Cobra” big 24 beer bottles at the gas station down the block. I nodded hello to him and then he came over. I could Immediately smell the beer he’d just consumed, and judging by the 5 bottles, and these puppies are big, that he was a bit trashed.

He asked me what I was doing, where I was going, the whole deal. Well this gent stood there and talked about everything from the hot weather up here, to what routes I should ride on as I headed north, to hunting, to his daughters, to his ex wife, to getting pulled over by the locals for DUI and being escorted home, to his part-time lawn cutting business. I mean this dude could talk. I mean he went on for a solid 40 min, with me politely nodding in agreement or occasionally throwing in a “no kidding” or a “wow.” My bud was 65 years old though looked to be 75. Good natured chap for sure. Then he wanted to know if I wanted to come over later and drink beer and have a frozen pizza. He was going to return the bottles, get some more and continue to keep his Tuesday afternoon party going.

I politely declined telling him that I’d just consumed 2 footlong subs and that I had to get to bed early so I could get up and ride early. Seemed like a nice old fellow but I just couldn’t do another gig like Ryan and I did back in Nipigon Canada where we were invited to stay with a group of partyers who were just off the charts drunk. I had to literally pry my way out of their house so I could go to bed.

Well, that’s the story for today. Looks like the potential for more severe weather tonight, and maybe tomorrow morning. So it’s another day of playing it as it comes weather wise. Still forecasted are the steamy temps. If weather isn’t an issue I should make the Mackinaw Bridge by Thursday and be nearly a day ahead of schedule. Late……….Pete