Day 10 Drummond, MT to Butte, MT
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
We woke up early since the sun was bright and there wasn’t much in the way of shade in the City Park. Almost immediately we were approached by a fellow camper, the only fellow camper since the rest of the park was empty. He was a fisherman and was in town to go fly fishing. We mostly talked about fishing and some good spots to fish. Well he mostly talked about fishing and I just listened. Actually I mostly listened to the squeal from his hearing aid, since he had it turned up so loud. I tried to tell him about our journey but since it didn’t involve fishing I don’t think he was impressed. I guess you can’t please everybody. He was a real nice guy though and wished us a safe journey. I told him I hope the fish are biting and he seemed to like that a lot.
After my morning greeting, we went to breakfast at the same restaurant where we had dinner. Maybe it was the cold bright morning, but the Ben Goode books just weren’t funny in the AM.
As I said before, today we decided to stick to the freeway to get to Butte. We had a very good chance of getting in to town while a bike shop was still open. and then maybe we can get Chris’s rear wheel fixed for good. Freeway riding wasn’t that bad. The grade of ascents and descents were never extreme and the shoulders were very wide. Also, this part of Montana seems to have very little traffic. Maybe all parts of Montana have very little traffic. Anyway we made great time.
By midday we were ready for some lunch and ahead we saw signs for an exit at Warm Springs, MT. It seemed like a good choice. We rolled of the interstate and right there at the bottom of the ramp there was a gas station/bar/casino/cafe called “Uncle Buck’s”. We decided to ride further into the town to see if we could find something better. About 100 yards past Uncle Buck’s there was a sign announcing the fact that the town was really the “Montana State Hospital at Warm Springs”. We rode around a couple of the buildings in the facility just to confirm, but sure enough Warm Springs consisted of Uncle Buck’s and the state hospital.
We actually had a good lunch at Uncle Buck’s and then headed outside to stretch before getting on our bikes. A very nice older gentleman wearing hip waders and driving a blue Ford Town Car with Ohio plates struck up a conversation with us. I guess fully loaded tour bikes and two guys in spandex just screams “interesting story here”.
Anyway this guy was from, surprise,surprise, Ohio. And he was here in Montana for the, surprise, surprise, fishing. We talked a little about our route across Wisconsin and Michigan and how we planned to avoid Chicago by taking the ferry across the lake at Manitowoc. He was impressed and was just about to suggest the same thing. He asked about today’s ride and we told him about the freeway and how we were skipping the scenic Pintler Mountains. He said “good choice, those are some steep climbs and narrow roads.”
I said “Yes, but we heard it was very scenic”
“Yeah its scenic, so buy a post card and tell your friends you rode it, they’ll never know the difference.”
You gotta love ‘old guy’ wisdom. So… dear friends, we rode through the scenic Pintler Mountain range today. If you want more info, I’ll send you a postcard.
After lunch we rode into Butte in record time. We got in around 3:30 and was immediately directed to a bike shop called the “Outdoorsman”. While Chris was getting his rear wheel looked at, I made polite conversation with the young girl working the counter. I told her our time-line and she said “Oh then you’ll miss the Tour De France”
Jokingly, and I repeat jokingly I said, “Without Lance in it, there isn’t much reason to watch”
“There is always Levi Leipheimer!” She said, clearly offended. (Nobody gets me) “He just won the 2006 Dauphine Libere and is a top contender for this year’s Tour!”
For those of you who don’t know, like me, Leipheimer is a world class cyclist who was born and raised right here in Butte, MT. Soon, thank goodness, Chris was ready to leave, but before I could escape without further embarrassment, as we were paying the bill at the register, I noticed a sticker that said ‘Welcome to Leipheimer’s Outdoorsman’. Ouch. Soon we were at camp where I could privately pull the foot out of my mouth.
Statistics
Mileage: 70 miles
Elevation Gain: 1496 feet
Links of Interest
http://www.anacondamt.org/
http://www.mainstreetbutte.org/
http://www.butteinfo.org/
http://www.miningmuseum.org/
Day 9 Missoula, MT to Drummond, MT
Monday, June 19, 2006
Essentially we had a 1/2 day off in Missoula, MT. We slept until 8pm, chowed down on some free continental breakfast and rode to Missoula Bike Works to have Chris’s rear wheel to fixed again.
Afterwards we found some internet access at the local Kinkos. Again it was slow and this time it was expensive as well. I realized I need a better way. So I called my brother Mark and he shipped out his laptop. I should pick it up in Columbus, MT in a couple of days.
Next we found the Adventure Cycling Association headquarters and walked in to say hello and get some more info. These guys are great! The ACA is a non-profit group that promotes and supports bicycle touring. Their biggest function is designing national and regional routes and producing maps and info. Later in this tour I’ll be using their “Lake Erie Connector” route to get us across southern Ontario. Their latest is a route that follows and highlights key points of interest related to the underground railroad. I was so impressed I purchased a membership to help support all that they do. If you are thinking about trip similar to mine be sure to check them out. We thanked them for their time and finished up the last of the errands before starting the ride to Drummond,MT.
The ride itself was uneventful except Chris had a flat tire about 1 mile from town and while he was fixing it he noticed his rear wheel was out of true…again. We finally arrived in Drummond around 8:30pm. We both immediately liked this town. It would be hard to explain why, I’m not sure we even know why. It was an authentic western town. Small and clean, it even had a hitching post in front of the cafe where we ate dinner. We both felt like cowboys of the old west as we rode up and dismounted our version of horses. The best part was, they let you camp in the city park, very cool.
At dinner we discovered the complete works of author Ben Goode. If you are not familiar with this down-home humorist then let me just say this guy really thinks outside the box. Of course we were also very tired and that may account for some of his one liners making us laugh so hard. We decided tonight to skip the scenic ride through the Pintler Mountain Range tomorrow and instead make a beeline for Butte, where Chris might be able to get his rear wheel fixed permanently. This trip is quickly becoming a tour of bike shops of the west. I hope we get a handle on our gremlins soon.
Statistics
Mileage: 52 miles
Elevation Gain: -173 feet
Links of Interest
http://missoula.montana.com/
http://www.adventurecycling.org/
Day 8 Wilderness Gateway Campground, ID to Missoula, MT
I awoke well rested after almost 7.5 hours of sleep. It was cold. We were in a deep canyon under the trees so the sun wasn’t going to hit us anytime soon. We made short work of breakfast and decamped. It was barely 8am. Good thing too, since we had a longstrenuous day ahead. First we had to climb over Lolo Pass and then pedal into Missoula, MT. We were glad that we pushed yesterday to get a few extra miles behind us, because we only had 53 miles to the top of the pass once we left the campground.
A few miles after we left camp the sun finally found its way to the bottom of the canyon and really started to heat things up. We dispensed with our cool weather gear and applied sunblock. We could tell it was going to be a hot one since there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
The climb to the top was long and slow. We stopped several times to rest, hydrate and reapply the sunblock. Finally around 2pm we reached the summit. We were thrilled, relieved, and ticked off that nobody had the decency to put up and elevation sign. How could we revel in our accomplishment without our picture in front of the elevation sign? We consoled ourselves with a picture of the “Welcome to Montana” sign and a picture of Chris’s GPS indicating the elevation.
We did have a nice long descent ahead of us though, and we enjoyed that for about 7 miles until we reached Lolo Hot Springs resort. Here we decided to get lunch. It was a late lunch and we realized we lost an hour once we crossed into the Mountain Time Zone. It was almost 4pm local time.
Lunch/dinner took forever as one poor server was covering the entire dining area by herself. It also sounded like there was only one cook in the back making all the meals. By the time we ready ready to start riding it was 5pm.
Just as we were ready to start pedaling Reed the cyclist we met yesterday rode up. It looked like the climb over the pass really took its toll on him as well. I don’t even think he recognized us from the day before, but he could have just been delirious from the heat.
We still had 40 miles or so into Missoula so we only spoke to Reed for a few minutes and then pedaled away. We reached Missoula, around 8pm completely spent. Another 90+ mile day but at least we were half a day ahead.
Statistics
Mileage: 93 miles
Elevation Gain: 2868 feet
Links of Interest
http://www.travelersrest.org/about/default.htm
http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/clearwater/
http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/lolo/
http://www.byways.org/browse/byways/2043/
http://visitmt.com/categories/moreinfo.asp?IDRRecordID=9525&SiteID=1
Day 7 Orofino, ID to Wilderness Gateway Campground, ID
Saturday, June 17 2006
After a crappy nights sleep we managed to get pedaling by 8am. Today was supposed to be a short day but Chris and I had been talking about riding longer today to make tomorrow shorter. We decided to push on past Kooskia today.
On the way to Kooskia we stopped for a photo op and no sooner had we stepped off the bikes, when from behind us came another bike rider. His name was Reed and he was traveling from Portland, OR to Charlotte, NC, his home. We talked for a few minutes and exchanged stories, then took each others picture and he rode on. He was traveling very light so he quickly left us in the dust. Shortly after that we stopped to watch some helicopter logging. It amazing to see this big helicopter quickly navigating the narrow canyon so easily.
We reached Kooskia, had lunch and agreed to ride a little further. We had hopes of making the Wilderness Gateway campground, about 50 more miles.
This must have been the day to meet people. At Lowell, ID we ran into three guys riding Harley’s. They were really cool, but we forgot to ask their names. If you guy’s ever get to the website email us your names.
Anyway, they were all out of Fort Worth, TX and just roaming around country. They were ultimately headed for Canada, but after that they were just going to cruise some more. And their trip was going to take as long as it takes. I said it must be nice, and the one guy pointed out to me, I was doing the same thing. He had a point. It’s funny how I needed someone else to remind me I’m on vacation and having a good time. Which I am by the way!
Although we were still climbing we felt great and we making great time. Good thing too, Chris had another broken spoke about 10 miles short of the campground. Chris asked, “Am I going to break a spoke every day?”
“No… you’ll eventually run out of spokes.” I said.
Fix-a-spoke and 10 minutes later we rode slowly on to the Wilderness Gateway campground. There were plenty of secluded tent sites.
The campground was hosting a fiddlers festival, so we listened to a few songs and then made dinner. We drifted off to sleep with the sounds of the music quietly floating through the thick forest. It was fantastic!
Statistics
Mileage: 79 miles
Elevation Gain: 250 feet
Links of Interest
http://www.kooskia.com/
Day 6 Pomeroy, WA to Orofino, ID
Friday, June 16, 2006
We left Pomeroy and after a short climb, and a quick descent we found ourselves just a few miles outside of Clarkston-Lewiston. Just then, Chris heard a loud “ting” coming from his rear wheel. Sure enough, our first broken spoke of the trip. We slapped on a “Kevlar Fiber Fix-A-Spoke” and eased our way into Clarkston-Lewiston. We found a great bike shop on Main street in Lewiston where we got the spoke replaced and the wheel trued.
While the wheel was being taken care of we wandered across the street to a place called the Main Street Grill and had a great but pricey lunch. The timing was perfect however and when we finished lunch the wheel was ready.
Then we found an internet cafe called Livewire where I tried to do some updating. I emerged from that mad house about two hours later with very little accomplished. I won’t go into the details but I will say “the horror, the horror”.
By 3:30 or so we were finally headed to Orofino, ID. We were climbing by now but it was hardly noticeable since we had a tail wind. The lack of a shoulder on Hwy 12 was very noticeable, however and riding it can be quite dicey.
We found Orofino and lucky us, a pizza place and a laundromat right next to each other. We ate pizza and did our laundry.
Next we rolled a couple of miles back to Pink House campground. Apparently tent camping in Idaho has been regulated to the back of the bus. As I rolled through the campground looking for an empty site an old man flagged me down. He asked me if I was looking for a space to camp and I told him I had already spotted a couple of empty sites and was going to snag one of them. He informed me I couldn’t take any of the empty spots since they are reserved for RV’s only. He said I could only put my tent up in the tent area in the back of the campground, he also informed me that there was only one spot left. Rather than count my lucky stars I had to press him for more details.
“Why can’t I take one of the empty and unreserved reserved RV spots?” I asked.
“Why should we sell to you for $10.00 when we charged every other RV here $18.00?” He countered.
“Well you could charge me 18.” I countered his counter, thinking I was about to win this discussion.
He just shrugged and said “Can’t do it, those are the rules.”
Touche.
“Your willing to give up an 8 dollar profit and let that RV spot stay empty? Your logic escapes me.”
Apparently my sarcasm escaped him since he just shrugged and walked away.
Game, Set, and Match! This guy was formidable opponent!
I hurriedly snagged the last tent spot. We set up camp and went to sleep…
But not for long, as members of a mens softball team returned to the tent site right next to ours. They proceeded to build a large bonfire, get drunk, and BS until 4am. For reference our alarm went off at 6am. Oh Joy!
Statistics
mileage: 75 miles
Elevation Gain: -839 feet
Links of Interest
http://www.clarkstonchamber.org/
http://www.cityoflewiston.org/
http://www.nps.gov/nepe/
http://www.orofino.com/
Day 5 Pasco, WA to Pomeroy, WA
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Another long day. Finally we got started early or at least earlier than the last few days. Again it was beautiful and warm. Very warm. Otherwise it was a pretty normal day. We had a nice tailwind for most of the day, so of course, we made great time. One little change in plans, We checked with a local to make sure another one of my famous shortcuts was actually a shortcut. Turns out I was wrong and the road I thought was going to save 20 miles was going to be chock full of rocks and worse, steep hills, both up and down.
So instead we took the long way round and stuck to the main highway. It was a few extra miles but well worth it.
I made one observation today. The mileage signs in rural WA are more like suggestions. Oh sure they are printed in green and white declaratively, but what they are really saying is “Maybe the next town is 10 miles or maybe it is 15, we’re not really sure.”
Statistics
mileage: 86 miles
Elevation Gain: 1469 feet
Links of Interest
http://www.parks.wa.gov/parkpage.asp?selectedpark=Sacajawea
http://www.clickpomeroy.com/
http://www.castlemoyle.com/pomeroy/index.htm
http://www.forgottentrail.com/
Day 4 Yakima, WA to Pasco, WA
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
We woke to beautiful blue and cloudless skies at 7am. We finally got riding at 8:30 am. We are going to get better at starting earlier, I swear. On the plus side we were able to maintain a brutal pace from Yakima into Prosser, about 50 miles.
After Prosser our speed and elation quickly and dramatically dropped as the road quickly and dramatically climbed up a steep hill. Once we reached the top of the plateau we were rewarded with a tailwind. For about 12 miles on country road we were flanked by the golden wheat fields that make the Palouse famous and scenic. As the wind danced across the fields, blowing the stalks back and forth, I was struck by the symmetry between the ride yesterday along the whitewater of the Tieton River and the wind-whipped wheat fields.
All was good until… disaster struck in the form of my poor planning. One of my shortcuts turned out to be a primitive (gravel) road. We pedaled it for about 2.5 miles until we came to our next turn. Surprise surprise, it was gravel too. Only now we had to descend from the top of the plateau on this road. SO to recap: deep gravel road, steep descent, fully loaded touring bike, and skinny road tires. Chris said “It’s part of the adventure.”
I said “Great!” (Actually that’s not what I said.)
We did make it down safely and reached pavement again and the tailwind returned. I don’t know where we got the energy but we burned through the last 9 miles at 22-23 mph. Finally we were spent and limped into the campground around 5:30pm. Well I thought it was a campground! Turns out Sacajawea State Park is day use only. Whoops! We found the nearest motel and went inside to rest our weary bones. Tomorrow Pomeroy!
Statistics
Mileage: 92 miles
Elevation Gain: -672 feet
Links of Interest
http://www.ci.pasco.wa.us/
http://www.toppenish.net/
http://www.prosserchamber.org/
Day 3 Glenoma, WA to Yakima, WA
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
We got a late start, around 9am, but were treated to a hearty breakfast cooked by my brother Mark. We knew we were going to need it since today was going to be one of the worst climbing days. It was cool and cloudy as we began pedaling, but thankfully no rain.
The first few miles were relatively flat. We passed through the small town of Randle, WA and proceeded onto Packwood, WA. It was after Packwood that we knew the serious climbing would begin. SO we took a long lunch in Packwood to build up our strength. We met a very family there who was very interested in our journey. I gave them the synopsis and handed over a card with our email address and website.
And then we began our assault on White Pass. Its only twenty miles from Packwood to the summit and really the steep ascent begins with 12 miles to go. We hit those 12 miles and wow! I’ve never worked so hard climbing a hill in my life. Just when you think it can’t get any worse you round a corner and there’s more hill! We probably averaged 4-5 mph for the whole 12 miles. For those of you who haven’t looked it up yet, White Pass is 4500 ft. We gained 3400 feet of elevation in 12 miles.
We took a needed meal break at the summit and congratulated ourselves for the accomplishment. The descent was fast and amazing, 30+mph as we flew by Clear Lake at first and then the rain swollen Tieton River. Boiling whitewater is incredible to watch up close and I got to watch 20 miles of it since the river and highway share the same canyon.
Eventually we came to a stop in Yakima and got dinner around 8pm. The ride through the city streets at sunset has got the one of the most pleasant things I’ve done on a bicycle. Hmm…the hardest and the nicest in the same day, it seems fitting.
Statistics
Mileage: 99 miles
Elevation Gain: 226 feet
Links of Interest
http://www.packwood.com/
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/passes/white/
http://www.parks.wa.gov/parkpage.asp?selectedpark=Yakima%20Sportsman&pageno=1
Monday, June 12, 2006
I was worried that day 2 might seem anti-climactic. In the first place it wasn’t day 1 anymore, and in the second place, today’s trip is one I have driven a lot. We started at my brother’s house in Chehalis and ended at my dad’s house in Glenoma. I’ve always consider the 47 miles in between to be boring even when I’m driving. I could picture it being even more so while on the back of a bicycle. To be honest boredom was the least of my worries. Today was really going to be the shakedown cruise that Day 1 was supposed to be. I had only finished mounting all the racks and panniers yesterday afternoon. I had no idea how I or my bike would cope with the added weight.
Today also promised the first significant hills of the trip. Call me crazy but I usually like climbing hills. I’m very good at it. However, I’ve never attempted it with so much weight before. For those who are keeping score, my bike, fully loaded, weighs in at 80 pounds, and I’m used to riding it at 20 pounds. Big difference.
You may have noticed by now, that I’m front loading today’s journal entry with my thoughts and concerns before the ride. It turns out most of these issues didn’t come into play, so let me talk about the ride itself.
We started at 1:30pm. Since today was only 47 miles we didn’t rush to get going quite as early as normal. As I settled into the ride I noticed I quickly got used to the new dynamics of a fully loaded bicycle. The added weight was only noticeable when starting from a dead stop. Once my momentum was up, I found the pedaling was as easy as unloaded. I was probably in a lower gear than normal, but I still had no problem maintaining 14-15 mph on the flat sections with hardly any effort. With that in mind the hills posed no real threat either. Again, I probably averaged a slower speed up the hills than normal but I never felt like I was putting out any extra effort. I should say ‘any extra effort above and beyond what is normal for climbing a hill’.
Finally although it wasn’t the official start to the trip, it was the unofficial start since from here on out, there was no turning back. Not that we would turn back anyway. And the trip out here was anything but boring. I’ve driven this route hundreds of times and had become numb to just how beautiful it is out here. On a bike you have to really look at your surroundings since they’re not going to change very quickly. It was a great combination of lakes, and meadows and Cascadian foothills.
The weather for the most part cooperated, but we did get hit with some heavy rain in the last 15 miles. We rolled into dad’s house a little over 4 and 1/2 hours later, just in time for a large dinner of roast beef, mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables, and garlic bread. All in all a great day.
Statistics
Mileage: 47 miles
Elevation Gain: 650 feet
Links of Interest
http://www.drizzle.com/~jtenlen/walewis/morton.html
http://mortonchamber.lewiscounty.com/
Day 1 Grayland, WA to Chehalis, WA
Monday, May 29, 2006
The day began around 5:30am with some last minute adjustments to the bike. Although today was supposed to be a shakedown ride I had been unable to mount my front rack. Warning: a Jandd Extreme Front Rack, the kind that allows you to mount your front panniers either high or low depending on your needs, will not mount to a Cannondale HeadShock front fork. With out the front rack and panniers I wouldn’t be able to tell how the bike was going to feel fully loaded and that meant today’s test ride wasn’t going to test much. I’ve never really doubted that I was physically ready for riding across the country , mostly I’ve been concerned about the equipment. Oh well, time to move on and actually ride.
Mike and Mary drove me up to Olympia where we picked up Chris, and then we drove to Grayland Beach State Park. It started raining off and on as we approached the Pacific Ocean. Once we unloaded the bikes and made some final adjustments, we were ready for the traditional dipping of the front wheel in the ocean. For those of you who don’t know, Washington beaches are ridiculously long, or should I say wide. From where we parked the truck to where we could touch the water was probably 1/4 to 2/3 of a mile. Mike suggested we just carry the front wheel and only dip it. I thought that was cheating so I was adamant that we walk the bikes (we weren’t going to ride them in the deep soft sand) all the way to the water’s edge.
Once we got there, Chris wanted to know if we should actually dip the rear wheel since this was the starting point and then we could dip the front wheel when we reached the Atlantic. I didn’t think that was the tradition but I compromised and we dipped both wheels and our feet in the Pacific. When we get to Plum Island, MA we’ll dip everything again just to be safe. After a long walk back to the parking lot it was finally time to start riding. At 9:30 am!
Although it was really just a training ride, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face for the first two miles. We were doing it, actually doing it and not just talking about doing it. To paraphrase a Chinese Proverb, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single crank of the pedals.
But this was also a test ride and I was supposed to be learning as well as enjoying. I learned I don’t like ‘chip seal’ a method they use here in rural Washington to pave the roads. It might seem smooth in a car but on a bike it is rough. I probably bounced as much as I rolled for the first twenty five miles.
It was 27 miles and two hours to get to Raymond WA. We stopped there for lunch at the local Subway. When we rolled up we met our first fellow bike tourists. Two guys from Seattle who were biking the coast to San Francisco. We told them our plan for mileage each day and they were impressed, but gave us a look like we were crazy. Apparently they were proceeding at a much more casual pace. Still it was cool to meet people on a similar journey. I’m looking forward to meeting some more. I’m really looking forward to meeting someone heading west while we are heading east. I don’t know why but I considered it symbolic in some undefinable way. They started pedaling off as we were sitting down to eat.
After lunch we pedaled on to Pe Ell, WA about 29 miles from Raymond. We rolled into a convenience store to stock up on Gatorade and chow down on some Power Bars. While chewing through my second Power Bar in a row I came to the realization that I was probably going to be sick of these things by the time we reached the Atlantic. Probably sooner in fact.
Finally we rode the last 25 miles to Chehalis and got home at 5pm, 7 1/2 hours total.
Some conclusions about the first ride: Since I wasn’t fully loaded it wasn’t challenging to me and therefore I didn’t really learn what I was hoping to learn. Chris however was fully loaded and had no problems either and that proved he was ready for this trip. Chris hit the wall about 3 mile outside of Chehalis, but I pointed out to him that we a maintained a pretty aggressive pace for fully loaded touring. I think our average on the day was 14.5 miles an hour and we didn’t make that many stops. I figure we’ll stop more during the trip and as a result bike longer each day. I also figure we’ll start much earlier each day, Hopefully by 6 am or so. Even on our longest mileage days we should have plenty of day light to get us to our destination. All in all, we’re ready!
Maury
PS We’ll this was the first journal entry. The rest probably won’t be as long since I don’t know how much writing I’ll feel like doing at the end of each day. I also don’t know how often I’ll get to update, but I’ll try to update a least twice a week. Finally, I talked about the things that I thought were important. If you’re reading this and want some more or different information just let me know and I’ll try to include it. Thanks
Statistics
Mileage: 79 miles
Elevation Gain: 167 feet
Links of Interest
http://www.visit.willapabay.org/pages/communities/raymond.html
http://www.tourlewiscounty.com/
