25.29 miles; 2 hrs 24 min; 10.56 avg; 1,495 feet
Total miles: ~1,600
Total elevation: ~12 vertical miles
Riding into town on a bus, then up to Seattle with Shep from here on out. Much love to all of you who joined me, in person or not, on this incredible journey.
37.11 miles; 4 hrs 34 min; 8.11 mph avg; 1,886 feet
Possibly the most sustained headwind of the entire trip. The kind that makes every semi-flat spot ten feet from the shoulder look like a good place to camp for the night. Luckily we had under 40 miles to go, and found a cheap motel right next to the best cuisine in town. We split about four Thai entrees and then waddled down the street to Safeway for some motel room beer.
42 miles; 4 hrs 24 min; 9 mph avg; 1,044 feet
Hellish winds kicked in today after our lunch in West Roosevelt. First, tried riding through, but we were blown off the road. Next, tried thumbing, got nowhere. Thirdly, considered wild camping. Fourth, rode 4 more miles as the wind abated slightly, and then inquired as to the availability of the manger suite (can we pitch a tent in your barn?) with the farm household. Rewarded with a yes, and invited in for dinner.
Estimated, because someone messed with my cyclo-computer during lunch: 55 miles; 5 hrs 15 min; 10.25mph avg; 2,300 feet
Lila joined me today! The ride from Tri-Cities to Umatilla was nothing special. Got lunch at a tavern staffed (one at a time) by friendly folks. Gabe us two free beers to go with our specials.
Napped in the shade of an Apple orchard during the sleepiest part of the day. Lila got two flats, one a super legit massive nail, but we pressed on and made it to a campground on an island in the Columbia river.
Went to the farmers market in Pasco, loved it. Got some snow peas and ranier cherries for the road. Saw Brave, loved it. Except for the totally unnecessary police interruption right at the sappy end bit.
47.49 miles; 3 hrs 20 min; 14.25 mph avg; 1,469 feet
Great restaurant in Dayton: Weinhard. Had some great salami made by Salumi in Seattle.
42.07 miles; 3 hrs 10 min; 13.26 mph avg; 2,568 feet
Steep climb, so cut things short at the Garfield County Fairgrounds today for the sake of achilles. Luckily, Pomeroy has both pirate supplies and a taco cart (which, if you can get over the mission tortillas and jarred salsa was a decent alternative to the typical diner menu).
Also some massive grain silos in town.
59.44 miles; 4 hrs 13 min; 14.11 mph avg; 1,325 feet
Finished up the narrow shoulder section of the trip. Lewiston is pretty meh, Clarkson seems like its sleepy residential counterpart across the river. Watched the Thunder suck from a bowling alley/casino.
Heading on toward my rendezvous with Lila and Maura today. Bit of a steep climb involved, so planning a short day to Pomeroy, getting stayed after I have lunch.
58.67 miles; 4 hrs 2 min; 14.56 mph avg; 999 feet
Found a wonderful diner that actually homemakes all their food, as I presume all of them used to do, between Kooskia and Kamiah. First I had the homemade biscuits with homemade gravy from homemade sausage, then I waited around for the rain to stop (an hour?) and had the handmade burger with tots, followed by the homemade chocolate pie.
On the narrow shoulder, high trucker volume stretch of SR 12 now. Will be glad to escape it in Lewiston tomorrow.
52.43 miles; 3 hrs 23 min; 15.52 mph avg; 510 feet;
Cute little cafe in Lowell put on the basketball game for me, campsite was on a slow, sunny portion of the Locsha river with a sandy beach, woke up on the morning and had my tent packed just as the morning drizzle began. Lots of victories!
This section of the tour (SR 12) has been the best sustained beauty of the trip. Over a hundred miles of gorgeous. I recommend it.
80.68 miles; 5 hrs 33 min; 14.52 mph avg; 2,569 feet
A long day, Achilles was pissed at me until she got to experience the alternating freezing creek and hot pools. De nada, leggies.
Also, creepy sweat ghost appeared on my shirt...
46.38 miles; 2 hrs 58 min; 15.62 mph avg; 649 feet
I'm already in love with Missoula.
45.46 miles; 3 hrs 43 min; 12.25mph avg; 1,301 feet
Went easy on the achilles today, by pulling up short of the expected distance and setting up for three 45 mile days instead of two 77 mile days as I approach Missoula.
I've been missing the quiet of sequestered campgrounds and a little solitude, so this is a good spot. Hung my food up like the pictures say, hope I don't have to fool too many bears tonight. Also cool: I'm camped almost exactly on top of the continental divide!
77.03 miles; 6 hours 5 min; 12.66mph avg; 4,185 feet
Made it over the double pass, but not without huffing and puffing so hard that a thoughtful driver U-turned ahead of me and came back to make sure I was okay.
Staying at the Jackson hot springs lodge, enjoying their great selection of local bottled beer (ever heard of Big Hole Brewing? They've got a coupe decent Belgian strong ales) and trying to stay awake long enough to enjoy the pool.
31.02 miles; 2 hours 10 min; 14.27 mph avg; 278 feet
Windy, cold, but still short ride into the home of the country's only dedicated, city-built Bike Camp. Naturally I wanted to patronize this city's businesses, so stopped here for the day and put the grill to good use.
Also, bought a ridiculous hat in Ennis.
16.63 miles; 1 hour 43 min; 9.68 mph avg; 2,022 feet
I left Larry last night heading on toward Virginia City while I settled for the RV park in Ennis. After a cold, windy climb on a shoulderless road this morning, I speed in VC for lunch and saw Larry, who had been picked up last night by a very nice guy from Ennis, Mike.
They invited me to quit for the day and join them for hot springs and spaghetti and buffalo meat sauce. After some careful consideration, I agreed. If you're ever near Ennis, check out the Norris Hot Springs. They serve beer and great food right to the pool, and have live music many nights. $5 gets you in.
94.79 miles; 5 hrs 41 min; 16.67 mph avg; 2,300 feet
Montana greeted me with some agreeable wind today. The last 50 miles in particular were a 25 mph tailwind on a 1% downhill grade. I coasted into Ennis.
Camped in an RV park with a reasonable rate given the hot shower. Got invited in for dinner by a nice retired couple from southern Illinois and had Iowa sausage, boiled potatoes, canned corn, and spicy salsa made by a friend of theirs. Wouldn't have guessed I had enough in common with an RV couple for unstrained conversation but...
65.36 miles; 4 hours 39 min; 14.06 mph avg; 3,367 feet
Easily my most impressive day with average speed and climbs taken into account. I definitely felt in good shape all day, except for my achilles tendon which may have slid backwards a bit without its regular icing.
Wow, I can't really begin to do this park justice in a short blog post. It started out just busy and full of lodges and sparse camping, so I resolved to make quick work of it. But the road from old faithful to Madison was just teeming with beauty and majesty, crowds of people be damned.
62.79 miles; 4 hrs 21 min; 14.42 mph avg; 2,583 feet
After another beautiful day of riding through the GTs, met Larry, a cyclist doing the Trans America route from New Jersey while refilling water at the Headwaters Lodge. Lucky for me, since he steered me to a free campsite near the lodge and some most refreshing/meditative natural hot springs.
The night was the coolest yet, down in the twenties. Tons of frost all over my tent and bike, so I came up to the lodge for breakfast while things dry. Today: Yellowstone. The to on the map says avoid biking during the high traffic times of noon to 5. I'll do my best.
The beautiful part about bike touring: the microbreweries and classy grocery stores that provide me with fresh crusty bread and white wine cured salami for lunch in TNP.
30.69 miles; 2 hrs 46 min; 11.08mph avg; 1679 ft climb
I expected to try for a campsite farther up the side of the pass ahead, but when I met up with Kelly and Mi here, and found $6 got me a great campsite with a shower, while the rustic one ahead was $15, I decided to quit early. Knee seems good, Achilles holding steady at 5/10, but but not dropping.
