How I Spend My Time

Since 1999 I've been an assistant cross country coach at the high school where I ran cross country!  When I started this I took pride in being able to keep up with the team, if only on the long run runs.  I still run but more often it's alone or with the coach who has decided to go at my pace rather than his pace.  We plan and troubleshoot the competitive season on those runs.  From June until the end of October I'm immersed in the day to day lives of these young men. Today is the first day of the "off season", the time between cross country and track.   I'll see the team only occasionally between now and June, although I may drop in on track since I'm retired now.  I reminisce about this season during runs on the dune trails.  Fall will always mean cross country.

TA Post Mortem

I've been home three weeks (July 8th).  My bike made it back home on July 19th.  I have been searching for things to do with all the unscheduled time I have now.  I realize that prior to my departure I wasn't really retired.  I was involved a few hours at my work right up until a few days before we left.  Now aside from cross country practice, and a week of cross country camp, I have very little scheduled.  This might sound like a happy problem to have but I'm not happy about it.

I've run about 75 miles in the past three weeks after not having run for three months.  I've biked about 370 miles since I got back home; some of it on my mountain bike.  I've gone to two exercise classes.  If you know me at all you'll know that physical activity is a big part of my daily life.  I suppose it's part of the reason I could accomplish this long ride.  When I returned home I had this notion that I could maintain the fitness level I enjoyed on my trip.  I wanted to maintain this level of fitness.  I know this isn't realistic.

I still think a lot about my bike trip.  I'd talk a lot about it as well, but aside from Steve, I'm convinced I'd bore anyone else to death long before I ran out of things to say.  Everything relates back to those three months for me at the moment.  I go back and add details to my blog entries where I can and relive those days.

People have asked if I would do this again, ride across the country.  The answer is a definite yes!  I've also been asked "What's next?"  I take some pleasure in knowing that I'm seen as someone who might take up another challenge because when I began I wasn't confident I could accomplish this one.  Also I found out that there are people, lots of people, challenging themselves with these self-chosen undertakings.  I've got no deep wisdom or insights to share.  I don't know what's next but I know it will be something!

Looking forward to a fall filled with family and high school cross country!

Trans Am Numbers

I'll add stuff here as I crunch the numbers:

Days: 81
Miles: 4336.74 (updated 7/12/18)
Daily Average: 53.54 (updated 7/12/18))
Longest mileage day- 81 miles on 4/17/18; 80.8 miles on 6/22/18
Shortest mileage day-9.83 on 4/30/18
Longest cycling day-8:53:10 on 6/12/18
Shortest cycling day-55:29 on 4/30/18

Total Ascent in Feet=171,145
Daily Average Ascent in Feet=2194
Most Ascent-4530.8 on 4/22/18
Least Ascent-78.7 on 6/28/18

Days camping=43 (updated 7/13/18))
Days motel=20 (updated 7/13/18))
Days hostel=18

Days Off: 3

Bits and Pieces, Part #2

I'm home!  Steve and I left for the east coast on April 14th so it's been 85 days since I slept in my bed!  It was fun hanging out with my nephew and daughter and son-in-law in Seattle for a couple days being a tourist.  I ran about 2 1/2 torturous miles along the Puget Sound.


Here are the links to some of the players in our adventure saga.  Each of these blogs or Facebook pages is impressive in it's own way.  They put my meager efforts to shame for sure!

Jules' Blog

Finley's Blog

Phil's Blog

Richardo's Facebook Page

Alan Baker's Facebook Page

Susan's Facebook page

Anna's Blog

We rode many miles in the company of Rich; Nick; and Mike but none of the three of them was keeping a record of their trip.  They were relying heavily on the narrative provided by Donna Lynn Ikenberry's 1993 book Bicycling Coast to Coast to plan and followed most of her suggestions for mileage; places to stay; and other details.

As I mentioned in my last post I will be "enhancing" many of the pages about the trip.  This post in particular will get expanded as I come back to it and add things.  Stay tuned!  Thanks!  Tom

Bits and Pieces, Part #1

1. It’s tradition to save turtles that wander on the road during a TransAm trip.  Steve and I saved about a dozen, at least temporarily.  Several more at the side of the road, we yelled at.  Several in the road we left to succeed or not. There’s a philosophical issue here somewhere!
2. We went "off the route" three times.  First after Jules found a bridge closed, we took a direct route to Springfield, KY.  We cut some distance off.  Second we took an alternate route out of Pueblo to the Royal Gorge area based upon information that the official route had no shoulder to ride on.  I think it was slightly shorter than the official route.  Third, we took an alternate route into Astoria.  We’d  added distance by camping 4+ miles off route.  The Adventure Cycling Association allows that as long as we rode 90% of the mapped route, we’ve completed it.  We met that condition.  
3. We heard from Richard and Mike, you may remember them as two of the three cyclists we met after they started the second half of their Transamerica ride in Newton, Kansas.  We camped several nights at the same locations, especially in Kansas.  They just finished in Florence, Oregon.  Florence is the endpoint of an alternate route.  They’re headed back to Texas tomorrow.
4. I’ll be adding information to the daily entries after I get home.  In particular I’ll try to put links to information where I can.  I’ve never quite figured out how to do this with the phone app!  This may not be of interest to those of you who followed along.  This is more for anyone planning to do this themselves.

Day #81-Astoria

It was a rainy 4th of July.  We pack our wet tents and make the short ride to Astoria over a perilous bridge across Young’s Bay.  Astoria is a seaport on the Columbia River.  A huge cargo ship moved up the river as we rode along side it.  We later found out that many ships here are loaded with Midwest grain bound for China!

After a stop at a downtown coffee shop we fortunately got into our motel, the Columbia Inn, early. Then we took our bikes to be shipped at Bikes and Beyond, a local bike shop.  Steve’s shipping his belongings as well.  I’m checking my belongings.  It’s amazing how few belongings I have.  It’s true. Not to wax too philosophical but we, most of us, have much more than we really need.

Day #80-Fort Stevens State Park

We decided to go to the wreck of the Peter Iredale for our photo shoot because it was close to where we were camped and actually is on the Pacific Ocean! Yea I know we’re not actually touching the water in the photo.  There was a Bald Eagle overseeing the entire production!

It was weird not packing up to ride somewhere.  We did ride to Starbucks to take advantage of their WiFi! We may ride to the Lewis and Clark National Historic Park which is close.

Happy 4th everyone.  I expected wonderful experiences. Biking the country put me in touch with it all in a way I don’t think I could get any other way.  The vulnerability of biking made it all the more intense.  If you find the thought of cycling across the country hard to comprehend, I’m with you.

Day #79-Cannon Beach to Fort Stevens State Park, OR 36 miles

We had a quiet night in a forest of Douglas Firs with the sound of the Pacific for white noise. My tape job slowed the leak in my mattress but didn’t stop it.  We planned breakfast at Pig 'N Pancake and had a great start.  Cannon Beach looks to be a popular destination,  as does the next town we went through, Seaside.  We saw groups of cyclists coming towards us in Seaside.  It’s a good sign if the locals are riding the route you’re on. From Seaside, we cycled on the Lewis and Clark Highway.  As might be imagined these guys are a big deal here.  Their trip culminated at the mouth of the Columbia River, although it wasn’t called that until later. We left the route to head west to Fort Stevens State Park, outside of Warrenton, OR.  The weather continues to be cool and dry.

Thursday we’ll have about a 10 mile trip to the monument in front Columbia River Maritime Museum, that is the official terminus of the Transamerica Trail.

Day #78-Bay City to Cannon Beach, OR 36 miles

The entirety of our ride today was on US 101, the Oregon Coast Highway.  Lots of traffic, not much shoulder to ride; and more dramatic views of the coastline.  We ended in Cannon Beach, pictured above.  The weather continues to be be cool but dry. We had two climbs and one tunnel!  We saw several cyclists out for day rides.  The route we’re riding is a designated scenic bike route.
I think we’ve settled on spending the next two days at Fort Stevens State Park about 10 miles from Astoria.  We’ll ride into Astoria Thursday morning and take our bikes to the bike shop.  They’ll box the bikes and ship them to our local shop in Valparaiso.

Finley made it to Astoria today.  He says there’s no way to dip our tires in the Pacific at the end.  We may have to stage it!

We’re in a private campground tonight, Wright's for Camping.  I bought some duck tape today and I’m going to attack my leaky air mattress with it.

Day #77-Neskowin to Bay City, OR 52 miles

What a day!  It rained overnight and everything seemed damp in the morning, including my spirits.  Another night blowing my air mattress up every two hours has me frustrated and exhausted.  Then we meet Nancy, our host.  We are already in our tents when she arrived home so this was our only chance to talk.  It’s apparent she loves where she lives and the many people she’s met through providing space for cyclists and Airbnb.  Her grandfather was governor of Oregon and served in Eisenhower’s cabinet as Secretary of the Interior! He had a home in Neskowin,  so Nancy has been coming there since she was little.  She bought the home she lives and moved to Neskowin full time only seven years ago.  She has seven people, including the two of us, staying in her home!

We say our goodbyes and ride nine miles to Pacific City.  I’ve found a breakfast place I want to try.  It’s called Grateful Bread Bakery!  It’s packed!  It’s not lost on me that recreational marijuana is legal in Oregon as there’s a store right next to the bakery!  Anyway after a wait-we’re told people line up prior to the 8:00AM opening-we’re seated.  I order the Box of Rain.  It’s kinda like an omelette in a bowl. Steve gets pancakes that rivel the pancakes he got in Darby several weeks ago.  I will survive!
It’s brightened up considerably but still cool in the shade when we get done with breakfast.  We ride up a hill to find at the top the road is closed and have to double back.  We’re on busy roads with NO shoulder!  We get several magnificent views of the coastline.  All in all a eventful day.

We’re camped at the Tillamook Bay City RV Park just beyond the Tillamook Creamery.  Their stuff is golden here abouts!

About 65 miles until Astoria!

Day #76-Grand Ronde to Neskowin, OR 30 miles

We made it to the Oregon coast today.  After we got off the main drag to the coast we rode a wonderful rural road through thick coastal forest to get there. There was 1500’ of climbing today, but now we’re at sea level!

Steve and I had made plans to stay with a woman who allowed camping in her yard.  It’s right above the beach, which looks very similar to the dunes!  Finley went on and camped at a state park further up the road.  This may really be our farewell as it’s doubtful we’ll catch back up to him before he gets to Astoria on Tuesday.

115 miles to Astoria!

Day #75-Corvallis to Grand Ronde, OR 51 miles

Today begins the last week of our journey.  Because we never did take that rest day, we have several days to go 200 miles.  We’re hoping the state parks on the coast will have room in their hiker/biker areas as summer is in full swing and the main campgrounds will probably be full.  It’s weird not needing to ride long distances.

We had great weather today but much of the ride was on a busy highway with almost no shoulder! We did take advantage of a nice bike trail between Monmouth and Rickreall. We passed a large blueberry patch packed with people taking advantage of u-pick blueberries at 8:00 AM! Must be opening day or something!

We’re camping at the Wandering Spirit RV Park.  It's right next to the Spirit Mountain Casino, the first one we’ve seen in Oregon. It’s on the Grand Ronde reservation,  which is a confederation of five tribes that historically occupied the area between the Cascades and the coast.

This will be the test of my patch job on my mattress.  I’m not very optimistic.  The glue was dried out!

As we were about to turn in for the night Finley shows up, having ridden over 100 miles!  He’s due to meet his wife in Astoria on Tuesday so his plan entails a few more miles than ours!

Day #74-Eugene to Corvallis, OR 38 miles

We found out that the Willamette Valley is the "grass seed capital of the world" by riding through huge acreage of the stuff. They also must be big into honey judging from the fields of clover! 

This was an easy ride.  Flat open farm land.  The challenge was finding a place to spend the night.  We were set to pay for a motel but balked at the rate.  Then we met Stephen from England who told us a motel in Monmouth, a bit further up the road, had a good rate.  We were set to go there instead of staying in Corvallis but when I called the motel the rate was almost twice as much!  The person said it was summer so the price was higher.  Anyway we bumped into a Days Inn with better rates and took it.  I sprang a leak in my air mattress that I wanted to try and fix it which made a motel a consideration in the first place.  I won’t miss the daily anxiety around where we’ll be every night when we’re done!

By the way the Oregon State Beavers won the NCAA Baseball championship today.  Oregon State is in Corvallis!

Day #73-Nimrod to Eugene, OR 40 miles

Today’s ride has the same good weather but otherwise it had little in common with yesterday.  Riding on a busy highway with narrow or non-existent shoulders feels like work!  We saw lots of what looked like orchards but turned out to be groves of filbert trees.  We’re in the Willamette Valley now and there’s stuff growing everywhere!

What do we do when we don’t ride many miles and have the afternoon?  Ride 15-20 more miles to get to the Trader Joe’s in Eugene!

We’re at an RV park near the east end of the last map.  Finley may stay here an extra day, but we’re headed to Corvallis tomorrow.  233 miles left!

Day #72-Sisters to Nimrod, OR 60 miles

Before and after McKenzie Pass.

Today’s ride, much anticipated, did not disappoint.  A cold start but clear blue skies and light winds resulted in near perfect riding conditions.  The road to McKenzie Pass is so serpentine that long vehicles are prohibited.  Good news!  No insanely long RV’s pulling stuff!  No cattle trucks! No lumber trucks!  Very few cars as there is now a quicker way to get where we’re headed. It was a gentle 2500’ climb over 16 miles to the summit.  The Belkamp eruption 1700 years ago covered the entire summit with lava.  The Civilian Conservation Corps built an observation tower, the Dee Wright Observatory, out of the rocks! It’s an amazing sight!  I took pictures from it but not of it!

Then we rode down into a lush forest unlike anything we’d seen for some time, sometimes gently sometimes rapidly, for more than 40 miles.  We felt a bit sorry for those bikers we saw heading up from the west, a much longer climb because it starts from a lower elevation.  By the way we’re below 1000’ elevation for the first time since Kansas!

We followed the McKenzie River most of the way to our camp in the front yard of a bed and breakfast.

Tomorrow we complete map #2 in our countdown. We have about 250 miles left.  We’ll be taking extra time along the way as we’re not due in Astoria until July 6th!

Day #71-Prineville to Sisters, OR 46 miles

Two of the three sisters above.  Relatively easy riding today.  Sisters is at the base of the last serious climb on the Transamerica Trail, McKenzie Pass,  that will be the main event tomorrow.  Today more high desert, filled with the smell of ripe juniper berries.

Finley is back riding with us, although he usually gets out before us in the mornings.  We’re sharing camping and other expenses.  He’s a bit faster than either Steve or I;  and his recumbent goes down hills like a bullet!

We’ll be camping at Creekside Campground in the city park tonight.  They only charge $5 for hiker/biker sites; but they’re going to get me with the pay shower.  It’s 1.00 for 2 minutes!  For that rate it had better be instant hot!

We had a great veggie pizza at Three Creeks Brewery 

There’s a cyclist camping here who is originally from Chicago, Serena, who will attend graduate school at University of Wisconsin in the fall.  More small world stuff!

Day #70-Mitchell to Prineville, OR 48 miles

We left the hostel early in anticipation of predicted 90+ temperatures.  We had Ochoco Pass (4720’) to tackle, some 2200’ of ascent from Mitchell.  Then the remainder of the route, maybe 30 miles or more, was gentle downhill!  We got to Prineville by 12:00!   Coming into town I think I got a glimpse of the Cascades, tall and snow-covered, in the distance!  I also spied a Starbuck's where Steve and I relaxed for a bit.

We’re camping at the city-run RV park, Crook County RV Park,  just south of town.  Shortly after we arrived,  our cycling buddy Finley showed up!  The terrain proved to be too much for the two guys who’d come to ride with him!  He was on his own again.

Astoria is 372 miles away!

Day #69-John Day to Mitchell, OR 70 miles

A ride in two parts-downhill, cool, light winds; then uphill warm with a head wind!  We’re headed to a biker hostel in Mitchell, Spoke'n Hostel about which we’ve heard good things.

This area is known for fossil discoveries.  We didn’t see any fossils but rode this road through an awesome canyon.
The hostel is an incredible biker friendly place.  There are probably a dozen or more cyclists here tonight.  It’s an outreach project of a local church.  
Pat Farrel,  one of the proprietors,  also cuts hair.  I got a haircut!  He tells me we are less than 450 miles from Astoria!  Steve  and I have maybe twelve days to get there.  We’re still planning on taking a rest day, something we have not done since we were in Pueblo!

Day #68-Baker City to John Day, OR 80 miles

The Oregon Trail Motel provides a ticket for breakfast at their restaurant that we took advantage of.  We both got a couple buckwheat pancakes.  Steve thinks that fueled our long day.  Sunny warm weather returned today and that helped too.  We rode over three passes and had over 4000’ of climbing!  Our original plan was to stop at Austin Junction where there was a cafe that allowed camping but the cafe closed.  Our second choice, Prairie City was just 18 downhill miles from John Day.  So here we are!

We’ve begun to see more "eastbounders" coming towards us.  Sometimes we stop and talk and exchange information.  We were where they are now but it seems a long time ago!

We’re camping at the Grant County Fairgrounds RV Park in John Day next to the horse barn.  They have hiker/biker sites; showers and WIFi for us!  Our needs are few!

Day #67-Richland to Baker City, OR 44 miles

We had another good RV camping experience last night in Richland.  It rained most of the night but in this arid area there was little evidence of it in the morning aside for our tents being wet.  Finley, our traveling companion, for the past twelve days, was up and off early as he was getting his phone replaced in Baker City and was meeting up with some friends as well.  While there’s a chance we’ll meet up again, he’s usually riding faster and further than we do.  He has a blog on the Crazy Guy on a Bike site.

Most of today’s ride was a moderate climb of about 2000’ over 40 miles from Richland to Baker City, elevation 3451’.We left the Willowa Mountains behind.  This is high desert and as we have seen frequently irrigation is the only way that anything grows.   We rode along the Powder River, the route of the Oregon Trail.

Once in Baker City we stopped at The Trailhead bike shop.  They have a bar in their shop so I had a beer from Barley Brown, a local micro brewery, while Steve got his bike worked on.  The bike shop has been in business for just a couple of weeks!  We ate a nice dinner at their brew pub as well.

We’re staying at the Oregon Trail motel.  Tomorrow we begin map #2 in our countdown across the country.  We’re two weeks from Astoria!

Day #66-Cambridge, ID to Richland, OR 68 miles

We said our good byes to the other cyclists at the RV campground and headed towards Oregon.  The weather promised to be sunny and warm.  We followed the Snake River, which is dammed in three places, creating huge reservoirs.  Further down stream is Hell’s Canyon.  We had three climbs today in the hot weather and no shade.  

We’re at another RV park camping tonight. These places are nothing like I’d imagined them.  They’re clean and they’re cheap.  Tonight for example we each spent $6.00 to camp, with showers and a laundry!

Day #65-New Meadows to Cambridge, ID 47 miles

It says something about the nature of our journey that 47 miles seems almost like an off day.  We had a rainy start but a dry downhill ride to Cambridge along the Little Salmon River and then the Salmon River.  I should mention the little town of Riggins, the so-called rafting capital of Idaho.  We sampled  some good fresh coffee there from Two Rivers Coffee Roasters while Finley tried to sort out his cell phone woes. 

They’re cutting hay in the plains on the way and it reminded me of home.  We’re 15 days from Astoria.  I know I should stay in the moment but I’m drifting off figuring out the details of the last few days.

We’re staying at, Frontier Motel and RV Park, (highly recommended!) along with a couple from England heading east, Jon and Catherine.  It was fun to share stories with them.  Another Brit Steven, also heading east, joined the party later in the day as well.  Incidentally the motel bills itself as "At the Gateway to Hell's Canyon."  A foreshadowing of things to come!

Jon, Catherine and their incredible tandem!

Day #64-White Bird to New Meadows, ID 65 miles

Great night at the RV park on Salmon River last night!  The campground host Charlotte was wonderful and we had a covered space to pack our stuff.  We were expecting a wet day that never materialized.  An uphill day for 60 miles!  We gained almost 3000’!  Busy road but great scenery.

Day #63-Lowell to White Bird, ID 66 miles

We continued downriver for the first 20 miles today.  The Lochsa River merged with the Selway River at Lowell to form the Clearwater River.  We followed it to Kooskia, in the Nez Perce reservation, where we had breakfast.  There were lots of boats on the river and we found out they were fishing for salmon!  Beyond Kooskia we began our first climb of the day which turned out to be a real killer, almost 2000’ of steep switchbacks. The good news-it was dry and there was no wind! 

 

We found miles of wheat at the top of the climb.  How very different from what we’d experienced over the past two days. It rained briefly as we were in Grangeville,  but stopped.  We pushed on to White Bird over White Bird Hill, over 4200’ elevation.  The fast descent into White Bird gave back all the elevation we had gained on the day.

We’re staying at an RV park outside White Bird on the Salmon River.  We’re not far from Hell’s Canyon. The forecast is rain tomorrow.  

Day #62 Powell to Lowell, ID 65 miles

We followed the Lochsa River 65 miles downstream in the rain today. This ranks as one of my more memorable bike rides ever!  This river is wild and beautiful.  It forms the boundary of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area.  Magnificent Red Cedars; firs; and other conifers grew along the opposite shore.  For much of the route the river and road were all that was between steep hills on both sides.  The rain kept me from taking pictures.

We stopped at a historic ranger station now operated by volunteers. Mike, one of the volunteers, told us we were in the largest tract of wilderness in the lower 48!  The only signs of civilization were rafters and kayakers.  

The route from Lolo Pass to Lowell and beyond has a rich history.  First it’s the route Louis and Clark took.  They befriended the Nez Perce who gave them provisions.  Later the route was part of the historic retreat the Nez Perce made from pursuing soldiers.  The route, US 12, wasn’t completed until 1962.  This is the same roadway that traverses the dunes just a mile from my house!

We’re staying at a cheap motel in Lowell trying to dry everything out.  I took a moment to figure how many miles we have left and came up with 841miles. It’s truly hard to believe how far we’ve come!

Day #61-Missoula, MT to Powell, ID 59 miles

We reconsidered our plan to take the day off based upon the weather forecast and decided to get over Lolo Pass (5233’) today before the wet weekend.  The pass is a fairly gradual climb over 30 miles and then 5 miles of steep climbing to the summit. We had a slight tailwind the entire way.  

Steve encountered the last two cyclists entered in the TransAm race today.  We’d been seeing competitors trickle by since we entered Yellowstone.   Competitors are stretched from Kentucky to Montana!

Finley thought I made reservations at Lochsa Lodge in Powell and had a cabin staked out when Steve and I arrived.  Although I’d never made the reservation because we couldn’t stay a second night and wait out the rain, we were grateful for indoor accommodations tonight.  Tomorrow promises to be wet but we won’t have to pack up in the rain.

Day #60-Darby to Missoula, MT 65 miles

Mary, the owner of the RV Park were we stayed, recommended the Montana Cafe to us so we gave it a try.  The guy waiting on us showed Steve how big the pancakes were but he ordered two anyway!  They were a foot in diameter!  A good start!  

We were flanked by the Bitterroot Mountains for the entire trip into Missoula.  Missoula is a very bike-friendly city.  We actually were on a bike trail for more than 20 miles entering town. There seemed to be bike lanes on every street we rode as well.  We visited the Adventure Cycling Association (ACA) offices and feasted on complementary sweets. We got our pictures taken for their wall.  They had a secure bike corral crammed with commuter bikes.  It was good to see!

Our plan to stay in a hostel near the ACA officesfell through and a Days Inn I found online was closed.  We settled for a very crummy Motel 6.  

Day #59-Jackson to Darby, MT 75 miles

This is the place we stayed at last night!  This guy does a good business putting up cyclists for the night.  Zack and Jill made it down from their camp at the pass and ate breakfast outside.  That’s Zack on the right.  Finley is on the left getting ready; and that’s Steve in the middle. As you can see there’s not a cloud in the sky.  We rode 20 miles to the next town, Wisdom, for breakfast.  Then we began a long climb out of Big Hole Valley to Chief Joseph Pass some 7200’ up!  First we indulged in Second Breakfast at The Crossing Bar and Grill in Wisdom!  The last 30 miles were downhill!  We’re at 3885’ in Darby so we descended about 3400’!  It was fun times for us.  The last time we were at this elevation was in eastern Colorado!

We rode with Finley again today and the three of us are camped out at Travellers Rest Cabins-RV Park.  It's another great small RV park!

Tomorrow we go to Missoula 62 miles away.  We’re going to lay over there an extra day.  The Adventure Cycling Association headquarters is in Missoula and we’ll check in there during our stay.  Missoula is the last stop on map #4.  We have about 1000 miles to Astoria!

Day #58-Twin Bridges to Jackson, MT 76 miles

What a day!  The gray skies of the past couple days departed and it was sunny and warm!  We went uphill the entire day.  The grade was mild to Dillon 28 miles into the ride.  We’re still riding with Finley and the three of us hit the Dillon Subway for Second Breakfast.   Finley’s bike blew over in the wind and his mirror broke while we were eating.  We parted with him as he was searching for a fix in a town with no bike shop. We headed the the Patagonia outlet shore!  Steve exchanged his old rain coat for a brand new one! How many companies stand behind their products like this.  Some coffee and we were off.  Not far down the road we encountered Finley who’d gotten a temporary fix for his mirror. The road began to go up more steeply.  At Badger Pass (6750’) we got a short downhill; then a flat; then up again to Big Hole Pass (7360’).  At the top of the pass we ran into Zack and Jill.  They’d had enough and had decided to camp at the summit!

All this climbing with a pesky headwind.  Almost 4000’ of climbing all told.  

The summit of Badger Pass May look pretty boring but it was sweet to make it here!

We’re staying in at the Bunkhouse Hotel in Jackson, a very comfortable spot.  We’re doing laundry;  showering and sleeping indoors.  Today was one of the harder days of the trip!

Day #57-Cameron to Twin Bridges, MT 56 miles

Another cloudy day with a chance of rain that never materialized.  One tough climb of 2000’ but overall a downhill day.  A gusty wind throughout the afternoon was tough as well.  We had lunch in Virginia City.  None of us was sure if this was THE Virgina City from Bonanza.  We all could see the map burning in the opening, but not the details of the map.  I think it was in Navada!  They sure did strike gold in these parts however!

We stayed in the bike camp in Twin Bridges, along with seven other bikers, including Finley. Two guys were in the TransAm race, there for the night.  A couple, Scott and Sara, who’ve been cycle touring almost nonstop since 2014! Another couple, Zack and Jill, are doing the TransAm route to Oregon and then plan to hike the Pacific Crest Trail!  It was Zack who said something I’ve long believed, just when you think you’re the craziest MF’er on the planet, you hear about someone doing something even crazier!

Day #56-Madison CG to Cameron, MT 75 miles

We exited Yellowstone today and crossed into Montana, state #8.  The weather took a dramatic change away from the unseasonably warm daytime weather to which we’d become accustomed. We stopped in West Yellowstone to have breakfast and dig out our cold weather clothes.
The picture is of the Bitterroots. They have a new coat of snow.  We got a coating of snow too, but, mainly we got rained on. We caught up with another traveler, Finley, stopped along the highway and rode with him for the rest of today.  He’s a retired school teacher from Arkansas riding the third of three segments which will complete the trail.  The tailwind and downhill route combined with interesting conversation made the miles pass.

We stopped for lunch at the Earthquake Lake Visitor's Center.  Although they sell food and drinks there, they don’t allow any eating or drinking in the building, so we ate in the bathroom!
We saw several TransAm racers during the day, including one guy, Andrew, at a rest stop along the highway.  We found out he’s from Fort Wayne!  He’s been at this since June 2nd.
We’re staying at a cabin in Cameron.  Finley is sharing the cost with us.  Tomorrow’s weather promises to be chilly and possibly wet.  We climb 2000’ to a pass tomorrow.  That may keep us warm!
So far:
56 days
2958 miles
~53 miles/day
2 days with no riding

Day #55-Grant Village to Madison Junction (YNP) 38 miles

We rode with the buffaloes!  Four bison lumbered towards us in the other lane as we passed by.  The cars were lined up behind them for miles!  With no way to exit the road, a river on one side and a hill on the other, the bison jam was certain to get worse.  We were happy to inform the line of cars of this as we road away from it!  We heard countless bison stories throughout the past couple of days, including that at least two people had been gored!

Day #54-Colter Bay to Grant Village (Yellowstone NP), WY 40 miles

Skip this post if you’re not up for a decidedly philosophical goo pot of emotion!

So today was an epiphany for both of us.  Somehow we got to talking about how we missed our families and how we were overwhelmed by the emotional toll of our trip more than the physical challenges.  We both ended up in tears.  Then at one of those pull offs where everybody is taking pictures and creating a minor traffic jam I found myself in tears again, amazed at the power of these natural wonders.  This seemingly universal urge to somehow connect.  It got me thinking about Henry David Thoreau.  I had a "Different Drummer" poster plastered to my closet door as a teenager. A actually read Walden in college, not just the Cliff Notes! He said something like "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately.’"  He thought he could get to the basics, truths, by going to nature.  Weren’t these people, in their motor homes; with their campers; or their tour buses somehow someway reaching out for that?  I don’t know.  

People I don’t know come up to me and ask about my trip; but, more often they talk about about how they used to bike or some other connection they have to my trip.  It’s that longing for connection again-to the natural world or one another.  Right now I’m seeing this everywhere.

So are we all just trying to satisfy this yearning to connect to nature, to one another in whatever way we can?  Am I just trying to do that?  

As I said goo pot! 

Onward!

Day #53-Debois to Grand Teton NP (Colter Bay CG) 66 miles

It’s impossible for me to describe my reaction to this sight! Wow! doesn’t quite do it.  These are the Tetons, our reward for a moderately tough climb over Togwotee Pass.  I met a woman at the pass who’s from Clear Lake City, Texas, where my parents lived.  Small world stuff.

Plenty of snow still covering the ground in spite of a warm spring.  Campgrounds are open that normally don’t open for another week or more. 

We camped at Colter Bay in the park.  It’s the first time we’ve had to contend with food storage protocols when in bear country.  It’s also our first real encounter with mosquitoes!  

Quick update while I’ve got internet.  I’m still in contact with some of the folks we’ve encountered along the way.  Phil, for example, texted a 138 mile day he rode across Utah!  The guy is amazing!

Incidently Grand Teton NP came into being because John D. Rockefeller bought up the land and then donated it for a park.  Think about this for a moment!

Day #52-Lander to Debois, WY 75 miles

This is the Wind River.  It lends its name to the huge Shoshone reservation we rode through today.  It also irrigates land along our route. It flows through some incredible rock formations. 

A Shoshone chief, Chief Washakie, played an instrumental role in the history of the area and much of our route today was on the Chief Washakie Trail.  He’s buried in the town of Ft. Washakie in the Wind River Reservation along with another important Native American of the Shoshone Sacajawea. There's a bit of controversy as to where she's actually buried but not her role in the success of the Lewis and Clark expedition! 
For better or worse they were repairing the sign for the casino just inside the reservation when we rode past.  It reminded me of all those episodes of Longmire I watched.  The show was set in Wyoming and a casino figured prominently in the story line.  Longmire was the sheriff of Absaroka County.  We go over Togwotee Pass in the Absaroka Mountains tomorrow.

We gained 1500’ of elevation today so we’re at about 6900’ now.  I hope to write more as there’s WiFi at the St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Dubois, our home for the night.

Day #51-Jeffrey City to Lander, WY 57 miles

The picture is of the church hostel we stayed at last night.  It was definitely our refuge in the middle of nowhere.  Steve saw an antelope munching on a tree right outside this morning.

I thought we were going to have tailwind today but I was wrong!  

It was another day following in the footsteps of the pioneers.  

Lander elevation =5358

Day #50-Rawlins to Jeffrey City, WY 68 miles

The day got off to a late start due to the details related to Steve getting his new phone up and running.
Tough ride through the Great Basin.  Definitely put me in touch with the hardships the first travelers had going west.  The wind is the story, but also the lack of a shoulder; traffic; and a lack of any services!  We met another cyclist along the side of the road near a closed convenience store, Anna.  She's cycling from Louisiana to California by way of Canada.  We dragged one another for the rest of the day-mostly she dragged us! 

We’re staying at a church hostel in Jeffrey City.  A welcomed luxury out of the wind!

Picture taken of the Split Rock formation, a landmark along the Oregon Trail. The split in the rocks isn't visible from the road. 

Day #49-Riverside to Rawlins, WY 59 miles

We left our traveling friends Mike and Richard today.  They’re taking a short day to Saratoga to go to church and soak in the hot springs.  We’re heading to Rawlins to pick up Steve’s replacement phone that’s been shipped to the post office. 

Another wonderful riding day with mild temperatures and light winds.  We’ve been riding generally north but today the route bent back west.  As you can see from the photo there are no trees, just lots of sagebrush.  Not many cars either. We continued to see antelope in the brush,  sometimes they’d run off but most times they just kept an eye on us as we passed.  

We met Diego and Klaus, two guys from Brazil,  riding the TransAmerica Trail west to east.  They’re the first cyclists we’ve met who started where we’ll finish Astoria, Oregon.  Diego mentioned that the TransAmerica race just got underway.  The leader rode more than 300 miles the first day! We’ll see the race coming towards us within the next week.  We exchanged information about the road ahead.  They warned us to be prepared for wind.

We decided to get a motel room in light of Steve’s need for reliable internet access.  The library doesn’t open until 10:00. 

Rawlins elevation=6834’

So far:

Days=49 (7 weeks)

Miles=2547

Average daily miles=52

Days with no riding=2

Day #48-Walden, CO to Riverside, WY 49 miles

A short description of today’s ride would be near perfect conditions and route. We had one moderately difficult climb but otherwise the terrain was rolling pasture land for cattle and quite a few antelope too!  Welcome to Wyoming! Riverside elevation is 7143’.

We’re camping in a wonderful little RV park, Lazy Acres Campground and RV Park, alongside the Encampment River for $10.00 each.  A clear blue sky turned into a night sky blazing with stars after sundown.

Day #47-Hot Sulfur Springs to Walden, CO 65 miles

We had heavy frost on our tents in the morning and it took awhile to warm up. We  climbed to Willow Creek Pass 9621’ for the first half of the ride; and fought strong cross winds in the so-called North Park area of Colorado for the second half of the ride. We must have looked pretty ragged coming into town.  A guy has stopped his car along the side of the road and it’s apparent he wants to talk to me. His name is John and he’s  from Illinois!  He says he just gave $5.00 to the two cyclists in front of us thinking they were Steve and me.  A woman had passed him and almost run two cyclists over, he thought it was the guys he gave the money to but now he knows it was us. He wants to buy us something to drink as well.  When we get to the store it turns out Mike and Richard are the two other cyclists!

How’d you like to have a snow capped mountain at the end of your Main Street?

We camped in a city park tonight with Mike and Richard.  There was also a guy from Canada camping in the park, heading to Pueblo.  Walden has an indoor pool nearby that offers $5.00 showers that we gladly paid. 

Mike, Richard, Steve, and I ate at a BBQ place called All Smoked Up.  Does this sum up Colorado these days, I don’t know. I can say we inhaled some delicious BBQ that Richard said was the best he’d ever had.  This is high praise for a guy from Texas!  I’ll stop now!

Day #46-Silverthorne to Hot Sulfur Springs, CO 57 miles

We got late start due to trying to resolve Steve’s phone problem (phone died!); me going back to REI; going to the post office; and shopping at the Silverthorne Target store.  It was a good thing since it was near freezing overnight.  Silverthorne is still more than 9000’ elevation.  We had warm sunny weather and a modestly downhill route.  While stopped we encountered Mike  and Richard.  They’d stayed in Breckenridge last night and were heading to Kremmling.  

We camped in the city park, Pioneer Park.  It’s popular with fly fishermen fishing the Colorado River, flowing alongside it.  Hot Sulphur Springs is at 7680’elevation.  

Day #45-Hartsel to Silverthorne, CO 58.5 miles

We took advantage of free camping behind the Highline Cafe and Saloon in Hartsel last night. While the camp spot was barely adequate, the saloon/cafe was a pleasant surprise.  We started the day with a good breakfast at a reasonable price. My fears about altitude and digestive problems had eased after I got an equally good sandwich at the saloon yesterday afternoon with no ill effects. 

The main event today was the climb to Hoosier  Pass.  As I mentioned we’d been gaining elevation ever since we entered Colorado.  Yesterday we climbed 3000’.  Today we climb another 3000’.  The climb covers ten miles from the town of Fairplay to the summit.  Many sections were not particularly steep but at altitude it was slow going. The weather thankfully was not a factor.  There’s no shoulder for much of the climb so cars whizzing by was part of the thrill too.  Descending was a thrill! Five miles of no pedaling!  Due to the many switchbacks on the north side,  bikes could go about as fast as the cars.  We cruised in to Breckinridge and found celebratory coffee!  Breckinridge is an upscale ski town that’s far removed from the atmosphere we left in tiny Hartsel.

We continued on to Dillon, CO where a replacement saddle was waiting for me at the REI store.  Steve’s phone quit on him so he was hoping to find a replacement here as well.  

We’re camping in at the local Days Inn.  

Day #44-Canon City to Hartsel, CO 47 miles

I’m typing this from the front steps of the Hartsel Public Library.  They got me the WiFi password before they closed. It was a tough ride in spite of the short distance.  I had mashed potatoes for breakfast, trying the minimize the work my digestive system had to do.  

This was a tough ride with lots of climbing and few services along the route.  It was heartbreaking for our riding friend Nick as he had to abandone today.  He was having serious health problems-numbness in his arm and hand.  His sister from Denver came and got him off the route. Richard and especially Mike were saddened as Nick had been excited to complete the trip.  We learned about this when Richard.pulled into Hartsel. 

We’re camping behind the bar.

Hartsel elevation=9100 feet

Day #43-Pueblo to Canon City, CO 49 miles

We went off the route to get from Pueblo to our camp site today.

This was the last tip from Jules.  We took US 50 out of Pueblo.  It had wide shoulders to ride on.  We had a beautiful day to get back to our trip. We ended up in one of those over-priced campgrounds, Prospector's RV Resort,because it shortened the Tuesday ride,  one of the harder routes of the trip so far, going from 6000 to 9000 feet.  I’ve never acclimated to altitude well so I’m anxious about it.

Day #42-Rest Day in Pueblo

Sitting in a local Starbucks looking at the maps for the next portion of our trip.  We’re in outdoor recreation paradise and it’s reflected in the prices.  The campground we considered for tomorrow, Echo Canyon, wants $50 for a tent camping site!  Proximity to the Arkansas River above the Pueblo Reservoir and nearness to Royal Gorge seems to have inflated prices to absurd levels. We’ll cut tomorrow’s ride short and stay in the city park in Florence.  Florence’s claim to fame is as the location of America’s most secure federal prison, housing many  notorious individuals.  Not much of a tourist attraction I guess.

There’s a Red Flag Warning for the Pueblo area today.  The temperatures should top out in the mid-90’s with 5% relative humidity, and strong winds.  Tomorrow promises to be cooler.  

More later.

So far:

Trip miles=2131

Trip days-42

Daily average=50 miles

Day #41-Ordway to Pueblo, CO 47 miles

First a few words about last night. The sprinklers in the park where we camped turned on in the middle of the night!  Not cool!
The ride today was quick and easy for the most part.  The mountains grew on the horizon as we headed west.  We stopped in Boone, a small town on the way that’s lost it’s only retail business.  A guy from the volunteer fire department chatted with us while we filled our water bottles at the small park there.  He confirmed that the mountain off to the northwest was Pike’s Peak.  It was brown because the snow had already melted.  The Arkansas River nearby is fed by that snow melt but most of it is captured by the reservoirs up stream.  By the middle of summer the river at Boone is only a trickle.  He and his wife live in Boone because it’s her hometown.  She commutes to Pueblo.
We got to Pueblo and took our bikes to Great Divide Ski Bike and Hike, where we'd called ahead to make appointments.  We got new chains and had brakes and drive-train inspected and adjusted.  Then on to our motel,Santa Fe Inn, a few blocks away.

Tonight we met up with Jules and had a great dinner at Angelos Pizza Parlor on the river. We recounted our experiences together and separate over the past several weeks. It was good to see him again.  He’ll take the train to Los Angeles.  He’ll wind up in San Francisco where he’ll meet his girlfriend. His blog recounting his travels is here

Tomorrow we rest!

Day #40-Eads to Ordway, CO 61 miles

The only store in the only town on our route today!  We had a pleasant ride along lightly used CO96 through arid high plains.  Most of the creeks and draws were bone dry.  The winds were light and variable, just enough to offer some relief from the heat.

It’s  97 degrees in Ordway! The elevation is 4311 feet.  We’re camping in the city park tonight next to the Ordway Hotel.  The hotel offers showers to cyclists for ten bucks!  A bargain!  

We have been camping with Richard; Mike; and Nick every night for the past few nights.  We don’t ride together but end up at the same place at the end of the day. Steve and I marvel at their efficiency at packing up each morning! They’re  not doing any cooking so we often get on the road sooner because they stop to eat.  They have an easy way of kidding one another that reminds me of my tight circle of friends, including Steve.  It’s a pleasant comeraderie we’ve developed.  We’ll part ways in Pueblo but we’ll likely bump into them again.  They’re headed to Oregon too.  

Tomorrow we meet up with Jules again.  Unfortunately a chronic hand problem has kept him off the bike long enough that he’s had to change his plans.  He’ll now take the train to San Francisco to meet up with his girlfriend.  His misfortune is our good fortune as we get to share his company one last time.

Day #39-Tribune, KS to Eads, CO 58 miles

So today we made it to Colorado.  We had strong cross winds again today early on.  It was almost 30 miles to the only town on the route with any services, a convenience store.  We could only average 7-8 mph in the wind!  However then the winds died off and the temperature climbed.  The wheat fields disappeared and the landscape began to look more like a scene from High Plains Drifter. Our route, now CO96 was almost deserted.  No more cattle trucks!  I’ll write more later...

The last outpost for wheat!

So Steve and I see a laundry as we get to Eads within walking distance of our camp.  After dinner we decide we’ve got time to do some laundry.  When we get there we find out there’s no change machine!  We’ve got three quarters between us.  There is a liquor store nearby so I volunteer to go get change.  When I get there and ask for change,  the woman behind the counter tells me she’s short on quarters and can’t give me change.  A tall boy Coors is $3.15.  I give her a five, she gives me three quarters and the day is saved!  

We are staying in a city park tonight with no showers and bathrooms that are across railroad tracks.  A sign at the park warns that the automatic sprinklers in the park turn on at 7:30 AM.  Luckily my body is still on Central Time!