Day 20 Brief Update

We apologise to all of our faithful followers. We have been fighting headwinds and side winds for the last 4 days and today was the worst. We have a few interesting stories to tell, but at the moment, are too tired to write coherently. Today for example, our actual riding time (time on the bike) was over 8 hours and we averaged a mere 8.3 mph. It was an unrelenting strong (15 to 20 mph) headwind, like riding up a steep mountain road for 60 miles. We have a shorter ride tomorrow and will try to catch up with postings. Thanks for your patience. Jim has been posting photos daily, so at least we're keeping up with that, although we haven't taken much time for photos.

Days 15 and 16 Shelby to Havre to Malta

Day 15 (18 Aug 09) - Shelby to Havre 104 miles

We try to get out early because it will be a long day to Havre with minimal services along the way. It takes a lot of flour to make bread and even more wheat. We ride past endless wheat fields being attended to by machines that are right out of Star Wars.

Trucks pass us on this going to the sun road and literally go to the vanishing point. We see the same volcano for 45 miles. It is right to the north of us; it feels like we are standing still as someone pulls the near scenery like some 1920 movie cricket sounds included.

We stop in Mike’s Thrifyway Supermarket and pick up some food and water. A few local teenagers listen to hip-hop music in their car.

Heads down we pedal the 60 miles from Chester and Mike’s Thriftyway to Havre. We were going to stay 2 nights in Havre, but as we ride into town we decide to do the 90 miles tomorrow.

The day is not as long as we thought; a tail wind pushes us the 100+miles in a little over 6 hours. We have become more sailors than bikers as we read our compasses to determine when we will be heading E or SSE to catch the more favorable wind.

We will take our layover day in Fargo, ND in 11 days. As long as the weather is below 80F we should get our miles across the plains done before it gets over 100F. Remember Joe, the intrepid rider from Conneticut? He pedaled across ND in 100F weather and it was tough.

Dinner at the Duck Inn and a view of the railroad engine yard from our hotel room.

Day 16 (19 Aug 09) Havre to Malta 88 miles

Today, we were greeted by the cry of the Killdeer calling its name, “killdeer, killdeer, killdeer…” Once again, we were favored with a tailwind and the riding was easy. We both agreed it was the easiest 90 miles we’d ever done. I thought of our conversation with Joe from Conneticut two days before. He mentioned a solo rider he'd encountrerd along the way. "He was travelling light and fast, covering 120 to 130 miles a day, going east." The Pony Express on a bicycle!

The landscape was quite different from the previous day where the scene was dominated by endless, unbroken wheat fields. Today we followed the Milk River as it meandered back and forth across our path. Cottonwood trees were numerous both along the river and for a half mile on either side. The endless view was often interrupted by small hills.

We stopped for water at a gas station on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation where we were greeted by friendly folks interested in where we were going and how long we thought it would take. One man warned us about mosquitoes. I didn’t think they’d be a problem given our typical 18 - 23 mph speed. However, at one point, going up a hill where we were moving at about the same speed as the wind from behind, creating a situation where relative to us, the air was still, the mosquitoes attacked with unexpected ferocity. Both Len and I were trying to swat and ride up a hill at the same time, no mean trick.

It was a bad day for snakes. They were littered (well, not quite) along the roadside in various stages of decay. One particularly healthy looking specimen was about 3 feet long and its mere presence gave Len quite a surprise. It turns out that when he was about 10 he rode over a live snake, an event that was somewhat traumatic and resulted in a lifelong aversion to snakes.

In one lonely stretch of road we encountered a coyote, that, unlike the usual coyote, did not immediately head for cover when he saw us. Instead, he stopped in the middle of the road and stared at the two strange oncoming figures on nearly silent two-wheeled vehicles. After deciding we might represent a threat, he bounded into the tall grass beside the road and almost immediately disappeared. It was truly amazing how well the color of his coat blended with the grass.

Just before arriving in Malta, we noted a large rain cloud about 2 miles in front of it. I asked Len to stop so I could put the rain covers on my panniers. It also appeared that the cloud was moving across our path and that if we waited awhile, we might not get wet. It was a good move and the only moisture came from the road and passing trucks.

An early arrival in Malta allowed us to do a little bike maintenance and for me to talk with my son, daughter in law and 9 month old grandson on Skype. Our proprietess at the hotel warned us about mosquitoes tomorrow, especially if there isn’t much wind. Sounds like we could be wearing our street clothes over our bike clothes to keep the bugs off - a trip to the grocery store in the morning to pick up repellent may be indicated as well.

Day 14 - East Glacier to Shelby

Day 14 (17 Aug 09) East Glacier to Shelby 73 miles

Monday, Monday … We rode into the East with the sun in our eyes - clear skies for the first time since Republic Washington. With the wind at our backs and the mountains behind us we devoured the first 50 miles, saying goodbye to the mountains, goodbye to wide, swift rivers, goodbye to tumbling, joyously noisy creeks, goodbye to magnificent osprey and their young, and goodbye to the white-tailed deer, all too often the victim of our addiction to the internal combustion engine and the four-wheeled vehicles it propels. We say hello to a new ecosystem, broad grassy plains that once supported herds of bison so large you could see nothing else for miles, hello to the place that gives the Big Sky state its meaning, hello to infinite arrays of telephone poles that disappear in a line on the horizon as if reflected in facing mirrors, hello to a wide shoulder on the road and hello to a prevailing (for today anyway) westerly wind.

As we leave East Glacier and climb for the last time above 5000 feet we look in our rearview mirrors and see the mountains from a new perspective - a photo is mandatory. Shortly, we come upon a small herd of bison, the reminder of the herds of 170 years ago. The bison seem to see us and playfully begin to gallop along with us. We are riding uphill at 20 mph and coast down shallow inclines at 30! It may be good to be king, but a tailwind is even better when you’re on a bike. We see small, marshy ponds sporting a few ducks. The guys fixing ties on the railway by the road honk and wave. We see trains with coal-laden cars a mile long going to feed those huge power-generating plants that blow carbon dioxide into the atmosphere creating an unintended consequence, more for our children and grandchildren than for us. Yet, our leaders fail to lead and ignore the voices of the people. We see a large wind farm, a vision of the future that could be. A farmer in a huge tractor waits for us to ride by before pulling into the road to drive by and smile at us. We try to catch a draft, but don’t have quite enough juice. Everyone just seems a little more friendly out here.

We encounter Joe, a guy about our age on a mountain bike pulling a trailer. He’s running on knobbys (regular off-road mountain bike tires; talk about rolling resistance) - “13 dollar Kevlar K-Mart specials” we’re told. Len and I stand in awe. Joe’s riding into the headwind that keeps us flying. He started in Connecticut, is headed to Seattle via the Going-to-the-Sun Road, a route we bypassed to avoid an extra two days riding. From Seattle he heads to San Francisco and from there to Key West Florida where he plans to “f--- around” for a month before returning to Connecticut next April! No motor home for this intrepid traveler - he’s camping!

The 73 miles go by easily. I see my new grand daughter for the first time on Skype - she is beautiful.

Days 11, 12 and 13 Libby to Eureka to West Glacier to East Glacier

Day 11 (14 Aug 09) Libby to Eureka 80 Miles

Dark in the morning on the western edge of mountain time zone; darker still by the low hanging rain clouds and the dingy Roadway Inn. Good thing the Motor Lodge across 4 lanes lets us use their coin washer and dryer.

Promises of another day of rain. We ride north on the eastern edge of Lake Koocanusa and on the edge of the storm. Ospreys greet our passing on a road so quiet we can hear our hearts beat when we stop to look at the mountains. We stop to watch whether a fledging osprey will take the leap off the high dive. His parents call circling us call, but he just cries.

We’ve gone 33 miles still on the edge of the storm. We are making good time and Jim remarks that it looks like Scotland: innumerable shades of gray reflected as steel gray by the lake - gray above, gray below. A few moments later he says, “Get on your rain gear.” Len fails the transition and gets soaked (he’ll never make the cut in triathlon unless he practices his transition). We stand under the trees while it pours and hails.

Rain ends and we change again. More changes than the runway models. We come to the Tobacco Valley boarded by the Mission Mountains (part of the Rockies) and the river. Over our right shoulders is black sky with black fingers hanging down. A stiff side wind makes climbing the river valley benches difficult.

We turn south into the stiff wind and stop at Stein’s Family Market. A rotisserie chicken, salad, yoghurt and bananas in our packs. It starts raining and we have 8 miles to Crave Creek Cabins. The thermometer drops 10 degrees and we are pelted with stinging rain. Rain dripping off our noses, rain soaking our shoes, but that rotisserie chicken safe in the dry bag.

Up to Grave Creek Cabins and a rainbow over the Mission Mountains.

An aside - the main event for Jim. My daughter Dawn had her second baby this morning at 9:15 AM eastern time. Kate Leigh Allen was born 7 lbs. 10 oz. Both baby and mother are doing well. I can’t wait to see my new grand daughter.

Day 12 (14 Aug 09) Eureka to West Glacier 70 miles

Our stay at the Grave Creek Cabins was delightful. The cabins are extremely well maintained, have a small deck that faces the Flathead Mountain range. The inside is warm, has hardwood floors and a small kitchen area. We had the foresight of buying a rotisserie chicken for dinner in Eureka. Given the rain and distance to the nearest restaurant (2 miles), dinner would otherwise have consisted of Hammer bars and Accelerade. As it was, we had time to clean the mud and sand from our bike chains before the rain began again. Jim was temped to make a beer run but the nearby thunder and lightening discouraged him.

We awoke to gray skies and mid-40s temperature and began the ride in our rain gear, more for warmth than because of rain. As we rode by Dickey Lake we heard the cry of the Common Loon. You hear them all summer at Lovell Lake in New Hampshire, but we were both surprised to hear that haunting call here.

We spent the first half of the ride on route 93, which was lightly traveled in the early morning. Traffic didn’t really pick up until we approached Whitefish, home of the Big Mountain ski area. Whitefish is also home to Hammer Nutrition and we were disappointed to learn that their store is closed on Saturday. We ate lunch in a small café (first time for a real lunch in many days) across the street from the local bicycle shop. After the obligatory stop at the bike shop where Jim replenished his supply of Hammer bars, we continued on to West Glacier.

We rode through quiet farmland on the outskirts of Whitefish before rejoining route 2 (about the only road we’ll see for the rest of our ride through Montana) and the rain. Upon leaving route 2 in Columbia Falls, we also left the rain. We were now riding on a lightly traveled county road. After making a short stop to remove our rain gear we encountered two other riders, Seth and Jan, who were on the second to last day of an 8 week tour of the western U. S. They were on their way to East Glacier to catch the train, the Empire Builder, back to Minnesota. A few miles further on we were passed by several people in an old Land Cruiser. They stopped in a turnout in front of us and we were approached by a young man, Dan, who as it turns out, noticed my (Jim’s) Dartmouth bike jersey and told us he was returning to Hanover this fall to complete his senior year at Dartmouth. Dan asked us if we were part of Dartmouth’s Ride and Build project. We said we were not and he explained that each year in the summer, a group of Dartmouth students ride their bicycles in the Northwest and help build homes (like Habitat for Humanity). After talking for a little while longer, we said good bye and Dan returned to the Land Cruiser. Within several hundred yards up the hill he turned on to an unmarked gravel road, presumably where he lives. What an incredible coincidence to encounter a current Dartmouth student from a state that sends very few students to Dartmouth (I think there might have been four in my class) and in an out-of-the-way place, even for Montana.

We reached West Glacier without further rain although we had a 3 mile stretch of muddy gravel road to cross by the Flathead River. The Vista Motel, where we are staying has an incredible west-facing view of the mountains. The welcoming and most generous proprietress offered to let us use her car so we could buy food for breakfast. The nearest grocery store is 10 miles away in Hungry Horse. After taking care of breakfast, we walked up the hill to the Swift Creek Grill for dinner.

Day 13 (16 Aug 09) West Glacier to East Glacier 56 miles

Change of plans; we were going to Browning. The owner of the Vista Inn in East Glacier tells us not to stay in Browning. If we do; don’t go out at night; lock your bikes in your room. The bars have bars on the windows and doors. Fights and drinking are the norm.

Shelby is too far. Good thing we decided on East Glacier. It was a slog in the cold rain up and over Marias Pass and to the east side of the continental divide. Just a bit north of here is the Hudson Bay divide. Parting of the rivers as we head for the plains.

Railroad built by Hill and his Empire Builder train. President Cleveland tried to stop Hill from building his railroad with the help of “eastern interests.” (Nothing really changes.) Hill’s’ railroad took coal and wheat to the west coast and goods back. It appears that the RR is doing the same today.

East Glacier makes its money on Glacier National Park. Small town, few motels and a big black dog that decides what side of the street he will sleep on. We scrounge for breakfast items in the one convenience store in town. Lots of Snickers, beer, Crunch, Cup of Soup. Fortunately, the person who owns the store is also a baker and we get some fresh baked goods and fruit.

We do laundry and read the police blotter in the “Glacier Reporter.” Here are a few tastes of the news (no embellishment, just the facts mam):

12:19 AM “Officer reporting he will be out with a male urinating. The male took off and officer has male’s wallet.”

7:57 AM “Backpack left with undies.”

9:25 AM “Colony advises they are on generator right now and have no electricity. Some of the guys out in the field saw a bird on fire.”

2:08 AM “Female caller requesting an ambulance to Low Rent (name of town?) for a woman. She is having a seizure.” (Editorial comment: Maybe her rent went up?)

Day 10 - Clark Fork to Libby, MT 73 miles

Climbing down the time zone ladder (GMT -07). Rain, rain please go away.

The day began with moderate rain as with road upstream along the Clark Fork River on the alternate route. At 10 miles we encountered an unexpected obstacle - road construction that prevented further progress on the paved road. Soooo … we took the detour - a very muddy road that after 5 miles returned us to the paved route about a half mile from the bridge that crossed the Clark Fork to return to state route 200 five miles inside Montana. We rode much of the day in rain but that didn’t diminish the beauty of our surroundings. In fact, as you can see from the pictures, the clouds that partially obscured the surrounding mountains were quite spectacular.

We saw more Osprey this day than I ever seen before. There were hundreds of nesting platforms and almost every one of them had a nest with more than one nearly mature chick. They became almost common place and we failed to photograph any of the Osprey. Len's spectacular photo of the humming bird at least partially compensates for the absence of Osprey. We'll do better tomorrow. Speaking of photos, don't miss the full set for each day now publicly available on Picasa at https://photos.app.goo.gl/ygsYaYy4vSJs2KXAA. We're updating the photos every day we have internet access.

Our favorite section along the Bull River had minimal car and truck traffic and provided the opportunity to reflect on the reason for undertaking a journey like ours. The Bull River Valley offered a stark contrast to the showers we received along the more heavily traveled routes. Particularly memorable was an RV pulling a large SUV AND a boat. Despite the spray, the humor of the situation could not escape us, and we both laughed as the enterprising vacationer passed us (recall the Griswold family's cross country trip starring Chevy Chase in the National Lampoon's Vacation).

A water stop at the Half Way House provided local color. We were definitely out of place in our riding togs. The sign at the door announced that there would be smoking inside. No smoke free environment for these tough folks. After filling our water bottles at the bar - the locals must have thought we were nuts, we soldiered on without rain for a change.

The day ended as it began, with rain as we rode into Libby. There we were greeted by a surly desk clerk at our hotel and a group of very friendly motorcyclists. Needing a Laundromat and being told the closet one was five miles away (back to the rain - no way), Len went across the street to another hotel were he pleaded with the very accommodating desk clerk to let us use the guest laundry even though we weren’t staying there. Guess we should have chosen the Venture Inn. While Len watched the laundry, Jim found a NAPA auto parts store and purchased degreaser and rags for the bike chains. Next was a visit to the local super market for breakfast stuff and some PayDay bars for the next day’s ride. We finished the day with a dinner visit to the Antlers Diner, a “family” restaurant specializing in everything except beer or wine, something we really wanted to have.

Day 9 12 Aug 09. Sacheen Lake, WA to Clark Fork, ID. 79 miles.

On and off; on and off with the rain gear. We are now fully loaded. The bikes will handle differently and the average speeds will drop. No more 35-40 mph down the hills. Also, the road is wet. The ride is nice until we make the turn on to Route 95 where the 18 wheelers give us our road oil showers.

We hook into a nice bike path for the last 5 miles into Sandpoint; just in time for a pizza and cash infusion. Along Lake Pend Oreille we see ospreys and belted kingfishers.

As we enter Clark Fork we see the Squeeze Inn and its gourmet food sign. Leonard recalls eating there 4 years ago and the cook, Janet. Janet opens the restaurant in the summer as a place so her daughters will have summer jobs and a place to swim, hike and fish.

She has done it for 14 summers and spends winters in South America. A free spirit, she sits with us during dinner and talks and talks. He daughter has to interupt so we can eat. Tough town she tells us.

With a little riding we will be in Montana in the morning. It is pouring rain right now and we hope it ends before the long day to Libby,MT.

Day 7 - Colville to Sacheen Lake

A short ride through the town and neighborhoods of Colville brought us to rolling farmland - always deceptive for the bike rider since the “rolling” hills often turn out to offer challenging climbs, no exception here. Weather was perfect but a headwind (is there any other kind for the earnest bicyclist) came up about an hour into the ride and stayed with us the rest of the day.

After traveling the back roads, we returned to route 20, this time with almost no traffic for nearly 30 miles. Following a great downhill and crossing the Pend Oreille (the French would feint if they heard the pronunciation or saw the spelling) River, we turned onto the LeClerq Road. We traveled south along the river after having been within about 10 miles of the Canadian border. After riding about 30 miles we encountered unexpected road repair work. Thankfully, Pat and his Element were still with us. Jim, who was driving at the time waited for Len and Pat at the beginning of the construction zone. When they arrived, we racked the bikes and drove the 5 miles across the construction zone. Len and Pat returned to the bikes to finish the last 10 miles.

We were greeted by Bev Lawrie and Cathy Retterer at the Retterer family compound (two houses and various outbuildings) on Sacheen Lake. Sacheen is much like Donner Lake in the Sierras for those who have a basis for comparison. Very beautiful. Pat and Jim swam across the lake while Len loafed on the dock. Pat decided that he wanted to get an early start returning to Reno, so he departed about 4 PM.

After a day’s rest, the real ride begins for Len and Jim. We’re “easing” into the trip with a 78 mile day fully loaded. Should be fun.