Day 14: Off Day

Woke up today at 6:30 to some pretty nasty weather. Blowing rain out of the NNE which means that the rain would have been blowing in our face and we would have to fight the wind as well. So during breakfast we decided to stay in the hotel we are at for another day and take the day off. The decision was a bit tougher than I imagined, once you are in the zone and in a routine you want to keep making forward progress each day. So ended up going back to sleep and sleeping in till 2:00 in the afternoon for a total of 14 hours, I think my body needed it. Looks like the weather is starting to pass and we should be back on the road and heading into North Dakota tomorrow. Thanks for everyone who has been leaving comments for me I really appreciate them and I am glad to see people are reading the blog.

Adam

Day 13: Cold

Today John and I ended up in Wolf Point Montana. The riding today was not ideal conditions by any means for biking. We were fighting cold headwinds throughout the day. We're hoping that this weather system will pass tomorrow as we head into North Dakota. It is raining here so we got a hotel room for the evening. I am feeling really strong on this trip and plan on continuing the 100 mile a day average. This trip has been a really great experience so far. I am counting the days until I reach Des Monies and have my own bed to sleep in and a couple days for some R & R.

Miles Biked Today: 120

Miles Biked Total: 1132

Day 13: One Rainy Day

So last night due to rain John and I decided to get a hotel room. We woke up at 5:30, had a nice breakfast and didn't end up leaving until 8. Throughout the whole day it was raining, cold and windy. Not an ideal day for biking. There were some winds out of the northwest which helped our average speed, which I believe ended up being about 19 mph. The ride went by rather fast and the workload wasn't too bad since the state has really started to flatten out. We are planning on a really long day tomorrow and hope to be into North Dakota by Thursday.


Miles Biked Today: 90
Miles Biked Total: 1012 (1000 down only 3000+ to go!)

Day 12: I love tailwinds

Today was an early start, John and I were a little concerned with potential rain so we woke up at 6:00. The first 25 miles flew by and that is how the day continued to feel. There were 22 mph winds out of the west - north west. Stopped for lunch at 10:30, 70 miles into the ride by this point. The destination town Havre is the biggest town I have been in since the start, population roughly 10,000. The total mileage today was 129 miles at 19.8 miles an hour average and 6:30 hours of actual riding time.

Miles biked Today: 129
Miles Biked Total: 912

Day 11: Into Glacier National Park, Over the Continental Divide

After a great nights sleep in a heated greenhouse I was all charged up for the Rocky Mountains and Glacier National park. The road that I wanted to take, road to the sun I heard was closed from Chris so I took an alternate Route through. About 15 miles in I took a pit stop for some pancakes at a little cafe and then continued on up into Glacier. The scenery was very beautiful and the road was awesome for road biking on. From West Glacier, Mariahs Pass was about 40 miles up. So Mariahs pass is actually the Continental Divide so I was pretty pumped when I reached this point. This was the second mountain range down. Once I reached the top there were very strong winds out of the west blowing straight east at 18 mph. So the downhill was very fast and very fun. I stopped in the town of East Glacier and then continued on to Cut Bank. In between East Glacier and Cut Bank is a town called Browning. I ran into John when I was coming out of the gas station heading to Cut Bank. The ride into Cutbank continued to be very fast, although the road was pretty crappy once we reached the actual town of Cut Bank

Miles biked Today: 118
Miles Biked total: 783

Day 10

I woke up early this morning and took off from Libby around 7:00 a.m and decided to take an alternate route that was not on my adventure cycling map. The route would take me straight across from Libby to Kalispell which was roughly 90 miles and then up to Columbia Falls. Taking this route which was strongly advised by locals in Libby saved me one day. There was some climbing but nothing that compared to the Cascades, the "hills" did not have names like the passes in the Cascades, so I wasn't too worried. I arrived into Columbia Falls around 6:00 in the evening. I biked through town and found a nice park with some shelters. I started unpacking and setting up my tent, and a guy approached me wondering about where I had come from. So we started chatting and he told me about a tour he did in the northwest from Buffalo New York, up to Maine and back down. The purpose of his trip was to go fly fishing from stream to stream. So Chris offered me his front yard if the police came and hassled me. Then he offered to let me sleep in his greenhouse in the backyard which had a couch in it. So like any smart touring bicyclist I took him up on this. While I was setting up over he asked me if I was hungry, and of course I was. So next thing I know there is a steak on the grill for me, potatoes, a big piece of watermelon and a glass of wine. Chris said that this was his way of giving back cause he knew how it was on a bicycle tour. Thanks allot Chris for your wonderful hospitality.

Miles biked today: 104

Miles biked total: 665

Day 9: On the Road Again, another new state

So I did leave Sandpoint, Idaho on Friday afternoon. I went out last night to this really fun bar in town and had a buffalo burger and some black and tans. I met some really cool people there, and eventually met up with Denise( I was staying at her house). I saw a great band play at the bar. They were playing the funk. Thank you so much Denise for your great hospitality. So like I said I took off on Friday afternoon. The derailleur hanger that was overnighted ended up coming in a little bit early and I was able to get on the road at 1:30 with only 92 miles between me and my destination. So to say the least I was in a bit of a hurry. The ride out of Sandpoint was very beautiful. Shortly into the ride I crossed into Mountain Standard time which was exciting to see that I had ridden into a new timezone. Shortly after that I entered into Montana. After reaching the border I still ended up having another 50 miles to bike to Libby, Montana. By the time I got to camp I was pretty tired, made some food and crashed hard.










Miles biked today: 92
Miles biked total: 561

Day 7: Welcome to Idaho

Last night I met another cross country biker at the Mexican restaurant that I went to eat at. His name is John. He is on the Swat team in Seattle and decided to take 2 months off of work to do the Northern Tier ride to New Jersey. So John and I road together from Ione ,Washington to Newport, Washington. We had the first border crossing just outside of Newport and our final destination Sandpoint was approximately 30 miles from Newport. About half way there my bike chain kept skipping, so I was pedaling up a hill and all of a sudden I heard a bad noise come from the back of my bike and my back tire locked up. I looked down and saw that my rear derailleur (a very important part on a bike) had been ripped off and was jammed in between spokes. At first glance John and I thought that the frame was broken, but it ended up that a piece that connects to the frame, (the derailleur hanger), had broken off. So John continued towards the next town and I stayed flagging down trucks to look for a ride into Sandpoint. Several trucks didn't stop and then finally a police officer driving by stopped. He made some calls into some bike shops in town and was working on a ride for me. While he was on the phone I flagged down a propane truck(not a big semi but a truck that delivers smaller tanks). The propane man agreed to take my bike and trailer into Sandpoint but said that he was not allowed to take passengers. So it ends up that my bike and trailer get a ride in the truck and I get a ride in the police car. I found a bike shop in town, but they did not have the derailleur hanger that I need, so I started calling other bike shops in surrounding towns. No one had the part I needed. So finally I called Buzz at High Gear Cyclery in Colorado. We discuss the options and the best thing to do was have it overnighted from Colorado to here. This means it will arrive Friday afternoon. Sandpoint is probably the coolest town I have been to on this trip. There is a ski mountain, Schweitzer, near by so it is like a cool, active, little mountain town. I feel very fortunate that the bike malfunctioned here and not in the middle of nowhere. Last night I met a lady in town who agreed to let me set up my tent in her back yard, and sleep there tonight. This is quite an upgrade from where I camped last night. I was camping near the city park next to a bunch of RVs. I did not realize that there were train tracks about 30 yards away. I quickly figured out around midnight that this was the case. So there must have been about 40 trains that passed by last night, no joke. So that was quite interesting trying to sleep through that. Today I am going to lay low, hang out at the library, read some magazines, and then possibly go fishing later this afternoon. I hope to be back on the road by Friday afternoon, worst case scenario by Saturday morning.


Miles Today: 65
Miles total: 469
Adam

Day 6: A Walk in the park

So after leaving the small town of Coleville I headed east towards the Washington -Idaho border. There were some rolling hills but no more mountains which felt incredible. I was expecting an 80 mile day but it ended up my destination was only 45 miles away, So I posted up in Ione. I found maybe the nicest R.V park that I will come across on this trip, called Cedar R.V Park. The bathroom facility is way nicer than the hotel I stayed at last night. The owner gave me a great place to camp in his back yard area for free, and is letting me use his Internet and lined me up with a cold beer while I am typing this. What a guy! These simple things go along way when you are biking across the country pulling your belongings behind you. I am going to kick my legs up for the rest of the day, and am looking forward to the local Mexican restaurant tonight. Looking forward to a new state tomorrow-- Idaho !

Adam

Miles Today: 45
Miles Total: 404

Day 5: Addios Cascades

Today was the big day. One last big climb and the Cascades are behind me. Out of the town of Republic where I stayed last night I found a dinner about a 1/4 mile from the fairgrounds. I started out the day with a stack of blueberry pancakes and an order of french toast. It turned out to be just what I needed. The climb wasn't very long today but was straight up 3,500 ft in 15 miles. I felt very strong, surprisingly and made it to the top in good time. I spent some time at the top of the pass just hanging out for awhile celebrating finishing the Cascades. The downhill was fast and long but very cold. I dropped into a very ugly storm on the other side of the pass and took refuge in a grocery store for a little while to warm up. Once I reached Colville I decided to get a hotel room which proved to be just what I needed. The thought of setting up camp in a storm after finishing the Cascades did not appeal to me.

Miles today: 50

Total: 359

Day 4 More climbing

Heading out of Omak to Tonaskin I had nice tail winds and flat roads which helped the morale level early in the day. I briefly stopped in Tonaskin to reup on food and get some expresso in me for the climb ahead. Out of Tonaskin there were no breaks until the top of Wauconda Pass which was another big climb. I was contemplating staying in the town of Wauconda overnight but once I arrived there I realized that by town they actually meant a gas station. So I pushed on over Wauconda Pass and had a well needed fun, fast, down hill ride for about 15 miles. I had plenty of time to get things done upon arrival so I found a laundromat, which also had showers. So I was able to clean myself up while my clothes were washing. I found the fairgrounds about 3 miles out of town. I then set up camp quite quickly and made some pasta with alfredo sauce and spent some time looking over the maps. I plan to be into Idaho by day 7 and Montana by day 8.

Miles Today: 60

Miles Total: 309

Day 3 OOPS

So on the last day that I posted my plan I was to shoot up over the pass and directly into the town of Omak for a 50 mile day. One wrong turn, turned into another 92 mile day. Instead of going up and over I accidentally forked the wrong way and ended up going around the pass in a big V shaped route. The ride was fun though. It was slightly downhill with a strong headwind. There were apple orchards everywhere. I ended up getting into camp at around sunset and fell asleep shortly after.

Adam

Miles today: 92
Miles total: 249

Day 2: Sea to Summit

The approach to the passes, very intimidating

Day 1, was a very good start to the trip, although I had a bit of a late start. Very sunny with a strong tailwind the whole day. It stayed pretty flat all day to the town of Marblemount which ended up being about a 65 mile day

Sea to Summit: Definitely glad I have that under my belt. Leaving Marblemount it was about a 60 mile climb up to the top of Rainy Pass( approximatly 5,500 feet of elevation gain.) It was the first real grinder of the trip. About 1 mile away from the first pass, Rainy Pass my trailer tire went flat. So I pulled over and put the new tube in and to my great luck the valve got stuck in the pump and I ended up ripping the valve out of the tube. So then I resorted back to the original tube and patched it up. The ride ended up lasting about 7 and a half hours. The back side was a fast downhill into a little town called Newhalem. I was quite disappointed when I found that the only general store in town was closed. So I looked around and found a resort/country club up the road . I went in to eat and found myself in a very nice restaurant with my sweaty bike clothes on. I took a baby wipe shower and changed clothes in the bathroom and did my best to blend in. After that meal I biked an additional 15 miles into a town that was a little bit bigger and arrived right at sunset, for a total of 92 miles. An epic of a day.
So I am now typing this in a community center library in the town of Twisp. I am heading out from here to bike over Loup Pass. All the locals said that it is about half the size of what I biked yesterday. Which isn't to say much, because my legs took a beating yesterday. I am having a hard time posting pictures. Next time I have Internet I'll try to post them so stay posted.

Adam

Miles today: 92

Miles Total: 157

Day One Begins...

Click here for Photos from today! Day One.

The trip begins

The day has finally arrived. The last week has been a rat race for me, finishing up school, packing up my house that I have lived in for the last three years, preparing my trailer for the ride and trying to put in some miles on my bike between all of the madness. So I am out in Seattle now. My friend Sam will be dropping me off in Anacortes tonight, where I will be camping. I will begin the ride first thing tomorrow morning. The first week looks like it will be a tough one, going through the cascades, and allot of big climbs. There is limited restaurants and grocery stores for the first part which makes me a little nervous. It looks like it is going to be quite the adventure which was the plan. I am going to try and keep everyone updated through my website as often as possible. Internet usage my be limited in some parts of the country. Please leave me comments. It would be nice to hear from everyone as I am biking across the country solo. You can leave a comment by clicking on the orange title of each post. I will do my best to respond to your comments. THE ADVENTURE BEGINS!!!!!


P.S The benefit event that I held at the elks lodge (One Big Funkin Dance Party) turned out to be a success. There were 350 guests there and it seemed everyone enjoyed the bowling and the live music. Thanks to the elks lodge for their $500 donation to Big City Mountaineers!!!!

Adam