Montana roads go on forever. Next time you eat a steak think of these guys!
Sunday, 8 July 2012
Thursday, 5 July 2012
Ok here I am in the adventure cycling offices in missoullA. These are the people who make the maps for this trip and I can highly recommend them if you are thinking of doing this little ride yourself! They also have free ice cream which is worth the trip in itself ha ha. I've already used up nearly 6mb of my phone card with pi tires and videos so I bought a new card so I will have space to capture everything yet to come. I tried drop box but life is to short lol! Looking at the maps on a real chair is novel..lol! And at a table instead of in wind on the bike! Chief josephs pass looks dauntingly high but ill do it no problem. I've had a lot of support from my friends here in the USA and it means a lot to me ..I feel very at home in the states and so far have met only cool friendly people. I checked with at&t my cellphone network and basically it wasn't my fault there was no signal across idaho...apparrently it is an issue there because of the high hills and low population.
Well i made it missoulla montana yesterday and today I got shinto his New saddle. Today my ass is happier! I hooked up with david from Denver and anders from Oslo as i rode into town. Se hit Two bars and I ate to much pizza again. I was invited to stay with a very kind family last night and had a real bed and a shower for the first time in a week! This was a warm shower host and id you dont know what that us then google it. Ita Luke couchsurfimg but for cyclists. Today i had to
GO to the bike shop for the saddls and new brakes ad the downhills here are almost ad long as the climbs LOL! Apologies for spelling on this blog i still have to master this Tony phone keyboard. I just got back from the drugstore where i met Wilson WHO gas been cycling since january with his dog in a box on the bike! He id cycling to every state in america from virginia! Ove list weight on this small ride and am getting my power thighs back again! I met a giù WHO id from hammersmith london he came on tour here with his band in 1978 and decided to stay in missoulla!
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
The ride today from the small beach onthe river at Lowell to wemdover campsite was 60 miles of riding along the river lochsa through magnificent pine forests. This area reminds me s lot of Germanys black forest but this is far better! It was a cool day after last nights thunder. I was tired as I got no sleep on the beach as I was watching the rivet rise as the rain increased and a flash flood at 3am was looking on the cards..not good. I won't pitch on river banks again! I
HAD breakfast at a diner and headed off along the river, a 60 mile ride with nothing but trees river..
No water or food except what I carry. I would like to point out that its likely the trick driver who actually touched my left arm at about 50miles an hour when he had more space to pass than an aircraft carrier would need has a co k smaller than a female chipmonk. On the way I met Hayden from virginia riding west to Florence without a map. We chatted and he took some notes from my maps . I am still without phone as the deal I got in Portland for whatever reason isn't working on idaho. I've been washing in the river as I haven't seen a shower in to long a time and I'm starting to smell like a roadkill on a hot day! Big pass to climb in the morning so I'm off to bed.
The climb out of whitebird this morning was ok. My knees hurt. Lot so I took it slow and only used low gears. The view from the top is amazing and there are no cars on this road as they all get to climb up the new road..ha serves them all right! The more I do these climbs the better o get at them. Mentally I am strong and I know I will beat every hill simply because I have no alternative but to prevail. I saw dear bouncing across the road in front of me...man they can jump! I went to the old battlefield at whitebird where the cavalry met the Indians. I could really see why the terrain was so important in the fight. I'm typing this in the subway shop in grangeville idaho where fat women with tatoos and foods on cowboy hats are alll eating three times as much as I am. It's 11am and having done the days climb itts mostly flat for the rest of today. I don't feel like a foreigner here.
Sent from my HTC
Todays ride has been breathtakingly beautiful. Riding along the lochsa river with its dense pine forests and pure fast flowing water was more than special. Tonight I am camping right on a pure white sand beach right on the river at Lowell. I also got a new brooks saddle on hold for me to collect in missoulla any my thanks go to bear on vs planet for literally saving my arse! My cell network isn't covering me here..dunno why.the barmaid let me use her cell to call the bike shop so I should have no problem...hmm. 68miles of perfect cycling today and a big climb as well. Swimming in the river and sleeping on my own beach..paradise. tomorrow I'm off out into the wilderness as the 66mile ride has no water or services marked on the map at all...can't wait.
Do any of my good American friends following this blog have any clue why my cell network isn't working here? I bought a deal In Portland and the guy said it would cover me nationwide. I think it was at t or something. I'm paying $ 50 a month for this. Icant get any signal but locals here can no problem. Tim do you remember the guy who sold it me? Maybe he knows what I have to do? I am sure its some kind of mix up my side but I have no clue how to get connected again. Can't call them either. Round here I could send smoke signals I guess lol!
Sunday, 1 July 2012
Saturday, 30 June 2012
Sitting in the shade of the visitor info centre at council idaho. The heat is intense and I'm stopping a lot just to get out of the sun. The roads in idaho army as good as Oregon and the shoulders have potholes and loose shingle in places. I seem to attract butterflies and wasps today..as with women I prefer a butterfly lol! There are a lot of motor bikers here and the spirit of easy rider is alive in idaho. As we pass most of them wave or salute to say have a great ride and I wave back..those I have met have been good people. One pair of biker were amazed that I kept catching them up..even though they were stopping a lot..so am I lol! At the biker cafe I read the local paper..apparently porcupine is plentifull here and it carried a recipe for porcupine ha ha! My saddle has split and it is pinching my arse as I ride...eek...so I urgently need to get to a bike shop that sells brooks b17 champion saddles. The Issue cyclist I met today said there was one in Montana...just hope my arse will make it that far.
Baker city to hells canyon
I set off about 6am and followed the powder river along to a small place called halfway. Here I ate my first peanut butter and jelly sandwich in America. I had called into the store on my way out of baker city and bough food for the day. The day was mercifully cool for the mostpart and there was a very long downhill stretch early on in the day. I dealt with the climbs and felt strong having rested for a day yesterday. I made oxbow and followed the snake river along to the dam and then the Idaho state line. I headed for the first campsite on the lake but it was dirty and had no water so I carried on along hells canyon and caught up with some fishermen who had caught catfish. I pitched my tent right next to the lake in hells canyon after an 80 mile ride the latter half of whi ch was in extreme heat in the canyon. I went for a swim in the beautiful.lake a couple of times cooked my dinner and watched the sun set behind the canyon wall on the lake. Water on the rides is critical. I carry 4
Bottles and refilled them all twice on the ride. Tomorrow there is a hellish climb to get out of the canyon so I will start very early before the sun becomes to lethal. I saw my first rattlesnake today, a roadkill but it served to remind me they are definatly here!
The climb out
OF HELLS canyon is ten miles long but I did it before the sun came up so avoided the heat. The downhill into Cambridge was real fun though! I met a rider called ed on the way down, he was riding from Yorktown to California. In Cambridge I stopped for Gatorade and peanut butter and met Phil from Australia who was riding from yorktown to AstoriA.
Friday, 29 June 2012
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