Days15-16-17 AND a major milestone!

Sorry for the delay folks. I gotta say eastern Montana looks really like the rest of eastern Montana. Also there is no signal so let's just go with that. Have been biking through these Hills that don't seem to end for the past 3 days. WITH a headwind of 5-20mph :( Also have had around three thousand feet of elevation gain over the course of the day, each day. I will have to say though it is a little bit exciting to be in the middle of fossil country.  In addition, hit a huge milestone today so let's run the numbers(drumroll). Day#17: hit 1,000 miles!!!! 4states. 4 mountain ranges. 2 mountain passes. 1 time zone. 6 license plates and $6 found. Approx: 50,000 cals burned. Hills to infinity and amazing experiences, endless.

Day 14- the dreaded 3Hs!!

Hot,headwind, hills(or mountains actually). No pictures from road today sorry folks BUT do have a top 5list complied! Top 5 ways you know you've been cycle touring:
#5)You descend upon a produce stand like a swarm of locuses
#4)Anyday you don't do 50miles is an easy day, consult map for more miles.
#3)Hot clean running water is a luxury.
#2)You eat every meal making cookie monster sounds, and all food is delicious.
And the #1.......
You pick up and procede to wear a jacket you find on the side of the road cause it smells better than you do.

Today's topography. Miles of hills...

Day #13- Continental Divide!!

What's a sedimentary rock doing on top of the divide??!

East side of Divide.

Rode up and over the Continental Divide ! It is crazy what is stark contrast of scenery it is between the west side of the divide and the east. I can also say that it was really freaking cold and windy at the top. Yesterday had to get an 80 plus mile day in to get to the next campsite which means there was a stretch of 60 miles with absolutely nothing.  No water, no gas station, thankfully I had extra water on bike. 60 miles of just crazy pretty country side. In addition, the wind was blowing so hard there were times that I was pushed off into the gravel shoulder and thankfully I didn't bite it. Am staying in a hotel tonight (1st one in like 8 days) which is quite an odd thing to finally have fresh and hot running water.  That means I'm probably going to many showers cause I can.  Tomorrow, fingers crossed, get new bike gear levers if shop in town has them.

READ!! OPEN BLOG IN NEW WINDOW IF NOT CURRENT!!

Some people have said that they are NOT getting the updated blog. I updated about every 2 or 3 days depending upon internet but I try to update it every day. If not updated, take the link and open it in a new window and that should work. Thanks for following along on this incredible journey!!

Day 11-12. Sleep in with the sheep.

Today is a rest day! And I happen to be in this really cool little town :-) Spent last night in what they call a sheep wagon. Imagine an old covered wagon that's been converted to like a 1900's RV. It's actually very comfortable! I'm currently at an elevation over 4000 feet, it's crazy how dry it is here like wake up in the morning dry throat. Slowly but surely making my way East making some great people along the way :-) Finding stuff on road is way to pass time while riding. Yesterday found two Montana plates AND $1. Whoot

Day 8-9-10 pics pics

KING OF THE MOUNTAIN!!!

View from the top.

'Shower' while singing Spice Girls to.keep bears away.

Bridge to the wilderness.

Bed time view.

Scenery for past 3 days. Yeah, for reals.

Day 8-9-10 (No internets in the wilderness)

Hello everyone!! Sorry for the delay! All is well but there is no internet in dem mountains!!! Spent past 3 days pedaling along a clear roaring mountain stream (which was also my shower one night when there was none where camped at). Climbed a mtn 5,225 ft. Changed a time zone. Crossed into Montana. Met some super cool other cyclist, who had lunch and dinner and bfast with (crazy thing is we didn't ride together, we just ended up at same spots!) Dined with a cycling couple from London, and today experienced some more 'trail magic' The rundown: didn't have nets for 3 days so couldn't look up place to stay next or a hotel or a warm shower host. Figured would just bite the bullet and drop over $100 for a room in town I am in. Started riding to said town and was very slowly climbing a mountain when noticed my from brake was rubbing....again. Stop to fix said brake half way up the climb and this older gentleman cyclist stopped on his way down. We got to talking and turns out 1. He was from next town and 2. He is a warm shower host!!!! Got me a place to crash for the night!!!!  How neat is that?? Get to there house and its got amazing views of snow capped mountains! Shared a delic veggie stir fry and some great stories too.  What  a great way to end the day! Here's some pics of last few days: thanks for following along this journey. A special shout out to the Schultz family who sponsored my crazy expensive taillight. A motorcycler commented that he could clearly see me from over half mile away. That's a huge thing on these crazy curvy mtn roads! BTW max downspeed: 41.5mph,no pedaling:)

Day 7 Idaho, potatoes or potatoes?

It is rather interesting with a rest day will do for you. Turns out today was beautiful weather and finished up the day 67 miles in. The scenery is crazy beautiful here and almost all of the cars don't want to kill you which is nice. There is also this thing called Subway which I have not yet seen except for today. Let me tell you that was a great treat for lunch and then for dinner. I can also report that we have gone from metamorphic to igneous. That kinda
rocks :-)

Day 6 = 6 MAJOR climbs, and 1 sweet descent.

If you ever happened to get on a bike and decide to ride back home from the West Coast let me know and I will try to talk you out of it. Just kidding, so far this has been an amazing experience and I'm actually in Idaho now!!! Today's ride was by far one of the hardest rides I think I've ever done in my life. From the pictures posted the map shows you a 1,000 foot elev gain in under 2 miles on a dirt road with a nasty headwind. For those of us not familiar with cycling headwinds are the things we detest, along with rode rager drivers. not a lot of food along the way so I pretty much hate the Giant peanut butter rice krispie butterscotch

See that tiny green spot down there? Well I rode down and back up to that.

Figure out the topo lines!!

goodness and that's it. but the next two days I get to sleep in a real bed AND tomo is a much much needed rest day!!

Day 5 = gluten heaven.

Did not ride very far today, only fifty miles but still seem to take forever because getting into the mountains I guess they're actually hills at this point. 1500 feet of climbing yesterday that's a lot also had to wait out a couple of storms. Thankfully I was able to do that and move on when they passed. Gotta say the terrain out here is rather beautiful kind of like that song you know the one with the amber and waves of grain. Today is day 6 is going to be probably the hardest day yet but have a rest day tomo. Thankful for that! Found something awesome creek side campingcamping
any idea what this is?

Day 4 done, few thoughts from the road...

First off, I feel that it is my duty to inform you that roadrunners do not say 'meep meep' when they cross the road. Second I can confirm that onions do indeed come from Walla Walla Washington. crazy to think that in two more days I will be in Idaho! Also crazy to think that the two hardest days so far are coming out nearly 3,000 feet in elevation gain yeah that's a lot. Here's hoping that the wonderful weather will stay wonderful. Pic shows Oregon on left and Washington on right, taken while standing in between two states. Kinda cool!!

Day 3,killerhill and Stonehedge??!

Day 2....whoa

So far the first 20 miles have been absolutely amazing, mostly downhill and unbelievable scenery plus a killer Tailwind as well. It is so interesting to see the change in the topography and stratigraphy as I ride. BTW, if you ever find yourself in Carson Washington, you should definitely stay at the Carson Resort luxury cabins absolutely amazing!

Good by Portland hello Washington!

So what takes 45 minutes to climb and 10 minutes to come down? That would be my first major hill! Maybe even a mountain but I'm not sure 800 feet of climbing counts as a mountain. Maximum speed on the way down was 35 miles per hour, that's pretty amazing! OfOf
course there was ironic breathtaking views at the top after climbing for 45 minutes that's kind of a new take on the word breathtaking.

The Things We Carry.....book recommendation?

You get 1 book to carry around with you and read while biking home from Oregon/camping along the way.. What do you bring? (No religious texts please, nothing against them, just too heavy)

RIP Kzoo cyclist.

My heart goes out to the cyclist in Kalamazoo. Their friends,families, everyone who has ever been harmed by a car. This just sucks. I think it would be fitting for the guy who killed the 5 cyclists to have to ride 5 centuries along a busy road with minimal shoulder space.  Live to ride, ride to live.

Portland bound!!!

I am so so so so excited to restart ride in Portland soon!!! Blisters are 95% healed, new (old) seat installed, bike professionally adjusted, gear reduced, repacked and restocked(40lbs instead of 45) Roll out of Portland Sunday the 12th and.....will be riding on some AMAZING routes. Pics soon!  Little shout out to Trek and Bucks for all of their help. Also Calumet Crank Club has been amazingly helpful with tips and tricks of tour cycling.

The hardest easy choice.

After much deliberation, planning, advice seeking and soul-searching, I decided the best route would be to come home for a week. Heal up and get bike adjusted as needed and then fly out to Portland Oregon and start on the ride again. Rather bummed about this but this blister is not healing and every mile is a mile of agony so really what's the point of the ride?

Where to go from here....

55 miles today. 20 of which the blister bandage stayed on and life was great again. 35 of which spent figuring out where to go from here....home? Push on? Rest up a day of zero saddle time???

Will ride for waffles!!

After a much-needed night to heal blisters, repack gear, re- plan route , catch up on life xcetera I find myself and the glory of a hotel waffle breakfast!!!! It's gotta be the start to a good day of riding. Now if I could just get off this chair without blisters cracking back open ;) 60/short miles today and a place to crash at the end. Ride on, right on.