Sunday, June 30, 2013

Day 14 Rest day in Billings


Feeling a bit better today.  My legs are a bit stiff though, and my sunburn is sore.   Having a nice day eating three good meals, catching up on things, getting to church, and resting up.  It was fun to toodle around downtown Billings on a Sunday morning on my bike when there was no traffic around.  For dinner, since most everything was closed on a Sunday evening, I headed to a park where I heard a concert in the park was happening.  Got some great nachos from a truck vendor, and some very yummy ice cream as well!  Turns out the concert was the Billings Symphony Orchestra!  Free in a park!  What a treat.  A nice end to a nice rest day.
The people gather for the concert-they were walking a mile from their cars!

yummy food!

The Billings Symphony Orchestra

Sharkbait enjoying the concert in the park

Day 13 Harlowton to Billings MT - 92mi (67mi for me)


This morning started with breakfast at the truck, then off to the road.  We all were going strong and fast.  We were amazed at how effortless it seemed and what good time we were making (turns out it was a gradual downhill).  After our early lunch, the road turned hot and uphill.  For some reason, many of the riders were getting flats today.  I had no flats, but after lunch I started feeling really crummy.  I tried to persist, but at mile 67 of 90 I felt I could not go on and ride safely while feeling so badly.  It is the first day I did not ride the entire route for the day. Sad :(
Caught a ride in to the dorm at Missoula State where we will spend our rest day tomorrow.  I slept away the afternoon, then we all went to dinner under some trees on campus catered by a local restaurant.  It was really excellent food and drink.  Some of the others went out for a drink, but I am still not feeling well and am going to rest up.

Its a team effort out there.  We stop to help each other.

Day 12 Townsend to Harlowton MT - 99mi


Started the day having breakfast at one of the few eateries in town.  I had some yummy pancakes with very good strawberry-rhubarb sauce that was apparently made by one of the local women.  
We knew a climb was coming in the ride at mile 11, but we ended up having to climb up two big ridges before that!  The climb that started at mile 11 was up Deep Creek Canyon.  For a climb it was very pleasant!  The creek bubbled right next to the road, and the canyon was sheltered, treed, and beautiful in the early morning light.  And the grade was fairly gradual.  Bur then it went on, and on, and on, and got steeper.  found I had to stop a couple times to let my heart catch back up to me, so I took photos while I rested.  The canyon opened up near the top, and as I crested the hill the high plains greeted me.  Riding those green high plains was definitely a highlight of the trip so far for me.  The next 10 mi or so were breathtaking.  Everything was just so green and fresh, and wildflowers covered whole hillsides.  After a bit of a descent, the country turned to rolling vistas and cattle (happy cows).
After lunch stop it got hot (well at least for me - 88deg).  More climbing came and I began to get discouraged with 60mi still left to go for the day.  Finally the road started descending nicely, then I entered a big flat valley with farm fields and the highway became a nice country road.  A fantastic tailwind came up and I was able to "sail" the bike at 22mph without much pedaling!!  I made up miles with little effort.  Very encouraging.  With 8mi to go the wind changed but I could smell the barn by then and persisted in.  I arrived covered with sweat, various forms of mucus, perpetual, and a sunburn.  Our dinner that night was with a family who lives in Harlowton.  It was so nice to have fresh, homemade food!  Slept in the carpeted basement of a church in town - very comfortable.
Deep Creek


Deep Creek Canyon

Getting steeper

Pretty woodlands along the canyon sides

The High plains.  Pictures do not do it justice.  There are bands of wildflowers in the grasses.

My view up there

Historic sites make nice breaks

Ferdinands

Get along little dogie.
I had great fun mooing at all these beasts as I went by to get a reaction.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Day 11 Avon to Townsend MT - 61.5mi

I made it over the continental divide!!!!  A very nice day today.  All of us enjoyed a shorter ride today.  The day dawned clear and stayed that way, but did not get hot.  We had a tailwind helping us up the 11mi climb up to the divide.  I felt a bit dizzy during the last 1.5mi, but I was fresh and it wasn't bad at all.  The descent was great, on a big double lane, with very little traffic.  We all thoroughly enjoyed it!  Could have done that all day.  What fun!  Then the grade lessened but still mostly descended.  We were soon in Townsend and are now enjoying a peaceful, unhurried afternoon at the high school where we are camped.  Dinner will be in town at one of the cafes.  I will post a photo of myself near the divide when I get it sent to me by another rider (my camera wasn't working).
near Townsend MT

camping on the football field

my cozy "home"

Day 10 Missoula to Avon MT - 99mi

This was a hard ride for me.  I knew it might be.  The combination of long distance and the higher altitudes took it right out of me.  We left Missoula after a nights rain and the mists were rising off the close hills as we followed some creeks up into the rockies.  The landscape looked like something out of Tolkien.  Very neat.  Then we climbed several ridges with very green valleys between each one.  The vistas gradually became bigger and bigger and I could tell we were getting higher and higher.  About 20mi away from Avon I started feeling dizzy and weak.  I started to fear I wouldn't finish the day, and I could have grabbed a ride to the camp if I wanted.  But I really did not want the mountains to defeat me, so I stubbornly pedaled on.  With 9mi to go, the road started to descend.  Oh joy, it kept descending! That saved me, and I pedaled through Avon and on to the camp a very happy rider.  The Avon cafe served us a yummy good dinner with pies for dessert.  I opted to pitch a tent instead of sleep in the building that was available to us.  It was just so beautiful there, and the fresh air was wonderful.  Slept like a baby.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Day 9 Missoula


I have internet in my room!!!!!!  Today was a "rest" day.  We stayed in a dorm on the Univ of Missouri campus.  Day full of things needing to be done.  Eat, laundry, clean/adjust bike, eat, go speak at clean air/biking presentation, visit bike shop for needed supplies, visit THE office of Adventure Cycling Association, more laundry, pack up & send home unneeded supplies, repack everything, and get ready for tomorrows 99mi ride up into the rockies.  I am not sure where the resting part comes in!  Missoula is a neat town tucked in amongst the hills.  I Need to come back and spend more time getting to know it.
My father in law passed away this afternoon.  May he rest in peace.  Tomorrow's ride will be for him.
Good night.

Day 8 Thompson Falls to Missoula - 102mi

Today was the first century (100Mi) of the big ride.  I woke up late & feeling rushed.  But I still got things packed with some help and I think the extra sleep most likely did me a great deal of good.  I felt much better today and the ride went well.  More incredible scenery.  The Thompson river, which we rode along most of the day, was running high and strong.  Quite impressive!  I have rode centuries before, so I kept telling myself this was doable and just kept going.  We got into some big sky scenery, which can make you feel small when it's just you and your bike out there.  We started the ride in rain. Later it cleared and became sunny.  There was a ridge we had to climb over to get into the valley where Missoula is, but it was gradual and not as bad as I thought it would be.  It was very warm and sunny as I started the climb, and I was hoping some of the clouds int he distance would come cover the sun and cool things off.  Be careful what you wish for.  The clouds turned into a thunderstorm and cooled me off good!  I was OK though with my storm jacket I got for our Pacific Northwest winter weather.  We all finished the day strong and feeling well.  Today helped my confidence greatly.




Day 7 - Sandpoint ID to Thompson Falls MT - 86mi

Today started out beautifully.  I managed to get an early start and was feeling stronger than ever.  And the scenery was fantastic!  Started out going around Lake Pend Oreille, Then climbed up along the river to the state line of Montana.  All wonderful, pine covered hills and blue skies.  After lunch, my tire grew a strange bulge which made the bike (and me) go bump, bump, bump.  Luckily, Charlton, our ride director, was driving by with the truck.  I flagged him down and he very nicely helped me dig out my spare tire and replaced it for me.  Later we came across an accident where a motorcyclist had struck a deer.  All the other riders had been able to walk their bikes through the scene, but I arrived just as they were loading the unfortunate man into the ambulance and had to wait until they cleared the scene and all the backed up traffic cleared away.  Needless to say, the day was getting late, and I was getting tired.
I ended that day quite exhausted.  Really.  Tired enough to make me begin to doubt whether I could accomplish this trip.  Dinner and bed was so nice!!
Lake Pend Oreille

Into Montana!

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Day 6 - Spokane to Sandpoint Idaho - 83mi

After a day off the bikes, we got back at it today and headed up into the wooded mountains of Northeast Washington and Northern Idaho.  After spending a frustrating early morning trying to get back on route after missing a turn, the ride turned beautiful as we climbed into the pine scented hills.  Later in the day we began to parallel the Pend O'reille river.  Tomorrow we will ride along lake Pend O'reille in the morning.  Sandpoint is a nice town, I even got the chance to go to church this evening!  We leave at 6:00am tomorrow for Thompson Falls, Montana.  Should be one of the most scenic rides of the trip, and I am looking forward to it!
The town of Newport, WA on the Idaho border

pine covered Idaho hills

Friday, June 21, 2013

I apologize for my long silence, I did not realize how sparse the wi-fi would be on this trip.  I will still keep up daily notes but will most likely have to catch up posting them every few days.  Please see my notes on our first few days below.

DAY 4 - Odessa to Spokane, 77 miles


Last nights sleep was nice and quiet in the school gym.  We woke up to rain.  Sure glad we didn't camp outside!    The rain continued, and continued, and continued.  In fact it is still raining, but no worries- tonight we sleep in a Gonzaga dormitory in real beds.  
Being from the Pacific Northwest, todays rain did not faze me.  In fact I enjoyed the fresh clean air and coolness immensely.  But many of our riders were not prepared for riding in this weather.  I lent my wind jacket to one poor cold rider, and many other articles of clothing were borrowed today.  Still, many of the riders were soaked to the skin and very cold, which made for a hard ride for them.  Thanks to a nice tailwind, we all made good time and were in Spokane by 2:00 jumping into steaming hot showers to get warmed up again.
We rode through the Palouse today.  Very scenic with rolling hills of green growing wheat.  Long gradual hills that weren't too difficult to climb, and long descents which were a joy.  I really enjoyed today.  And tomorrow is a rest day to let our legs recover a bit.  I can't sleep in too much though.  I am scheduled to do an interview on a morning radio show at 7:40 AM.
Warm up for a soaking wet Martha

Really enjoying all of natures gardens!

DAY 3 Vantage to Odessa, 84 miles


The 1st thing we did on todays ride was cross the Columbia River bridge on I 90 all together.  Climbing back out of the gorge took some time.  Then we headed into the eastern Washington farmland. Flat hayfields.  After our lunch break in the rain, we headed up into some very pretty rolling hills with neat rock formations on the ridges & sweet smelling sage.  The rain eventually lessened, then quit.  I enjoyed watching a flock of pelicans soaring in the hills.  Yes, pelicans.  I generally felt better today than I did yesterday, though towards the end of the ride my arms started aching and my seat is complaining.  I was glad to be done.  We get to sleep inside tonight in the Odessa high school gym.  Much quieter here than last nights camp.  very nice.  Looking forward to a good nights sleep!!
Eastern Washington rolling sagebrush hills

DAY 2 - Easton to Vantage,76 miles


Today my group got to get up early to set out breakfast.  It was actually kind of fun.  After riding a stretch on I 90 we rode along a nice blacktop road with a few hills but great scenery.  Then after our morning break we took a state highway along a pretty river in a canyon.  I was enjoying myself so much along here, that I missed the turn off the highway and had to climb back 2 miles up a big hill I had just ridden down.  More "bonus" miles.  After lunch break in Ellensburg, they had us ride out on another state highway that eventually became a nice quiet ride, but at first only had a foot of shoulder and a great deal of traffic!!!!  Very harrowing. There is a tall ridge with large wind vanes on the eastern side of the Columbia.  All you Washingtonians who have been in Eastern Washington have seen it.  Well today i cycled up that ridge and all along it, then came down very fast and cold!  I was very tired today both on and off the bike.  I think the lack of sleep is telling on me.  Hopefully a good rest tonight will help.
Notice the burned trees from the forest fire that occurred here.

DAY 1 - Seattle to Easton


Well, I made it up Snoqualmie pass!!  The ride went very well.  The group got a couple of extra miles in today ("bonus miles") as we rode out of Seattle (they had trouble reading the que sheets).   The worst climb was the last 7 miles up to the pass.  My asthma was flaring up and the thinning air did not help.  I had to stop a couple of times to catch my breath, but oh boy when I reached the top!!!   Day one done, 47 more to go.  Its an early bed for me as I  am on the breakfast prep crew in the morning.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

We head out tomorrow morning!

The reality is slowly starting to sink in that this day has finally come.  Bob has graciously brought me down to Seattle and is staying to see us off tomorrow.  Got the chance to meet the people I am riding with for the next 7 weeks tonight at our pre-ride meeting and dinner. They all seem to be very fine people.  Now I am re-adjusting my gear and repacking my bags (I always pack way too much!).   I am apprehensive.  Have I trained enough?  Will I make it over Snoqualmie pass OK?  Will I hold up on the daily grind?  Then I think of all the support and encouragement I have received from you all over these past few weeks, and my heart is glad again.  Here we come America!   Here we come DC!

Sunday, June 2, 2013

More training


I managed to complete a century ride (100mi) around Whatcom county yesterday without eating any cottonwood fuzzies! It wasn't easy.  Not eating the fuzzies, that is.  The ride went quite well.
The weather here has turned nice again which will help my perspective immensely while I finish up my training rides during these next two weeks left before we start the Big Ride.

I have included a photo of my dear father, Garry Fortune, who died of emphysema in October 2011.
It is in his honor I am making this ride.  I love you Dad.