DAY 6 - UPHILL ON A DIRT ROAD IN A STORM

We had an early start from Boulder Creek Lodge and made good time to Philipsburg. We didn't bother stopping there in the interest of time, and charged up a huge hill to Georgetown Lake. It was a brutal climb, but there was a heart shape in the mountain face which made us feel warm inside. We love you too Montana.  

From there was continued on and eventually took our first break in Anaconda, 38 miles in. After the break, we has a hard time finding another spot to eat, stopping at the Hitching Post finally at 98 miles. 

After a 15 minute nap, we hit the road again, well more like a trail. We were told to ride an unimproved road to Twin Bridges by our friends at Adventure Cycling. Unfortunately, the road was basically a wide mountain biking trail with tons of rocks and loose gravel. Our road wheels were not made for this. 

Besides, as we climbed a huge mountain at about 4-5 miles per hour, we realized we were colliding with a fast moving storm cell, with lightning strikes about a mile away from us. The rain was hitting hard like hail. 

Just as we were about to take cover in lightning position, a big truck came rolling over the hill. We waved them down and asked if they had room to bring us the few miles we had left down the mountain. They had just finished a fishing trip and were towing a boat; they told us to throw the bikes in the back and jump on the truck bed. We were saved from the storm and the end of the brutal rocky downhill. 

We took cover in a grocery store and took comfort in hot chocolate goodness before setting out for the final 20 miles to Alder, MT, where and RV/campground was located. We ransacked the little camp stored for all things edible including a six pack. We were able to do laundry here for the first time of the trip and stole a quick shower before bed. Tomorrow is expected to be longer than the 132 miles we covered today. 

DAY 5 - CLIMBING INTO MONTANA

Started out the morning with a tough 12-mile climb up the Lolo Pass and out of Idaho, and felt immediately better as soon as we found the sign for the Montana border (and the awesome descent that we knew came right afterwards).

At the bottom of the descent, we stopped in at the restaurant at Lolo Hot Springs for a hot breakfast which, though a little disappointing, helped fuel us for the next few miles. It is amazing how much we can eat, and the expressions on the people's faces when we order food. They could barely fit the food on the table this morning!

We lost an hour of time when we crossed the Montana border and switched time zones, unfortunately, so by the time we got to Lolo and had to make some decisions about the route, it was already after noon. We decided to stick with the original plan we had and head north to Missoula, where we stopped in at the Adventure Cycling Association's headquarters and met some fantastic and knowledgeable people. Josh gave us some great route advice, and we headed east out of the city.

Though Missoula markets itself as bike-friendly (it was on signs everywhere), we got a lot of yelling and honking from drivers- more than any other place so far! Oh well, it was only a quick stop.

From Missoula, we hit some awesome frontage roads that gave us a feel for what Montana looks like. Hard to capture in photos, but it's pretty stunning.

We found ourselves running out of daylight, but we stopped in Drummond for a quick gas station dinner and to grab snacks, and then headed south towards Phillipsburg. Though Drummond was fairly empty, we had a beautiful ride leaving town.

Route 1 heads straight south to Phillipsburg, but since it was getting dark we decided to stop early and happened to find a lodge with campsites just as the sub was heading down. This place had NO web presence, so we were expecting to have to ask a farmer to stay in their yard, but this was a welcome surprise. They led us to a beautiful campsite by a stream, we got some hot showers, and now it's bedtime!

DAY 4 - HITTING OUR STRIDE

   Today was our best day by far. We woke a little after 5 and while we were getting ready, Jesse brought over a pot of coffee and 4 mugs.  While we put away our gear we had a nice time chatting. Jesse is Nez Perce, his descendants have been in the area for over a thousand years. He was in the Air Force in the 1950s and is a private pilot.  He lives in Craigmont in the summer, but winters with his wife in Arizona. 

His goal of the morning was to be certain that we took the shortcut from Craigmomt to Kamiah which would save 10 miles. He drew us a map and prefaced it by telling us 4 miles were not paved. These 4 turned out to be wonderful-  incredibly scenic, descending from the plateau that Craigmont is on down to the town of Kamiah, hard packed and easy to handle on bikes.

     Food hasn't been perfect the last few days but we carried out our plan of buying breakfast food the night before, riding 20-30 miles then stopping for breakfast. In Kamiah, Jesse had recommended eating at the casino, right on route 12. We each had the breakfast burrito and 4 eggs over easy on the side. We then went to the grocery store, bought snacks for the road and headed west on 12 which would be our route for the day.

      We texted my sister Diane for food recommendations and learned there were 2, a lunch stop 30 miles away, the Wilderness Lodge in Lowell, the dinner at the Lochsa Lodge 65 miles after that in Powell. With 95 more miles we would have preferred lunch stop a little later but there were no other options.

     Route 12 was beautiful, a gradual uphill hugging the Lochsa river which was a Lewis and Clarke route. The riding was smooth with very little traffic allowing us to make good time.  The temperature reached into the 90s so we took a quick dip in the river which was very cold.

    We pulled into the Lochsa Lodge a little after 7, got a room, took showers, (the first of the trip) bought provisions for the morning, and had a great dinner.  We'll enjoy sleeping in beds tonight resting up for the big climb over the Lolo pass first thing in the morning. 

DAY 3 - GOODBYE PATRICK

We woke up at the Palouse Falls campsite with an amazing view. The 2 mile climb out of the campground woke up our legs and we powered through a couple hours of riding. We crossed an awesome bridge before saying goodbye to our Washington host Patrick Burns as he headed to Spokane via 127. Thanks for joining us, Patrick! We miss you already. 

Next, we stopped at a local grocery store for lunch, and brought it to the town park. We thought we might not be getting enough vitamin D, so shirts came off. 

Next, we made it to our second state: Idaho! So nice to have a state completed. Washington was not easy, but we are expecting the worst from the Rockies, yet to come. 

10 minutes after stopping at a bike shop and briefly tuning up our bikes, Justin's rear tube spontaneously exploded. We fixed it pretty fast and back on the road. We passed through beautiful farm fields; the most impressive being bright yellow fields of canola. At the end if the day, we hit a long steady incline of over 15 miles. Totally brutal! Creeping along at about 6 mph, we finally rolled into Woody's in Craigmont, 8 miles further than our goal. There, we stuffed our face with BBQ and met an incredibly kind man, Jesse. He knew the area very well and gave us a ton of advice. He even let us crash in an old pizzeria he bought which remains vacant. It was the best night of sleep so far. That's Justin already passed out on the floor. 

DAY 2 - FAST AND FLAT

We made an executive decision that given the long first day and the stop for flat tire, we would try to eke out a little extra sleep our first night and wake up a little later for our start on day two. We headed out from a little roadside coffee shop after taking care of a ton of breakfast sandwiches. Our bikes looked pretty cool stacked inside the door:

From there, we got straight on a highway that went straight as an arrow out of town heading into the hills to the east. After climbing a little, we reached a ridge with some majestic wind farms. These things are so cool to ride by (though it gets a little distracting to keep watching them. Those things move fast! Also, neat to see that the same winds that can either be a huge pain or a terrific help to us as cyclists can also make energy. I'm confused how people can be so vehemently opposed to them.

At the top of this ridge, the road started sloping down slowly but the tailwind hit us at the same time. No joke, coolest ten miles I've ever ridden. It was like skiing down a mountain - we coasted for ten straight miles without a SINGLE car on the road through hills with giant turbines on them. (Mom and dad warning: don't read the rest of this paragraph, and I swear we're responsible and safe) Also, a new top speed for me (ever!) of 44mph. Oops? We didn't break the speed limit, though, so no worries.

After the ten wondrous miles of downhill we got to crossing for the Columbia River, which we had to brave on I-90. Very pulse-raising, but we got across safely. The rest of the day was spent mainly on highway 26, with a stop for a mountain of fresh fruit grown right by the side of the highway we were riding along!

Lunch stop was a walmart parking lot (keepin it classy on this trip) where we got asked for advice on marathon-running by a staffperson, and then we headed out from Othello, WA, on the small Cunningham Road which we took for 35 miles. Straight, with a tailwind, and about 6 cars for the entirety. Pretty darn lucky, I'd say.

Probably the best ending to our day: Don's sister Diane called around to food options in the area where we planned to stay for the night (Starbuck, WA) and found the owner of a bar/grill who offered to come get us at our campsite so that we wouldn't starve in the food desert around Palouse Falls State Park, where we're sleeping.

So Dan, the owner of the ONLY restaurant open in Starbuck tonight, picked us up in his truck and gave us a ride to the Rawhide Grill. We met his wife and a couple other people, played some pool, and relaxed after a long day of 140 miles. Tasty fried chicken, cheap beer, and even a mini convenience store where we picked up supplies for s'mores and breakfast. If there's a Yelp site for this restaurant, they deserve a hundred stars (I'll work on that when I get back to Boston). They just started a couple years ago, but they clearly know a thing or two about hospitality. Dan, if you're reading this, you absolutely made our day. Thanks again.

Alright, time for some stargazing out here for me - these are amazing!

DAY 1 - THE START

Late update, we know, but we made it through our first day leaving Seattle!

After a late start in the morning, we rode from Patrick's to Pike Place Market for some Seattle-scenic photos and then down to the water, where we dipped our rear wheels in the salty west coast water (in anticipation of getting some Atlantic water on them when we reach Boston).

Though we expected a tough time heading out of Seattle on busy roads after that, it turns out that people in Seattle bike a lot, so the roads were full of courteous drivers and lots of other cyclists! Patrick, our sherpa for the way out of Seattle, took us and we headed towards the mountains.

Somewhere around mile 10, we started riding in the vicinity of another rider. We dubbed him "Owl" because he was so wise. Turned out he gave us directions and then we ended up riding with him for a long time- almost all the way to our lunch stop. He warned us about sharp turns ahead of time, busy roads, and was an all around superstar.

Thanks, Owl, for everything. You were our spirit animal for Day 1, definitely.

The rest of day 1 was not quite as awesome. After we left Owl, we had a great lunch stop in North Bend. Twede's Diner (also called twin peaks diner, apparently) have us some awesome endless fries and other tasty things, along with pretty scenery:

Post-lunch, we hit some scattered downpours and intermittent sunshine. After north bend Dave got the first flat tire of the trip, but luckily we were close to the bike shop back in north bend, so we could just head back to switch his tube and tire. Trying to get through the Cle Elum pass in the pouring rain was tough. Mostly because there is no other way to do it than taking I-90, which we emphatically do not recommend. An interstate with fast cars in the rain and avalanche closures is not a great place for cyclists. 

Biking after the pass to our campsite in Ellensburg was tough with some windy spots, but it was worth it for our last fifteen miles into camp with some terrific gentle downhills along a deserted smooth road that went alongside a river in a canyon. All in all, an okay afternoon with some hiccups that were good to get out of the way early in the trip.

Dinner at the only restaurant in Ellensburg (population ~2700) because apparently everything closes before 9pm, and then we fell into our sleeping bags the minute we got back.

THE START

The three of us (and Patrick Burns) starting out in downtown Seattle. Patrick housed us the first night and will be joining us for the first 2 days until he heads back to Seattle for work. 

GETTING AERO

It's that time again, time to get aero. As we're about the start the journey, we all took the opportunity to get rid of some hair. We need all the help we can get, so why not?

OLD FASHIONED MAPS

We are going to be using Google Maps on our iPhones to navigate our way most of the time. However, there will be many places our cell reception is nonexistent - especially when we go black (AKA Airplane mode) in Canada. Rather than taking hardcopies which are bulky and could easily get destroyed, we decided to draw out the route on road maps and take pictures of the course. These pictures are uploaded to our phones, so now the only problem is battery life. . .

If you want to see our anticipated route up close, or happen to know of things to do or people to see near where we are going, let us know. Here are the MAPS.

SHAKEDOWN

I remember calling our first loaded ride a shakedown when doing bike tours about a decade ago. Our first (and only) weighted ride is under our belt. The seat post racks are more secure than they look, and the gear that sits on it weighs only about 10lbs. It's a pretty aero setup, as well. Much better than bulky, heavy panniers.