One more build day and one more ride day until Vancouver! Right now I am 5 and a half miles from the Canadian border.
Today's ride was quite easy; Ian, John P, Dae and I rode pretty quickly but not too hard into town and we had a great time, especially the mini-criterium that John, Dae and I had at the campground in the morning (it was a 15 foot diameter paved circle that we went around for a while). The ride into Rockport was a bit different however. We started the day in the Early Winters Campground near Mazama, WA where I woke up to rain pattering on my tent (which was one of the nice new ones thankfully). Right away it was cold and miserable, with a huge uphill pretty much right out of the start. We then went up Washington Pass (elevation 5477). I was riding with Ian and about halfway up we hear a huge hissing noise sounding similar to an espresso machine (can't you tell what we were thinking of at the moment). And with every wheel rotation I felt a gust of wind on my calf... oh great a sidewall blowout. So in the pouring rain I put in a new tube and just hoped for the best with the sidewall thing. We finally got to the top of the pass, cold, miserable and watching snow come down on the peak only a few hundred feet above us. I looked at my thermometer and it read a blistering 41 degrees, great and I was only wearing shorts. We descended several hundred feet and passed a parking lot with a bathroom and met up with Isaiah, Bobby, and Sean who had been getting warm in said bathroom (a theme on this trip for sure). And we all climbed up to the top of Rainy Pass (how fitting) in the pouring rain and wind. At the top we stopped to warm up and Isaiah looked a bit too cold to be descending the 10 miles into lunch, so we had to figure something else out.
We flagged down a pickup truck with a trailer attached and they were kind enough to put on their heater and heat us up, after a while Bobby and I descended the pass while Ian, Isaiah and Sean got a ride down and left their bikes. Bobby and I got to mile 35 and saw the van so we ditched our biked and rode to the top in the warm van. We reached the bathroom and this time a whole van load of people got out and jumped in the van. Since Bobby and I had thawed, we went out to the road to hitch a ride down and luckily a trailer pulling van with bikes on top pulled over and was kind enough to go out of his way and take us down to our bikes (providing us with mini clif bars on the way). We got to our bikes and rode the grand total of 2 miles to lunch. After that people started coming in - Chris and Pen got a ride down in an RV and Isaiah had met Bobby and I at mile 35 as we were leaving.
We all rode down the valley going by Diablo Lake, soon John P and Ian joined us after descending the pass and catching us as we took pictures. We rode the rest of the way together, taking the descents quickly and getting sweet video. However my rear wheel wasn't doing so hot... I had a slow leak that may or may not have been because of the blowout (it was a new tube). So instead of trying to find the hole and patching it, I just pumped it up. I was able to make it about 20 more miles into Marblemount when I had to pump it again. Apparently my dad and his climbing partner, Chris, had spent quite a while in Marblemount waiting for the weather to clear so they could climb in the North Cascades.
Anyway I was able to make it into Rockport with a half inflated tire. I rode into the campground to see my Grandma, Uncle Bill, Cousin Willie, and our family friend Susan waiting for us with a huge amount of food. Susan was taking a picture of me so I decided to do a skid stop, which on the wet grass turned into me going over my handlebars, but no harm no foul. By this time it was clearing up and we had so much food even 30 starving cyclists couldn't finish all of it. My Grandma also rented a lean-to thing which 5 of us decided to sleep in and it was one of the best nights sleep I've gotten in a while - the exact perfect temperature. I woke up late, but that was okay because everyone was being quite lazy since the next day was going to be easier (and it definately was). Now we are all looking forward to Canada and getting off our bike saddles!
Thank you so much Grandma, Uncle Bill, Willie and Susan for feeding 30 hungry cyclists who eat for 60, especially after that long day!
22 August 2008
Mazama, WA
So I'm writing this from Lynden because I don't want my posts getting too long.
Our day out of Republic was great for the first half, we had a tiny pass and were flying, then we turned after lunch - into the wind. However the day was pretty uneventful until we got to Omak where we had a long lunch at Arbys (we being John P, Ian, Kevin, Dae, Isaiah, and I). Also the mother of one of my mom's friends brought us veggies which was great!
Out of Omak to Early Winters Campground in Mazama was a bit different. Ian, Bobby, and I rode together and at lunch since the clouds were looking menacing and we were going to be the first ones to the campsite we decided to take a tent with us on the road. So I grabbed one of the nice new tents (how convenient), and rode off from lunch. After we got around a turn we stopped and spread out the components so we all had some of the weight and we went off. Through the rain and sprinkles (welcome to the Pacific Northwest), we biked. We passed through the tourist trap of Winthrop, where apparently a Dartmouth Ski team and Cycling Team alum from '06 worked at a bike shop (I knew I should have stopped). We got to the campsite early and set up our tent, luckily it was sunny and nice out and it only started raining later in the day. But we got our nice tent and had a relaxing night.
That's all for now, and I'm out of time for this computer.
Our day out of Republic was great for the first half, we had a tiny pass and were flying, then we turned after lunch - into the wind. However the day was pretty uneventful until we got to Omak where we had a long lunch at Arbys (we being John P, Ian, Kevin, Dae, Isaiah, and I). Also the mother of one of my mom's friends brought us veggies which was great!
Out of Omak to Early Winters Campground in Mazama was a bit different. Ian, Bobby, and I rode together and at lunch since the clouds were looking menacing and we were going to be the first ones to the campsite we decided to take a tent with us on the road. So I grabbed one of the nice new tents (how convenient), and rode off from lunch. After we got around a turn we stopped and spread out the components so we all had some of the weight and we went off. Through the rain and sprinkles (welcome to the Pacific Northwest), we biked. We passed through the tourist trap of Winthrop, where apparently a Dartmouth Ski team and Cycling Team alum from '06 worked at a bike shop (I knew I should have stopped). We got to the campsite early and set up our tent, luckily it was sunny and nice out and it only started raining later in the day. But we got our nice tent and had a relaxing night.
That's all for now, and I'm out of time for this computer.
18 August 2008
Republic, WA
Finally into Washington, which decided to give us an unpleasant surprise of hills and more hills. The trip is starting to wind down time wise but certainly not terrain wise. After coming into Sandpoint, Idaho for a build day (which is a fantastic town, and we had a great 1/2 day build putting up siding), Washington threw at us its best. On our first day into Chewelah we had a relatively flat day until the last 20 miles, 10 of which were a huge uphill on the Flowery Hill Road with a maximum grade of 11% (goes up 11 feet for every hundred). The resulting downhill was great though, it took us straight into town maxing out the speed at around 45 mph. When we got into Chewelah we jumped in the cold creek behind the church and then spent an hour playing volleyball, we actually started to get kinda good. Then we walked over to the public pool that was opened up only for us since it was closed on Sunday and we played around, basketball and other fun games, and then we went to the church for a wonderful dinner and presentation where Kevin and I debuted our first draft of a movie for us.
The next day (today) we came to Republic. The first 35 miles were relatively flat and we were able to cover ground very quickly (minus Christopher's 2 flats). After his second flat Ian and I went on ahead and came to lunch where we had the best peaches I've ever eaten. From about mile 35 (5 miles before lunch) until around mile 58 was all uphill over Sherman Pass, there were a few short downhills but there were a couple stretches of up to 10 miles of constant uphill with no breaks. It was probably, no definitely the longest uphill I've ever experienced. But now I'm here in the small metropolis of Republic, WA enjoying the refreshing air conditioning of the library. Oh did I mention it was in the 90s and up to about 105 the last few days... that put a damper on things for sure.
We've got more passes to look out for, but hopefully none as bad as Sherman Pass (a cool [or hot as the case may be] 5575 feet tall).
The next day (today) we came to Republic. The first 35 miles were relatively flat and we were able to cover ground very quickly (minus Christopher's 2 flats). After his second flat Ian and I went on ahead and came to lunch where we had the best peaches I've ever eaten. From about mile 35 (5 miles before lunch) until around mile 58 was all uphill over Sherman Pass, there were a few short downhills but there were a couple stretches of up to 10 miles of constant uphill with no breaks. It was probably, no definitely the longest uphill I've ever experienced. But now I'm here in the small metropolis of Republic, WA enjoying the refreshing air conditioning of the library. Oh did I mention it was in the 90s and up to about 105 the last few days... that put a damper on things for sure.
We've got more passes to look out for, but hopefully none as bad as Sherman Pass (a cool [or hot as the case may be] 5575 feet tall).
11 August 2008
Whitefish, MT
Sorry about the few posts I've had. I haven't been actively seeking out internet that much so it makes it harder to get these blogs up.
We just biked through Glacier National Park, it was wonderful. A group of us got up at 5:15 so that we could be to mile 45 of the Going to the Sun Road by 10am because from Logan Pass (6646 ft, and high point of our trip, at mile 25) to McDonald Lake at mile 45 the road is closed to cyclists from 10 to 4 due to construction. So we got up and through the park with plenty of time to spare. The views were absolutely amazing, reminding me a lot of home. The descent from Logan Pass was very cold, I only had a long sleeve poly pro shirt underneath my normal jersey so it made for a chilly few miles until we were out of the wind and in tree cover. We got into town and immediately went for showers and then to get a huge cheeseburger at the Bulldog Saloon (a tip from a friend of mine who spends his Julys in Whitefish). Most of the group had to wait until 4pm to start descending to Whitefish, or take a shuttle down the hill.
Yesterday we came from Cut Bank to St. Mary (just outside the park boundary) and the last 8 miles of our trip was a long downhill where Christopher, Dae and I were cruising at about 40 mph for most of it. Not much else of interest on that ride except the horrendous headwind and the wonderful views of the Rockies. The day before was in Chester where the game of assassins reached it's conclusion. If you haven't read about this in other blogs we had a game of assassins going on for about 3 days. How assassins works is that we put everyone in random order in a big circle and you know the name of the person in front of you. That person is your target and to "kill" your target you have to hit them with a rolled up clean sock outside of specific safe zones (in the morning, on your bike, doing bike and build work, on the church grounds before dinner or only inside the church after dinner). When you kill your target that person tells you their target and you are supposed to kill them. As more and more people die the circle gets smaller and smaller until there are only a few left. I was able to strategically kill and avoid being killed until there were 4 people left - Me who had Jessie who had Kathy who had Bobby who in turn had to kill me. We had been forgoing lunch stops and only staying in safe places for the most part until we got to Chester. There we decided that we needed to end the game. So while Kathy was in the town and Bobby in the shower, Jessie drew me out of the church by running off. She went back to the church but I went into town and found Kathy she went to the library and I went back to the church. When I got back, it all started to go down.
Jessie went to the library to kill Kathy, taking Bobby with her to prevent me from just following her and killing her right away. As Jessie went into the library, Bobby ran halfway back. Meanwhile I knew there was a back entrance to the library and took a back way to get there so as Kathy (who had died) and Jessie were plotting a way back to avoid me I came through the library and killed Jessie, so now it was just Bobby and I. I ran back to the church and talked with Jessie and Kathy who had returned, but still no Bobby. I set out to find him and Jessie and Kathy were just walking around outside the church. Jessie spooked Bobby (thinking she was after him) and he ran back to the church, I saw him and hid behind the church's trash cans and killed him as he passed me at full trot. He was initially confused since he didn't know I had killed Jessie. So I was the master assassin.
That is about the only interesting things that have happened (or that I remember right now). So it's time to log off.
Good day from Whitefish.
We just biked through Glacier National Park, it was wonderful. A group of us got up at 5:15 so that we could be to mile 45 of the Going to the Sun Road by 10am because from Logan Pass (6646 ft, and high point of our trip, at mile 25) to McDonald Lake at mile 45 the road is closed to cyclists from 10 to 4 due to construction. So we got up and through the park with plenty of time to spare. The views were absolutely amazing, reminding me a lot of home. The descent from Logan Pass was very cold, I only had a long sleeve poly pro shirt underneath my normal jersey so it made for a chilly few miles until we were out of the wind and in tree cover. We got into town and immediately went for showers and then to get a huge cheeseburger at the Bulldog Saloon (a tip from a friend of mine who spends his Julys in Whitefish). Most of the group had to wait until 4pm to start descending to Whitefish, or take a shuttle down the hill.
Yesterday we came from Cut Bank to St. Mary (just outside the park boundary) and the last 8 miles of our trip was a long downhill where Christopher, Dae and I were cruising at about 40 mph for most of it. Not much else of interest on that ride except the horrendous headwind and the wonderful views of the Rockies. The day before was in Chester where the game of assassins reached it's conclusion. If you haven't read about this in other blogs we had a game of assassins going on for about 3 days. How assassins works is that we put everyone in random order in a big circle and you know the name of the person in front of you. That person is your target and to "kill" your target you have to hit them with a rolled up clean sock outside of specific safe zones (in the morning, on your bike, doing bike and build work, on the church grounds before dinner or only inside the church after dinner). When you kill your target that person tells you their target and you are supposed to kill them. As more and more people die the circle gets smaller and smaller until there are only a few left. I was able to strategically kill and avoid being killed until there were 4 people left - Me who had Jessie who had Kathy who had Bobby who in turn had to kill me. We had been forgoing lunch stops and only staying in safe places for the most part until we got to Chester. There we decided that we needed to end the game. So while Kathy was in the town and Bobby in the shower, Jessie drew me out of the church by running off. She went back to the church but I went into town and found Kathy she went to the library and I went back to the church. When I got back, it all started to go down.
Jessie went to the library to kill Kathy, taking Bobby with her to prevent me from just following her and killing her right away. As Jessie went into the library, Bobby ran halfway back. Meanwhile I knew there was a back entrance to the library and took a back way to get there so as Kathy (who had died) and Jessie were plotting a way back to avoid me I came through the library and killed Jessie, so now it was just Bobby and I. I ran back to the church and talked with Jessie and Kathy who had returned, but still no Bobby. I set out to find him and Jessie and Kathy were just walking around outside the church. Jessie spooked Bobby (thinking she was after him) and he ran back to the church, I saw him and hid behind the church's trash cans and killed him as he passed me at full trot. He was initially confused since he didn't know I had killed Jessie. So I was the master assassin.
That is about the only interesting things that have happened (or that I remember right now). So it's time to log off.
Good day from Whitefish.
01 August 2008
Wolf Point, MT
Alrighty, if you read other blogs from NUS B&Bers than you probably have heard about this night, but I get to tell you the entire story of Theodore Roosevelt from beginning to end.
So for one, Teddy Roosevelt Park is wonderful, there are tons of bison, awesome rock formations and an awesome downhill where I hit 50.0 mph for the first time this trip (thank you tail wind and passing semi for the draft).
We put up our tents at the group tent site (our tents are pretty bad [cheap coleman tents], and they were missing a lot of poles and stakes), so they were pretty rickety. I slept in one of the larger tents with Lindsey, Michelle, John R, Arianna, and Katrina. We started going to bed around 11:30, but 12:30 I still wasn't asleep since it was about 900 F in our tent. Lindsey decided to move outside since the day was very nice before. After about 10 minutes I followed her outside and we all moved under the tarp we had set up earlier to make some shade. About 2am or so (maybe earlier) Lindsey wakes me up because there is lightning going off in the distance and we think it might rain. So Lindsey and I, then Sean move all of our bags into the trailer as we are surrounded by 360 degrees of storms. We then moved the bikes under the eve of the bathroom. The three of us and Sharon (who just woke up as we moved the bikes around) put the tarp in the womens bathroom, ready to go to sleep.
Then the rain came, people started strapping down their tents, so I ran out and helped, getting quite wet in the process. And then the wind came... a huge branch fell down right next to the door so I decided we needed to get everyone out of the mostly flattened tents. Everyon one got out and then we decided to spend the rest of the night in the warmth of the bathrooms. The next morning the only signs of the storm was the flattened tents and some fallen branches, beautiful day and a slight tail wind at some points.
So for one, Teddy Roosevelt Park is wonderful, there are tons of bison, awesome rock formations and an awesome downhill where I hit 50.0 mph for the first time this trip (thank you tail wind and passing semi for the draft).
We put up our tents at the group tent site (our tents are pretty bad [cheap coleman tents], and they were missing a lot of poles and stakes), so they were pretty rickety. I slept in one of the larger tents with Lindsey, Michelle, John R, Arianna, and Katrina. We started going to bed around 11:30, but 12:30 I still wasn't asleep since it was about 900 F in our tent. Lindsey decided to move outside since the day was very nice before. After about 10 minutes I followed her outside and we all moved under the tarp we had set up earlier to make some shade. About 2am or so (maybe earlier) Lindsey wakes me up because there is lightning going off in the distance and we think it might rain. So Lindsey and I, then Sean move all of our bags into the trailer as we are surrounded by 360 degrees of storms. We then moved the bikes under the eve of the bathroom. The three of us and Sharon (who just woke up as we moved the bikes around) put the tarp in the womens bathroom, ready to go to sleep.
Then the rain came, people started strapping down their tents, so I ran out and helped, getting quite wet in the process. And then the wind came... a huge branch fell down right next to the door so I decided we needed to get everyone out of the mostly flattened tents. Everyon one got out and then we decided to spend the rest of the night in the warmth of the bathrooms. The next morning the only signs of the storm was the flattened tents and some fallen branches, beautiful day and a slight tail wind at some points.
31 July 2008
Minot, ND
So over 2400 miles down, only 1600 left. We are taking a much needed day off. My butt can take a break and I can wonder around town without getting on a bike seat. The last week has been quite busy, a lot of riding. We had one of the worst days so far from Devil's Lake to Rugby, ND. 20 or 30 mile an hour winds made pacelining a must, but after Isaiah dropped off our group because he wasn't feeling well, only Ian and I pushed through the 58 miles to the school gym where we were staying. After that we had our "Bike and Build Prom", which Kathy has undoubtedly talked forever about so I can spare you the details, but I was dressed in a marching band tux we found.
The day before was also no cakewalk. 118 miles from Crookston, MN to Devil's Lake, ND. The first 100 miles went very fast, a group of us averaged just over 20 mph (compared to under 12 into Rugby). We got a picture of our odometers as we passed 100 miles in under 5 hours, then the rain came. It was first just a sprinkle but ominous clouds in the distance told another story. About 8 miles later we got hit with a true windy Great Plains storm. Thunder and lightning on both sides of the road, 20 mph cross winds with rain that felt like it was BBs hitting your arms and face. I was riding about 5 to 10 feet behind Bobby and we were both screaming at the top of our lungs and neither of us could hear each other. We stopped at a rest area a few miles out of town to catch our breath and have Ian and Isaiah catch up, eventually Jessie caught us too after our 3 minute rest break. We finally arrive in Devil's Lake to Isaiah's dad waiting with a warm pickup truck ready to take us to his farm. We had a great time at Isaiah's farm - tractor tours, horseback rides, a hot tub(!) and great food. A good time was had by all, and to cap it all off we saw a wonderful thunderstorm in the distance at night, very awesome!
That is about all for today, time to explore Minot.
An engineer designing from scratch could hardly concoct a better device to unclog modern roads - cheap, nonpolluting, small and silent...
-- Rick Smith, International Herald Tribune, May 2006
The day before was also no cakewalk. 118 miles from Crookston, MN to Devil's Lake, ND. The first 100 miles went very fast, a group of us averaged just over 20 mph (compared to under 12 into Rugby). We got a picture of our odometers as we passed 100 miles in under 5 hours, then the rain came. It was first just a sprinkle but ominous clouds in the distance told another story. About 8 miles later we got hit with a true windy Great Plains storm. Thunder and lightning on both sides of the road, 20 mph cross winds with rain that felt like it was BBs hitting your arms and face. I was riding about 5 to 10 feet behind Bobby and we were both screaming at the top of our lungs and neither of us could hear each other. We stopped at a rest area a few miles out of town to catch our breath and have Ian and Isaiah catch up, eventually Jessie caught us too after our 3 minute rest break. We finally arrive in Devil's Lake to Isaiah's dad waiting with a warm pickup truck ready to take us to his farm. We had a great time at Isaiah's farm - tractor tours, horseback rides, a hot tub(!) and great food. A good time was had by all, and to cap it all off we saw a wonderful thunderstorm in the distance at night, very awesome!
That is about all for today, time to explore Minot.
An engineer designing from scratch could hardly concoct a better device to unclog modern roads - cheap, nonpolluting, small and silent...
-- Rick Smith, International Herald Tribune, May 2006
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