2000+ Along the Mississippi (Aug 31)

Late start out of the hotel after a big breakfast of pastry, coffee and orange juice. I did manage to get the tires switched out and replace another broken spoke on the rear wheel before leaving. I spent most of the day riding down the western side of the Mississippi River, never much more than a mile away and most of the time within a few hundred yards. Cloudy morning turning sunny later in the day. Followed the ACA route between the towns but straightened out the jogs with more direct roads where I could.

I called Anne from Winona at around 5 and she was cooking up a big meal from whatever wasn't being thrown out from the refrigerator. Some turkey other than me was the main course. The power was still out but she sounded chipper.

I was riding by a park in La Cressent at about 8pm thinking that it would be a good place to camp if it was a half hour later when my front tire went flat. So I pulled around and camped. I'll fix the tire in the morning.

Miles today: 96
Trip miles: 2075

Joe

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Soaked In Minnesota (Aug 30)

Pretty straight forward getting through Minneapolis, just a little bit of bike trail action to get back on Rt 55 south of town. Once I did get back on 55 it was pretty much like an interstate: two lanes each way, lots of cars and trucks and lots of noise. About 20 miles south of Minneapolis I turned east onto Rt 50 and landed in Red Wing, MN at about 5:30. It had been raining since about 1pm and of course the wind was right out of the south. I wasn't up for camping in the rain so I checked into a Super 8 and called it a day. ( I have a plan for the wind and rain though.) Minnesota is a very pretty state with 10's of square miles of rolling hills covered with corn. From here I head basically south 350 miles to Muscatine, Iowa. After that it's dead east to Connecticut.

Miles today: 85
Trip miles: 1979

P.S.

Becky, I need a favor. I know you're in tight with The Big Man and want you to use some of that mo-jo you have with Him to get this wind and rain situation straighten out. If you can swing it I need 3 days of good winds out of the north followed by 2 weeks of big, big winds out of the west. Dry roads are nice too. If you get any static remind Him that I'm already on the team since I did complete my 9 First Fridays in a row way back when at St Joe's. I'm counting on you, so don't forget.

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Minneapolis Tomorrow (Aug 29)

All in all a reasonably productive day. Rt 55 made a straight line for Minneapolis and I ended up about 30 miles short of town. I was going to go through tonight but I thought it might be better on my body to wait. I get back on the Adventure Cycling Association route on the other side of Minneapolis and take it dead south to Iowa. I've been off of it since Fargo. I need to rotate the tires tomorrow. The back tire is pretty warn but the front tire is fine.

Anne still has no power and her cell phone doesn't seem to be working from home. She has been trying to get the generator hooked up to power some things in the house without any luck and I can't get a hold of her to help figure out the problem. Maybe tomorrow.

Looks like rain and winds out of the SW for the next few days, neither one of which work for me.

Miles today: 118
Trip miles: 1894

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Minnesota (Aug 28)

After a lot of work getting ready , it looks like Anne and the crew survived the storm ok. Some uprooted trees, a leaky barn and no power, but other than that everything seems intact. I was ready to head back from Minneapolis but it looks like won't have to now. So on I ride.

A lot of peddling today but not as much progress as I had hoped for. I rode into the town of Furgus Falls (which is actually quite large) on Rt 52 expecting to ride right through but after two or three hours I discovered that Rt 52 doesn't continue on to Minneapolis as I was told but combines with an interstate. Anyway, I ate something, got my bearings and headed back out. Right now I'm about 80+ miles NNW of Minneapolis. I should be there tomorrow and I'm debating whether to go through it or around it. The weather has still been good but the temps are much cooler.

Miles today: 102
Trip miles: 1776

Joe

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Out of North Dakota (Aug 27)

Another day of light to moderate headwinds and bumpy roads as I worked my way south and east down to Fargo. Arrived in Fargo around 6 and found it to be much bigger than I expected. Took me a little while to get through it and down to highway 52S headed for Minneapolis. Still waiting to hear how Salem holds up to the storm and whether I need to cut the bike trip short and head home via faster means.

Miles today: 107
Trip miles: 1674

Joe

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North Dakota. (Aug 26)

Not much of a day. Passed 3 young guys headed to Seattle from different places on the east coast. Nice roads and weather. Arrived at Cooperstown, ND at about 2pm and checked into a hotel. It's about 90 miles to Fargo from here. Still going through options on the hurricane.

Miles today: 55
Trip miles: 1568

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Windy in North Dakota (Aug 25)

Outside of the mountains this was my hardest day of cycling yet. Started out with a light wind out of the south. I had a great breakfast in Drake, ND (A town that looks like it might be ready to blow away. I was the only one at the cafe and it didn't look like anyone had been there for days.) and then the fun started. The winds were blowing a steady 15-20mph in my face pretty much all afternoon. I got a little break when I turned east for a couple of hours at 5:30, but then I was right back into it again after turning south for the last hour. I didn't look at the bike computer all day because I was afraid of what I might see for speed and distance. I did ok though I guess.

I'm going for a short day tomorrow and try to find a motel. Looks like that might be a good trick because I've been told that the oil field workers have them locked up for miles. We'll see.

Still looking at the hurricane. I should be in Fargo on Saturday or Sunday and if it looks like things are going to go badly in Connecticut I'll fly back from there.

The weather is turning here too. Someone at a store said today was supposed to be the last of the 90's and that temps were going to drop into the 70's. It's clouding over for the first time also.

Miles today: 100
Trip miles: 1513

Joe

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North Dakota (Aug 24)

Not much cooking today. Winds were lighter and more to the side than behind me. North Dakota so far looks much prettier than eastern Montana: rolling green and gold hills with houses instead of trailers. Rolled into Minot at about 3:30 with absolutely no chance of getting a room. I guess they had some local flooding here too which wiped out some housing and put the hotels and motels in great demand. Was almost ready to pull the plug on the ride and fly back home because of the hurricane, but decided to wait for more info on its direction. I should be in Fargo by Saturday and I can decide then. Got out of Minot at 6:30 headed down Rt 52 and camped under a cell tower in Velva, ND.

Miles today: 124
Trip miles: 1413

Joe

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Bye, Bye Montana (Aug 23)

A wild ride today. Up and off at 6, a bad breakfast a couple of hours later in some town I can't recall. Got back on Rt 2 east and for the first time had some serious tail winds. Cleared Montana at about 2 in the afternoon and made it to Williston, ND at around 4 (then a time change to 5). I heard Williston was a boom town, but I could not believe what I saw. It was like a bee hive with gigantic trucks and vehicles of all sorts as the bees. After a stop at McDonalds, had a hell of a time getting out of there with 30mph cross winds, a little shoulder and all of those trucks. But I made it. Off the road again just before dark a mile or so short of Ray, ND. Minot is 80 to 90 miles away and I hope to be there tomorrow. I may look for a hotel, my knees need a break.

Joe

Miles today: 151
Trip total: 1289
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Still in Montana (Aug 22)

Early start. Very hot and fairly flat. Met a couple in their mid 70's headed to Eastport, Maine from Bellingham, Washington on a tandem recumbent. First eastbound riders I've seen.

Miles today: 132
Trip total: 1138
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1000 (Aug 21)

Very late start from Havre. Had to repair rear wheel. Roger from Havre Bicycle came in on a Sunday morning to do the job for me. Great guy. Had to wrestle with him to take what the job was worth to me. Bike rides much better now. Didn't get out of Havre until 1:30 in the afternoon. Mostly flat roads with some construction. Temps in the mid 90's, but ok. Hotter tomorrow. Stopped on the side of the road to camp at about 8:30 10 miles short of Malta. I hope they serve an early breakfast tomorrow.

Miles today: 85
Trip miles: 1005

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More Montana (Aug 20)

I broke camp from the side of the road early and hit the road about 6:30. I was reasonably discrete pitching my tent the night before but I find it hard to believe anyone would care where I camped: there are literally square miles of open fields out here without a house in sight.

I hit Shelby in an hour or so and had a big breakfast with lots of coffee. Temps were on the low 50's to start, but I'm sure that later in the day they hit the low 90's. It's hard to tell because there always seems to be a breeze. After eating I left Shelby headed for Havre. I wish I could say that I was surrounded by no hills, but that isn't quite the case. It might look flat from a distance but you run into a lot of long, annoying 2-4 percent grades. The wind was pretty much steady in my face the whole day at 5 to 10 mph and a little stronger than that the last couple of hours.

Solo (Aug 18)

We broke camp again as early as we could and I was on the bike headed for Whitefish at a little after 7. I made the 3 hour ride to over fairly busy roads with very little shoulder. Temps were in the low 40's, but other than my hands and feet I felt ok. By about 9 things warmed up enough to take all the warm clothes off and get down to just the bike clothes. Dean went on ahead to Whitefish to charge my electronics and locate a bike shop to true my back wheel. He got the stuff charged but the bike shop was too busy. I did buy a pair of gloves and fill my tires though.

We ate a big breakfast at a local cafe and then it was time for me to load all of my gear on the bike so Dean could head back to Spokane. Luckily that took a while because Anne called to say that I had left my credit card at the bike shop, which was just across the street. Dean stayed with me for a few more miles so I could get used to the loaded bike. Again a luckly break for me because one of my bike computers died and Dean was able to run back into town a get a new one. A mile or two later I was back in gear heading for West Glacier and Dean was starting the 7 or 8 hour ride back to Spokane.

Out of the Mountains (Aug 19)

Got an early start, but only made 28 miles in the first 5 hours. Cold and hilly riding conditions but things got better as I crossed the Continental Divide and moved to the high plains. I reached Cut Bank at around 5:15 and ate at McDonalds. I left at 6:30 and pulled off the road in a field to camp at about 8:30. I'm done with the bears and now I'm watching out for snakes (although I can hear a couple of coyotes close by). I'm also done with the long mountain climbs for now, but I may be looking at a lot of head winds for the next few weeks? I hope to make Harve tonight which is about 110 miles away.

My iPad battery is almost done so I may be a few days getting anything out.

Joe

Miles today: 93
Trip total: 808

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More Montana (Aug 17)

Troy Montana (Aug 16)

After resting in Spokane on the 15th, Dean drove my back up to where I had left off on the 14th just short of Newport. I started riding at about 7:45am. We cleared Washington state in about an hour and Idaho about 3 hours later. The day was perfect for riding with temps in the low to mid 70's. The roads were fairly light on traffic and we made good time to Troy, Montana. We had burgers and beer at a local pub and camped out in their back yard.

The Last Pass

I've had a ton of trouble getting these entries to post properly on the blog.  Either half the entry narrative is missing or the pictures aren't there.  I'll shorten this up and include just one picture and see how that works. If that doesn't work I'll just go with the narrative.

I think I left off after we arrived in Republic late on August 12.  On the 13th we headed out for the last pass in Washington state, Sherman Pass.  This is the highest of the four passes but we actually never went over it.  We had passed through a lot of road resurfacing work with stone laid down and then covered with oil.  All of the surfaces we road on up to then were past the oil stage and were actually quite good.  But Dean said that most of the road over Sherman Pass was covered with lose stone, which didn't sound too good for riding a bike over.  I had read about an alternate route over the pass before leaving Connecticut so we asked around and got directions to it.  It turned out to be 15-20 miles longer, but the road surface was fine.  At about 2 in the afternoon we cleared the highest point on this route at about 4800 feet.

Shortly after 2 Tom, Sam and Steve had to head back Seattle.  Sam needed to catch a flight back to Atlanta early the next morning.  It was sure great to have them along.  I would probably be at least two days farther behind if I was traveling on my own fully loaded.  Plus I got to travel on with Tom's bicycle saddle.  My saddle was killing me and so I traded with Tom a few days back.  Afterwords my saddle was killing him, but like the trooper he is he took one for the team right in the you know where.

So after Tom and the gang left Dean and I continued on and quit for the day just short of Newport.  At about 4pm we put the bike in the back of the van and headed to Spokane.

Day 4 miles: 65
Total miles: 437
Over and out,
Joe

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Sent from my iPad

Two Passes (Aug 12)

After another late rise and breakfast at the Hoot Owl cafe we left Twisp at 
around 9:30 and headed for Loup Loup Pass, the second of the four major passes 
on this route.  Loup Loup Pass was only about 12 miles away but was a climb of 
about 3500 feet from Twisp.  After the decent the road was fairly flat for 40 
miles before the next climb started for Wauconda Pass.

Things went south pretty quickly at breakfast when the big dogs decided it would 
be a great idea to move me a little farther down the line and do two passes in 
one day.  All of the rides I had been following on line said you weren't 
supposed to do this, and probably for good reason (like 5900 feet of 
climbing in one day).  I'm sure others have done it before, but they didn't write 
about it because people would think they were stupid or something.  I'm certain that I could do a ride like that on a fully loaded bike.  But since they thought  it was a great idea what could I say, my gear and all the food and water were in the car?

So off we went.  With me way behind as usual.  The first 4 miles to Loup Loup Pass were pretty 
flat and then it turned into a steady 6 percent climb for the final 8 miles.  I 
actually didn't know what my legs were going to think of all this after 
yesterday's ride, but after a few miles they felt fine.  My bike was also riding 
even better now after I brought the air pressure up to 80 pounds from the 50 I'd 
been riding on the previous two days.  

We all made it up Loup Loup Pass fine and headed down the back side traveling 
through the tiny towns Okanogan, Omak, and Riverside.  With temps in the mid 90's, we stopped in Riverside for an ice cream and a quick dip in the river nearby to cool off before 
heading on. 

We reached Tonasket, a small town just before the climb starts for Waconda Pass, at about 3:30.  After a thirty minute rest we all headed out for Republic which was about 16 miles on the other side of the pass.  Around 7pm I was 3 miles from the top when my brother Dean joined me.  Dean had left Spokane that afternoon and had already driven through Republic locating places for us to eat and camp.  The ride down the other side of the pass was steep and fast and I arrived at the Sportsman restaurant at about 8 to find that Skinny (the waitress) had already served Sam a beer and Steve a double whiskey. We all ate dinner with a couple of pitchers of beer and headed for the fairgrounds to camp for the night.  All in all it was a 105 mile day that ended around 10pm.

Day three miles: 105
Total miles: 287

Over and Out, 

Joe
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Runnin' With the Big Dogs (Aug 11)

Back in my first entry I said that I thought my brother Tom would be riding way ahead while Sam, Steve and l would be riding along together.  Well it didn't quite work out that way.  Nobody rode with me.  I was actually astonished how quickly the two other riders would vanish out of sight as soon as we left the vehicle.  They would essentially divide the miles we intended to travel into thirds and then drive the car ahead to that spot and change to the next driver.  At the change spots they would wait up for me, which was nice for me because I could fill up with water and get a little food.  But five minutes after I got there they were ready to take off again.  Tough to keep up with Tom saying things like " I want to see how fast I can go up that hill."

Anyway, I took off out of Newhalem (800 ft elevation) at about 7:30 and headed for Washington pass.  I was ready to go at about 5:30, but the big dogs like to sleep in late.  The pack took off a little after 8 and caught me around 8:30, waving as they rode by.  The weather was perfect, cloudy and mid 70's.  Washington Pass was 42 miles away at just under 5500 feet.  Five miles before it is Rainny Pass at 4850.  After about 10 miles of up and down we started the real assent.  The picture below is Ross dam on that section of the way up.  Once the climb started it was essentially a steady rise of 4 to 6 percent for 30 miles.  You could easily see the climb ahead for 3/4 of a mile before it vanished around a turn.  For a while you would wish for a flat spot or even a decline around the bend.  And there were a few of those.  But later, knowing how far It was to the top and what that elevation was, you began to realize that any break in the hill just meant a steeper climb later.  Which is exactly what happened as the grade went to 8+ percent in some places.

I thought my bike was really sluggish right from the git go, but I thought it was the bike and not the idiot on it.  About thirty miles into the climb I realized that my rear brakes were engaged.  After backing off the break pads things got much easier and I picked up 2 or 3 miles an hour.  Of course I didn't have any rear breaks after that but good riders don't need breaks anyway.

When I got to the top at around 2, Tom, Sam and Steve were asleep in the car.  I guess the last of them got there around 90 minutes before me.  In my own defense I have to say that they are a lot faster than me but I eventually ketchup.  True to form, after about 10 minutes they're off like a shot down the back side of the mountain with me trailing behind.  The decent was as steep as the climb for about 10 miles.  Steve was doing just under 50 in some spots while the rest of us were in the mid 30's.  Forty miles later we were in Twisp where we camped out in my cousins front yard.  All in all a good day's ride at 85 miles.


Day 2 miles: 85.    
Total miles: 182

Over and out,

Joe

P.S.  Tell Natalie I'm doing fine.

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Sent from my iPad

And They're Off (Aug 10)

I dropped Anne and the kids off at the airport around 4:30 this morning. They have a very long flight back to Hartford via San Francisco and Washington D.C. (4 hour layover) and probably won't be back in Salem until well after midnight. That first phone call home is going to be brutal, especially if I decide to bag this thing and ask Anne to come out and get me.

I headed back to Snohomish from the airport to start the ride and left Benjy and Rie's (our son and D-in-L) at 6:30. It was only a 10 minute ride to where I caught Rt 9 north to Arlington and from there Rt 530 to Rockport. Rockport will be our first entry onto map section 1 of the Northern Tier bike route.

My fully loaded bike seems much heavier than I expected and handles a little sluggish, but I suppose I'll get used to it. I thought I was packing pretty light, but a pound here and a pound there starts to add up fairly quickly.

Tom, Sam and Steve caught up to me in the car at around 8 this morning. The plan is for them to rotate between driving and riding. Sam has to be back in Atlanta on Sunday so they will be riding with me for the first three and a half days. Glenn definitely won't be able to make the ride, and so Dean will drive along with me for about a week starting Thursday or Friday. One good thing for me will be putting my gear in the car for the first 8 to 10 days. That should put me past most of the mountains before I'm on my own fully loaded.