September 29th-Medicine Creek NF to Steamboat Springs CO

Started out this morning using my GPS to try to cut through the National forest to Hwy 129, which leads through Columbine and down to Steamboat Springs.

Marked off a route that looked promising and after 2 hours of riding I was within 1 mile of the highway. 2 problems. 1-there was a river between me and the hwy. 2-the only bridge and last mile of road were on a private ranch. No Trespassing.

So now I'm faced with 2 choices.

1. Climb 2 hours back north out of the forest.
2. Slip through a couple of cattle gates and hope to zip through the ranch and across the bridge and apologize if caught.

Needless to say. 30 minutes later I was safely on Hwy 129 and rolling toward Columbine.

Shortly thereafter my front derailleur stopped working and I realized my shift cable had rusted and ripped through the housing. So I took the derailleur off and made due with just the rear gears.

Had a nice decent into Steamboat, grabbed my mail drop and new shifter cable, and settled into my campsite for the afternoon.

Ran into a Nomad named Ian. Who also happens to be buddhist. And he shared some very interesting life stories which I won't publish here to protect the not so innocent.

Also ran into another GDR rider. Craig from Minnesota. We all ended up camping in the same area and were telling lies as the sun set when 2 indians from the site over invited us to join them for a beer at their campsite.

We drank beer and whiskey and listened to country and metal music until the campground police shut us down at 11:30pm.

Great night.

September 28th-Rawlins, WY to Medicine Creek NF

Today should be my last day of riding in Wyoming. Looking forward to hitting the mountain range south of Rawlins. Haven't seen trees in awhile. Rode about 60 miles today to a free campground (Battle creeek) in a deep valley of Medicine Creek NF. Here Elk making a sort of honking noise as I was falling asleep. Sound pretty close to the site. Although the hunters make me more nervous than the Elk. Fell asleep with bugs all over the outside of the tent trying to figure out how to get in. So glad I didn't try to do this trip with a tarp setup like I originally considered.

September 27th-Rest Day-Rawlins, WY

Feeling sooooore this morning. The 8 miles into town were filled with moans and other various whiney sounds. Also, I drank from 2 questionable water sources yesterday. The first was the town of South Pass where the city worker said "I'm required by law to inform you that this water is not potable. But I drink it all the time." So since I was out of water, I of course drank it.

The second questionable source was a resevoir at the 80 mile mark. But I did throw some purification tablets into it.

I'm pretty sure that one of those sources is the culprit for my involuntary cleansing today. We'll just leave it at that.

So after grabbing my mail drop, hitting McD's, and grabbing some supplies, I'm at the library checking in. I'll spend the afternoon doing laundry and probably drinking my new favorite beverage. Starbucks iced coffee with Whiskey.

Then tomorrow morning I'm headed back out. Planning to hit Steamboat Springs Colorado by Monday afternoon.

Also, given my current rate of progress and assuming no injuries or major bike malfunctions, I should be back to Austin in time for Halloween festivities.


See you next post

September 26th-Going the Distance

Woke up early this morning in my makeshift camping area, determined to cover as many of the 150 miles to Rawlins as possible. The post office closes at noon on Saturday and I didn't want to leave myself with too many miles on Saturday morning. Plus the first hour or two of the day are the most painful. So hammering right out of the gate can be pretty miserable.

So after a full day of pedaling the stats are as follows: 140 miles ridden. 110 offroad. 30 paved. A new personal best for daily mileage on any type of bike or surface. So feeling pretty stoked. The Ride was across a Wyoming plain devoid of any trees. Pretty much just scrub brush and antelope. But still a terrific day of riding.

Ended up finding a camping spot 8 miles north of Rawlings in the dark. So just an easy cruise into town for tomorrow.

Oh yea, there were also these canisters every so many miles where hunters were to deposit one wing of the birds they shot. I guess so the game control can track the hunting volume. New to me.

September 25th part 2-Pinedale to South Pass City (Almost)

Got my passport photos processed and passport mailed off on my way out of pinedale. Miscalculated the mileage to Rawlins. It's actually a little over 200 miles. So I'm going to have to hustle to make it there in 2 days.

After stopping at the Boulder, WY post office for a food pickup, and some quick bike maintenance (see attached photo of my improvised wheel truing device---is there anything you can't do with duck tape?) I rode toward South Pass City.

Unfortunately, I ran out of daylight before I coudl reach South Pass City, so I swerved off the road toward some rock outcroppings that appeared to provide good protection from the Wyoming winds. No animal encounters overnight. Just a couple of sheep/goats/something or others.

September 25th-Still in Pinedale

Was planning to roll out this morning and make some progress toward Rawlins, WY, where my next mail drop is. But I need to get my passport mailed off and processed for my trip to South America. Specifically to get my permit approved for Manchu Pichu. So I'm back at the library waiting for the town photographer to finish up with some baby shots so she can snap my passport photos. Hmmmm. Mohawk up or down?

I plan to get photos done at 11:30 and she said she can get them processed in about an hour for me. So I can hopefully mail all this off and get rolling by 1 o'clock. I need to make it to Rawlins by noon on Saturday before the post office closes for the weekend. So that's 160 miles sometime in the next 48 hours to make it work. Come on legs.

September 24th. Whiskey Creek to Pinedale WY

Woke up this morning. Very cold. Lit the fire and shortly thereafter got my hand and glove smashed in the hot grate over the fire. Whoops. Good thing there's duck tape.

Headed out for Pinedale. A pretty easy 35 miles.

Grabbed another Subway meatball sandwich, some camp fuel, a torx wrench for my bike (to remove my disc brake and install a new spoke). Replaced my brake pads and headed to the libary to get updated.

I'll probably ride to Boulder this afternoon and pick up my mail drop there tomorrow morning.

See you guys next post.

S

September 23rd. Togatee Lodge to Whiskey River Campground

Started this morning with a pretty easy 1200' climb over Togatee pass. Then was greeted with the most excellent descent of the trip. 3000' of downhill over a 10 mile stretch of pavement with a 30mph tail wind. Unbelieveable.

Of course that kind of fun comes with a price. That afternoon I had to climb back over Union pass 9200' which my map failed to tell me is preceded by a 9600' top out and 10 miles of riding above the treeline in the wind. Holy crap it's cold and windy in Wyoming!! And shouldn't the pass be the highest point? False advertising.

Anyway....my afternoon was spent in a mad dash to get off the 9000' plateau before sunset. I barely managed to descend into the Whiskey River campground (8000') prior to dark. Overnight low. 22 degrees. Fortunately, I got my fire ready prior to packing in for the night. So I could rush over and start it up first thing.

Unfortunately, I injured myself a bit the next morning. But that's tomorrow.

Sept. 22nd JD Rockefeller NF WY to Togatee Lodge WY

Got some pavement miles today which felt good after all the bumping along washboard roads for the past couple of days.

Grabbed some water purification tabs at the local store (mine leaked out into my bag), and started climbing toward Togatee pass (9600').

Made it to Togatee lodge (8500') at the base of Togatee passs about 5pm and decided to take advantage of their laundry facilities. Camped about a mile up the road where they had bear boxes for my food and bathrooms, but no water. No big deal, I'll grab water on the way out tomorrow.

After washing and drying my clothes, I popped into the bar for a drink prior to bedtime. Tomorrow....some serious climbing.

September 21-Macks Inn ID to JD Rockefeler NF WY

Packed up my wet gear and managed to find my camp fuel this morning. But no laundromat. I've decided to deal with a wet tent and thermarest and just stuff my sleeping bag (which thankfully stayed dry) into my bivy sack.

Jumped on to a 30 mile stretch of rail trail which may be my favorite section of riding so far. Smooth, remote, beautiful scenery, and a consistent 2% downhill slope.

Felt good in the afternoon and the clouds were clearing, so I took the opportunity to push on toward Wyoming.

September 20th Lakeview MT to Macks Inn ID

Easy day today. 30 mile trip over a snowmobile trail and across the ID border. Descended into Macks Inn where they had a Subway. Ordered a footlong meatball sandwich with mayonnaise. Hmmmm.

Also, bought a new bear bell as mine broke yesterday.

Camped near the Highway in hopes of finding some camp fuel in the morning. Was awakened by a big storm at about 6am. Evidently I picked the lowest spot in my camping area because I stepped out into 2 inches of water. Going to need to find a laundromat soon.

September 19th Lima to Lakeview MT

Quick note: I've added some more ride pics to my facebook page under the "great divide ride album".

After my hotel splurge and blog update, I grabbed some blueberry pancakes and bacon at the local diner prior to departure. I was planning a pretty easy day, but the 50 miles to the camp site turned out to be a bit of a death march on a washboard road with no protection from the sun.

I did make it to the site prior to dark. It was on a wildlife preserve bordering a lake with spring fed drinking water. Oh, did I mention it was free?

September 18th-Wise River to Lima

Left Wise River this morning. Definitely a cold one to start. I need to alter my sleep and ride schedule a bit. I've been going to sleep at dark (8:30) and getting up at 6am for an 8:30 departure. The problem is that it doesn't really start warming up until about 10am, so the first hour or so can be a bit chilly. Fortunately it was all uphill, so I warmed up pretty quick. My goal was to stay in Grant tonight and push on to Lima tomorrow. But after arriving in Grant to find that the store/motel was closed and no camping was available, I decided that I felt good enough to make a push toward Lima. I haven't calculated exactly how far the total ride was, but it was definitely over 80 miles, making it the longest day so far. So after 10 hours of riding, I rolled into Lima about 6:30 and promptly checked into the only hotel in town. Which also has a laundry facility and a manager who offered up the use of his laptop to update my blog

So I'm logging off now. Not sure how long it will be before my next update but will probably be a few days as I'm heading back into the wilderness for awhile.

S

September 17th-Butte to Wise River

After grabbing a sausage egg and cheese croissant and an order of cini minis from Burger King, I rode south out of Butte toward the town of Wise River.

The day started with a climb to 7300' over a forestry access road and then a descent down to the highway. The rest of the day was an easy cruise following along the Wise River to the town of Wise River.

The river is wide and shallow and filled with black rocks that give it a unique look.

I made Wise River a bit earlier than expected, so after grabbing my food drop at the post office, I decided to ride up the Canyon and stay at a campground rather than in town.

I met a nice couple from a couple Valley's over. We discussed politics and the fringe Wackos in Montana.

He mentioned that he was at a cafe in Montana last week where the locals remarked "If that Obama guy gets elected, he won't survive long". Hmmm. Brought to you by the region that gave us the unibomber.

But honesty, 99% of Montanan's are great people. But there is a fringe of derelicts who move out here to plot their next revolution. Or just shoot stuff.

So after drinking my neighbor's beers and eating some of their food (they insisted).

It was off to sleep early for what would turn out to be my longest ride to date.

September 16th Basin to Butte

Easy day today. Rode along a converted rail line that borders the interstate. Even got to go through an old rail tunnel. Pretty cool.

Taking it easy today in Butte. Going to try to push on to Wise River tomorrow if the legs feel fresh enough.

S

Sept. 15th part 2

Rode from Helena to Basin yesterday afternoon. The new stem is making the ride much more comfortable. No more back and neck pain. I've attached a photo to show the difference in position. Had a wicked climb up some atv trail to 7300' yesterday afternoon. Took me 5 hours to ride the first 20 miles and 45 minutes to cover the last 15. Glorious sunset decent into Basin. Where I stayed at the Happy Widow campground. Right by the river with showers, kitchen, and laundry for $12. Sweet. I'm going to try to attach 2 videos to this post as well. One is a self interview on the second morning in Elkford BC. The other I shot while riding into Fernie, BC. OK. No video tried uploading for about 30 minutes, but no luck. Maybe a faster connection another day.

September 15th-Helena to ? PICS UP!!!!

Back to real time.

I woke up this morning in Dump Gulch and headed into town for a massive latte and breakfast sandwich. At 8am the other coffee shop with computers in the back openened and the owner was kind enough to log me in as the administrator so I could load my camera drivers and upload the pics.

Now I'm off to the bike shop to grab a new chain and stem for my bike. I broke the chain twice during climbs and each time had to removed a bent link to repair it. So the chain is getting a bit short for certain gear combinations.

The stem will give me a bit more of an upright position which I'm hoping will eleviate some of the back and neck pain I've been experiencing. Evidently the position that is comfortable for a 2 hour spin around the Barton Creek Greenbelt is a little too aggressive for 8 hours in the saddle.

Be sure to check out the older posts which now have pics attached.

Blog you later.

September 14th-Ovando to Helena

A hot shower to get ready for the 32 degreee morning and off I go. I made breakfast in the room this morning party to get a faster start, but mainly because I'm food heavy after picking up my package yesterday and wanted to eat down my load a bit.

Finished the 2500' climb over the continental divide this morning by 10 am. Then had a fast 10 mile descent (easy Scott) down into the valley. I'm glad I switched to disc brakes prior to departure after that downhill. With 30lbs of pack load on a 30 lb. bike, the brakes can get plenty hot on a 30 minute descent. I won't bore you with the details of heat transfer on disc vs. cantilever brakes, but let's just say you don't want your rim/tire/tube overheating on a mountain descent.

After rolling into Helena in the afternoon and finding that the campsite and 3 hotels were booked up, I took the advice of the salesman at the local gear shop and slept in dump gulch. The name the locals give to the ditch at the edge of town where everyone dumps their trash. (Really not as bad as it sounds).

The good news is that I wasn't joined by any local homeless or stoner kids. Of which there seemed to be plenty in town. GET A JOB YOU SLACKERS!

September 13th -Ovando to Lincoln-Rest Day

I rode out early this morning to Lincoln to intercept my package prior to the post office closing at noon. Actually they are closed all day on Saturday, but I called on Friday and they said that Linda would be sorting mail in the back so just knock and she'll grab the package for you.

After grabbing the package and locating the camping area and library (closed), I decided to see about splurging on a hotel room for the night. 20 minutes and $37 later, I was taking a hot shower at the Blue Sky motel. First chance to watch TV in 10 days and guess what? There's still nothing on.

But it was an excellent day of rest, hot showers, laundry and beer with the locals.

September 12th-Holland Lake to Ovando

Got up pretty early this morning and shook hands goodbye to Stein. He was jumping on the highway to cutoff some distance. He only has 3 weeks to ride from Banff to Colorado before his plane leaves from Denver, so he is having to modify the course somewhat.

I setoff up the mountain for a 65 mile day starting with 2500 feet of vertical culminating in a 500 foot singletrack top out and 1500 feet of super narrow singletrack decent. It was so tight on the descent that at times both my pannier bags were hitting the trees or rocks simultaneously.

I descended into Ovando, Mt whose sign reads "Ovando over 100 dogs and about 50 people". I hit the local tavern for a fish sandwich and beer and then while brushing my teeth, ran into a couple of locals sitting by the general store telling stories. I hung around with them and helped them polish off their whiskey while we watched the sun set.

Then I pitched my tent in the front yard of the store owner to get ready for an early ride to lincoln the next morning.

September 11th

The next morning I hit the post office to grab my package (that's what she said) and caught up to Stein a few miles in. We passed two town fire departments with fireman standing in the parking lot with an American Flag staring off into space.

In the second town, I had to ask. "What's up with all the flag holding?" September 11th, they replied. Evidently all the towns in the area have someone man a flag for the entire day. Very cool.

Stein and I had a wicked 70 mile day over some brutal climbs. But stayed at a picturesque campsite at Holland Lake Montana. After a dunk in the lake we discussed buddist philosophy and Stein recommended some classes for Buddism and also for meditation in Nepal. He is actually using the GDR ride as practice for a 3500 mile bike ride across Nepal. At like 15,000 ft. elevation. Holy Crap.

He's also taken a land route through the Bolivian desert from Peru to Argentina, so I may use that strategy for my trip next year.

September 10th-Part Deux

Greetings from Helena Montana. I'll try to get you guys caught up best I can, but I'm on a 30 minute guest pass on the library computer and picture uploading is looking doubtful as well. There is an internet cafe in town that opens tomorrow morning, so I'll finish up there and maybe get some pics out.

So after posting my last blog on September 10th, I rode out of Whitefish toward Big Fork. A pretty easy 40 miler on smooth roads.

About 5 miles out of town I caught up to another GDR rider (Great Divide Route). A bloke named Stein from England. We rode for the rest of the day together, telling stories and exchanging philosophy.

That night we hit the bar in Big Fork for a burger and a couple of beers. When we returned to our campsite, another bike was parked there. A guy riding his road bike from Eugene Oregon to Minneapolis, MN.

We stayed up into the wee hours of the night (10:30) drinking rum tea and geeking out on bike porn.

September 10th-Day 7

Got up this morning and headed out to the laundromat to wash clothes and dry out my tent and sleeping bag.

Now I've made it over to the library where I'm finishing up my posts and checking emails. Sorry no photos, but the computers here are locked down. Hopefully I can get some posted tomorrow.

Anyway.....I'll be incommunicado after tomorrow for a few days as I push down toward Yellowstone.

Ciao'

September 9th-Day 6

After having some very strong coffee with Britt, I waved him goodbye and headed out for a 70 mile push over Red Mountain pass and into Whitefish, Montana.

I made suprisingly good time (in spite of having my first flat) and found a great campsite right by the lake.

I also found a bike shop and outdoor shop to get some additional gear.

After a long night of thunderstorms and trains running by all night, I awoke to a bit of water in the tent. I'll be sure to put some seam sealer on the tent tomorrow.

September 8th-Day 5

Grabbed breakfast this morning while waiting for the post office to open at 8:30. This is my first mail drop pickup and everything went well.

A thanks to mom and dad for handling the packages.

It's a good thing I had to pickup a package because when I went to pull out ID for the package I realized I'd left my wallet at the breakfast restaurant.

I would have been Sofa King pissed if I had ridden 100 miles to Whitefish before figuring it out.

Anyway, 110 miles and 3000 feet of vertical between me and the next town (Whitefish). So I'll be splitting this up into 2 days and staying deep in the woods tonight.

So 40 miles in I arrived at the campsite. It was unmanned and initially appeared to be unoccupied. I've been advised by a couple of passing forestry students that this area of Montana has the highest concentration of Grizzlies in the lower 48 and that the forest service uses this area to reintroduce trouble grizzlies from other areas. Very nice.

Fortunately, I found protection in a 60 year old recently divorced and very jaded mountain dude named Britt. He was sleeping in his 1978 Mercedes with his two dogs and his shotgun. Which according to him are the only possessions that bitch didn't get away with.

So after a long night of telling lies with Britt, I called it a night knowing that he, his dogs, and his gun had my back.

September 7th-Day 4

Rolled out early in the morning. Grabbed some McDonalds on the way out of town and started for the US border.

Made it to the Border by 5 in the afternoon. A fair bit faster that I thought.

I've been averaging 55 miles a day, well above by 35 mile estimate. But I'm not getting cocky just yet. My highest altitude so far has been just 6400'. I'll be at over 11,000' in Colorado in a few weeks. That might slow me down a bit.

Rolled into Eureka at 5pm and found a campsite right in the middle of town. The police stopped by and told me that they had turned off the water after the holiday weekend, so they wouldn't charge me the $5 camping fee. Hmmmm. I think I'd rather have a hot shower, but there was a gas station across the street, so I got to take a nice sink bath.

September 6th-Day 3

Rode from Elkford, BC to Sparwood and then ?. Crap, can't think of the town. Anyway. It was a cool little town just south of Sparwood.

Absolutely gorgeous ride. Saw my first Moose. Man those things are big.

Grabbed some WD40 for the squeeky bike. And some fondue fuel. Which suprisingly works in my stove. So warm meals for me.

September 5th-Day 2

Quick Climb over the pass (6400') across the border from Alberta to British Columbia. Those are called provinces. Say it with me pro-vinc-es.

50 miles of pretty moderate riding and into Elkford, BC. It's a small logging town. I managed to locate the laundry to defunk myself and found a nice campsite right by the river.

That night while making the fire I found a piece of paper in the firepit with details on a 10 mile trail on the edge of town with views of some lakes and falls. How synchronicitice.

Got up early the next morning put on my running shoes and hit the trail.

Followed that up with pancakes, bacon and eggs. The waitress also threw in a big slice of carrott cake to keep me going later in the day. How nice.

A word on Canadian hospitality. With the exception of the Canadian truck drivers, I met some very friendly people in the small Canadian towns. They did stare a bit. Not sure if it's the bike or the mohawk, but whatever.

Back to the truckers. I swear to god, they accelerate when they come past me on dirt roads to see how much dirt they can cover me with. But I'm in zen mode. So....whatever.

September 4th

Day 1 of riding.

Woke this morning warm, but froze my a$$ off getting out of the tent. Fortunately, all the locals were complaining about how cold it was as well. So that made me feel like less of a wuss. It was 34 degrees, or as the Canadians say, 1.

I started out on the trail behind the Banff Springs hotel. Saw my first bear sitting in the trail at mile 4. Nice start.

Trail was pretty rough. Passed one hiker and a Canadian Mounty. Both asked where I was headed.

"El Paso", I replied.

"Kinof late to be starting..isn't it?"

This sentiment has now been repeated a good 20 times since I started.

My relatively late start was further reinforced by the fact that after 55 miles of riding with 2000 feet of vertical, I arrived at the campsite at 6 pm to find that it was closed.

Next a lodge 3 miles further was also closed.

Starting to get worried at this point. Only one campsite between me and a 2000 ft. climb. "If this next site is closed, I'm sleeping on the side of the road and the bears can eat me"...I thought.

Fortunately, the site at mile 60 was open. As was their store which had boiling water from the coffee maker. So hot rehydrated beef stroganoff for me. Sweeeet.

I would have heated the food myself, but evidently everclear (which I use to run my stove) is illegal in Canada. Ha. Canada sucks. (Just kidding Nicki).

Greetings from Whitefish Montana.

OK. Where to start. I think I'll post from day one forward to keep the flow.

September 3rd--Arriving in Banff, AB.

The adventures started pretty much immediately. On the shuttle from the Calgary airport to Banff, it started raining buckets. I'm thinking,....great, this is how it's going to be..

Keep in mind that my bike was in the back of the shuttle, still in pieces in a box per airline rules. Also, I was camping the first night, and the shuttle driver informed me that they only drop off at hotels. So he dropped me off at the closest hotel. About a mile away.

The hotel worker informed me that I probably shouldn't assemble my bike at their hotel since the manager was a prick. Anyway, a good citizen (Antoine) at the hotel across the street, let me put my bike together in the maintenance shack and even threw the box away for me.

So by dark I was settled in for what was to be a chilly night at the Banff campground.

Oh, and sorry, but no pics right now. The library I'm at is running some sort of proprietary locked down OS. Maybe tomorrow in Big Fork.