Tag: cycle across america

O’er The Land Of The Free, My Thanks To Thee

Posted on by Ryan

I found myself in Eureka, CA on a bright crisp morning leaving Arcata. Home to the funkiest fairytale buildings, they almost look edible. From here we would leave the coast for a while and make our way inland and thankfully back to the warmth away from the brisk coastline.

At a lunch stop in the charming town of Ferndale me and Eal both ordered the Gardenburger, it was incredible. The most perfect sautéed tomatoes and onions with a pesto spread on the underside of the bun. Thinking of the burger joint in Fargo with Flavia, this cafe should advertise its veggie options as “So good meat eaters will choose them.”

The heat came straight after lunch, back to shorts and short sleeve jersey. We entered the Avenue of Giants early evening, a 25+ mile stretch of quiet redwood highway, amazeballs. Hiker/biker camping in the state park was busy again, Eal had given me all coins for the deposit packet which I then found made it too fat to fit in the deposit box, I left it by the office instead.

I left early the next morning having agreed a destination with Eal, I generally wake up early and Eal likes to get trucking later so recently when the directions have been straight forward we have been riding separately for most of the day. To make things simpler for myself I stuck with the 101 which was shouldered well if a little busy. Mornings are chilly but by 10am I am stood by the road, bike perched on a sign, stripping down to my kecks and fishing out shorter attire from my bags. Very amusing for the passing cars to see my pasty white torso, especially for the ones that slow down, you’ve seen it all before love.

The first few town stops still had a major hippie invasion with the aforementioned marijuana harvest about to go down, most were friendly but some characters seemed shady looking to blend in and make a quick score. I wasn’t very comfortable leaving my bike outside stores with my flimsy lock and had to be quick with transactions. One guy told me he would ‘watch’ my bike before I went to get a drink, he was friendly enough and we talked a while. He was making his way down to San Diego and asked if I could spare any money for food. I happily gave him all the shrapnel weight out of my wallet. Not long left in the country and I probably wont shift those coins. He was buzzing, nay bother lad.

I was going to have lunch in the town of Leggit, on arrival I found the gas stations and cafes all shutdown so had to make do with P+J sanga’s before tackling the 2 huge climbs. I love climbing when its like this though, short steep climbs tend to irritate me but I find great peace of mind in these long traversing pinches of several thousand feet. Sweaty work though, looked like I had taken part in a 1 man wet T shirt comp. After the second of the big climbs I was thrown out onto the coastline again to chilling sea air, its cold magnified by the sweat on my skin. Jacket on I located the hiker/biker campspot on a beach cliff edge. Eal turned up shortly after, pitched, ate. Sleeping that night I kept waking thinking I was being swallowed into the sea. If you imagine the foot of my tent was sloped down towards the waves 50 feet below which crashed loud as thunder. Yikes.

The light was amazing breaking camp, hitting out over my shoulder as it rose from the east (Sun sets in the West for those who forget ;-)…) I had to remember to look back now and again. I noticed what I thought was a cat on the roadside up ahead, I screeched on my breaks when I realised there would be no cats knocking about in this area. It was twice the size of a domestic with an almost leopard like coat. I looked it in the eye whilst trying to unzip my bag and grab the camera, when it shot like a bolt into the bush. I later found it was a little lynx which are present around here. Look them up, incredible animal, no pictures so if you want to see one in the flesh you will just have to come out and ride for yourself.

The morning was glorious the afternoon not so much. Deep fog rolled in which made certain stretches of narrow road and bridges quite scary with the local log trucks seemingly in a rush to make deadlines. Then some brutal switchback climbs did their best to beat my seasoned yet tired limbs. We rolled up to a KOA camp, normally ignore because of high prices but being on the coast this one offered a biker rate to compete with state parks, magical and overdue hot shower followed by a heart warming gesture by an old couple who we talked with by the front office on arrival. They had sent a worker on a golf cart to our plot with an envelope wishing us well and $20, the cost of our camp. No signal and I needed to make some calls so had to trek in foggy darkness away from the campground where I was told reception was stronger, I lost count of how many times I tripped over branches but made it back safe as houses.

Fog seems to be set in for good at the moment, leaving camp again to the same old narrow roads and close shaves with traffic. I really wasn’t feeling the ride. Eal was up ahead an neither had breakfast so I was surprised to see he had passed up the first cafe a few miles in, I continued expecting him to be by the next one, he wasn’t so I stopped anyway hoping the sun might come up and burn through a little. It still hadn’t made much impression by the time I left so up and over the coastal bluffs I went, only escaping the suffocating cloud when I rose above them onto a high lookout point.

Scary descents followed back into fog, we were joined at camp that evening by Tim from Maine, and older guy who I had seen at breakfast. He had put down 100 miles that day in what was incredibly tough terrain, kudos.

Managing to scout out coffee and a cooked breakfast was essential on yet another foggy bone chilling morning. This would be the last days riding in the USA, destination for the evening was with John & Jessi, friends of Flavia’s in San Francisco. Judging by surroundings it was hard to see that is where we would end up. The riding was pretty glum, not a thing to look at accept cardboard brown grass with annoying short hump climbs and rough road that made riding feel like I was treading water. Mentally I was beat this morning, possibly a little fatigued and under-slept. Whatever it was I stopped for second breakfast just 15 miles in looking for and answer in the bottom of a coffee cup which was shortly followed by a pesto twist from the adjoining bakery. Somewhere between there, grabbing some wifi and just chilling out contemplating the last few months riding across the USA again I hopped back on my bike and started riding. I’ve road bikes long enough to know the road will take care of the rest and it did! The sun came out and the town of Point Reyes made for a delightful lunch stopover. In the afternoon me and Eal rode together for the last stretch, something we haven’t done for a while.

Drawing ever close to San Fran, in Marin county traffic picked up, stop signs every 50 yards made for slow progress. We meandered along several bike paths happily acknowledging our recent milestone just as the golden gate bridge came into view. Crossing it was thrilling, the wind, bustling traffic, outlook over the bay, fog, a movie script ending. We navigated toward downtown as I pedalled with phone on google-maps in one hand as the Garmin wasn’t playing nice. John had told us he would be taking part in a Critical Mass bike ride and we could meet at his apartment afterwards  Well we rode right into the ride, a congregation of hundreds of cyclists on this a special anniversary for the event which literally takes over the streets grinding cars to a halt. The most surreal, bizarre yet perfect end to the USA tour.

We had a few days at J & J’s  to organise bikes, bags, Auckland accommodation and just generally rest the legs and soak in our last few days in the Northern Hemisphere. It was a very retrospective time, I thought about all the wonderful people I had stayed with, the incredible generosity and hospitality afforded to me once again. The bad towns to the good towns, the baron places to the beautiful vistas. From Massachusetts to California via a whole heap of incredible summer and not forgetting meeting Flavia, my absolute highlight of the ride and another friend I will cherish dearly until we next meet, which I am already excited for, the same goes for Joe C Meyer and Coop! Days on the bike are so highly concentrated with physical and mental exertion whether it be my poor thighs sluggin’ up a hill or my eyes taking a million pictures with every blink in each new town or landscape. You can sometimes forget to take a step back and soak it in. That’s why afterwards I find experiences like this are best shared.

Toodle-pip USA! I’ll be back again or maybe you can come visit me?

In Meriwether’s Footsteps

Posted on by Ryan

From Kooskia we rode out on highway 12, not strictly the best way for bicycles and certainly not the way adventure cycling would have you go. Labor day traffic was making its way home too so lots of trailers and boats that got close enough to almost make me look like Vincent Van Gogh.

It was still great riding along the same Columbia river that carried Lewis & Clark with the rest of the corps of discovery and trying to picture there faces as we carved around each bend, happy just to have mountains at their back I guess. We arrived in the aptly named twin towns of Lewiston, ID and Clarkston, WA which marked our first entry into Washington state. We killed some hours in town so not to arrive at the campsite too early which was a further 6 miles down river. We were joined that night by 2 more cyclists who split the cost of one space with us to make it a cheap deal all round. Showers took quarters, 50 cent for 3 minutes. I was done in 2 which taught me how efficient I can be, fast hands.

We had a scheduled date to arrive in Portland to make a concert in a few days time so the ride from Clarkston to Walla Walla would be the first in a series of 85+ mile days. This meant we were reliant on the winds being favourable, our maps described them in this area as often being fierce from the west, luckily they were straight out of the east, thank you cycling gods.

Walla Walla is pretty much the US capital of onions, it was tangible in the air and visible in the fields. The only onions we would be consuming that night were the ones laden atop our pizza, I couldn’t verify whether they were local. All I know is there should be Wallabies in Walla Walla.

The scenery along the gorge which we joined shortly after leaving Walla Walla was a pleasant surprise. We were following the Lewis and Clark trail as a means to an end reaching Portland but it quickly turned into some of the most magnificent riding I have done in the US. A peach stand by the side of the road was too good to turn down on such a hot day so I pulled over to get a juicy fix. The guy only seemed interested in selling 6 at once, I was just after one. He told me I could just have one for free, I insisted on giving a dollar which he declined but I slipped it under a tray regardless.

I kept the peach until reaching the Oregon state sign and savoured it by the baking roadside, so refreshing. Almost too big to hold, the juices poured down my shirt with every bite.

Eal rejoined me shortly before we crossed back into Washington again to take the alternate side of the river. We hit a bad patch of road, recently there have been stretches of roadworks where fresh oil has had loose gravel poured over the top. Without having time to bed down it makes riding bikes a little tricky. It lasted for 5 shaky miles before we could enjoy the rest of the scenic route to crow butte (crow butt) state park. The shower was out of service tonight but the Columbia river was inviting enough to take a dip, warm too!

The ACA maps highlighted a stretch of 80 miles with limited services, a quick peanut butter & jelly sandwich with bananas would have to fuel me until the first town on route, Roosevelt. Rolling into town after putting down around 30 miles there was no guarantee of a good meal, most places seemed closed until we reached the last place in town, a mini mart with a quite splendid cafe area inside.

By recommendation of the other cyclists in the logbook I ordered the breakfast burrito, incredible. What a gem, the women who served us told us how all the cyclists are delighted to find that place, unsurprising. We bolted on with tailwinds again for what would be a 115 mile day. Me and Eal got separated for about 70 miles after I passed up going half a mile off route to a gas station which he had taken after me. Stunning riding again along the gorge, I had mount hood as the backdrop all afternoon. He caught up as we began to ride through a series of small tunnels, they each have a button to press for bicyclists to warn drivers but they are so small I stopped pressing it after the first few.

Camping was by the river (took another dip) again in a really small county park for free! I got to talk with Flavia for a while on the phone which was great to check her progress. We had already bought wine for the evening however and older motorcycle guy in the spot next to us bought a 6 pack of beers and gave me and Eal 2 each to share with him, cheers hombré! I almost feel guilty when I catch myself taking that kind of generosity for granted, American friendliness is seemingly insurmountable.

With the promise of several rest days waiting for us we blitzed towards Portland the next morning where we would be staying with my friend Emily and also meeting up with more friends from my TransAm trip, Stefaan and Tara. The winds blew us along nicely down the gorge with only a fleeting stop for lunch at a Safeway followed by and overdue haircut at Supercuts! Cheap and cheerful.

The evergreen highway along the Washington side of the river was in pretty bad condition for the last the last 10 miles before crossing back into Oregon, dodging cracks and potholes as we rolled. Eventually we made it to a bike path that ran down the centre of the interstate over the Columbia. A very disorientating experience with 3 lanes of traffic whizzing by in opposite directions. Once into Portland I recognised street names and followed my memory along Lombard towards the St Johns neighbourhood. It was great to be back again seeing all the familiar places and faces! Stefaan and Emily met us at a bar for a post ride drink catch up. We now have a few days off the bikes here then a few more hopefully up in Seattle with La Flavster.

 

Divided And United

Posted on by Ryan

Breakfast in Whitefish, sad happy times. I got some monstrous pancakes which I cleverly devised a well in the middle of to hold maple syrup for dunking. Appetites satisfied it was ride time, this is where Flavia splits from us. I held up emotions pretty good as we hugged goodbye knowing we get to meet up again in a few weeks but as soon as we started riding I was bummed out, face like a bulldog all day long. Poor Flavvy having to go tackle all those nasty looking climbs in Washington on her lonesome, she made it this far so she can handle it for sure but I’m going to miss her company so much. People continually ask me what my favourite part of the ride has been in the US so far, I had been saying riding the Mississippi, thats changed to riding with Flavia.

Thankfully I had the best possible evening ahead to pick my spirits up. Rather ironically as I said goodbye to one riding partner today I would reunite with Cooper from the TransAm as he was driving back home to Minneapolis (remember I stayed with his sister Elsie). This also reminded me that I have revisited Wim and Joe too this summer, a good record for meeting up with friends again.

Coop met us at a bar in Poulsen with his buddy Alan, we had a great night sharing beers and pizza. Just generally catching up and laughing hard at our stories from Virginia and Kentucky, great time.

We said goodbye to Coop and Alan as they joked about the long mileage they have sitting in their car today. Me and Eal left town on a great bike path that lasted for a good 20 miles before we joined a narrow road with heavy traffic. The mountain range on our left made for an incredible view, I couldn’t help but think about the mountain bikers riding the divide along that thing, crazy.

I was hit by another flat around 15 miles before Missoula, again it was just a small sharp stone which had penetrated the rubber and kevlar, the tyre needed replacing, it was pretty worn, luckily Missoula has about 6 bike shops! Once in town we first hit the Adventure cycling office to the warmest of welcomes. We were given a full tour of the new office space, had our picture taken for the hall of fame and spoke with co-founder Greg Siple for a while who eventually weighed our bikes fully loaded on his fish hook scale. Both were almost identical at 88lbs. Greg also got us a feature on the local college radio show ‘One for the road’ on our rest day.

That evening my phone decided to melt itself in my hand so after getting our bikes booked in at a shop we walked several miles down to a cell phone repair shop that told me it was irreparable! They had a number of second hand sets though so I managed to get a decent replacement that could take my sim card. The radio show that evening was so much fun, we talked travel, our trip and got to pick some tunes! 🙂 Kevin the DJ joined us afterwards in a bar to talk some more about his travels, he has covered some ground for sure.

Missoula is a great town, Saturday morning meant farmers market too, right outside the Adventure cycling headquarters. It was time to get back on the road though with a steady but gentle climb up to Lolo pass, I knew it was gentle because this is a section I have ridden before on the TranAm and I was excited to ride it again. Initial headwinds gave way once in amongst the mountains. It was beautiful forest riding all the way up to the pass which also acts as the Idaho state line and Pacific timezone crossing. Another hour gained we plummeted down the other side for 10 super fast miles to our campspot for the evening behind the small store at the Lochsa Lodge. We were joined by a fellow Brit called Richard heading east and shared a few brews in the lodge bar after nomming down a campstove dinner.

Breakfast at the Lochsa lodge that next morning was just a great as I remembered from the last time. The view out the window was a little concerning, forest fires have been really bad in the area recently. Highway 12 which we are on all day was almost closed yesterday as the active fire came within 1/4 mile of the road.

I set out first knowing we had a gently downhill 90 mile day ahead but with very limited services. 45 miles I stopped for the first time to take a break as the smoke start to sting my eyes and I could feel it on my chest. A women told me leaving the lodge it would be bad for 15 miles then ok which is the reason I continued riding so long without stopping but It still hadn’t eased up. It wasn’t until around 25 miles before Kooskia that the air felt clear again. All my clothes smelt as though they had been hanging over a coal fire all day (better than usual?). Me an Eal eventually synced up just before Kooskia and got the tents pitched under the small park shelter. I had remembered from my last camp in the park sprinklers were hidden everywhere so grass was out of the question tonight.

 

Mountains Of Fun

Posted on by Ryan

I had expected a change in scenery several days ago leaving Havre, Bob told me that we were on the cusp of the transition towards trees, mountains, greenery, the rockies! Still nothing had really changed and I was starting to wonder if someone had moved them. Breakfast is a big deal for our little trio, we almost always make time for a first and second breakfast, recently I’ve been going for the pancakes, adding the blueberry option where possible.

We had a reasonably short ride to Cut Bank in order to line up tomorrows destination and avoid a stopover in Browning which we had been strongly advised against. The campground was sweet, nice showers and wifi is always welcome. Flavia rolled up quite distressed, she had lost her beloved orange sweater that she purchased in Fargo to help with her thermal issues. I told her a small mammal by the road would now be using it for warmth, that seemed to help. We cooked up some food and had a few Ninkasi beers whilst playing, the now nightly round of, hangman and sketchgame on Flavorings iPad.

There was some rain around the next morning, we hit the gas station for a quick breakfast eager to make some ground up early as we headed towards Glacier. I had some trouble with the creamer machine for my coffee. There was no obvious button to dispense milk but there was a filled teat hanging down like a cows udder, I squeezed the teat. The milk came out but so did the gas station lady to tell me off. 🙁

The area between Cut Bank and East Glacier was part of the Blackfeet Indian reservation. Those guys even had a bad rep 200 years ago, apparently they still do. The previous warnings about the town of Browning however seemed a little misguided. We stopped at the grocery store and had brief conversations with a few friendly locals. There were a bunch of forest fires around that hazed the view of in the distance but leaving Browning we could see the rockies for sure, an amazing sight.

The scenery still refused to change up until a mile before East Glacier, then suddenly, trees, trees and more trees! I haven’t seen forest for weeks on end, I pulled over at the first gas station elated. We trucked on up over Marias Pass which marks a continental divide and coasted several glorious miles towards Glacier Meadows campground.

I crawled out of my tent/burrow the next morning to be told I look like a prairie dog as usual by Flavia. There was some sadness in the air though, today would be her last day riding with us as she continues west to Seattle and we make a detour south west for Missoula, then Portland. If we hadn’t already scheduled and made plans we could have continued to Seattle and then went south afterwards. We will have time to spare at the end of the trip so this way we will get to go up to Seattle in a few weeks and have a big happy reunion.

The riding, stopovers, food, beer, laughs made the day to Whitefish probably the best days riding in the US. Not only was the scenery magnificent, we got to have second breakfast at a wonderful lodge, take a dip in the ice cold rivers, arrive in Whitefish just as the farmers market vendors opened up and then hit the brewery in town. The trouble with the blog is its just a summary of the days events to line up with pictures. Almost the entire ride is lost in the posts. So you will just have to believe me when I say it was amazing, also Flavia managed to fall over sideways whilst stationary clipped into her pedals, didn’t want to miss that detail out.

I talked about lifer friends when we left Joe’s in Pitts. Going through school and work you inevitabley get bunched with similarly like minded people and make lots of great friends, the pool is pretty big, you were more likley to meet them and how lucky I am to have so many great friends that I wish I could see now even just for a drink at the end of a ride, Doug, Lewy, Luke, Ben, Jack, Nate, Coop and everyone else!

Bicycle touring, the pool is much smaller. You could go weeks without seeing anybody else and when you do the chances are you might talk for a few minutes or ride together for a day and part ways. Maybe you ride a little farther together and keep in touch. If you cover enough miles and discover many new people with a bit of luck you might come across a Flavia Chen. Fiercly intelligent, super generous and caring but still a total goofball, simply a beautiful person and most certainly a lifer. I am already counting the days until Seattle, she has to make it there herself first!

You Wind Some You Lose Some

Posted on by Ryan

I failed to take a picture of the ride to Glasgow (glasscow). The shoulder was erratic all day with really bad truck traffic. At one point on a downhill a gust blew me so hard I went into the gravel which sloped off the side. I managed to stay on the bike but I immediatley stopped to make sure Eal and Flavia had safely passed through the sketchy section.

We arrived in decent enough time to hit the library for a while then dine out for   a change. Not a bad joint either, I had a pasta dish that was long overdue complemented by a drop of vino before we hit the tents.

Riding to Malta we managed to dodge nasty looking rain clouds throughout the morning and had a second breakfast at a rest area. The afternoon winds blasted us from the front. Eal burrowed his head and trucked on impressively, I could see Flavvy was less than amused by the conditions so we employed some drafting tactics to ensure the group arrived in once piece, I didn’t want a repeat of the Tappen/Steele day. Besides bad jokes aside, I enjoy her company whilst riding and we eventually made it to Malta with a free camp in the city park. We cooked up dinner together and shared a few beers that Flavvy bought as a thanks for the afternoon support.

The winds were kinder the next day as we targeted Chinook, kind enough for us to regroup and think we could shoot farther to Havre. The cycling gods or maybe just the ‘East Glacier Front’ as one local put it, turned on us. In the blink of an eye the tailwinds turned to strong gusty headwinds. A repeat of yesterday afternoons headwinds, Eal trucked on whilst I drafted with Flavarillo. We stayed focussed thinking up puns with the town name Havre (pronounced Have-er), eventually making it to find Eal slumped and beat outside a gas station. It adjoined an RV park and we scored a shower for $5 before heading over to the park in town to camp for free. Whilst cooking up tea in the park some homeless and visibly drunk people came up to us. They were non threatening, offering us good wishes and prayers. It was a difficult situation to handle, extremely sad and unsettling. Flavia is and incredibly compassionate person and she comforted one of the women who was terribly upset by her predicament. She probably wont like me saying it was touching, but  she is a very gentle caring person and I am thankful to have her in our company.

The next morning we had a slow start. Over breakfast we watched the flags outside waving violently in the wrong direction. We made the desicion to do some laundry and see how the wind conditions develop. Laundry done we hit the grocery store. If anything the headwinds had worsened. So badly infact that my fully loaded bike lent against a wall was blown over! Its then we decided to ‘Havre’ rest day rather than battle through winds all day and make little progress.

As we were leaving the store to find somewhere to bunker down a guy at the service desk called us over. It turned out to be Bob and he lived in town, he immediately offered us a place to stay in his basement. His boss drove us up to his place in her pickup with the bikes in the back, Bob was working till 10pm and we had the whole afternoon to fill. Fill it we did with awesome pizza making followed by brownies! Hands down best pizza of the trip. We ended the day with wine whilst me and Flavsome enjoyed a few episodes of Arrested Development, too funny!

We hadn’t seen Bob that evening when he got in but he was up for breakfast that Flavia had rustled up, eggs in a nest. It was fun talking with Bob about his previous tales of putting up random strangers, in some case cyclists at his place over the years, great guy.

About 20 miles into the ride we stopped at a lonely looking cafe/bar for second breakfast. There were a bunch of home nation football shirts hanging around, turned out the owner was from London. At the moment I can see towns 10-20 miles off in the distance before reaching them, it helps keep focus and I think makes me ride faster. Also spotted the rockies on the horizon for the first time, covering ground now.

Continuing from the previous Havre jokes, the days destination Galata was just as pun worthy. Me and Flavvy spent the last 10 or so miles exchanging terrible puns like…”We’re guna have Galata fun tonight!”. Possibly one of those, you had to be there jokes, I thought it was funny and I was there, in Galata! Camping behind an unmanned motel with the back door left open for shower access. Strange joint but it worked for a cheap nights kip.

 

The Shower Free Three

Posted on by Ryan

Leaving Bismarck via bike path early the next morning was super cold to the point I was riding with one hand on bars and the other stuffed inside my jacket, switching as the exposed hand began to turn white. We all ended up buying some cheap gloves at the first gas station of the day. Gloves in the middle of August! Whats more ridiculous is that a few hours later we would be lathering in suncream again.

We didn’t have a solid destination for the evening so after a map session later in the day Flavia remembered an eastbounder had told her of an Abbey in Richardton that allows cyclists to stay. She called up and squared the deal, perfect! On route we scored some free country music CD’s despite the fact neither of us have drives to play them. I then struck up a round of “The Elevation Game” in which my co-riders must guess the current elevation given by the Garmin, closest wins. What a wild bunch we are! The abbey turned out to be a great nights free camping, no showers again however but we all smell as bad as each other so its no issue.

Father Otto had greeted us the previous evening at the Abbey and came over in the morning to say goodbye and wish us safe travels. We rolled out early again for a quick gas station breakfast in which we were offered jobs on a local farm, maybe see how Australia goes first. The ride to Medora produced an epic scenery change from the flat grassy plains. We pulled off road to see the painted canyon and then continued into the North Dakota badlands on the southern unit of the Teddy Roosevelt national park. Medora is and awesome little tourist town, we shared onion rings and a beer to celebrate the great ride then headed to the campground on the edge of town for a long overdue shower (I think it had been 4 days) and laundry.

We made the easy desicion to head into Medora town for a cafe breakfast. The guy/owner working the kitchen didn’t seem too impressed with us using his power outlets to charge phones. The nice waitress tried to redeem with happy smiles and we informed her we planned on ordering enough food to justify some free power juice.

The day was clear and hot, we rolled out along an old railway track as the scenery gradually turned back into an empty landscape. We had to rejoin the freeway for the last stretch into the elegantly named Glendive which took us into another new state, Montana. After finding a suitable watering hole for a quick post-ride bottle of blue moon we navigated flavigated our way to the RV campground listed on our maps. The place was pretty run down with no obvious spot for tents except a patch of scruffy grass in the corner by the railway track. The site had no water spigot nevermind shower or toilet facilities. Flavski managed to call the owner to check what the deal was, she told us we could stay for free if we really wanted to so stay we did! If we had been travelling alone this would have made for a desperately poor spot to stay for the night, but as the bugs started biting and the busy train line kept honking we all looked at each other and burst into laughter. Its amazing what you can make of a bad situation in good company.

Nobody wanted to hang around at the campsite any longer than we needed the next morning so coffee in town was the days first agenda. Actually for Flavia it was a restroom, she bemoans the fact me an Eal can just roll over to a tree to take a leak. I found her some good spots for privacy but she refused thus spending the whole night and following morning desperate for the loo!

The riding post Glendive took us onto an Indian reservation. The eastern Montana reservations have a bad reputation for gambling, alcoholism and obesity. When we eventually arrived at Wolf Point it was clear why. Just people watching by the gas station things seemed quite sad and depressing. Camping in the city park was on the cards and we had been told to lock our bikes up for sure. It turned out to be a pleasant evening, no shower but plenty of good eats as Flavvy once again shared her pantry to combine with our meals  making some nice combos, she is super generous.

Roughrider State

Posted on by Ryan

It was immediately obvious on the morning leaving Fargo that our planned 4 day blitz across North Dakota was probably a little unlikely. Firstly we had a super leisurely breakfast then went across to a coffee shop to wait on the bike shop opening so Eal and Flavia could score some new tyres. We then navigated to the west half of Fargo to seek out a Walmart for groceries and a sporting goods store so Flavia could buy more warm clothes…

I don’t recall what time we actually started riding but the days destination had  already been shortened a great deal to the settlement of Tower City. In North Dakota its legal to ride on the interstate, for people back home that’s the equivalent to the A1. As services are so limited across the state we had decided on the advice of several eastbounders to come off the northern tier for a few days and stick on the freeway where stops and small towns were roughly 30 miles apart rather than 70.

On arrival in Tower city we setup camp behind a motel which offered a shower into the bargain and hit the gas station, only source of food in the area, for some ice cream and talked about how lousy the freeway riding had been. The shoulder is huge by its very monotonous with nothing in the way of conversation possible. Each exit ramp also causes a problem as you have to check for traffic and skip over a lane across the deep rumble strips.

The following morning we returned to the gas station as it was adjoined by a decent little cafe which was serving up some mean looking breakfasts to the truckers stopping by. Heading to Jamestown, ND we had checked with some locals about possible respite from the freeway by taking some of the small roads that run alongside it for a while. We came off for around 15 miles before the roads turned to gravel and we had to rejoin the freeway. Many of the small roads in the area just have loose gravel thrown down to reduce future maintenance and costs.

Me and Eal arrived in Jamestown a little before Flavvy so we hit the library where we met up later on. She had been to the Frontier Village attraction in town which she later visited again to give us the guided tour! It was a neat little attraction with old buildings transported and rebuilt similar to the olde town street at Preston park back home. They also boasted the worlds largest buffalo, see picture below…

After we located the campground on the edge of town I spotted the park office had a football! The lady let me borrow it for a while and me and Eal went over to the large grassy area to ping it around, first time I had kicked a ball in about 12 weeks, still got it.

The fog leaving our Jamestown camp spot the next day was horrific.Hi viz tops all round, it was made all the more uncomfortable given we were riding on the interstate again. Thankfully the sun burnt through after a couple hours and we stopped for a second breakfast in the tiniest town cafe. An older couple had gotten talking to us and said they were from Defiance, OH as if we had never heard of it, we rode through Defiance! They were delighted and wished us luck. Unfortunately our luck abandoned us. Flavvy had been checking weather on her iPad as a big weather front moved its way in with very strong winds and storms forcast in the next few hours. The sky ahead looked grim enough for me to pull into a rest area where there was at least benches, shelter, free maps! and a vending machine. You can ride 20-30 miles without seeing a rock out here so its wise to make use of shelter when you see it rather than gamble getting caught in it.

The wind was so strong that the 10 miles to the rest area was brutal, sadly flavvy had stopped at the opposite side freeway rest area about 2 miles back. We stayed in contact via phone and resolved to have another shorter than planned day to Steele. Me and Eal trucked on into winds another 12 or so miles to Tappen after the skies brightened a touch. Then finally slugged on lowest gears up the freeway to Steele, ND. We had squared another good camp deal, inc shower behind a motel in town for $5 when Flavia text me to say she had made it to Tappen but was going no further in the wind today and would meet us in Steele the next day for breakfast. I joked me an eal were going to the bar to get drunk, I joked…:s

The bar in town was called The Depot, after a bottle or two we decided one more than hit the hay, the locals were friendly and it was still reasonably early. Eal asked for a scotch and rather than pour him a double, she filled his glass! After that round we were litteraly standing of our stools to leave when the owner Tanya waltzes round wanting to talk and buy us a drink, we couldn’t refuse her generosity. I don’t think I paid for another drink the rest of the night, of which there were many, Eal even won some money in a game of pool which he put back into the bar to buy everyone a drink back. We had a great time with all the guys in The Deport, especially the bartender Tom who was heading to Bismarck tomorrow so might pass us on the road, if we can ride.

The following morning I felt ok, I had stuck to the beers. I thought the scotches Eal had moved onto could mean a slow start so I was planning on giving him my phone and maps for the ride to Bismarck and he could sleep in. Flavia caught up with us behind the motel amused by our party night in Steele. At that moment, to our surprise, Eal sprung from his tent ready to ride.

It was evident he was still going to take it slowly but the gang was back, me and Flavski road ahead, it was one road all day and we had told Eal which campground in Bismarck to head for when he arrived. There were fields of glorious sunflowers as far as the eye could see for most of the day, unexpected beauty in the middle of North Dakota. Its tricky to get riding clothes right at the moment, the mornings start frosty and cold but by 11am its super hot, I shed a layer every 30 minutes. Just outside of Bismarck, Tom from last night caught up with us! He had stopped and talked with Eal back down the road and said he was trucking through. Me and Flav had a great afternoon in Bismarck, farmers market, coffee shop then the Blarney stone pub where Tom met us for a third time after seeing our bikes outside. We road slightly misguided by Flav-Nav (I have retired from navigation duty whilst I can) to the campground and found Eal already setup ready for bed.

 

Fargo + 1

Posted on by Ryan

Leaving Elsie’s we headed back towards downtown on the Cedar creek trail which took us right by target field again and across the river to the north. Today would be off the grid again as we came off the northern tier to get here so it was a case of ride 65 miles due North on secondary roads to reach the town of Dalbo and rejoin the trail.

The Garmin juice was low so I resolved to checking maps at each gas station we stopped to verify progress and road numbers to Dalbo. The last 10 miles brought rain showers so we turned up at the legendary Adventure Bicyclists Bunkhouse dripping wet at the porch of Donn Olsen’s. He has converted an old barn on his farm to house cyclists passing by his home on the northern tier route. He is one of the other few trail angels to be given the June Curry award by the ACA for his generosity, kindness and dedication to bicycle tourists.

The bunkhouse was awesome and we even had company for the night with David and Pata, an older couple also heading west. It was funny because I had said to Eal on the way in I was expecting other bikers tonight, but had guessed Flavia from the previous week. Just an hour later Flavia did turn up!

We sat around in the bunkhouse sharing stories, Donn had some great tales from previous years, his laugh was infectious, such a great guy. He also gave us maps and information on a 100+ mile bike trail that we can take straight to Fergus Falls, I’m not sure why the northern tier doesn’t follow this but we will.

To join the long bike trail Donn had told us about we first had to get to the town of Bowlus where it picks up. The riding was glorious, flat, sunny, tailwind. Me and Eal had left the bunkhouse last that morning but arrived in Bowlus to find David, Pata and Flavia all setting up at the city park. The cafe across the street provided the ice cream and we got to spend another evening in great company including Bill an Eastbounder who could provide further advise on the road ahead, always useful. David and Pata are doing shorter mileage but me, Eal and Flavia agreed to get a super early start and shoot for Fergus Falls tomorrow which would be around 105 miles.

It was an earlier start than me and Eal had been used too, not since the Spanish wild camps had we seen the day at this hour, we broke camp with Flavia then went to the cafe for breakfast and hit the trail around 7:30. I had a good sense of progress getting the miles racked up before midday, important on a century ride. The trail was completely flat, paved with a steady flow of towns and services. It should have lent itself to fast riding but I enjoyed spending the time riding casually chatting with our new buddy. Flavia was so much fun to ride with, she spent most of the day talking in a British accent pronouncing local terms we had been teaching her.

After racking up the century the skies turned black and so did our plans for Fergus Falls. Camping options weren’t obvious, Flavia’s iPad helped us find a spot on the edge of town but it meant some backtracking and a gravel road, spirits remained intact and we pitched beside a lake at the recreation area where I finally accepted Flavia’s offer of a green pepper to go with my dinner which she insisted on giving to me the previous night. The three of us hit our tents suitably exhausted after what turned out to be a 112 mile ride, asleep before I hit the pillow.

We had camped a few miles outside Fergus Falls the previous night so made our way in town this morning where Flavia had gotten recommendations for breakfast at the Viking Cafe, great joint. We were heading for Fargo, home to one of my all time favourite movies, Fargo! Being a Sunday the roads stayed nice and quiet except for the 10am rush to church. Midway through we stopped in the small town of Brownsville, our second in Minnesota, this one was famous for Potato Days which unfortunately wasn’t for another week or two. At the small town cafe we stopped for pie and coffee when an elder guy called Arlan squared up with the waitresses to have our bill put on his tab! Hero.

We finished the ride contemplating what the bright lights of Fargo and a motel stop would have in store for us. The Howard Johnson provided accommodation, not a bad deal now the room is split 3 ways. We cleaned up and hit a local bar for food and beers. Flavia is vegetarian, on asking if they did veggie burgers the guy responded, ‘No, but our burgers are so good vegetarians would eat them’. She still got fries and salad. Me and Eal ordered a paddle of sampler beer and raised a toast to end the night with Flavski to her poppa Mickey C as it was his birthday.

Mississippi Rollers

Posted on by Ryan

We decided to hit Elkader town for breakfast, only it was Sunday which meant we had stumped ourselves with an unusually early start because everything was closed until 9am, gas station it was. Shame too because it was a really nice place, we both spent 10 minutes just riding up and down the streets looking around, its the closest town to Yarm I have found in the US.

We hit some rolling hills before descending down towards the Mississippi which we will follow north for a few days. It was great riding and unexpectedly beautiful. Most people will normally associate this river with the south but up here its just as glorious and alive with tons of cool little river towns and bustling train lines giving the area a unique vibe.

We met a fellow cyclist called Wilson during the day who had been riding since January with his dog, he was a nice enough guy but seemed to be on a very tight budget so most of our advice on places to stop he disregarded as too expensive. He seemed almost genuinely homeless on a bicycle, but was a little hard to figure out. I wasn’t sure how to feel about his dog either, it was cute but the dog seemed lifeless, he was just sat back on his rear rack probably for 8 hours everyday.

Anyways we made it a good 80 miles along the river to a nice campground in Brownsville just over the Minnesota border, another state!

The mist blanketing the Mississippi early this morning was magical if a little erie. It would make riding along a narrow shoulder a little awkward so we ducked in a cafe for breakfast to let the sun burn through. I quickly noted the change in accent. Everybody was finishing sentences with “oh yah, oh yah, oof da.” The days destination was a warmshowers host in Wabasha, however as with our host Kyler a few weeks ago, Terry was not going to be home but told us he had a poolhouse with a fridge stocked with beer, wine and soda which he would leave open for us to let ourselves in, he also mentioned a hot tub, swimming pool and told us to make ourselves at home! Too good to be true.

The riding continuously tuck us up away from the river onto the bluffs but neither of us minded the climbing as each was rewarded with great overlooks of the river. As we arrived in Wabasha we navigated to Terry’s house on the loose directions he had provided and on finding his spot we walked around the back to the poolhouse he had told us of and the stocked fridge, pool, tub…amazing, not only that but his back decking literally hung over the Mississippi!

After cooking up dinner I started eyeing up the hot tub, it was all covered up and I was unsure how to work it. One can of beer later I was ready to have a shot at it, so I uncovered the tub, pressed some jet buttons, turned on the lights and upped the heat, now we’re bubbling! Me and Eal grabbed a beer each and hopped in stilling grinning ear to ear at our luck, how did we end up here this evening? Minutes later a bunch more people showed up, 2 gals and a guy. The girls were kayaking the river and the guy Paul was from England and he was going down river on a raft he built himself! The neighbours all know Terry and after seeing this guys pull into harbour earlier that evening had agreed to let the girls and Paul stay over after Terry said it was fine over the phone, although a little bummed he was missing the party! We must have sat in the tub till about 1am drinking beers and trading stories, a great time.



I woke as soon as the sun came up as did Paul and Eal given we failed to close the blinds in the poolhouse which apparently doubled as an oven, it was hot, bright and I was dried mouthed with a mild to good hangover. Me and eal rolled into town to score breakfast then hit the gas station to buy a crate of beers to re-stock Terry’s fridge supply which had been severely dented the previous night. We rolled down towards Pauls raft, which we saw but sadly he wasn’t around at the time to say goodbye, awesome guy though, even better adventure!

We took it leisurely, nursing our hangovers and still trying to make sense of how last night turned out. We crossed, for a short while, into Wisconsin before hopping back over to Minnesota and making good progress towards Minneapolis so we could arrive early tomorrow and spend some time in the city before staying with Elsie Hanning. She is the sister of Cooper Hanning who I met in Virginia back in 2010 and rode with for several weeks, she had agreed to put us up for the night, hero!

Finishing the ride to Minneapolis the following day was made easy by the fantastic bike network in and around the twin cities area. We first stopped at the Town Wall Brewery as recommended by Elsie before taking in some of the sights such as Stone arch bridge and Target field before making our way to Elsie’s apartment after she had finished work.

She played the perfect host, cooked us up some great grub and drove us around to show us uptown and visit Yoghurt Lab, a great idea best described as a pick n mix version of ice cream and toppings. I’m stealing the idea for Australia and agreed to share the spoils with Elsie. We ended the night catching up on some more Olympic action and looking at pictures of Cooper whilst Elsie told us stories from their youth, including some amusing camping trips in  North Dakota where we are headed. Thanks for a great night Elsie, true trail angel.

Ice cream with Elsie at Yoghurt Lab.

 

The Northern Tier

Posted on by Ryan

Joe wanted to ride with us for the first 20 or so miles through downtown as we headed north towards Ohio. Appropriatley he pulled out the old sun beaten jersey he had worn last time we rode and we hit the bike paths. Joe did well to navigate us away from the city with only 4 wrong turns, I had predicted he would make 7. Its a shame to be parting ways again but it wont be for long, Joes turn to visit me next time. You make lots of friends and many good friends through life but only a handful that you know will remain close buddies for life, Joe is one of those.

He had hooked us up with a place to stay in Alliance, Ohio that evening after an 80+ mile slog back on the bikes. We arrived at the house of Bill Morris to find Joe’s dad had driven down from Cleveland to join us for dinner that evening! Bill and Kate had arranged quite a special evening for us inviting friends and local bicycle enthusiasts round for food and drink, they spoilt us with great salad, corn on the cob and grilled chicken! We had a great time talking with everyone, its always good to be able to get advise on the next days ride from locals too. Bill had also arranged for a local news reporter to come over for a short interview, which led to a front page and inside cover spot on the Alliance Review paper. Thanks to Bill and Kate for making it a special evening and the warmest of welcomes to Alliance!

Eal talking with some local cyclists and me with Joe's dad in the background!
Front cover and inside column feature in the Alliance Review

Bill told us to ride out of Alliance via the high school and Glamorgan castle to take in two of Alliance’s landmarks, they were so big we could hardly miss them. The goal for the day was continue north to lake Erie where we would finally join the Northern tier bike route, the cross country trail by adventure cycling whose Transamerica trail I used last time. North-eastern Ohio was still gently rolling but it ended flat amongst corn and soya fields as we hauled within touching distance of the great lake.



Riding to Fremont I wondered whether we would start seeing other touring cyclists now on the Northern Tier. Weather is consistently hot, humid with no rain, its had a huge impact in the US this summer and is always the first talking point with locals. We tell them we get enough rain back home so are glad of the weather but at the same time feel terrible about the many dried out crop fields we have seen and will continue to see for weeks to come as we cross the Americas farming heartland. A nice bike path took us the last stretch from Clyde where we dined in at Lee’s famous recipe chicken and old fashioned chicken place local to the area, fried chicken, tatoes, gravy, slaw, all the good stuff.

We had a casual morning as it was only a 60 mile ride to Grand Rapids and the campground we had picked out for the evening. We stopped by the bike shop in Fremont and talked with the guys about our trip, beer and the olympics. It was a great shop and they even gave Eal some free bontrager bar end plugs as he had lost one and was having some hand issues. It was perfect riding, cranking out 15-20mph most of the way through idyllic farmland under a big hot blue sky. We pulled up right on the river with the place to ourself aside from one RV camper in the far corner, it was primitive with no showers but the lake looked refreshing enough to take a dip and clean off. We piled up the fire wood before scooting back into town to pick up some cold ones to end the evening whilst I studied the panels on my Northern tier maps over and over. Its good to be back on an established route with all directions taken care of, it almost feels like we have just started crossing the country even though we’re already a decent chunk over.