Biking Dude Blog

I traveled about 97.8 miles today.
Not much of interest today, just pounding out miles. Stayed with Mary and John last night, really wonderful people. Mary made blueberry pancakes for breakfast, yum! Slept pretty restlessly last night, not sure why. I think I caught a cold in Glendive or Wolf Point, but it's not too bad. I sure won't let it stop me. The amazing Dean had been helping me find places to stay on my way through Montana, which has been great. Staying with Gen tonight in Harlem. Really cool warm showers host who actually did a research paper in college about touring cyclists. Been seeing lots of cyclists on the other side of the road the last few days, really interesting being back on the ACA route.

I traveled about 105.3 miles today.
Biked all the way from Harlem to Chester today. Got some new tires (and tubes) in Havre. Big thanks to Roger, who opened up his bike shop for a bit today after I called yesterday asking if I could get some tires. Light headwind today, was draining when combined with having a mild cold. Staying in city park tonight, met cascade, who is biking from Minneapolis to Vancouver. Also passed Calvin on the road today, another east west cyclist. Storm coming through tonight, but park has a shelter that should be helpful. Very strong headwind tomorrow, will try to make cut bank. Cascade said that she might just try to hitchhike there. A tempting idea, but I'd like to give it an honest try on the bike first. Also, my bike has a name now (actually, gave it a name on the road to wolf point). Bullet Bill (yes, add in the super Mario baddy). Also, interesting thing from a day or two ago: I saw a truck driving on railroad tracks. It had attachments in the front and rear with train wheels that supported most of the pickup's weight, and the tires had just enough contact to propel the vehicle. Very cool.

I traveled about 66.5 miles today.
Today was the most mentally exhausting day I've has so far. Consistent head winds in the 20-30 mph range, combined with over cast skies, occasional light rain, and cooler temps really drain one's spirit. That, and my average speed was under 10 mph, which is just disheartening. It was 40 miles to Shelby from Chester, and the last ten of those miles had me really struggling to continue. A big thanks to Beth at the Shelby visitor info center, who gave me some good maps, a nice indoor place to eat lunch, advice to get hot soup from the gas station across the street, and for general being very nice. It was both nice and needs to get a bit of hot food and a break. The last twenty some miles to cut bank was much better, though still difficult. Meet up with Walter in cut bank, got a ride to his house nearish big sky colony. Will briefly return to Canada tomorrow on my way to saint Mary! I'm excited. My camping buddy from last night (Cadence, not cascade, don't know why I made that mistake earlier) hitchhiked to cut bank (smart), and we're gong to try to meet up in saint Mary. So, tough day that ended well. Looking forward to next few days. Many, many thanks again to everyone that's been helping me out. Need to start taking more pictures again, especially going through glacier.

I finished biking for today. You can check out my current location on the map and I'll post about my day when I am in coverage.
 
 
 

Had a great stay with Walter and Charlotte on Monday night. Walter picked me up in cut bank, and drive me to his house near the del Bonita border crossing. They run a ranch up there, learned lots about ranching. Got a late start Tuesday, which was fine. Instead of driving back to cut bank, biked from their house into Alberta, then crossed back into the states north of st mary. Roads in Canada were really nice, definitely a good choice. Let out a wild whoop when I first saw mountains on the horizon. Chief mountain in particular is quite a sight. Met up with Cadence (see picture) in st mary. She had hitchhiked from Chester to cut bank on Monday, then had a long day ride today taking back roads to st mary. We grabbed dinner at the Johnson's of st mary restaurant, and are sharing a camping site for the night. Great dinner, lots and lots of food. Plan for Wednesday is to bike up to Logan pass earlyish, then spend all afternoon biking in glacier before biking hard from sprague creek to whitefish starting at 4pm, since the road from apgar to sprague is closed to bikes from 11-4

I traveled about 81 miles today.
Glacier was awesome. Logan pass and several miles on either side were in the middle of a thick cloud. Took lots of pictures. I'll put up a gallery of everything once the trip is over (not such a distant concept anymore). Took our time biking through glacier, taking in the views. Had a few short hikes, trail of the cedars was very nice. Would love to come back and take several days to do more of the hiking trails here. Hit the road hard right at 4 out of sprague creek to get to whitefish at reasonable hour. Went almost as far after 4 as I did before, which was odd. Staying with Marge in whitefish, who is the mother of the friend of a guy I met while eating a granola bar in Baker, MT. Just happy to have a bed to sleep in. Cadence stayed in Sprague when I left, she'll probably be camping somewhere between there and west glacier. Definitely enjoyed her company, and having a buddy for today was great. We may meet up again, kind of depends on where and how fast I go after Coeur d'Alene. In good spirits, though I know that I'll need to take a rest day soon, probably on Monday. Looking forward to next few days, should be a good time.

I traveled about 93 miles today.
Good day, bad cell coverage. Biked flathead lake, bought fresh cherries, in Charlo tonight. Beautiful scenery.

This is John, who I met today in st Regis

I traveled about 55 miles today.
Nice ride today, petty short. Lots of nice scenery, especially on route 135 through Lolo national forest. Saw a bald eagle land in a pine tree at one of the pull off spots along the road. I'm pretty sure no one in any car saw it. Only time this trip I wished I had a proper camera with me. Hiked down to the river to get a better and closer look. Took this picture just as it took of again. To bad my camera is so blurry when it's zoomed in. Hiked back up to my bike, and saw the eagle flying back up the canyon. Really cool. Scent of conifers and river through ride, very nice. That's one thing you can't take a picture of. Got groceries and huckleberry pie in st Regis, hanging out at visitor center until 6. Will camp on since national forest land, big thanks to Cassie at visitor center for pointing me in that direction. Met John at visitor center, touring cyclist. He's going with his parents from Spokane to Missoula and back, taking many rail trails. Going to see my little brother tomorrow. As much as I have enjoyed meeting new people, it will be nice to see a familiar face. Planned route through Washington. Will be taking bike route 10 through cascade mountains. There were actually more warm showers hosts up there than in central Washington. Going to be some high millage days with lots of elevation, but I'll be well rested, and the Pacific is calling me on.