Category: 2024

Alice, Anton, and I are having a great time riding through Montana! Everything is gorgeous in Big Sky Country! The food is good, the beer is good, and the riding is amazing!

• Late start getting out of Grangeville, after doing much-need laundry
• Great weather for biking – 70s and partly cloudy
• Had a crazy descent that was so fast/steep I had to stop several times to let my rims cool off for fear of heating my tubes and getting a blowout at 35 mph. I checked, and adventure cycling changed the route to use this road, which is why I don’t remember it being this nuts
• Met a brother/sister bike tourist duo who were slogging/pushing up the other side. They offered me some pizza they had on the back of their bike
• Started meeting other tourists left and right
• Started following the Clearwater/Lochsa River, which I remember as being nice, but holy moly what a beautiful ride! Thick forest, wide crystal-clear river, gentle grade, and low traffic
• Met a guy at my campsite (there were three of us cyclists there) who was doing the Western Divide trail – a mountain bike route over mostly gravel roads/trails from the Mexican to Canadian border. He told me a tale of a hill so steep he couldn’t even just walk his bike up it or else it would roll back down. Instead he had to inchworm his way up using his brakes. Oof! We stayed up late swapping tales

• The next day was another gorgeous, easy ride up the Lochsa River.
• Since I was almost a day ahead of schedule, decided to end early at a short trail to a hot spring
• Found an amazing campsite right next to the creek on the hot spring trail
• The hot springs were amazing – one of the largest pools I’ve seen (and several smaller pools). Met some pretty cool folks there

• On Monday, I started the day with another soak in the spring, then lazily made my way on a pretty easy ride up the river to a lodge where I got lunch
• Then I had to make a tough, but short, climb over Lolo pass. There was very little traffic though, so it was pretty nice
• Bombed down the other side -which took me into Montana – and found a pretty nice national forest campground

• On Tuesday, I slept in until 9, then I had an easy ride down towards Lolo, but it got increasingly trafficy/sketchy as I approached town. Then I hopped onto a great bike path that took me all the way into downtown Missoula
• Got some lunch, then made the pilgrimage to the adventure cycling headquarters. I searched through their shoeboxes for photos of when I had been there previously. Those folks are always super friendly
• Made a run to REI to sweep out my Nemo tent for a Big Agnes one… There were a few things I didn’t like about the Nemo Dagger
• I was then rescued from my solitude by the arrival of Alice and Anton! We got pizza, beer, ice cream, and more beer before calling it a night at our motel

• Had a great breakfast in Council yesterday morning – omelette, hash browns, and 3 hotcakes for $9.57! Also, I’m pretty sure the group of seven guys at the table next to me was a city council meeting over coffee
• Yesterday was great cycling weather – in the 70s with scattered clouds
• Got back on the Wieser River Trail, and it was gorgeous – a lot of it was through thick forest. Sure was better than dodging logging trucks!
• Rolled though the aptly-named meadows valley, before bombing down the hill along the Little Salmon River
• Found a nice little spot to camp by the river

• This morning I rolled past probably 50 fly fishers over 4 miles into Riggins
• Another excellent breakfast featuring homemade jam on English muffins, and cobbler with homemade ice cream afterwards!
• A mostly lovely ramble along the Salmon River, except they were repaving it for about 15 miles, and the traffic – especially the logging and ore trucks – got a little harrowing
• Found a nice little beach so I could get in a quick swim
• Finally got to the infamous White Bird Hill – just under 3000 feet of climbing. I remember this climb as being brutal, but it actually had all the features that make a climb enjoyable: virtually no traffic (it’s the old highway route), a steady grade that never got too steep, switchbacks to keep it interesting, and incredible views the entire way that let you track your progress.
• I recorded the ride in Strava, which is always hilarious because it will tell you that out of 279 people who have recorded that climb, I rank 272!
• Had a fun descent into Grangeville, ate dinner, and set up my tent in their very nice park. It would be perfect except that like every 4th truck around here has removed its muffler – gungagungagungaruuuuuuum!

• Left the schoolhouse bike hostel and headed out into the eastern Oregon prairie yesterday morning
• Met a group of eastbounders, two of whom were from Troy, Ohio… Buckeyes are well represented on the Transamerica this year
• There was a roadside stop where you could see the ruts made by the wagons on the Oregon trail… But forgot to take a picture. There was also a Oregon trail museum, but it was like 500 feet up switchbacks, so I skipped it
• The nice thing about doing this route again is that I can verify my memory of different places. For example, yes, that hill east of Richland, Oregon really is as brutal as I remember
• Despite the oppressive heat (someone told me it was 104 when I rolled into the campground), I still managed to pedal 72 miles yesterday – mostly because I got around two feet down for every foot up. But man, that Richland hill was pretty rough in the heat
• At the campground I met a guy who was touring around on a scooter. He said he was training for a race called the scooter cannonball. He had like 1/4 the gear I have, cuz it turns out you can’t pack too much weight on a scooter
• Got an early start this morning because I had another big climb – about 2400 feet. Strangely, I didn’t remember anything about this climb. It was steeper and longer than yesterday’s – I think it took me an hour and a half to go five miles. Thankfully, there was some cloud cover to veil me from the angry orb in the sky – it even rained a bit, which was a nice change
• Stopped at a grocery store/cafe with a large “No politics” sign on the door, directly above a “Trump 2024” sign. Again, forgot to take a picture
• I picked up the Weiser River bike path from Cambridge to Council – about 16 miles. It was nice to be out of the traffic, but the gravel trail really slowed me down, which isn’t ideal for the end of the day
• Saw a black bear on the trail – I think it was a small adult, but could have been a large cub, which made me nervous since we surprised each other at a distance of about 15 feet. I made a lot of noise, and was not mauled, so that’s good.. But also, no pictures
• Managed to eke out 62 miles, which doesn’t sound like much until you consider my average speed was 7.9, meaning I spent almost 8 hours in the saddle today. Oof.
• Had some really good pizza and beer for dinner, and now I’m in my tent, about to pass out

After sadly dropping Mike off at the airport, I made the lonely drive back to Baker City. I’m now staying at a very cool hostel – the owners, Brian and Corinne, moved here from New York City for the art scene. They bought an old schoolhouse and put a lot of work into it to transform it into a combination art space and hostel. Check it out! https://www.churchillbaker.com/

Saturday morning we woke up in Dayville and had another great meal, including pie, at the Dayville cafe. We visited a bit with the new owner of the Dayville mercantile, and then headed out toward Mt Vernon. Sadly, the antique shop where I played music with the locals 20 years ago was no longer. We passed thru John Day during the hottest part of the day, so we sat and had a couple beers at a brewery before Greg insisted on a blizzard at the local DQ.

We ended the day in Prairie City, where 20 years ago we sat in a hot tub with a high school kid overlooking the Strawberry Mountains. We didn’t see trace of him, and his parent’s restaurant— the Branding Iron— appeared to be gone. We are Mexican food at a place called El Cocinero, stopped at the grocery store, and then headed back to camp.

However! On riding back to our campsite, we happened to see a back alley entrance to an apparently secret bar, the Branding Iron! We walked in, and Greg quickly realized that we were in the back of the Mexican restaurant in which we’d just eaten! Wild. We had a couple drinks, played some shuffle board and then retired.

The next day was perhaps the most challenging day of the trip. Three separate climbs totaling over 3000 feet, and heat over 90 degrees. We ran out of water just as we reached the 3rd summit, with another 12 miles to go before the campground (mostly downhill). It’s only the 2nd time ever while touring that I’ve flagged a passing truck to see if they were willing to give us some water. Fortunately a very nice British lady driving a white Ford F450 was willing to oblige with multiple bottles of cold water.

Union Lake campground on Phillips lake was really splendid. We got in with a couple hours before sunset, and had a swim before dinner and an early goodnight.

Today was just about 20 miles into Baker City, where once we spent 2 days carousing with world traveler and adventurer extraordinaire Brian Barrows. Greg tells me he has an entertaining YouTube channel now!

Anyway, we picked up a UHaul, and Greg delivered me to the Boise airport after we’d dropped off my bicycle at Bob’s bike shop in sprawling Boise.

I think it’ll be a few days before my butt fully heals, but it was well worth it to catch up with old friends in hauntingly familiar places. Till next time, keep the rubber side down friends!

Here’s some pics of Mike and I from BikeBums 2004, twenty years and many pounds ago

We spent the night in sisters, at the hiker/biker campground, which had a lovely shower facility, and a creek that was perfect for chilling a six pack.

After a nice breakfast with Nick, Greg and I headed out for Terrebonne and beyond.

We had a minor misdirection in Redmond, but wound up on a beautiful backcountry road before having a late afternoon beer in Prineville.

We made it most of the way up the Ochoco Pass, before my sit bone pain— which had been accumulating over the past day and a half— finally forced its attention upon us. We camped off a national Forest Road among the mosquitoes, had another pasta dinner and were in our tents before sunset.

This morning, we rode around 30 miles into Mitchell. It’s worth noting that the last time we were there there was a bear in a cage downtown, and the town was under siege by a gang of rambunctious bikers. Mitchell appears to have grown up quite a bit since then, with a swanky beer garden, and a bustling gravel/mountain bike scene.

At lunch, I made the executive decision to take the remainder of the day off from riding in order to rest my aching butt. From there, Greg headed east toward Dayville by bike, and I spent around an hour and a half thumbing a ride out 26. I was picked up by a friendly, bikey couple from Bend, OR, Elisia (?) and Chris (?). They had a tricked out sprinter van and were headed to Colorado for some mountain biking. They’re both transit/bike advocates by profession. They gave me a beer when they dropped me off!

We are now staying at the Dayville community church where I was met by Cindy and Skip who showed me the Wi-Fi and gave me a tour of the church. What am amazing place, and such gracious hosts!

I relaxed on a pew for a while until Greg arrived, then we had a terrific dinner at the Dayville Café. We’re now doing laundry and having showers back at the church.

I’m hoping for a fresh start tomorrow morning where will continue east toward toward Prairie city and eventually Baker city hopefully my butt holds out.

• Woke up, packed up, and headed to the resort on the other side of the lake which the website said opened at 7am for breakfast. Found out when we hit there at 8:15 that they didn’t open until 9. We didn’t end up getting our food until 10:15, and then had to crawl back up to the highway on a crazy steep road: 300 feet over 0.4 miles. But the view from the dock was gorgeous.
• Had a long slog up to the pass with heavy traffic most of the way. I think all the climbing we did yesterday caught up to us
• The descent down into Sisters was a nice relief, and the 20 miles went by quickly
• Met my work friends Daniel and Chris at a nice taproom/food truck area. Very cool to see them
• Decided to take it easy and stay at the city park in sisters. We have to say goodbye to Nick tomorrow as he is going to ride down to Bend to visit his brother.

• Last night was pretty chilly – probably lower 40s/upper 30s – but we all had the gear for it
• We got a good start this morning, but got a bit waylaid at the weird boutique general store/restaurant in McKenzie Bridge
• We began our ascent of McKenzie Pass – we know the eastern side was closed due to repaving, but a cyclist we met yesterday assured us we could just wait until after the crews had finished to descend. The prospect of a no/low traffic ride over the pass seemed worth it, plus the alternative was 20 miles longer and not as scenic (it’s pretty common that when a gate on a road goes up, the cyclists come out to play)
• We made decent time riding up the pass, and to our joy there was very little traffic since there was no through route for cars. And wow was it gorgeous! It was a nice, sunny day but the thick foliage provided plenty of shade
• We were about halfway up when we stopped for lunch – we cooked up some fancy veggie burgers with onions, tomatoes, and jalapenos. Pretty lux.
• Unfortunately, while we were cleaning up from lunch, a couple of cyclists heading down informed us that there was a guard posted at the top of the pass that wasn’t letting anyone through, and that guards were posted 24 hours. We had been led astray
• We didn’t have much of a choice to turn around and descend back down the near-2000 feet we had climbed, and then take the alternate route over santiam pass. I wouldn’t say it was worth it, but the blazing descent was really fun
• The main road wasn’t awful, but it was a let down after what we had just done – more traffic and less shade
• We knew we were too cooked to make it over the pass – we did probably around 5k of climbing today – so we aimed for a campsite near the top, only to find it was full!
• No worries – the ever-adaptive bike bums found a cozy spot to pitch off a forest road. After a tasty quesadilla dinner, we’re now snug in our tents
• Tomorrow: santiam pass, Sisters, and a hang with some Pandora nerds