Day 60, Rest day.
Now you’d think that in a town of 4 major rental car chains we’d have no problem finding a rental car. You’d be surprised… no rentals available at this time….
We spend the day eating, relaxing, shopping… hopefully we’ll get a car tomorrow so we can get Maya back to the Valley and onto some roller ski’s before her ski camp.
Day 61, No bike miles but 650 of pavement.
Today was a rough day as I drove Maya to Spokane. The miles went quickly but saying goodbye to Maya was tough. The plan, which went off well, was for us to meet Midge of Scott and Midge in Spokane where Midge would shuttle Maya back to the valley where she would stay with Scott and Midge, and get back on roller skis under Scotts guidance and prepare for her up coming Nordic ski camp. Seeing Midge in Spokane was great but it brought the reality of “life” back as we spoke of my former/future employer. Midge was/is a dear who welcomed Maya with open arms. And from the stories Maya shared with a loving and welcome home when they got back into the “Valley”. The hours I spent talking with Maya were the highlight of my day. The driving at 75mph put into perspective the work we put into going 50 miles a day.
Ina and Wiley enjoyed their second rest day with relaxing and a movie at the movie theater, which is always a treat.
Now you’d think that in a town of 4 major rental car chains we’d have no problem finding a rental car. You’d be surprised… no rentals available at this time….
We spend the day eating, relaxing, shopping… hopefully we’ll get a car tomorrow so we can get Maya back to the Valley and onto some roller ski’s before her ski camp.
Day 61, No bike miles but 650 of pavement.
Today was a rough day as I drove Maya to Spokane. The miles went quickly but saying goodbye to Maya was tough. The plan, which went off well, was for us to meet Midge of Scott and Midge in Spokane where Midge would shuttle Maya back to the valley where she would stay with Scott and Midge, and get back on roller skis under Scotts guidance and prepare for her up coming Nordic ski camp. Seeing Midge in Spokane was great but it brought the reality of “life” back as we spoke of my former/future employer. Midge was/is a dear who welcomed Maya with open arms. And from the stories Maya shared with a loving and welcome home when they got back into the “Valley”. The hours I spent talking with Maya were the highlight of my day. The driving at 75mph put into perspective the work we put into going 50 miles a day.
Ina and Wiley enjoyed their second rest day with relaxing and a movie at the movie theater, which is always a treat.
Day 62, 40 miles.
We get a late start as we often do after too many days off the bikes and we are missing our girl. The ride out of Butte is on pavement, and not just pavement but an interstate. We grin and bear it and are grateful for the wide shoulders as traffic whips by at speed of 75 + mph. We are on route and riding well heading toward the town of Basin where other riders have told us of great pizza and food. We find Basin and the pizza joint and are excited to have a good meal, what a disappointment. We ride away an hour later feeling not so good, wondering why we finished the pizza. Our bellies where rebelling and our heads were not in the game, as the “great food” wasn’t so great both the eating and the after affects. We rode onto the town of Boulder where we pitched camp in the City Park in the early afternoon, Keeping the day short, and trying to keep our spirts up, as we felt awkward with out Maya. 60+ day of togetherness and now she was gone. We finally connect with her via cell phone and it’s good to hear she is settled in and happy at Scott and Midge’s. Thank You Scott and Midge!!!
We put the rain fly’s on the tents as we have been treated to a few rain showers during the day and as we drop off to sleep a thunderstorm rolls over town striking the surrounding hill tops every few minutes with a large bolt of lighting, luckily there is a good rain fall with the lighting, and we hope that the morning will be smoke free.
We get a late start as we often do after too many days off the bikes and we are missing our girl. The ride out of Butte is on pavement, and not just pavement but an interstate. We grin and bear it and are grateful for the wide shoulders as traffic whips by at speed of 75 + mph. We are on route and riding well heading toward the town of Basin where other riders have told us of great pizza and food. We find Basin and the pizza joint and are excited to have a good meal, what a disappointment. We ride away an hour later feeling not so good, wondering why we finished the pizza. Our bellies where rebelling and our heads were not in the game, as the “great food” wasn’t so great both the eating and the after affects. We rode onto the town of Boulder where we pitched camp in the City Park in the early afternoon, Keeping the day short, and trying to keep our spirts up, as we felt awkward with out Maya. 60+ day of togetherness and now she was gone. We finally connect with her via cell phone and it’s good to hear she is settled in and happy at Scott and Midge’s. Thank You Scott and Midge!!!
We put the rain fly’s on the tents as we have been treated to a few rain showers during the day and as we drop off to sleep a thunderstorm rolls over town striking the surrounding hill tops every few minutes with a large bolt of lighting, luckily there is a good rain fall with the lighting, and we hope that the morning will be smoke free.
Day 63 47 miles
We wake to dry and smoke free skies and we ride. We roll into Helena expecting a “hip” town but are a little dismayed at what we find. Our energy is in a bit of a funk and we decide to push on and out of town so we fuel up and push back into the mountains. We finish our day by making camp at Priest Pass. Where once we have set up and are making dinner we notice a large group of folks walking across the landscape. We don’t figure it out until we realize that we have made camp on the “fairway” of a mountain disc golf course. We learn that there is an upcoming “Continental disc golf “ tournament that will be played on this very course where the players aim for “holes” that are big sticks placed in a cairn of rocks. These folks get together every Sunday afternoon to play on this course and it seems to be a great social gather with folks cheering and clapping for each other. Maybe Helena does have something going for it?
We wake to dry and smoke free skies and we ride. We roll into Helena expecting a “hip” town but are a little dismayed at what we find. Our energy is in a bit of a funk and we decide to push on and out of town so we fuel up and push back into the mountains. We finish our day by making camp at Priest Pass. Where once we have set up and are making dinner we notice a large group of folks walking across the landscape. We don’t figure it out until we realize that we have made camp on the “fairway” of a mountain disc golf course. We learn that there is an upcoming “Continental disc golf “ tournament that will be played on this very course where the players aim for “holes” that are big sticks placed in a cairn of rocks. These folks get together every Sunday afternoon to play on this course and it seems to be a great social gather with folks cheering and clapping for each other. Maybe Helena does have something going for it?
Day 64 48 miles
We have one of our first dry nights after getting into MT and wake to another nice morning. We load up and head toward Lincoln. Riding in the northern part of MT means that we only need to carry one night of food at a time, as we will be seeing “towns” every other day. A nice change from our packing for 3/4/5 day stretches. We are soon working on our last climb of the day, after having meet a neat couple from England who were riding Southbound, all oar of an 18-month journey by bike, they had 6 months left. It would have been neat to share a camp with then, but alas it was mid day and we all had miles to go. We have returned to the hike a bike mode as we are sick of the uphill when we hear a voice boom” Family Divide Ride”, and we turn to see Andrew. Andrew was looking spent but he had into the same couple and when he learned we were only an hour ahead he pushed hard to catch us before the downhill. It was great to catch up with Andrew, having a forth person in the group took a little of the edge off of not having Maya with us. We all headed into Lincoln where we went out for dinner then retreated to a campground where Andrew and Wiley shared the Majority of a 1/2 gallon of ice cream. Showers, cell coverage and tap water were a treat.
We have one of our first dry nights after getting into MT and wake to another nice morning. We load up and head toward Lincoln. Riding in the northern part of MT means that we only need to carry one night of food at a time, as we will be seeing “towns” every other day. A nice change from our packing for 3/4/5 day stretches. We are soon working on our last climb of the day, after having meet a neat couple from England who were riding Southbound, all oar of an 18-month journey by bike, they had 6 months left. It would have been neat to share a camp with then, but alas it was mid day and we all had miles to go. We have returned to the hike a bike mode as we are sick of the uphill when we hear a voice boom” Family Divide Ride”, and we turn to see Andrew. Andrew was looking spent but he had into the same couple and when he learned we were only an hour ahead he pushed hard to catch us before the downhill. It was great to catch up with Andrew, having a forth person in the group took a little of the edge off of not having Maya with us. We all headed into Lincoln where we went out for dinner then retreated to a campground where Andrew and Wiley shared the Majority of a 1/2 gallon of ice cream. Showers, cell coverage and tap water were a treat.
Day 65 56 miles
We all wake and get on the rode before the campground even wakes up. Andrew is tired of the dirt and is looking for pavement but rides with us on Dirt to our next little town of Ovando, where we eat some great sandwiches at the Stray Bullet. Not much of a town, but it would have been cool to hang out a little more as we could have rented a teepee or a sheepherders trailer for the night for 5 bucks. We talk with some more south bounders and realize that many of the SOBO riders are only going to Jackson or Central CO. Missing some of the most challenging terrain the GDMBR has to offer. We part ways with Andrew, as he is riding pavement up to Glacier where he will connect with his Mom for a week of hiking and driving the sights. We roll out of town thinking we’ll ride a few more miles to a FS campground. We find the campground packed, dirty and loud, so we ride on putting in another 10 miles to a quite empty site. Another thunderstorm rolls in, this one with hails and buckets of water. We hunker in our tents listening to the thunder following the flashes that are lighting up the sky and the interior of our tents. Luckily we are in a narrow valley and the lighting is hitting the ridges’ around us, but still very close strikes.
We all wake and get on the rode before the campground even wakes up. Andrew is tired of the dirt and is looking for pavement but rides with us on Dirt to our next little town of Ovando, where we eat some great sandwiches at the Stray Bullet. Not much of a town, but it would have been cool to hang out a little more as we could have rented a teepee or a sheepherders trailer for the night for 5 bucks. We talk with some more south bounders and realize that many of the SOBO riders are only going to Jackson or Central CO. Missing some of the most challenging terrain the GDMBR has to offer. We part ways with Andrew, as he is riding pavement up to Glacier where he will connect with his Mom for a week of hiking and driving the sights. We roll out of town thinking we’ll ride a few more miles to a FS campground. We find the campground packed, dirty and loud, so we ride on putting in another 10 miles to a quite empty site. Another thunderstorm rolls in, this one with hails and buckets of water. We hunker in our tents listening to the thunder following the flashes that are lighting up the sky and the interior of our tents. Luckily we are in a narrow valley and the lighting is hitting the ridges’ around us, but still very close strikes.
Day 66, 57 miles
We get up to puddles under the tents and get going packing away wet gear, as the sun won’t reach into the canyon for hours. We climb and we drop and by early morning we find ourselves in Seeley Lake a town we rode thru 3 years ago. We find the grocery store to get our needed things, go out to breakfast and hit the road. We stray off of the route as we were warned by multiple riders of the single track that they came down where they were pushing the slide alders down with their bags and handle bars on a long descent. We decide we don’t need the grind with loaded bikes and front panniers pushing up it so we get on a road we’ve ridden before. Before long we wished we stuck with the single track, as the traffic was bad and some of the RV drivers where “deadly” to bikes. We finally get back on route and are treated to some wonderful single track and quite roads. We make camp in “grizzly “ country and hang all our food from a bridge. We have been riding in Grizzly country for days now, but with out a car or metal boxes we have been pushing our luck with our food. The odds are we are going to see one but alas, in the morning our food is still secure and we have been skunked again. It’s not that we want an encounter, but seeing a bear in the wild is cool.
We get up to puddles under the tents and get going packing away wet gear, as the sun won’t reach into the canyon for hours. We climb and we drop and by early morning we find ourselves in Seeley Lake a town we rode thru 3 years ago. We find the grocery store to get our needed things, go out to breakfast and hit the road. We stray off of the route as we were warned by multiple riders of the single track that they came down where they were pushing the slide alders down with their bags and handle bars on a long descent. We decide we don’t need the grind with loaded bikes and front panniers pushing up it so we get on a road we’ve ridden before. Before long we wished we stuck with the single track, as the traffic was bad and some of the RV drivers where “deadly” to bikes. We finally get back on route and are treated to some wonderful single track and quite roads. We make camp in “grizzly “ country and hang all our food from a bridge. We have been riding in Grizzly country for days now, but with out a car or metal boxes we have been pushing our luck with our food. The odds are we are going to see one but alas, in the morning our food is still secure and we have been skunked again. It’s not that we want an encounter, but seeing a bear in the wild is cool.
Day 67. 54 miles
The trail is fine but we are beginning to bore with the never ending climbing with no Vista’s. We are on the “last climb of our day when we meet a couple of Riders from the east coast who are being sagged by a good friend. They know all about us, and want to meet Wiley the youngest ever divide rider! It turns out they had meet Andrew who has become Wiley’s promoter. Great Meeting and interaction. We top out on the tree covered ridge and rocket down to another town we’ve visited on bikes before, Big Fork. We roll into town hot, sweaty, and hungry. We invade the subway and the grocery store then ride to the state campground, which was “FULL”, but the host had a few spots in reserve for folks like us. We went for a nice dip in Flathead Lake then inhaled a half a watermelon, pounds of grapes, cherries and a few peaches. Fruit is such a treat to eat when surviving on a diet of pasta, beans and rice, crackers and cheese, bread and peanut butter, and granola bars. FRUIT!!!
The trail is fine but we are beginning to bore with the never ending climbing with no Vista’s. We are on the “last climb of our day when we meet a couple of Riders from the east coast who are being sagged by a good friend. They know all about us, and want to meet Wiley the youngest ever divide rider! It turns out they had meet Andrew who has become Wiley’s promoter. Great Meeting and interaction. We top out on the tree covered ridge and rocket down to another town we’ve visited on bikes before, Big Fork. We roll into town hot, sweaty, and hungry. We invade the subway and the grocery store then ride to the state campground, which was “FULL”, but the host had a few spots in reserve for folks like us. We went for a nice dip in Flathead Lake then inhaled a half a watermelon, pounds of grapes, cherries and a few peaches. Fruit is such a treat to eat when surviving on a diet of pasta, beans and rice, crackers and cheese, bread and peanut butter, and granola bars. FRUIT!!!
Day 68 47 miles.
We could have ridden more but a hotel room, showers and laundry beckoned so we stop early in the day in Whitefish MT. A cool town, from what we saw, good food, nice folks, and a good bike shop. Wiley once again impressed the cycling tourist we saw, he has quite the following.
More fruit, pizza, and a solid roof overhead lead to a good nights sleep.
We could have ridden more but a hotel room, showers and laundry beckoned so we stop early in the day in Whitefish MT. A cool town, from what we saw, good food, nice folks, and a good bike shop. Wiley once again impressed the cycling tourist we saw, he has quite the following.
More fruit, pizza, and a solid roof overhead lead to a good nights sleep.
Day 69 63 miles.
It’s cows to the barn time as we get up and ride and ride. We ride thru some of the most beautiful country yet, maybe because it reminds us of home but the roads are good and the scenery is spectacular. We keep pushing, as we can almost taste the finish line of the Canadian Border. We keep seeing signs warning us of Grizzlies, and we keep hearing of bear sightings and we are excited to see some bears and we decide to camp in a FS campground to insure we’ll have a bear box for our food. Alas the campground we ride too doesn’t have any bear boxes. But it did have a salt starved deer that dragged my bike twenty feet then proceeded to chow on my bike helmet that had been airing out on my bike. F!@#$%^ pest. We fall asleep knowing this will probably be our last night on the route and we are filled with wonder/ joy and sadness.
It’s cows to the barn time as we get up and ride and ride. We ride thru some of the most beautiful country yet, maybe because it reminds us of home but the roads are good and the scenery is spectacular. We keep pushing, as we can almost taste the finish line of the Canadian Border. We keep seeing signs warning us of Grizzlies, and we keep hearing of bear sightings and we are excited to see some bears and we decide to camp in a FS campground to insure we’ll have a bear box for our food. Alas the campground we ride too doesn’t have any bear boxes. But it did have a salt starved deer that dragged my bike twenty feet then proceeded to chow on my bike helmet that had been airing out on my bike. F!@#$%^ pest. We fall asleep knowing this will probably be our last night on the route and we are filled with wonder/ joy and sadness.
Day 70. 56 miles
Up and at’m. I discover the deer damage in the morning and am pissed. It’s a chilly wet morning but we power up and out knowing that we have one small pass coming then it’s downhill to the highway which will lead us toward Eureka and the Border. We finish the small climb and then it’s down we go, it’s a great road but the air is still damp and in the morning shade so we stop to warm our toes, hands and bodies. As the morning warms up we hit the pavement and are treated to a smooth decent with no traffic and great scenery, we are cruising!!! We hit the highway and check the map and start the ride north. I don’t check the GPS as it often doesn’t show road names and we rely on the ACA maps, which are based for the south bounders, and we get burned hard as the road names don’t match. When I finally pull out the GPS we realize we have overshot our turn by a bit so we stick out the last few miles on the highway, it’s still early morning so the traffic is light and we roll into Eureka in time to order a great Breakfast at Café Jax. We meet some locals with small kids and we have a great conversation about touring with our kids and their dreams of touring with their three smaller ones. We finish breakfast and ride toward the border. Back on route and we find ourselves on a narrow fast road where at one point we all steered off the pavement and into a ditch to avoid a couple of local “racing” each other up the two lane road. Ugh! We finally get on the quieter dirt roads where we start seeing cyclist again and we run into the ACA’s guided tour of the Banff section of the route. They are nearing their completion and are happy to be on a downhill stretch. Their “guide” was turkey with an attitude not sure if it was us or Wiley, but he certainly had a big chip on his shoulder, making comments that we must have ridden a special route if we hadn’t been to Polebridge, The reality is that Polebridge is no longer on the ACA route, not sure if it ever was on route, it’s 5 miles one way to a “town” with out much there. We wondered why they’d ride an extra 10 miles for camping “We sleep better in towns” was his reply…. Wow quite the “wilderness” experience…
We ride onto the border where we get our picture taken by some very friendly Canadian Border agents then we return to the US of A and ride back to Eureka where there is camping in the City Park. We are back in town my early afternoon with a sense of accomplishment but also a longing to ride on, but also a need to get home to Maya and all the comforts of home, dog, etc.
The park is nice, but it’s hot, the bathrooms are locked and the place has a crowd that doesn’t stop, so we load up again and ride back toward the border and a hotel. Back into AC, showers and a TV. A really good call as a thunderstorm of epic proportions rolls in about bedtime with lighting strikes all around us. We just rolled over and feel back asleep, grateful for the concrete block surroundings
Up and at’m. I discover the deer damage in the morning and am pissed. It’s a chilly wet morning but we power up and out knowing that we have one small pass coming then it’s downhill to the highway which will lead us toward Eureka and the Border. We finish the small climb and then it’s down we go, it’s a great road but the air is still damp and in the morning shade so we stop to warm our toes, hands and bodies. As the morning warms up we hit the pavement and are treated to a smooth decent with no traffic and great scenery, we are cruising!!! We hit the highway and check the map and start the ride north. I don’t check the GPS as it often doesn’t show road names and we rely on the ACA maps, which are based for the south bounders, and we get burned hard as the road names don’t match. When I finally pull out the GPS we realize we have overshot our turn by a bit so we stick out the last few miles on the highway, it’s still early morning so the traffic is light and we roll into Eureka in time to order a great Breakfast at Café Jax. We meet some locals with small kids and we have a great conversation about touring with our kids and their dreams of touring with their three smaller ones. We finish breakfast and ride toward the border. Back on route and we find ourselves on a narrow fast road where at one point we all steered off the pavement and into a ditch to avoid a couple of local “racing” each other up the two lane road. Ugh! We finally get on the quieter dirt roads where we start seeing cyclist again and we run into the ACA’s guided tour of the Banff section of the route. They are nearing their completion and are happy to be on a downhill stretch. Their “guide” was turkey with an attitude not sure if it was us or Wiley, but he certainly had a big chip on his shoulder, making comments that we must have ridden a special route if we hadn’t been to Polebridge, The reality is that Polebridge is no longer on the ACA route, not sure if it ever was on route, it’s 5 miles one way to a “town” with out much there. We wondered why they’d ride an extra 10 miles for camping “We sleep better in towns” was his reply…. Wow quite the “wilderness” experience…
We ride onto the border where we get our picture taken by some very friendly Canadian Border agents then we return to the US of A and ride back to Eureka where there is camping in the City Park. We are back in town my early afternoon with a sense of accomplishment but also a longing to ride on, but also a need to get home to Maya and all the comforts of home, dog, etc.
The park is nice, but it’s hot, the bathrooms are locked and the place has a crowd that doesn’t stop, so we load up again and ride back toward the border and a hotel. Back into AC, showers and a TV. A really good call as a thunderstorm of epic proportions rolls in about bedtime with lighting strikes all around us. We just rolled over and feel back asleep, grateful for the concrete block surroundings