Playing Catch-up

Ha, so I've been more than a little lazy about updating this. Between my apparent need for lots and lots of sleep, and my having been following MotoGP, Moto2, WSBK, House, and Dexter...I got distracted. That said, I should probably offer an apology right off the bat to the people whose names I can no longer recall. Those of you I've met across my travels deserve better than that, and I regret that I wasn't a bit more diligent about remembering or recording the names of the wonderful, helpful, kind, charitable, and awesome people who have supported me in many different ways thus far.

Today begins the 26th week of my tour, making me just about 6 months in. Kind of hard to believe when I don't think about it too much, but when I start to go back through all the 14 states I've been in til now, it feels like it has been a long time since I left home. I got to see my younger sister a couple weeks ago though! She bravely made the arduous drive out there from back home in California, and we got to camp together for a few days and hang out. It was really nice to see a familiar face, family even.


I have been considering how to catch back up as far as this blog goes, and after thinking about it, I think I am going to do a summary for each state, hopefully nothing too droll.

Washington: July 22nd: After I got to Caitlin's house in Bellingham, I immediately felt out of place, haha. For brevity's sake, she and her housemates are wonderfully kind hippies of both genders, who were great fun to hang out with. After the night there, I set off back down the I-5 to find the WA-20, AKA North Cascade Highway. After getting on the new road, I actually had a decent tailwind for most of the day, for the first time on the whole tour! Upon climbing a bit into the Cascades, I found a place to camp for free, got to take a shower, and met another bike tourist, who started telling me about a biking couple I had met back in Big Sur, CA. Turns out he met them the day after I did, LOL! Th next few days were intensely difficult, filled to the brim with hot weather, huge endless climbs, and very narrow road. Winthrop, Twisp, Okanogan, Omak, where I met a nice older German couple, then on through the desert, over "Dysentary Pass" en route to Grand Coulee.

There I met Kort and Gloria, who invited me to camp at their place. Gloria made me breakfast, I killed a day in town, as it was too hot to ride, we 3 had dinner together, then I set off for a night ride to a rest station between Creston and Rearden on WA-2, which as it turned out was surrounded by coyotes. Onward to Spokane, got my first new rear tire, and headed to the Bowl and Pitcher state park, where I was mistaken for a ranger, invited to a wonderful BBQ/picnic/party, and got to meet Teri and Robert, who were the most gracious hosts I could ever imagine meeting at a campground! After camping for a few days, I set off for Idaho!

Idaho: August 3rd: Post Falls, Coeur d'Alene, camped in Cataldo where I met Megan and her husband, who were in the process of moving, and also camped in Cataldo. They made me hot food and we talked too late into the night. After not getting trampled by a moose I was warned about, I set off to summit Lookout Pass, which lies on the ID/MT border.

Montana: August 5th: Western Montana. I made it over the pass and pushed a huge, hot day to get to a rest station in Quartz Flats where I spent the night. Another miserable day to get to Missoula, where I almost quit. I was so burned out on the construction zones, and the endless heat. After arriving at the ACA HQ, enjoying my free ice cream, and talking to some people about why I wanted to quit, I felt a little better. I took a couple days off here, as I found a hostel there run by a nice guy named Dave, who let me camp behind the hostel for pretty cheap. I met some real characters while I was there, namely Peter, and other biker, traveling from Iowa to Yakima Washington, just for fun. We talked a lot about biking and other stuff. Along with Rory, an ex-pat Brit who, for a brief time, went to the same high school as I did, albeit years before I did, we hit the bars one of the nights and had a great time. My ears hurt afterward, but since I don't drink, it was a cheap night for me. Thunderstorms prevailed most of the time I was there, and followed me for quite some time. I made it to the Gold Creek rest area where I ate rehydrated chicken slurry that, while delicious, looked like vomit. From there I pushed to Butte, which really proved its name to me that day. Spent the day in a Starbucks to wait out the heat, then pushed to the top of Homestake Pass, my 1st Continental Divide crossing, where I slept in the back of a flatbed trailer filled with traffic cones.

The next day, I headed for the Lewis and Clark Caverns state park to see some caves! A single 3.22 mile, Cat 2 climb to get to the caves, but it was worth it. Back at the campground I met a youth crew of the MCC, who were a lot of fun to hang with. Another T-storm, but it didn't rain. Slept in the giant stone picnic shelter, and headed for Bozeman the next day. A very dull, hot, and not fun ride. Did I mention I hate cycling? Found a coffee shop to hole up in for the remainder of the day before I got in touch with McKenna, who gave me directions to her and her sister's place. Upon arriving I asked if there were any parks I could stay in, and they invited me to just stay with them. Awesome! I got to meet all the other housemates, and people who were just crashing there for a while, haha. Everyone was incredibly fun and nice to me! We went floating on the Jefferson, jumped 30 feet from a bridge top into the fast water, to parties, Music on Main, and generally just had a good time.

I spent 2 weeks in Bozeman waiting on mail that got lost and I had to have forwarded to Billings, like a month later. After cleaning the whole kitchen at the house while everyone was gone, I headed to my next host's place, Dan and his housemate James, which is also where I met Andrew, a fellow CS'er. Dan, Andrew, and myself did a 4am sunrise hike to the top of the Bridger Bowl ski area, which was amazing. After a few days at Dan's, I headed off for Yellowstone! Took me a day and a night to get down there, a night I spent at Specimen Creek, under a pine tree, with mice running over my bag...

Wyoming: August 18th? Yellowstone was rad, despite running over a huge rock on the way there. I met a family from Australia, the father of which went to Poly! I also met Alex, another fellow biker, also from AU. We rode together for a couple days and camped at Canyon Village for a night, where we got grape-sized hail and a lot of rain. Saw tons of the thermal/water features of the park, then headed out after spending my second night in the amphitheater, from where I watched an amazing thunderstorm light up the night. Headed out of the park, along the lake, I saw a grizzly, which was neat, but I didn't stop, since dying from bear attack doesn't seem like it'd be a quick way to go out... Mailed home some postcards from Fishing Bridge, where they do not sell stamps! Summoned the strength needed to get over Sylvan Pass, got as far as Newton Springs rest area, where my night was again filled with thunder and lightning. From there I made it to Cody, had a sidewall blowout, fixed it at Walmart, then stayed with Jim Pollock, the very nice father of a nice family I didn't get to meet in my brief time there. He reminded me of my own dad in so many ways, it was bizarre, but we got along great and talked about cool guy stuff. Got a late start the next day, only making it to Powell. Another night at a really nice, new rest area in town, the pushed a century to make it to Billings...

Montana, again: Late August: En route to Billings, I met a couple LDS missionary girls at an ice cream shop type drive-in...thing...place. We talked for a couple hours about my trip, saw a gigantic spider under a soda machine, then rode the last 30 mi to Billings, where my hosts Rob and Carey offered to have me come over a day early. Celebrated my 25th while staying with them, got my lost mail finally, and learned about bagpipes. They were really awesome, and even baked cake for all of us! The rest of my time in Montana was miserably stressful, very hot, and not worth continuing to lament.

North Dakota: Another 2 day state, and I hated it a lot. More desolate scenery. Darn good traveler stop in Bowman though, and more wonderful people, gotta admit. It was hot, windy, and boring here. There may be other parts of the state that are far better, but I only saw wheat and dirt, ha.

South Dakota: Identical to ND, til I got to Sturgis. Met some really nice people there, and the ride from there to Rapid City was actually not too terrible. There I met David LaPorte, who is, (and I've confirmed this with other people who have stayed with, him, who I then stayed with in SLC, lol) quite possibly the nicest guy I've ever met. I got to meet a lot of his friends too, while staying in his dorm room with his roommate Erik, at SDSM&T. So fun!!! We went cliff diving at Hippie Hole, made a communal dinner, and generally just had a lot of fun! Looking forward to maybe hiking the AT with David someday, maybe! After 5 days, I reluctantly said my farewell and headed into the Black Hills. Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse were rad, camped in Custer, then back into...

Wyoming, again: Only good things about my 2nd and last time through WY was the people I met. More generous souls who gave me food, cash, encouragement, water, shelter, and were great help! Lusk, Douglas, Casper, Alcova, a bitchin bicycles-only TeePee campground that was FREE, near Lamont. Finally into Rawlins after several more CD crossings, where I met Damon and Roxy, the amazing Australian biking couple who were on the ACA Great Divide route. Mad props to them for that! We met up by chance at the McD's there, and spent the next day and 2 nights resting up and camping in parks and gazebos. They are hilarious, and super nice! We went shopping at the Mennonite discount grocery store in Rawlins, battled sprinkler systems in the park, and totally skimmed free hotel continental breakfast! After saying farewell, I stayed another night in the Gazebo, then rode out towards another middle of nowhere rest area along the I-80, Green River, Lyman, and Evanston, where I CS'd at Mauritzio's house. He is an awesome Army guy who was a lot of fun to hang with for a night, and really saved me from another night in a park, lol! This was my last night in WY, and the next day I made it into...

Utah: September 30th: Promptly got a flat as soon as I left Evanston, just by the state line. Fixed that and booked it to Echo, UT, with a downhill tailwind, only the third time of the tour! Got to the rest area there where I was planning to camp, got some maps and talked to the nice lady there about the terrain and Utah in general. Somehow managed to rock like 80 miles or so to get to Kimball Junction, where I stealth camped an overpriced RV park, and let a guy use my phone to Onstar himself back into his locked H3. Woke up to ice all over my stuff, warmed up in the McD's and started over the Parley Summit area to begin my epic awesome bitchin cool descent into SLC! Hit 53mph on the way down the I-80 grade and passed a few trucks, lol!

At this point I had made arrangements to meet up with Sandy, my soon-to-be riding partner, but she was about 18 days behind my schedule, so I had a lot of time off in SLC, which was great. I read 5 novels: Anathem, The Instructions, Carte Blanche, Shut Your Eyes Tight, and Half Past Dawn. Met a lot of cool people while hanging out at B&N, got my bike worked on for super cheap, though I had to ride 30 miles r/t to the REI there. Did some people-watching at the Gateway Mall. All told, I stayed with 5 different hosts: Kara and Bucky-Great young couple who met at Burning Man! Travis-Rock climber extraordinaire and fellow adventurer. Aliska and Nate-Greeted my arrival by running from unearthed backyard beehive, lol! Brian and Jamie-A marathon running couple who took me to a great night at a local pub called Squatters and taught me cool stuff about marathons. Audrey-Free spirited climber girl who rides a moped, yeah! Then Travis and his housemates Sky and Steve again, but by then I had Sandy with me too. Everyone was so gracious and awesome to hang out with, and I look forward to being able to go back and acknowledge all these people in a huge list someday, maybe in a book...

October 19th: From SLC, Sandy and I rode to Provo. Here it became very clear that we would be taking non-interstate roads for a while, haha. Stayed with Christine in Provo, she made us breakfast, and we were back on the 89 for the rest of boring Utah. Some more cool places to camp, but more hot weather during the days. We fought a few righteous battles against some really intense winds, sometimes while climbing. It was gnar! After week or so we made it to Mt. Carmel Junction where Sandy opted to go west to Zion, whereas I had already made plans to meet my sister at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. My night in Kanab was my last in Utah, and of course, we had a huge T-storm that night...

Arizona: Fredonia rest area was a great place to sleep. Climbed the entirety of the Kaibab Plateau to arrive at the North Rim. My sister and I camped both rims over several days, then I met back up with Sandy and her 2 newfound partners, Richard and Gina, in Flagstaff. Reluctantly had to drop a lot of coin on staying in a hostel in Flagstaff, as it was thunderstorming and snowing for 2 days. We had a lot of fun meeting people from around the world, and eating lots of food. Sandy split off with R&G to go down to Tucson and take the southern route to our next planned meetup in Lubbock, Texas. I still needed to check CO off my list, so I set out from Flag on the I-40 east. Winslow, Holbrook, Lupton, then food poisoning. First night was the worst, but started to get better after that.

New Mexico: This state is a lot like AZ, but seems to have some more foresty areas. Still not quite off the CO Plateau though, so elevations are still rather high. Due to weather concerns like continued snow storms, and the fact that I was not feeling up to my normal level of performance, I hitched a ride with an awesome driver named J, who kindly put my rig in his truck and helped me get through a corner of NM and over the one huge pass that lies on the CO/NM border, Raton Pass, which was still inundated with snow. I feel really bad about "cheating" for this part of the tour, but since I ended up getting back on the bike and riding as far north as CO Springs, on the off chance that I might get to see a friend who lives here, the mileage to Lubbock will be the same as my original route of only touching the very bottom, SW corner of the state while en route through the length of NM. Still, sucks that I had to take a ride, but riding while sick is crappy.

Colorado: On the I-25 North the whole time en route to Coloado Springs. Nausea pretty much totally gone at this point. Half of it was open, flat, snow-covered fields, the other half was hilly with some ravine-looking features. A lot of snow still on the ground, and sometimes a little still falling. It gets down to freezing by sundown, so not a lot of time to stay up and do stuff. Good thing though is that coming up past Trinidad, Aguilar, and Pueblo, there are several DOT rest areas, which I cannot tell you how nice they are to find and stay at! Slept on the carpeted 2nd story balcony of a condemned apartment building in Fountain, before getting up for the last 20 miles or so to
Colorado Springs. I got kind of lost in the city and had to backtrack South on the interstate for a bit, but then I found this cool place called the Coffee Exchange on Tejon st. Really nice place. They had great food, free wi-fi, and a nice seating area outside. I was planning to stay in a park, but my aunt Jenny got in touch and told me that her best friends lived there and that I could stay with them. Yay! I'm at Phil and Lorri's lovely home right now, and it's been wonderful to have such a nice place to stay with such amazingly kind and generous people! I leave tomorrow to head south, hopefully making it to Lubbock, Texas, in time to meet back up with Sandy, Richard, and Gina.

Hopefully this format is a little easier to parse, enjoy!