Biketrips on Biketrips

So when we leave Maryland, the west coast seems too far away to think about so we have a bunch of mini biketrips along the way and just string them together. As it turns out, each of the biketrips turn out to be very different and adopt their own flavor, unique from the last. Since our last Billings update we’ve gone through three really unique sections and are heading out on an entirely separate fourth trip tomorrow.

When we left Billings we continued our jaunt across the mighty state of Montana, knowing that we had many long and lonely miles left. As we rode west out of Billings we entered the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and the long flat sections of open range became a memory of the past as we now found ourselves gaining elevation daily and rolling over progressively larger hills. The towns remained small and places where we stayed such as Judith Gap, Geyser, and Sun River didn’t even have gas stations. Our days of pools and basketball courts were left behind and sometimes the only business in town would be an old style saloon where we could get some dinner and sometimes camp right out back.

The middle of Montana is still wide open range which still has benefits and drawbacks. Most of the evenings in Montana we’d finish dinner and go find a spot to watch the sun set behind the distant mountains as it turned the late day storm clouds a variety of colors. In the day however, this lack of trees lent itself to some strong winds and almost daily we would battle head and cross winds in the afternoons. On our day into Geyser they blasted in our face at 20+ mph and we cranked angrily up hills at 4 mph and had to pedal downhill simply to maintain 8mph. As a cruel joke, Stanton turned around at one point and went 30mph for a quarter mile in the opposite direction with almost no effort, we could only think of how long of a day we could pull off with that wind at our back. In addition to the wind, the lack of gas stations in town led to a decisive lack of gas stations along the road, so we carried tons of water through long stretches as the howling wind and dust continually dry our mouths and cake our skin in road soot.

As we pressed on for 10 consecutive long days we all had the cool lofty peaks of Glacier on our minds for some R and R. We left our last town of Dupeyer and knocked out 40 hilly and dry miles to the infamous Browning, Montana. Known as one of the top meth spots, we were sure to keep an eye on our bikes and make our lunch break short and to the point. Just for fun the wind really cranked up for our last 12 miles and we pressed on at our standard headwind pace of 8 mph, not to be held back from Glacier, our salvation and much needed rest. We arrived in the middle of the afternoon of August 1st and parked our bikes for three consecutive days off, unheard of for the Cycle20Ten team to that point. We spent the afternoon doing absolutely nothing, grabbing some very much needed showers, and throwing in some very salty laundry. The mexican restaurant of Serranos had been hyped up all trip and we finally got our chance to test its reputation. The 16 of us headed out for a celebratory dinner and unlimited chips and salsa did not disappoint.

We rented a van for our time in Glacier so on our first day we drove, that’s right, drove to the top of Logan pass to hike along the Continental Divide. I hadn’t driven in a while and it was a real treat to go faster than 12, the stereo was nice and loud, there was AC, and we could knock out a 3000 foot climb in a couple minutes. Once on top of the pass we hiked Mt Oberlin which took us up a long scree field above tree line to give us a grand 360 degree view of the entire park. We munched on some tasty deli sandwiches before clouds loomed overhead. Despite our quick retreat we got soaked by rain and pounded by some really obnoxious hale. No need to worry though, the van had heat so we were soon warm and dry rather than huddled under a gas station awning with all of our possessions soaked through. We took a lighter hike on our 2nd day that led us around Two Medicine Lake in a quest for the Twin Falls and maybe a grizzly or moose spotting. Much to the delight of the moms, we didn’t find any wild life, but we did find the Twin Falls. When we arrived it was cold and cloudy so we decided not to jump into the 40 degree glacial runoff water. But the machismo of 16 bikers soon prevailed and we were shortly all jumping around on shore, soaked and trying to warm ourselves up. Our time in Glacier flew by and we soon found ourselves on our last day off, heading to a short hike and pizza buffet down at Lake McDonald on the west end of the park. In our final evening, we tried to cram in some journal writing, do some light bike work, and of course visit Serranos for a send off meal. Three days off felt like a short afternoon and thus concluded another trip within our trip.

The section of road between Glacier and Sandpoint is one of the best liked and most majestic on the trip, and just like Serranos it didn’t disappoint either. The morning we left we climbed a few leisurely miles to the top of the Continental Divide to Marias Pass and spent the rest of the day navigating a long and winding decent through evergreen covered Rocky Mountains along streams and lakes and enjoying a refreshing change of scenery and some shade. From our fire station home in Columbia Falls we continued through the Rockies to Eureka traveling through some picturesque valleys and along rivers. In the afternoon we took a long break at Dickey Lake; ice cold, crystal clear, and completely surround by lofty mountains. Over the next couple days from Eureka to Libby and eventually to Sandpoint we traveled through some of the most gorgeous terrain on the trip. We spent long miles in canyons next to lakes, riding along rivers, and making our way west to the seemingly unattainable western border of Montana. Along the way we stopped to swim daily and found a few exciting reservoir jumps….that have drawn some comments on the site. And then finally on the afternoon of August 8th, after 17 long days, we arrived at the Idaho sign. Zach Jansen promptly wrecked on the gravel at the base of the sign, one last parting shot from Montana, our longest state by far.

We are now relaxing on a day off in Sandpoint, Idaho, camped out at the lake enjoying the beach as well as the hot tub and pool that our campsite offers. This town is great for a day off, boasting an infinite amount of activities as well as some great food. However, we take off tomorrow at 6am to begin the last and final biketrip within this biketrip. Tomorrow begins the Cascades. There has been plenty of talk and plenty of nervousness over this next part. Some of the days are quite short, only 29 miles sometimes, but the catch is that they are all uphill. There are 5 huge passes in the Cascades done on 5 consecutive days, some of which are over 4000 feet of climbing on pretty steep grade. But no matter how long the climbs really are, we’ll handle it like we always have for the last 8 weeks, get up at 6, grab a granola bar, plug in some good tunes and crush out each climb one by one. After one last glorious hoorah on Washington pass on August 16th we’ll drop all the way down and roll into Anacortes, our ultimate goal and finish up our last biketrip within a biketrip and begin a couple months of days off.

We’re bikin it….uphill, and likin’ it….at least I am, not sure about the other guys on that hill part.

Brian