Rest day in Missoula

Where to start? That's what I've been asking myself since I woke up at 5:45 this morning (half an hour later than I've been waking up all week)... haven't had coffee yet because the cafe's not open til 8am, so forgive any gibberish.

We're staying in a dorm at the University of Montana in Missoula - one of my favorite towns in the US. When I got out of college my choices were moving to here, or San Francisco. I chose SF but all day yesterday I kept thinking I might need to move to Montana after all. The western part, at least, is really really lovely. I still can't put any photos up (this dorm computer won't let me) but I'm hoping to find a place later today.

So, after an entire week of riding, I am really tired. Sleepy tired, and my muscles are fatigued. Actually, my major riding muscles are fine - thighs & hamstrings & calves feel great - I'm glad I do all the everyday riding I do & did to get in shape. But all this other stuff hurts that has never bothered me before - my achilles tendons, and the part of your butt you actually sit on (which might sound obvious, but that's never been a problem for me). I'm considering buying a new bike saddle here, but pretty much everybody's butt hurts so that's probably not the solution.

(There's a photo on someone else's camera of about 10 of us with our hands down our shorts, applying "chamois cream" to ease the suffering... )

At the same time, I am really exhilarated. I love country roads, small towns, riding along rivers and train tracks, and mountains - so the fact of having all of those every day just fills me with joy. Endorphins are also great, that natural high of moving your body... (though it seems to run low between miles 70-85 most days). Plus simply being outside almost all day long - well, it helps that it hasn't rained on us since the first couple of days (that's the Cascades for you).

The people in the group are really great. I was more than a little nervous about signing up for two weeks of intense group experience with strangers, but I'm really enjoying it. There are more men than women but still a lot of women; there are a few younger people (in their early 20s, and one girl who skipped her high school graduation to do this!) but then a real mix of 30s/40s/50s - and a few older than 60 even. I feel like I'm making some friends I'll have for a long time, which I hadn't really expected.

There are people from the Netherlands, England, Wales, Germany, France, New Zealand and Australia on the trip, plus from many parts of the US... and among them/us are teachers, doctors, someone who had a heart transplant a few years ago!, a guy who owns a lumber yard, sociologists and scientists, and a few people who sort of just ride their bikes a lot (raising money for good causes).

Based on experience and imagination, I expected I'd do a lot more thinking/reflecting while pedaling - especially given I'm on my bike 6-9 hours a day. (That's actually on the bike - not counting the water/food/pit stops.) But not so far. I seem mostly to be looking around going "Wow!" and ringing my bell to say howdy to other riders, or cows, or simply with goofy joy (for example, when you come around a bend in the road and snow-capped mountains suddenly apppear).

Pretty much every day the landscape has gotten more exciting, and since I'm a little familiar with what's between Missoula and Jackson, Wyoming I'm really excited about this next week of riding. (West Yellowstone & the Gallatin range, then the Tetons!)

OK - time for coffee, breakfast, doing laundry, watching some soccer on tv! etc. Pictures later, I promise.

Live from Montana!

Howdy to anybody who's been trying to find new stuff on my blog. I'm in Thompson Falls, Montana, and this is the first time I've had actual access to the internet (as opposed to, say, riding past a library that's not open, because it's only 7:15am).

The high school that's letting us camp on their lawn here is also letting us use their library computer lab! (Maybe to make up for the fact they only have cold showers?)

Dinner's in 15 minutes so I don't have time to upload any pictures - but I've been taking a ton, and hope to post links to them this weekend, when we're in Missoula. Resting!

Peg's dispatch (earlier this week - see below) was nicely coherent, I think, compared to how I think I was talking when I would get cell phone reception once in a while (I haven't had any for a couple of days now).

Now, for the scoop on this trip: WOW ! Holy moly!!! We've crossed two states and are in our third! We crossed Stevens Pass in the Cascades (on day two), then went 103 miles, then 95, then 94... Today was only 70 miles, but we crossed Thompson Pass (a 40ish mile climb). Tomorrow's another 100 or so into Missoula.

The main thing really is how incredibly beautiful the landscape is. I really do a lot of whooping and hollering (and ringing of my bicycle bell) because it's just so crazy gorgeous. Yesterday riding from Spokane Washington to Kellogg Idaho we were on paved, car-free bike paths for 40 miles!!

Here's the wildlife report: not as much road-kill as I'd expected, but included in that has been a deer, a rattlesnake, a racoon, and a porcupine! (That was huge, and fascinating.) Live animals have included llamas, alpacas, and yesterday: Three moose(s)!! They are HUGE. Really cool from a distance but a calf (the size of a grown horse) came onto the bike path and it kind of scared us - we waited until it went back down to the river before we crossed by.

One weird phenomenon (with various explanatory theories among the riders) is the amount of turds along the highway shoulders we've been riding on. Seriously. If anyone knows what this is about, please sent me a note!

Well, I have to run off to stuff my face with dinner. More this weekend from Missoula. Whoo-hoo!

Dispatch #1

[Written/posted by Peg Grabowski, after telephone interviews.] Our intrepid cyclist phoned in a report to the dispatch center in Ann Arbor this afternoon. Facing fierce headwinds for the last 50 miles today, Ruth stopped for a break in Davenport, WA, to update her blog followers.

Summary report: the scenery is great, the people are great, the food is great, the tour company is great, and she’s having a great time. Giddy is the word we used on Sunday to describe her mood as she headed out after lunch (the last of the group to leave the break just before getting on US2 eastbound for Skykomish).

Now the details: The first two days were relatively short rides (relative being the key word: Everett to Skykomish in 68 miles then on to Wenatchee in 78). Paved country roads with little traffic, blue sky, mountains, and rivers swollen with snow-melt made the miles slip easily under two wheels. Support for the riders has been wonderful: breakfasts hearty to kick-start the day’s ride, water breaks mid-morning, then a great soup for lunch on Sunday, more water breaks mid-afternoon before pulling into camp at the end of the day for showers, tent setup and dinner.

The first day included a great welcome by the locals who gave the riders postcards along with stamps and address labels. The riders will tell little stories of their trip then mail them back to the kids who spend most of their lives in their hometowns. What a great way to get the kids excited about the world beyond their near horizons.

“Camp” on the night of day two (Monday) was at the Skykomish Elementary school – you could sleep inside on the gym floor or out on the outfield of the baseball diamond under the stars. The Spokane digs on Wednesday night (day 4) will be the dorms of Gonzaga University – a most welcome chance to sleep on a real bed after two long days on the road, just about 200 miles from the camp in Skykomish (yes, you did the math right, two 100-mile days in a row). Ruth reported that she started out today with a three-mile climb BEFORE she got breakfast! She told me it was exhilarating to start the day off like that. Obviously, she hadn't had her coffee yet!

Camilo is keeping her updated on World Cup events, mainly via text messages sent to her cell phone. Network access has been spotty in the middle of the state though. She did manage to watch a very small part of the USA/Algeria game today when she stopped briefly at a restaurant but didn’t get to see the winning goal.

Access to the digital world is limited, so far. The daily mileage needed to stay on track with the tour keeps her busy on two wheels. Then it’s tent set up or tear down, eating, or sleeping. She reports that she hasn’t read anything so far on the trip but hopes to remedy that once she sets off on her own in early July. She’s seen book stores and internet cafes along the way so far, which makes her hopeful for more leisurely access in the weeks ahead.

Submitted by her sister, Peg, Ann Arbor, who’s been following along using maps and a lot of imagination.

Who knew?!

Ok, probably a lot of people knew, but I sure didn't: the countryside around Davis is amazingly lovely. Road 95A rocks! (Not to mention it looks a lot like southern France. Which admittedly I am only slightly familiar with, but the parts I saw were while riding a bike.) All these country lanes through groves of trees and following streams... little bridges... Ok, I didn't see this much graffiti in France - but it looked cool in person. Plus, Pleasant Valley and Green Valley roads really were pleasant and green. (And flat-ish.)

I also managed, finally, to take some pics using my tripod & timer - yet another technical challenge met.

Oh: I also rode my personal record distance today! 95 miles, Davis to Orinda. Now I feel like I actually can do this tour thing... (assuming I can climb on the bike again tomorrow).

More bridges between Davis & here...

Railroad Ave. (Winters), the Zampa Bridge (Carquinez Strait) and along Pinole Valley Rd.

One month til launch...!

On June 19th I'm meeting up with the group I'll be riding with from Everett, WA to Jackson, WY. I'm heading up to Seattle on Friday, June 18th - so, there's just less than a month til lift-off. There's a lot of logistical stuff to manage between now & then - but I find myself caring less about Everything being perfect, and just sort of want to be on my bike. Getting ready that way...

I'm already having a blast discovering a bunch of country roads in the East Bay that connect to bike trails I only sort of paid attention to before. It's really beautiful around Mt Diablo these days... and the Iron Horse Trail rocks, especially the way it connects to canal trails around there. Yay for bikes on BART (and former railroad right-of-ways that have been converted to pedestrian & bike trails).

I've been scolded about having pictures of my bike on here, without me in them, so I am trying to be better about that. But, sorry, not quite yet. This picture is from an outhouse-stop at the top of Morgan Territory Road - and my bike's not even in it! (My battery died after three shots of the hills, oh well.)

I never even heard of Morgan Territory Road before I started looking for long, loopy Sunday rides. It's on the eastern slope of Mt Diablo, between Clayton (which has an excellent old-time city park in its historic center) and Livermore. Really... really pretty, one-lane road, and there's hardly any traffic at all. Horses, grass, birds & flowers, mostly... and a few people on bikes.

I guess I'm really doing this

So, I've figured out most of the route, ordered the maps I need from various websites & bookstores, acquired important gear (including new socks!) and got the official training chart from the folks leading the group I'm riding with from Seattle to Jackson, WY. I worried about that chart for a while last night, until I decided that most of the other people in the group probably aren't riding 4-6 hours a day three days a week, either.

But I am doing *some* training, besides my everyday commuting and bigger Sunday rides... Including a three-day excursion out to Pt Reyes National Seashore. Sunday I'm taking the ferry to Larkspur and riding out to base camp in Pt Reyes; Monday riding out to the Lighthouse & Chimney Rock - to see all those wildflowers, besides getting in some miles; and riding back to the ferry on Tuesday. It's 40-50 miles a day, three in a row, which should help.

Not to mention it's the only week I can take off a couple of days of work to do this kind of trip, and amazingly the weather is fantastic! Though it's going to be really chilly at night, I've got the cozy stuff to handle it. Not to mention a great library book to bring along.

Besides getting in a bunch of miles and enjoying the flowers & green hills of spring, this is a big test of some new gear & gadgets and how the bike handles "fully loaded." I'm bringing a bunch more stuff than I really need, mostly to test how it will feels with the amount of stuff I will need to haul around this summer - or else decide to live without. Biggest question for this trip is: bring the pillow...? I think I will.

This will also be a chance to test the nifty "gorilla" tripod for my digital camera, so I can take pictures w/me in them. (This may or may not be a good idea, but it should be fun to play with.)