The smell of mounted deer and drying roses filled our nostrils as we rose in the basement of the Becker elders, Sue and Roger. At 69 and 70, respectively, these two lead amazingly active lives: riding horses, rose pruning, square dancing, motorcycling, snowmobiling, and hunting. Sue cooked a light breakfast of 18 eggs (with cheese and sweet walla walla), a loaf of bread, homemade preserves, and a pot of coffee.
We mounted our steeds and rode all of 200 feet before Ryland asked Matt "Why does your tire sound like that?!"
Immediately after entering Idaho, and three minutes into our ride, we discover yet another defective tire. Matt's five day old tire had bubbled overnight, like a witches brew. The rubber and inner casing separated (likely from extreme speeds). At a pivotal moment: continue to Missoula with a defective but functional tire, or wait for a shop to open and risk heat exhaustion. We find two shops along the way, the first one might as well have sold lawnmowers and other was a mountain sports gear Valhalla, consequently a Specialized dealer. We arrived well before they opened. Fortunately, Lewiston's best bike shop manager, Steve, opened early for us and jumped into gear, replacing Matt's tire, truing his wheel, and adjusting a bent derailleur in fluid execution. A little more than an hour and we were back on our way, following Clearwater River to Kamiah, ID. The terrain favored us with a cool tailwind, and a flat, treelined road which allowed us to ride through the heat of the day. After investigating viable camping options we decided to press on 28 more miles, making our first century of the tour.
Upon arrival to Wild Goose, we met a friendly bike tourer, Gary (from Carlsbad, CA), who was heading into town for dinner. He asked if we needed anything, and all we could muster was "a frosty brew". With a silent nod, he opened his cooler and pulled out two cold cans and handed them over. We dipped in the river and set up the kitchen for some post century grub down. Gary returned from his dinner, and asks "I'm not sure what you want or how much, but I'm thinking about heading back into town to pick something up. What'll it be?" Sure enough he brought back a care package of the finest: Pabst Blue Ribbon and Rainier (a first for us). Over a cold one, we shot the breeze about bikes, touring, life, love, and pursuit of adventure. Gary, rock on, dude. Let the wind be at your back, and the beer in your legs.
Day 23 - Wild Goose to Lolo Hot Springs, MT
After several days of hot, flat, exposed farmland, Eastern Idaho was a breath of fresh air, riding along treelined river roads in temperatures hovering in the 80s. A gradual uphill afforded Lorenzo the chance to crush his big ring for 50+ miles. It also allowed us to gain more than 2000 feet of elevation without realizing it. As the Clearwater River turned into the Lochsa River, we stopped to eat lunch: tortillas, peanut butter, and jelly. As Ryland was "stretching", with his head back, mouth open, and eyes closed, Mr. Flash pulled up on his 16 pound carbon touring bike. Carrying one change of clothes, superlight tent, no food, no water bottles (except for an Arrowhead in his jersey pocket), and presumably a thermal blanket for his first month spent in the Arctic Circle, he appeared more myth than man. Later inspection of photos indeed proved this mans existence and more or less shattered any notion we had of touring necessities. So for you roadies out there who think you don't have the right gear to tour, get a load of this guy.
Still scratching our helmets, we run into two more traditional tourers, Billy and Amy (UCSC Alums). They are on an adventure from Eugene, OR to Glacier National Park. We parted ways with them as the climb up to the Lolo Pass finally took on the appearance of elevation gain. A steep six miles put us into Mountain Time as we entered Montana. A short descent down a pothole laden minefield shook us into Lolo Hot Springs, not quite the natural paradise we were all hoping for. As we set up our tents and ate with Billy and Amy, the faint smell of gas wafted into the kitchen and as we caught a roundtrip ticket to Snoozeville.
Day 24 - Lolo Hot Springs, MT to Missoula, MT
As we broke camp on a rather cool, cloudy morning Matt discovered the source of the mysterious gas aroma from the night prior. The spare fuel container had leaked into Matt's bag. Everything smelled like gas. The 35 miles to Missoula was a short jaunt, delayed only by Matt's need to shake a wasp out of his jersey. Good thing it wasn't a bee.
Our first stop was REI, where we resupplied and Ryland replaced his rear panniers. An hour of loitering later we rode downtown to the Adventure Cycling Association headquarters, only to find closed doors. We grabbed a map of town and decided to come back Monday morning on our way out. Across the street was the watering hole, Iron Horse, where we refueled on local brew, sandwiches, and fried cookie dough.
We rode to the home of our Crater Lake camp buddy, Harmony, where we met her husband Rob, who didn't hesitate to replace Matt's cracked phone screen. Thanks Rob!
Sounds like a great adventure so far, and that you are meeting some wonderful people. Look forward to your posts.
ReplyDeleteLove Aunt Betsy
Wow, like, omg...this is yummmy
ReplyDeleteWhat a great day, starting the mornings by reading your journal! Don't know if it's a combined effort as much as your journey......It's upbeat and informative and well-written. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteAunt Kathleen
Fried cookie dough!? Are you kidding me.
ReplyDeleteno its called apple pie people
ReplyDelete