Steve's TransAm Adventure

66 miles, 290 ft ascent (but a LOT of descent), ~5:00 saddle time, elevations:  max 3517, min 1498 ft Lochsa River Today we had breakfast at the Lochsa lodge and the continued our journey on a beautiful day.  The temperatures were in the 60’s and 70’s, and the entire day was downhill as we followed the Lochsa river down the valley.    I am not sure what the distinction is between a gorge and a canyon, but the Lochsa river flows down and winds around the fingers of the mountains on either side of the valley.  It is beautiful!  It was so peaceful riding as an easy pace (downhill) as each bend in the river revealed new vistas.  The river itself changed gradually from narrow with lots of rapids to a wide, shallow, and smooth.   There were lots of creeks feeding into the river. It is very hard to capture the grandness of the views with a camera.  The traffic was light, so I had time to  experience the valley and hear the water as it cascaded ...

58 miles, 2513 ft ascent, 4:52 saddle time.  Elevations: min = , max = starting = ending =  View of mountains from road to Lolo pass Yesterday I went to the grocery store to buy stuff for breakfast, so Brian and I ate that again today.  We then  backtracked out of Missoula to Lolo, where we headed west toward the Lolo pass that we had to cross today.  The photo above was taken on the way to the pass.  The road followed a beautiful and lush creek valley with light traffic and little butterfly’s about the size of a quarter that swarmed around us.  There were thousands of these little butterflies.   Lush creek valley on way to Lolo Pass This valley was a stark contrast to two creek valleys that we previously rode up to passes that had relatively recent forest fires.  Those were acres of burned poles scattered on the ground and standing on all the slopes around the road.  What a difference!  I understand the importance of forest fires, ...

We went by the Adventure Cycling headquarters when we got in to Missoula yesterday. For those of you not familiar with ACA, it was previously named BikeCentennial and it created the TransAm route as a celebration of the Bicentennial in 1976.    That year I had just finished my freshman year at the University of Virginia when I heard about the TransAm.  I have been wanting to ride this route for 50 years!  I guess there is something to be said for not giving up on your dreams.   Today I got a haircut and went to REI to buy some new sandals because my shower shoes are not comfortable to walk any distance in, and at the end of a day of riding, I really don’t want to put my bicycling shoes back on to walk to dinner.  If I wear them too much they don’t dry out and start to stink! I also bought a new sleeping pad at REI just in case Brian and I are unable to find a motel.  Although I no longer have my tent, if it comes right down to it I could put my ground ...

67 miles, 986 ft ascent / 1664 ft descent, 4:46 saddle time,. Sunset over Clark Fork River in Missoula MT My Garmin died today, so my Strava posting did not include the total mileage.  Four of us stayed with the WarmShowers host Curtis last night. From left to right: Brian, Erick, Guy, me and Curtis  We departed at about 0700 and met Kevin for breakfast at the Studmuffin bakery. Breakfast at Studmuffin in Darby (Kevin is on far left) Our ride was mostly downhill today. Darby is at 3991 ft and Missoula is 3200 ft.  It was nice not to be crossing a pass today.  Everything was going great until about 20 miles outside of Missoula when a front blew through and we were suddenly in a strong headwind.  It was probably steady at 15 to 20 mph with gusts of 40 mph.  It literally nearly brought me to a standstill a couple times.  Brian, Kevin and I formed a pace line and took turns pulling into the wind.  As quickly as the front blew in, about 40 minutes late...

57.7 miles, 1562 ft ascent, 4:38 saddle time, elevations: min 3885, max 7278 ft Big Hole Valley with Bitterroot Range in distance Today involved another climb over a pass (761 ft ascent in 3.7 miles), and there was nowhere for breakfast, so we went without.  On the way we passed the Big Hole National Battlefield Park.  This commemorates one of several battles between the Nez Perce Indian tribe and the army of the white man.  The story is sad and tragic.  The Nez Perce were badly treated, as were many of the native Indian tribes.  The white man repeatedly broke treaties and promises.  The Ne Perce tried to flee to a place of safety and were pursued by the soldiers, who were given orders to exterminate them.  The route today followed the route of the Nez Perce for part of the way.  It is a story that they did not teach me in history class when I was young. The route taken by the Nez Perce when fleeing the white man’s army Once we crested the pass we...

68 miles, 3670 ft ascent, 6:25 saddle time, elevations: min 5067, max 7381 ft We left the bike hostel at about 0700 and headed into town to McDonalds, which was the only place for breakfast open at that time.  I have not eaten in McDonald’s in many years, so this was a change for me.  I bought an egg McMuffin, which I ate right away, and a bacon, egg and cheese bagel, which I saved for my “second breakfast”.  The day started with two major climbs over two passes, Badger Pass (1128 ft ascent in 6 miles to 6760 ft) and Big Hole Pass (1240 ft ascent in 6.32 miles to 7360 ft).  There were awesome downhill runs after each pass.  My bike handled much better without the additional 6 lb tent on the back rack.  I did not take many photos today because it was cold, cloudy and rainy.  Here is a view of the Big Hole valley with overcast skies. Big Hole Valley I mentioned in yesterday’s post that this part of the country is one mountain chain after the next, separa...