Missoula Montana

Life on the bicycle highway has been real good lately.
I'd post pictures but I don't really have to time to let them all load right now, if were facebook friends well then you'll probably see them all by now.
     Since jackson I've been riding through some of the most scenic countryside I have ever experienced in my life.  It's hard to just keep riding some day because all I want to do is stop and take pictures.  Along with the incredible riding and camping and swiming in rivers everyday, I've been meeting all sorts of really great people.
     Riding through the teton national park introduced me to a young couple riding the great divide mountain bike trail and re introduced me to chris riley, who I rode with a few days in Kansas and hadn't seen since.  Him and I Rode into Yellowstone National park together.  It rained later that day so I didn't get much sight seeing in, and decided to set up camp at the first campground you come to upon entering the park from the south.  This was the first time since leaving Richmond that I actually paid to camp somewhere. I'm pretty proud of that.  I have since had to pay two more times. Bringing my tally to THREE paid campsites from the atlantic coast to here. NOT BAD if I do say so...
    Anyways, I shared that first site with another mountain bike traveler off route of the great divide mountain bike trail and we really got along well.  The next day we rode all over the southern area of yellowstone together.  Watched Old Faithful shoot off twice, and explored all the different thermal pools and geysers we could find.  Saw Bison, Heard a pack of Wolves, and ended our day fly fishing(he was traveling with a rod) and swimming in the Madison River.  Along the shore were piles of Bison poop the size of frisbees...
     We parted ways halfway through the morning of the next day. Crossed into montana together and reached the tourist trap town of "west yellowstone" which was where I went North and he continued west. We toasted with a shot of Whiskey outside a grocery to a solid two days of exploring and hanging out.
     I have since been riding my way through the state of montana, probably my favorite state of bicycling and camping so far. There are mountains in every direction split apart by long wide valleys. Natural Hot Springs and Cold rivers every which way, And nice friendly people that live along the roads I've been riding that move over when passing me on the road, wave, or give thumbs up when passing me while I'm Pushing hard over a pass.  Historically it's packed as well.  I'm following most of what was part of the Lewis and clark expedition. So there are mile markers with info about the area all over the place. Thanks to a zine I read a year ago i've been educated about the Nez Perce Indian Tribe that Lived in the area for a very long time.
     Climbing up and over Chief Joseph's pass was a highlight of my life.  It was a 10 mile climb up followed by a 30 mile downhill...  The first 8 miles were at a 6% grade allowing me to coast the entire 8 miles and never drop below 30 mph... I pulled over a mile down where I was along the boarder of Idaho and Montana, put on a full album to listen to on my ipod and then surfed my way down the next 7.5 miles with only 2 cars passing me the entire time...  That day was ended by swimming around in the river that ran along the camping area I stayed at. besides the many mosquito bites I acquired that evening, it was a pretty perfect day.
     So anyways, Im currently in Missoula, Montana.  It's rad here.  I'm stuck for a few days waiting for DZR to send me a new pair of kicks due to some issues I have had with the pair i've been wearing. But there are way worse places to be stuck... So far I've really come to like this town and can see why people want to live way up here in the mountains. I've been lucky enough to meet some friends of friends and am staying with them a few days. This is also the town where Adventure cycling association is located so seeing traveling bikers on a daily is a pretty common thing around here.  I've had fun meeting a few and sharing stories about the roads that lie ahead of us.
     I see myself being here till at least tomorrow or the next day, then I am less then 600 miles from the city of Portland and I have a beautiful ride between here and there. I'm excited to see what's next.

Pictures and words from Colorado - Jackson, WY

     So as I last mentioned, my mother is here in Jackson, Wyoming for work stuff and I pushed through the state as fast as possible to get here in time to hang out for a day before she left.  I left Westminster, CO on Saturday the 7th in a car ride from there to Estes Park thanks to Rob.  Estes Park is a mountain town at the base of Rocky Mountain National Park.  Famous for being home to the Stanley Hotel which is where Stephen King stayed and was inspired to write the Shining. ALSO The same hotel is where a lot of Dumb and Dumber was filmed. Cool right!?  Anyways, I started there and headed up Trail Ridge Road for my first day back on the bike to ride over the highest Pass of this trip. 

 The weather was on and off crazy the whole day. Rain and fog would come and go.  At one of the pull over spots I stopped for a snack and made friends with this guy ^ ^. 

 The road topped out at 12,138 ft. above sea level.  This is a photo from just before that.  The peak of the pass was extremely anti climatic because of fog.  You couldn't see even just 10 feet ahead.  But the moment I began to coast down everything cleared up and it was a pretty great ride.

 Met this guy on the back side during my 26 mile ride down in between the on and off rain.

 Another shot from the ride downnnn.

 I spent the first two days riding through northern Colorado.  The night before entering Wyoming I camped at a city park in the town of Walden, CO. Another town that has opened up it's public space to the bicyclists traveling through.  This was my first day camping back on the transamerica trail so I figured I might run into some other people.  Sure enough I did.  After not seeing each other since eastern Kansas I once again ran Into Ray, one of the first guys I met back in Missouri who was riding the Trike.  We shared the park with two girls heading east and Sung Gyoo who is riding west as well.  Here in the U S for the very first time from South Korea.  Him and I ended up spending the next 5 days riding together.  That first day we left at different times so I crossed into Wyoming solo.

 We met back up that evening at the city campground of Sheridan Lake, WY.

 This is Sung Gyoo in his everyday riding outfit, which happens to match his bike perfectly.

That night was pretty amazing, I saw stars like I've never seen before in my life. Just as the sun was setting this crazy storm cloud appeared.  It was far enough away to never hear any thunder and after an hour it just kinda faded.  Shot this little video to show how the sky was vastly different from the east to the west. 

 The sun gave us a nice show the next morning as it came up over the mountains in the east.

 Sung Gyoo and I rode together all day, going up and over the continental divide and into the desert high plains area of Wyoming.  We had been told of a lady named LB who lived right off route about 76 miles from Sheridan lake.  She has been slowly turning her property into a really amazing oasis for people who are passing by on bikes.  She keeps a freezer stocked full of ice cream and a fridge full of canned peaches and cheese.  We entered her property not knowing what to expect and were completely blown away. Such an incredible place, run by a truly warm and friendly person.  She left to stop by the cafe where her friend works shortly after we arrived ( the town consists of the cafe and only the cafe) .  When she returned she handed us a platter full of Food.  Telling us "figured you guys are pretty tired and this will save you the time it would take to cook up your own dinner"  I swear man, If you are loosing faith in the good of people. Just get on your bike and ride.  It changes everything.

 The Tipi's she had were set up like a proper bedroom.  Way more then I had expected.

 " No charge to stay/ Help yourself to food and water in shed/ Please sign the guest Book/ Have a safe journey"

 I made friends with this lady ^^

 Sunrise over the ridge and the outhouse.

 L B and I in the morning.

 The next few days were filled with riding through pretty barren land.  People make jokes about the state tree of Wyoming being the Telephone pole, and its easy to see why through most areas.  The plant life consisted of sparsely growing grasses and desert sage bush.

 Randomly the landscape would change from Buttes and Rolling hills to more canyon like features with bright red rock.

 Then Just before entering the town of lander things started to change, Trees slowly began to appear and water ways came back into the picture.

 We had a big ride into Lander, Wyoming. A town I knew nothing about except for that it was the largest we would pass through in the entire state prior to Jackson. We showed up in town during day one of a multi day International Climbers Festival.  Turns out lander is a pretty famous town in the world of rock climbing.  Every year this fest is hosted here where they have clinics and competitions and its more or less a big party.  So the park we knew of that allows bicyclist to camp for free was also home to about 60 other tents by the time we showed up.  We met a bunch of really cool people from all over the west coast that were in the park to camp for the weekend and partake in the activities.  Also got to meet a cool couple from Portland riding bike to Colorado and a man named Jerry who is cycling all the way to the state of Maine. 

 more crazy things happened the day we left Lander.  I was cycling alone ahead of Sung Gyoo about 15 miles after leaving town when I saw two other people on bikes in the distance.  As I got closer I knew exactly who I was looking and and sped up to make sure I was right.  And what do you know, It was Guy and Joe. My buddies I made in Kansas.  It had been almost three weeks since we last saw each other the day before entering the town of Leoti, Ks. That was during the time of extreme heat when we were all waking up at crazy hours to start our days and get miles in before the sun got up and over 100 degrees.  I had been wondering how they were and whether or not we'd ever see each other again.  Pretty amazing how small these roads seem to have become over time.

 This is a shot of my bike in an area known as "The bad lands of Wyoming"  We all rode through this separately on our way to the town of Dubois.  In Dubois Guy, Joe, Sung Gyoo and myself all slept in a Lutheran church thanks to a pastor named frank.  We had a good dinner together across the street.  I said my farewells to everyone early in the morning the next day.  I was off on my own to ride the biggest day of my trip thus far in order to get to Jackson. There is a good chance I'll see guy and Joe again but less of a chance to see Sung Gyoo.  It was an incredible run going through all of Wyoming together and he thanked me over and over for sharing my knowledge of road food and bicycles in a way he could understand.  Bicycles and travel are incredible tools. It has tied together lasting bonds that develop in only a few short days with people that I would probably never meet in any other way. 

 my 92 mile day towards Jackson was long and tiring but I had little to complain about with views like this almost the whole way there.

Once again. picture of my bike because its easier then trying to take pictures of myself. Plus like I've said in the past, Mountains and Bikes just look good together.

I'm now in Jackson. A bit ahead of where I would have thought I'd be at this time of the summer. I have lots to look forward to as I leave here tomorrow.  45 miles from here I'll enter Yellowstone National Park where I'll stay for a few days to see the wild life, hot springs, bubbling mud, and old faithful. I'll exit Yellowstone through to the west into Montana and make my way north toward Missoula.  I'm getting mighty close to being on the west coast.  Not sure what I'll be doing once that happens.  Just taking things as they come for now and seeing how things fall into place.  Miss my friends miss my family but being able to spend 2 days with mom has really lifted my spirits in that sense.  I'm excited to see what Mama earth has in store for me next.  She did a great job with the grand Tetons.  Crushed my ego to smithereens in the best of ways. 

So that's what's up.

Biggest update, Pictures and words from Chicago to Denver

Fear not I am alive.  I'm here in wonderful Westminster, Colorado.  I have been here for about a week and will be rolling out on Saturday the 7th to continue on my way.  I fast forwarded to denver in a matter of two days thanks to a few car rides when I was still about four days away from here via Bicycle. I'll get to that later though.  For now, here are some pictures that I've had all to myself up until recently when posted some of them to my Facebook page shortly after getting here (the home of my friends Erin and Rob and their little son Kaydin)  Beware, this is the longest update ever. so, Im not offended if you end up skipping the words and just looking at pictures. Or read it in sections, whatever works best for ya!

 Kyler, Myself, Bryan, And Ryan. On the roof of The Roxaboxen, Chicago skyline behind us in the AM of the day I left Chicago riding solo.

 Throughout my 5 day journey through Illinois I was on and off of old Route 66 connecting Chicago, IL to St. Louis, MI.  Small towns up and down that stretch are home to things like this that were built to attract people who were traveling the old Highway. 

 Best water tower.

 I met Jose Maria outside of a McDonalds off route 66, he had started in LA and was on his way to chicago and then to New York where he was catching a flight back home to spain. He had a really hard time speaking english but we were able to communicate pretty well because of the fact that we were both knee deep in similar experiences traveling america. I didn't understand what he meant at first when he started to tell me I looked very different then most people In America, but he eventually figured out how to say "Fat" and Said that I wasn't fat and a lot of americans are.... hah I agreed and talked about how places like McDonalds don't help.  He also told me he liked tattoos but that in Spain it is still culturally hard for his family to accept them but that he planned to get the Route 66 sign tattooed on his ankle once completing the road in Chicago.

 Some Signs telling me where I am.

 A nice side road I took during part of that stretch where route 66 no longer exists.  To the Left you can see corn and to the right is soy.  This is pretty much all you see when traveling off the main highway all the way through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. And well, lots of other states as well.

 ME about a month ago!

 More route 66 madness? or the real deal?!

 I've seen and helped more turtles cross the road in the past 2 months then ever in my life  beforehand combined. 

 St. Louis from the distance 

 Crossing from Illinois into Missouri.

 This is Ray, and his Trike Recumbent Bicycle.  We rode together on and off for three or four days.  He rode at a much slower pace so we'd often start together but separate in the day and end at the same place to camp at night.  I met him at just the right moment.  It's because of him I was able to temp. fix my broken spoke to hold me over for 4 days of riding before getting to a bicycle shop.  

 This Picture doesn't show it, but missouri was extremely difficult to ride through. Lots of seriously steep up and downs.  I snapped this photo from the top of a hill around 12 noon on a day that I felt particularly good about. 

 Having water is the main concern on the really hot days. Sometime you get to a store or gas station that you expect to get water/food or whatever else at and it turns out to be closed or just out of business all together.  Times like this send me looking for a faucet on the outside of the building.  (I've become a pro at knowing where to look for faucet's and outlets on any given structure...) But, sometimes you encounter this.  A faucet that they have put a special sized bolt on instead of a handle to only allow water access to those with the special tool. OR those who have a handy leatherman Multi tool which includes needle nose pliers. (ME) 

 I eventually made my way into Kansas. Which flattened out but did not make things any easier.

 In kansas the crops changed. I continued to see Corn growing everywhere but instead of soy it was wheat, which is actually the main crop of the state. Corn, Wheat and Cattle.

 Two beauties.

 My girl and some Cattle. 

 A Zebra in Kansas...

 on the left is Joe and to the Right is Guy. In the distance to the right is a huge lake, which was a sight to see in the middle of kansas.  Joe lives in Bloomington, Illinois and Guy lives in "extreme souther Alabama" But they both grew up together in Georgia. They have been friends since the 1st grade and are currently cycling across the United states together.

 Guy, sally, & Joe.

I rode a super long day with guy and joe, we weren't together for most of it other then the last 15 miles of the extremely windy and tiring 84 mile day.  This day ended us in Hudson, Kansas. A town with a population of 133 people It was 30 miles from the closest town to the east and 25 miles from the closest town to the west. We expected to arrive and just have a town park to camp in for the night but somehow met sally.  The original owner of the only cafe in town opened only on sundays and it was not a sunday.  But they were in there working hard on a catering order for the following day and she invited us in for a dinner of Chicken fried steak, potatoes, Jello, Homemade ice cream, and Fresh baked bread made locally and with the flour processed at the mill in town. and then set us up in the community center to sleep for the night.  Before leaving us she also gave us a full tray of cinnamon buns to eat in the morning for breakfast.  We let her know there is a name for people like her used within the traveling bicycle community "a Road Angel" and its true. She really was an angel and she did all of this for us for no other reason. she just kept saying things like " we just really love our bikers here".  Not referring to anyone in the community who rides a bike, but the flow of travelers her small town gets every year because of it being located where it is. 

 This is Adam and Leah.  I met them one morning in Kansas after apparently just missing each other in all sorts of towns all the way back to Illinois. I had no clue when I met them that i'd spend as much time together as we did.  We ended up riding and camping and hanging out for about 5 days straight which was incredible.  They started late april in the state of Maine and were making their way to San Francisco, CA. Im going to type more about them on the bottom I think But this is whats most important. They are two really awesome individuals and are riding across america for a cause. Which you can learn all about by clicking this link... http://foodcycleus.com/  

 Nicola also camped at the same park that night along with myself, leah, adam, Guy, Joe and another cyclist I don't have a picture of named Chris.  We met Nicola because she is riding the opposite way (East). She is here from Great Britain in the United States for the first time ever. Crossing the country solo on her bicycle. We just all happen to be ending our day in the same town, Which had a big park and a big pool for swimming. Im pretty sure it hit 110 degrees that day so swimming in a pool was exactly what we needed. 

 Early Morning Hay Shot.

 The last days in Kansas were hot and always incredibly windy.  Wind usually from the south which was better then a head wind but still made it a hard day of riding. And did not cool anything down, it felt more like gusts from a furnace at times. But we did eventually make it to the state line.  I waited there for a while to try and let Leah and Adam catch up.  Mostly because I really wanted to be able to look at someone and say "Were not in Kansas anymore."

 In my days traveling with Leah and Adam we found ourselves having to get up earlier and earlier each day in order to get the distance we wanted without putting ourselves in danger of riding through the hottest part of the day.  On this day we woke up extra early with a plan to make it extra far in the course of the next two days using plan A, B or C.  Adam had to be somewhere by the next morning that would have proper phone service so he could have a phone interview with a college he hoped to work at.  I also wanted to get as far as possible. Mostly just because I was started to get burnt out. It had been 20 days since I left Chicago and had yet to take a day off of riding. I just really wanted to get to Denver and have my week off. It was time. and the 105+ degrees everyday wasn't helping my sanity. 

so on this day, we woke up in Sheridan Lake, Colorado at 4 am with a plan to get to a town called Haswell as early as possible. We knew that in the heat we would not be able to ride any further then Haswell that day but decided to try our luck at catching a ride from someone to take us further down the line.

And what do you know, it worked.  ^Meet Randy^.  Randy, his dog and his big Truck picked us up in Haswell, CO and drove us all the way to Pueblo. cutting off an entire day or cycling.  He was hard to understand at times due to his super thick accent but all in all it was a fun and much needed lift.

By the end of the next day thanks to the kindness of another stranger with a truck I had bypassed the Waldo canyon wild fire outside of Colorado Springs and found myself ahead of schedule and in Denver, Colorado. 

I have been here about a week now. Being spoiled by air conditioning, a real bed, a computer, TV, and the constant company of good people.  The past few days have been packed full of colorado appropriate outdoor fun.  I met up with Illes my soon to be Brother in law and he took me up into the mountains and showed me where he likes to go camping and a few nice hiking trails.  The following day (july 4th) Erin and I went White water Rafting. A first for both of us. And today Erin, Rob, kaydin, their dogs Zeus and Karma and myself all went to see the Red Rock Theater and park.  Which was incredible.

 Red Rock Amphitheater. 

 Erin, Zeus, Rob and Kaydin on Robs back as we hike around Red Rock park.

Red Rocks, Colorado.

A lake made of snow run off, Nice and high up in the mountains.

A shot of trees just outside of A spot Illes has found for camping. That red shirt is Illes, not a wild red animal.

So my time here is coming to an end. I will be pedaling out of here on saturday bright and early in the morning.  I am two days off course of the maps that will get me all the way to Oregon. I will be passing through Rocky Mountain National Park on sunday and crossing the Highest pass of this entire journey at something near 12,100 ft above sea level.  Not only the highest point of elevation this trip but probably of my life thus far.

    I found out just the other day that my mother will be in Jackson, Wyoming from the 9th till the 15th.  So I will be setting a goal for myself to ride extra hard every day for the  first 7 days back on the road.  Doing this should get me to where she is by the 13th if not the 14th.  I can't just let that slip by.  To be able to see my mom so far from home and right in the middle of this trip is an amazing thing. And unplanned and unexpected.  So I will have a week of long hard days, but it will be worth it.  From there I will enter Yellow stone National Park and then find my way to Montana.   Thank you to those who sent letters or care packages to me here in westminster.  In a few days I may have a second location where I will be picking stuff up, most likely in Montana.  I'll post it up here. 

      Hope everyones been having a killer summer. happy fourth America. See you soon.