The Pacific Coast and Home!

I know, I have not been very good about keeping this thing up.  I guess I am just not a blogger.

My journey came to a close on August 7th, after 4,196 miles of riding through an absolutely gorgeous country with wonderful people. I was ready to be done, but I enjoyed every minute of it.  I have come to the conclusion that bicycle touring is the very best way to travel.  It is the perfect pace, you see so much more than you ever could from a car.  You appreciate every vista and every new town because you have earned it with your blood and sweat.  And the people you meet are always intrigued, always helpful, always kind.  If I can finagle another few months sometime I'll ride south to the border and turn left and see what the southern part of our country has to offer.

This phase of the ride was a blast.  I started out at Jenn and Aaron's place in Seattle.  I spent about a week in Seattle, hanging out with friends, seeing the sites, and Jordan came out to join me for a few days.  It was a blast.  I definitely fell in love with that city, a beautiful place.




Here we are at the Roller Derby Championships in Seattle.  Kim and Jenn were there to try and help me figure out the rules of the game.






Leaving Seattle by ferry for Bremerton.  We got out late due to Dung's frame being bent during shipping and then Liz had some chain trouble at the start of the trip, so we had to head north to Silverdale to find a bike shop that was open.  It was a rocky start, but only appropriate, I mean Martin's start with me was equally difficult with trying to find him a bike and all.




We went across the lower portion of the olympic peninsula to finally reach the pacific coast.  Washington was wet, unsurprisingly.  I believe that we had only one dry day in Washington after we left Seattle.





That little sign says welcome to Oregon.  Tough one to take a picture of, I am at a stop light here after getting off the Astoria Bridge that goes over the mouth of the Columbia River. 



Coming down on the end of the 4 mile bridge across the Columbia.  If you look hard enough, you might see a speck that is Joe as he finishes his crossing.





One of the many beautiful spots along the Oregon Coast.



Sunset before we entered the Pelican Brewery near Cape Kiwanda.




In Newport we went to Rogue's Brewery, of course.  I carried this for the next 800 miles, no way I could leave it behind.







My second flat of the journey, a pretty large shard of glass.  I believe Liz had two flats as well, Dung had 3, and Joe had 8 or 9.  Joe ended up buying some new tires after about 6 or 7 of those.  It turns out it is hard to find decent touring tires at LBS's for 26x1.5".






This was probably my favorite place on the Oregon Coast.  These Sand Dunes were amazing, with forested groves strewn throughout them.





Another beautiful spot on the Oregon Coastal Hwy 101.






Heading home!





Just north of Mendocino.  What a beautiful spot.



We like this spot, Dung's posing now.



500 ft up, with water that color below us.  It was a great spot to stop and have lunch, 30 miles south of Fort Bragg.





Joe, then myself, crossing the Golden Gate.

Baker's challenge:  Sourdough bread in the shape of a Turtle, like these in SF.

Well guys that's all I got.  It was quite an adventure. I feel strong, I met great people, spent lots of time with great friends.  And I saw so much more of this beautiful country than I had seen so far in this lifetime.  Now I am in the house I grew up in, gearing up to start the next great adventure: the working world.  And I am already looking forward to more bicycle adventuring in the future.

Washington Passes and Islands

I've made it to Jenn and Aaron's place in Seattle after 3002.6 miles of riding.

Going across WA on highway 20, I flew. My pace was 89, 79, 82, 85, 107, then 35 miles and I was on the coast. The elevation chart for those rides is below. I must admit, I felt a bit like Superman.



Washington has a fairly varied landscape. I went from a forest of cedars to what felt like high desert in the valley between wauconda and loup loup passes, to the snow capped mountains of the North Cascades, to the gorgeous coastal terrain of the northern Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands.


The more desert like area along the onakagon river.



Letting my rims cool as I come down from loup loup pass.



Just before the final switchback on my way up to Washington Pass (which finishes with 7 miles of a 7% grade)



Mt. Colonial in the North Cascades National Park.

I spent the fourth with a wonderful family in Anacortes. Mike (the man of the house) started chatting me up outside the local brewery; which has my new favorite beer of the trip - Bourbon Barrel Red. When he found out that I had no
plans for the evening of the fourth he invited me over to stay with he and his wife, Barbara, and have a wonderful meal and excellent conversation. It was great.



Reaching the coast in my 4th finery.

My other highlight was on the second day on Orcas Island I met two women who rode up to the top of Mt. Constitution at the same time I did. They invited me to explore the island with them and in the process managed to find ourselves sailing around the island with two retired gentlemen who happen to be going out when we were checking out the dock they were launching fun.



Taking the ferry to Orcas Island.



The view from the top of Mt. Constitution.

All in all, it's been a great ride so far. My solo portion of the journey is at an end and now I'm visiting friends and gearing up to do the coast with Liz, Dung, and Joe!

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Location:NE 68th St,Seattle,United States

On Glacier and NW Montana

As I write this my odometer reads 2348.2 miles and I am spending my last night in MT.

So the Great Plains were great. Impressive in their size, and I enjoyed watching the wind create waves of green in the prairie grass; but seeing those mountains rising from the horizon nearly brought tears to my eyes. That last ride to East Glacier Park was brutal: 7.5 hours in my saddle to go 70 miles with 15 mph head winds and a 1500 ft elevation change, but man was it worth it.



Leaving the plains for the mountains.


About 3 miles from East Glacier Park, MT

Two words can be used to describe Glacier National Park: breathtakingly beautiful. Do not miss this park. I spent one day on the east side, one traveling across it, and one on the west.

On the east side I biked into Two Medicine and hiked around. The Scenic Point hike is only 3.1 miles each way and you get to climb 2400 ft and the name does not lie. Pictures should tell it better than I could.



Biking into two medicine.



Running eagle falls, on the way into two medicine



View on the hike.



Snack at the top.



Mountain goat doing his thing

On the ride across I was forced to take the southern route on 2, the Going to the Sun Rd is still closed. It's gorgeous, but not as scenic as the other route.



Crossing the continental divide.

The west entrance was quite different, much more touristy and built up. But there was definitely a reason as the combination of gorgeous forests, lakes, and mountains make it pretty idyllic.



Bike path into the park.



What's up black bear.



McDonald lake from Apgar village (where I camped)



Riding what I could of the Going to the Sun Rd.



That's as far as I go. 17 miles from Apgar village, still ~13 miles to the pass.



It rained on me as I hiked to Avalanche lake, but it was worth it.

So this has gotten a bit long, but I will just say that North Western
MT is almost as beautiful as glacier. Mountains covered in cedar, hemlock, cottonwood, and some Douglas firs. Creeks, lakes, and rivers. I ride through valleys along these rivers with mountains on either side. It is amazing. I'm sad to leave but excited to continue the journey. One last pic and I'm out.


Enjoying my break along Lake Koocanusa in NW Montana.

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Location:Blue Jay Dr,Noxon,United States

The beer

Still going strong, 1835 miles down. Taking a day off in Havre, MT.

So it's time to post on what you've all been wondering about: the beer. As I've traveled through these states I've tried to stick to local beer. So here is what I recall.

In case you don't already know, Michigan has some fantastic beer. I tried to make sure Martin got to have some of the standouts, but I think all we were able to accomplish was some Oberon, two hearted (both Bell's), maybe some sky high rye from Arcadia, and then a couple of Jolly pumpkin's before we left. All fantastic, but I might be biased so you'll have to ask Martin for an objective opinion.

Of the other states, WI is the winner thus far. The sheer volume of Wisconsin beer on tap at the old fashioned is astounding. We had a pepper ale, which was delicious, tried something that had very distinct citrus flavors and had something like 50 beers on tap that I wish I could have tried. On U Wisconsin 's campus we had a great IPA called kiss the lips. And as we traveled we found other beers from craft brewers that were also very good. My favorite beer of the trip is still probably the home-brewed cream ale (a delicious balance of a golden ale and cream soda) that we had at a roadside grill.

Montana is proving to be a runner up now, not only for the quality of the beer, which I've found a few floral, bitter pales and IPA's, but also for the art on the packaging. I mean just look at this bottle:


And then this really flavorful IPA (reminded me of a hoppier two hearted) in a can!



Montana has serious potential and I'm only half way through it. Although I've run into the problem of buying sixers with only myself to get through them before my ride the next day. Guess I need to make more local friends.

One other state is worth mentioning: North Dakota. I would call it a Beer Desert. Most bars can't afford to keep any beer on tap and pretty much all you find are your standard domestics, great when your parched, but not exactly craft beer. Sadly, I could not find any beer from North Dakota. However, stopping in the bars in each town we stayed was always a good time.

I'll leave you with a few pictures I have on this phone since I last posted:



My first flat of the trip at 1500 miles. a good one.



Big sky country



In the distance you can see the flooding.

That's all I got. It's hard to capture the sense of immensity out here. These truly are the great plains. You'll just have to come see for yourselves.

Looking forward to mountains!

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Location:4th Ave,Havre,United States

A day in the life...

Officially flying solo now. Martin caught the bus in Minot after 1382 miles. It was great having Martin here, . We'll see how the long road alone goes. 1440 down, about that much left to Seattle.

So let me take you through a day on the road: I wake up between 8 and 9, start cleaning up camp and making breakfast. Oatmeal is the wonder breakfast. It's a vehicle for peanut butter, nutella, shredded coconut, and anything else that can add flavor. By 10-10:30, I'm on the road. Sometime in the first 20 miles or so, i stop for second breakfast. Eggs and whatnot. When Martin was around this generally involved a game of cribbage. Then I get back on the road and race the sun. We'll stop at least one more time to eat, either at a cafe/diner/bar or out of our panniers. At the end of a day we identify where the camp is and then head for the local bar. More cribbage ensues and some beers and food, then make camp and sleep. At the bars and cafe is generally our opportunity to meet the locals.

The days tend to run together, but we have our list of great cafes and diners: there's the Hob nob in Niles, MI; JJ's cafe in Elroy,WI; charlie's cafe in Freeport, MN; the shack, in Fargo, ND; and the Farm House Cafe in Leeds, ND. I might be missing one, Martin will have to correct the list. The healthiest food I've had, though, tends to come from Subway when I can find it, which has been shocking for me.

Some pics off the phone:



A wall in Fargo, done by an artist from Minneapolis.


One of my best outfits. You fit right in when you walk into a bar here with cut-off sleeves.


The one time after Fargo we found draft beer (and fat tire at that). Of course the cards.



This is the manager's office at the Hillcrest Motel in Minot, ND.

Anyway, I've got to inquire about why my second breakfast has taken 50 minutes to arrive.


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Location:1st St SE,Stanley,United States