Day 7 - Thompson Falls MT to Missoula MT, 106 miles, 3520' cumulative climbing

No map for today, just the elevation profile. Another route relatively moderate in difficulty, with a couple of medium climbs but mostly just going slightly uphill all day.  We ended the day in Missoula which is about 500' higher in elevation than Thompson Falls.  
We started out the morning with fog still hovering close overhead, blanketing the hilltops until the sun burned it all off.  Chilly air too, but the forecast had it warming up to the low 80's and little chance of rain today.

Fog touching the hilltops leaving Thompson Falls

This day marks the end of our first full week on the Northern Transcontinental.  It feels like the daily routines are becoming more automatic:  breakfast in the parking lot, eat fast, pack and load your gear bag (and my laptop case) into the yellow motel trailer, check tire pressure, fill water bottles, put on cycling clothing,choose supplies or extra clothing you think might be smart to stuff in a pocket, and go. At the end of the day, wash bikes, haul gear bag to room, decide where to have dinner that's within an easy walk of the night's lodging, lay out tomorrow's bike clothing based on the weather forecast, check bike over for any visible problems that need to be addressed, try to put some thoughts from the day into words on the blog, and collapse so the next morning doesn't come too early.
And if that's not enough, today I heard some unwelcome noises on my bike and when I checked with the mechanic at the end of the day, my bottom bracket was the culprit and it was not salvageable.  How fortunate that our motel was barely a block from a full service bike shop!  And, they had a replacement part that worked for my bike too!  So a potential serious problem was solved within an hour before dinner.  All thanks to Lon and John, our mechanical masters, and their willingness to jump right in and help solve the issue.
The crew overall has been remarkable this week.  PAC Tour has a repeatable system for how to run each day, and it keeps everything going smoothly.  Rest stops are well-stocked, crew members are eager to help (and even brighten up roadside stops with fresh flowers). 
They are the folks we depend on, and they come through every time, and cheer us on as well. My friend Michelle Williams is crewing for the first time this year.  She's previously ridden the route in 2010 so she knows what challenges we face on a daily basis, and always brings her cheerful attitude to buoy your spirits too.

Stats for Week 1

702.3 miles ridden
32,620' total climbing
1 Shifter cable replaced
1 Bottom bracket replaced
2 massages

Day 6 - Sandpoint ID to Thompson Falls MT, 87 miles, 2400’ cumulative climbing

This morning held out a threat of rain –  I carried my rain jacket just in case…but in travel mode, you don’t have to spend too much time deciding what to carry since there’s only one of anything in the gear bag that you might need for a particular condition.  Fortunately we were spared the rainfall though it looked like it might pour a couple of times on the ride. 

Today’s route, like yesterday, had much less climbing, with no major passes to get over, just some rolling risers and long flatter stretches.  So our small group, which grew to 7 riders this morning, set out at a good clip almost right from the motel parking lot.  And it was by far the fastest average speed so far on the trip, because in addition to an easier route we had our first good tailwind of the journey. A good tailwind can't be understated for the way it lifts riders' spirits! And, we enjoyed spectacular scenery along the way, causing us to stop for photos several times.

A bad thing happened today that always is a risk in group cycling: one of our bunch crashed, hitting the pavement pretty hard and looking pretty banged up.  Amy wanted to continue pedaling but wiser heads prevailed and she went to a regional medical facility to get looked at.  As it turned out she had a concussion and minor facial fracture.  All will heal but she will need to take a day or two off from riding and sit in one of the support vans until it’s clear she’s ok to continue biking.  I was very glad to see that she wasn’t hurt any worse, and of course would rather it hadn’t happened at all.  We'll report back on Amy when we know more.

Our remaining riders continued on though, and after picking up a couple of other riders along the route we were up to 7 or 8 strong for the final 35 miles.  And the tailwind increased, and we flew!  Averaging well over 20 mph for the final 25 miles, it was hard work but oh so much fun to fly so fast!

Our group Mark, Cliff, myself, Amy, Gerry, led by Jonathan

 And, we crossed into Montana, the third of twelve states that we will ride through. Having cycled in Montana in previous years, I know we're in for a treat with beautiful mountain and high plains vistas over the next several days.

Rest stop photo opportunity this afternoon.  Representing members of the Northern Transcontinental tour from about 7 states and China

Day 5 - Spokane WA to Sandpoint ID, 84 miles, 2700' cumulative climbing

 Finally we have a day which involves no big climbs!  Purposely built into the schedule as one of two "recovery ride" days, this route promised to be less demanding on our legs than so far this week.  And it was a very enjoyable day.  Other than our group member Cliff's multiple flat tires.  Every cyclist has a day like this once in a great while.  You get a flat, and it's not a big deal to change it and continue riding.  But then the same tire goes flat a few miles down the road, and you can't figure out why.  No obvious puncture or stab wounds in the tire surface.  Before you know it the darn tire has gone flat 5 times, and you've killed more than an hour fiddling around with it.
This was Cliff's day, but in spite of it the day was fun, and otherwise pretty uneventful.
We left Washington and entered Idaho this morning, which is notable for a couple of reasons.  First, it has taken our whole group more than 4 days to cycle across the state of Washington, even though we average more than 100 miles per day.  That's one big state!  Second, my long-range goal to ride my bike in all 50 states progressed, with Idaho becoming the 32nd state I've cycled in.


Arriving in Sandpoint in mid-afternoon, I had time to do laundry, a necessary chore every few days.  And after dinner, Michelle, Mark and I walked downtown to what is named in at least one survey as the most popular ice cream shop in Idaho - Panhandle Cone & Coffee Shop.  It was delicious and unique ice cream; so good we had to return for a second scoop after walking around!

SOA - When looking around for the ice cream shop, we asked a local couple for assistance.  Well, they walked us over to Panhandle, went inside and ordered ice cream too!  Then they walked us out to the popular beach in downtown Sandpoint, where a replica of the Statue of Liberty sits, just offshore. They couldn't have been nicer, telling us the history of Sandpoint and surrounding area places.  Great ambassadors for the local community, and all because we asked for help finding the ice cream parlor! (the wife allowed as how she had just made some ice cream at home but it hadn't set up yet, so they were more than happy to help in our quest)

Day 4 - Coulee Dam WA to Spokane WA, 90 miles, 3500' cumulative climbing

No route map or profile for today; I forgot to snap a photo when I had the chance.  But we knew in advance that there would be a 10 mile long climb right out of the hotel parking lot, gaining about 2000' elevation without any easy warm-up miles.  The really good news is that I had signed up for a half hour session with our traveling massage therapist Barb for last night, figuring that after 3 days my legs would be hurting, and was I ever right!  She did her thing, and I felt much, much better this morning. Getting the lactic acid build-up out of your legs is the only way to reduce the soreness from tired, overworked muscles. And, after a disappointing dinner in town last night, the usual PAC Tour breakfast made everything right in the nutrition department!

Another busy parking lot breakfast 

I rode again with our little group that has been coalescing for a couple of days, including Cliff, Gerry, Amy and sometimes Ed and Mark. One of the most important strategies for a trip of this length is finding others with whom you get along, and who ride approximately the same pace.  To ride 3600 miles in a month on your own is way, way more difficult than riding in a pack of 3-6 cyclists.  You get a lot of shelter from the winds this way, and the physics of drafting, or following very closely behind the rider in front of you, is that you can expend about 30% less energy to go the same speed.  So we ride in a "paceline" and have a regular rotation through so that everyone gets a little time up front doing the hard work, and a lot more time riding in the pack conserving energy.

Amy, Cliff and Gerry in a display of team strength!

Going up long hills in a pack is different in that you don't really get the break from wind resistance, but it's still more motivating to keep pedaling upward when the pack is together. So like the previous days' climbs, we stuck together on this early climb and once it was over, the rest of the day was a much easier, more level terrain. We climbed up onto a plain rich with hay, alfalfa and other grasses known as the Columbia Plateau.  It's basically sitting on one of the world's largest deposits of lava, and over the past several million years it has become very fertile soil. More could be done agriculturally but for the desert-like lack of precipitation.  It's still quite spectacular to experience.


Rolling into Spokane was a kind of culture shock; we had been in small towns and rural countryside for the past 3 days or so, but it was a chance to get a good Italian dinner at Luigi's, a classic red-check tablecloth family-owned pasta house.  What a treat after the previous night's disaster of a restaurant in Coulee Dam.  Let's face it, we need to eat and eat well on this trip.  I'm burning an average of 5000 calories per day on our journey and energy spent has to be replaced with fresh fuel!  Mission accomplished tonight.

Day 3 - Winthrop WA to Coulee Dam WA, 98 miles, 6500' cumulative climbing

 After yesterday's long, rainy, windy, cold climb I was glad that today would have just one mountain to climb and half the elevation gain than yesterday, a total of 4000'.
But NO!  As you can see the route was updated due to road construction, and we now had two big climbs in front of us.  And lunch was at the top of the second pass, so no negotiating out of it!  Climb or go hungry.
My legs were definitely feeling the previous two days' 225 miles as we set out from Winthrop, but there was a 10 mile mostly downhill stretch before we reached the first ascent to warm up.    

Our little group of five riders was glad to have a chance to loosen up before the hard pedaling started.  On the climbing portions we stayed together and rode conservatively to get to the top.  It worked very well, as the motivation of a group nearly always spurs you on to greater heights (sorry!).  And the downhill runs, especially after reaching the first summit, were so much more fun than yesterday!  No wet roads, little wind and light traffic gave us the opportunity to fly downhill at 30-40 mph.  Sweet!

The lunch trailer was a welcome sight at the top of our final big climb for the day.  As usual, Susan and crew prepared a roadside feast, which today included grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches, chicken salad, fresh fruit and vegetables, and caramel brownie bars.  And we had earned it too.  Pushing gears up hills burns a lot of calories.  The good news after lunch?  No rain in sight and a relatively easy final stretch home.  

More pictures from another scenic day:

Day 2 - Sedro-Wooley WA to Winthrop WA, 128 miles, 8000' cumulative climbing

Here's the route we followed today:

Another cool morning, but no fog now that we're a little inland from Puget Sound.  Breakfast was served in the motel parking lot at 6:00am, a common solution for PAC Tour to make sure their riders are well-fed and riding on schedule.  Oatmeal, bagels with cream cheese, cereal, fresh fruit, coffee, nobody got away hungry.
The first 55 miles went extremely fast, as I got in with a strong group of riders and we pacelined at 18-20mph. That was fun!  Then came the start of climbing and the group quickly broke up.  Everyone has to ride their own pace on big climbs, unlike the flats where you can get away with redlining it for long stretches.  On the hills, if you exceed your limit, you don't last long before blowing up.  
And oh, what a climb it was!  About 40 miles worth, with a few downhill sections to get a break, and our lunch stop about halfway up.  It's hard to climb continuously for mile after mile when you've trained on 1/2 to 1 mile-long hills back in Wisconsin. Even though you get the same workout it's not the same as going at it for 3-4 hours in a row.  And of course being in the mountains means being vulnerable to fast changes in weather.  About 7 miles before the summit the skies opened up and, mostly riding alone at this point I slogged my way up the grade. Riding in the rain isn't always that bad, but today it kept getting colder and windier the higher I climbed.  One of the crew gave me a trash bag to wear under my jacket for the descent, because that's when you can really feel the cold (it dropped to the high 40's and the wind kicked up a lot). Normally I love descending - that's what makes suffering through the climbs worth it.  But today it was all about getting off the mountain to a warmer place.
All of us made it and were glad to get indoors to warm up.  A very tough but successful day in the saddle.
Beyond the bike particulars, the landscape views were just stunning.  A few shots from the day:

Diablo Lake

Rainy Pass - aptly named today

Lunch on PAC Tour is always a welcome stop

Day 1 - Everett WA to Sedro-Wooley WA, 97 miles, 6000' cumulative climbing

And we're off!

After months of training and anticipation, the ride finally is here.  Yesterday was a day of final preparations:  test riding the bike to make sure it's ready to roll, errands to pick up some supplies I still needed, group rider meeting with Lon and Susan in the afternoon followed by a buffet dinner, and early to bed. The vans were open all day for rider check-in and to pick up the tee shirts and jerseys everyone gets as part of the package.  

Today started early, with breakfast at 5:30 and roll-out at 6:00, because we had to catch the ferry to Whidbey Island at 7:00am. It was cool and a bit foggy, not unlike what one would expect for the Seattle area, but everyone was in a good mood, looking forward to putting some miles in on Day 1.  Whidbey Island is very pretty, with lots of up and down roads.  We wound our way mostly northward, with rest stops spaced about 25 miles, and lunch at mile 72.  PAC Tour has so much experience at running these bicycle expeditions that everything went flawlessly. And in spite of some scary numbers at the outset, with an advertised 6000' of cumulative climbing, the route was really pleasant and just difficult enough to get our legs in shape for tomorrow's tougher climbs.  We crossed Deception Pass late in the day, a reminder that just because we were riding near the water didn't make it a flat landscape.

A view from the bridge at Deception Pass

I rode with a couple of small groups over the course of the day, and met many of my fellow Everett-to-Boston travelers.  The cycling community is pretty tight, and there's always somebody who knows somebody else who you are connected to.  I met Bob and Sridhar, both of North Carolina, who both also know the two people I have previously ridden with on a visit to their state. Also met Elizabeth Wicks, who knows my very good friend Susan Reed.  They are both amazing women who continue to accomplish great feats by bike as they enter their 70's.  Small world, and a friendly one at that.

Deception Pass

Tomorrow we hit the big hills, with some serious climbing in the Cascade Mountains. 
This will be one of our big mountain days and I'm eager see how my hill training has prepared me.