It was supposed to be easy, a gentle 1%-ish grade for 42 miles. But we see snow on the hills ahead, and the headwind is unrelenting (except behind the sign for the state mental hospital).
We are paralleling the Milwaukee Road (again), so we stopped at this roadside museum for a bit of sight seeing.
59 miles, 861 miles total
Steve’s early-day flat was ‘fixed’ by replacing what looked like a perfectly good valve-core with a spare valve-core and his tyre still has plenty of air. Steve has had problems with his pump, it tends to extract the valve-core when he disconnects. Bob and I have recommended that he ditches the pump, but he perseveres (my pump was used for this morning’s successful inflation). We may have to take covert action solve this problem.
We had to do a bit of freeway riding today, but we survived. Between stints on the freeway we enjoyed nice frontage roads with little traffic (and surprisingly good 5G coverage 😀). Views from freeway and frontage were great.
We enjoyed horn-blowing and waves from passing bicycle -friendly motorists (and an Amazon truck).
As we started dinner last night we realized that food and refueling options today would be scarce, so the dinner plan of ham, cheese and salami on tortillas was restricted to just ham and cheese (on tortillas). That way our worst-case lunch today could be salami on tortillas. Luckily (?) we got some very expensive cheese and mustard at a gas station in Drummond, so our tortilla lunch was fairly tasty.
We arrived at our day’s destination thirsty, and aware that, due to adverse circumstances, we had not celebrated our state-line crossing in the manor established in this trip’s terms and conditions (Ts&Cs). So we stopped at the ‘Corner Bar’ (a self declared, 5 star dive bar) and enjoyed some Cold Smoke (a Montana special).
At the bar, camping and dinner recommendations were scarce, so dinner and tomorrow’s breakfast and lunch were procured at Safeway…
…where I took on guard duty.
Steve and Bob excelled themselves with the choice of dinner. We had bone-free pork ribs and butternut squash with avocado salad and pasta salad. As usual it was a collaborative effort. Steve set a great cooking fire. Bob cooked boneless ribs to perfection…
Colin made the butternut squash and Steve, as has become traditional, tossed the salad.
Our campsite is a little quirky. We thought we were going to a KOA. It turns out we’re at an A-OK, which is what you call your campsite after you lose your franchise for not being up to standard. That being said, the staff was very helpful and welcoming.
We will close with a picture of our campsite.
Out here, there are few options. Thankfully, most drivers pull out and stay well clear.
I found Bob and Steve on the road next to the airport late this afternoon. I had become concerned about their progress earlier in the day because they appeared to have stalled in Alberton. Upon closer examination of their real-time location updates in Google maps, I realized that they were suspiciously close to an establishment named, “Sportsman’s Tavern”. So, everything was normal, and if not, they were consoling themselves.
We resupplied at REI during a conveniently timed Anniversary Sale, then set up camp at KOA.
Next we dined lavishly at the Costco food court (2 mins on the opposite side of REI from the KOA) and discussed weighty matters related to health, wellness, risk management and proper hydration (improper hydration being a possible cause of unwelcome coagulation). With that done, we decided to head east tomorrow (rather than south or, worst case, home) and to get going early. Oh no, that was just Bob. He’s going to try and get some smaller wheels with bigger tyres fitted to his bike, so man and machine can move forward together over gravel in greater harmony. Steve and I will lounge around until we know what’s happening.
Stay tuned 😀.
18 miles on bike, 59 miles in ambulance.
A few nights ago I started to get some pain in my leg. Yesterday, I spoke to a nurse on the telephone and was advised to see a doctor or go to urgent care within 4 hours. We were concerned that I may have a blood clot. Hmmm… the nearest ER was in Superior, 61 miles away over a mountain pass, so one and a bit days of riding. We set off toward Superior on Sunday, and luckily/amazingly, we met a physician on the trail who said it looked like a superficial vein problem, and yes, I should have it checked out at the nearest ER (no need to press the SOS button on our satellite communicators).
So I got a jump start on the day, leaving St Regis before Steve and Bob so I could visit an ER in Superior and have my leg checked. The scenery was lovely and the roads were quiet.
I arrived in Superior, quickly found the hospital and met some wonderful people there. After some discussion and testing, it was decided that I should make my way to Missoula for further testing, in an ambulance with my leg raised.
The views on this part of the trip passed more quickly.
The good people at St Patrick’s confirmed that indeed I had a clot in a (large) superficial vein. They prescribed a blood thinner and sent me on my way (with a lot to think about).
I subsequentlu enjoyed a wonderful evening in Missoula with an old friend. I’ll meet up with Steve and Bob tomorrow and decide what to do next.
“that bumpy trail was worth it just to see a damn moose”, said Bob. Other things he said about the trail cannot be quoted.
51.7 miles today, 696 miles all together.
We did a lot of trail riding today; some of it good, some of it… rough. We did a couple of miles on the freeway, downhill at great speed, and we did a couple miles of frontage road (the grand scheme of things that was quite pleasant). We spent a lot of time riding alongside the St Regis River, wondering where it flows (and the answer is, the Pacific via several other rivers before joining the Columbia).
Alas, we have to report the first flat of the trip. It happened about 1 mile from the campground and Steve was the ‘unfortunate random dude who fell victim to one sharp rock after running over a bazillion others’.
We had the pleasure of meeting physician/vascular expert, with his traveling partner, on the trail just when we needed a physician/vascular expert.
We encountered snow in Idaho…
…but thankfully not in Montana. Montana did have a moose though, but it was too fast for a photo.
The trail (the route of the Olympian) was largely beautiful…
…and at times, suspect (this trestle had some holes in it where the ballast was falling through to below)
And finally, we lost an hour. We are looking forward to getting it back when we return 🙂
Steve is not shot.
