Start again - the continental divide trail

Picking up a team
Member at the kalispell airport. Start our ride on the us Canada border tomorrow. More updates and pictures later. Hoping to cover over 240 miles and get to Seeley lake.

Trip #1 comes to an end

Touring gives one a chance to decompress, and really think about things. Life gets very simple, eat, ride, sleep, repeat. We had almost a week of this wonderful existence and had been asking questions like, "have we had enough?" and "what would you rather be doing?". After Omak we started out to Riverside and beyond and stopped at the Omak Stampede fairgrounds to see the famous slope that ends at the river and where horses on the annual Omak Stampede race cross the river. Maybe you've seen pictures of the riders and their steeds driving down a steep slope and across a river. Looking at the slope, it looks impressive.

An image someone else shot of the Suicide race:
riders-participating-in-omak-stampede-suicide-race

 Well, what was also impressive was the bubble that had formed in Jennifer's front tire. It decided to go off like a firecracker when we reached the Stampede grounds, blowing out the tube and tire. Our progress for the day was halted since we'd need to go back a few mikes to a bike shop and work on the tire. Then my bike fell over and broke my mirror! We talked. Had we had enough riding? Yes, for now. Did Jennifer want to spend more time with her mom - yes. If we returned early we could meet her sister as she came back into town too. Another plan formed. We would return early, and ride locally, catch up with friends and family and avoid 300 more miles of narrow shoulders, long high passes and large RV's passing too close.
We had proved to ourselves that we could tour successfully together, and overcome long distances, low blood sugar, and harsh conditions. We had called the tour to an end earlier than the initial plan but only after proving that it was by choice and not through an obstacle that we couldn't overcome. Plans are made to be changed and re-made. We are planning for next summer already. Thanks for taking this journey with us.

Omak's Centennial and all class reunion

Or goal had been Riverside and to camp, but Omak called. We saw the preparation for a parade and got curious, but first,  Dinner. The Corner Bistro had good online reviews and did not disappoint. Great fresh local produce and meat, prepared well and served with charm and speed. We liked it so much we went back for breakfast!
After dinner a shootout and a parade of classic cars and graduates of Omak High School that had gathered for an all class reunion.

 Part of the shootout set that had something to do with stolen gold.

A bit of the combined farmer's market and Centennial celebration the next day,

Winthrop to Omak

Another day, another pass. This time though, things were different. Instead of starting in the rain we started in warm and dry conditions. Went only about 10 miles and had to stop at the Blue Star coffee roasting company in Twisp. Excellent coffee and the best coffee cake I've ever had. Made with some flour from locally grown Bluebird Grain farms, it was fresh from the oven and delish!

Only a 52 mile day but up over another pass and after yesterday, still takes a lot out of us. Our victory picture.

A question another rider has left.

And the final ride into town.

Rainy and Washington Pass

Rain or shine, we must climb. 30 miles of climbing to be more precise. A very difficult challenge for us both but one we embraced and conquered. Fueled with breakfast we headed out.

Up and up and we climbed into the sun. We climbed for hours and finally reached Rainy pass, the first of the day at around 4,800 feet.

Then a short downhill, and climbing again to Washington pass at 5,477 feet.

Ok, then what? 32 miles more of steep braking, and downhill cruising to Winthrop, WA.  We checked into a great little motel, ate a giant Mexican dinner and fell fast asleep in the Methow valley.

Colonial creek

We left Marblemount in a light drizzle in good shape after a solid night's rest. Almost immediately we started to climb and entered the Ross lake national recreation area, then the north cascades national park. Soon passing Newhalem and a few scary tunnels where bicyclists press a button to turn on yellow flashing lights to warn drivers. Kept climbing past gorge dam. Around lunch time we got to the turn to the North Cascades environmental learning center. Went down and over the Diablo dam which was spilling a huge amount of water.

At the center things seemed closed but were just quiet. We went to the dining hall and asked the cooks there if we could buy lunch. Sure they said they were not doing a hot lunch but we could get a sandwich for $5. After a great turkey sandwich on "homemade" artisan bread, cookies, chips, carrot sticks, tea, apples, coffee we were ready for the road. We also thanked the chefs and everybody we met. Good cycling fuel.
Logistics and rain dictated that we stay a few miles away at the colonial creek campground. Early end to a good day. After a dinner of freeze dried noodles and hot water (heated by our motorhome friends) we moved to a quieter campsite and went to sleep.

Morning drizzle and cold oatmeal and cold via coffee taken under cover of the rest room walkway roof. Off to conquer Washington pass.

Marblemount, WA is the place

Good day of riding today. Started quite late, after chatting with some folks that started the northern tier in May (traveling east - west) and had just one short 25 mile day left. Needless to say they were in high spirits.

We traveled east along the Skagit river today. A beautiful full fast moving river that follows a gently rolling valley. Bird song commonly heard today was the ascending scale of the Swainson's thrush. Did a solid 50 miles and are now officially off our planned schedule. My original plan was too aggressive and I really want to enjoy our ride, and not turn it into Olympic training. Off to bed at the Buffalo Rum Inn.

Seattle to Sedro-Woolley

Long day today. Don't know how it ended up being 90 miles but it was. Totally cooked from the ride and excitement of starting out. Keeping the post short tonight. Going east to diablo lake tomorrow.

First 1/2 mile - A Shakedown Ride

Yesterday I reached the point where I was tired of trying to figure out which jersey was better, whether to take 8 cliff bars or 12, or whether I really need to bring a 15mm pedal wrench. So I just dumped everything into the panniers ("bread bags") and rode from home up our 1/2 mile hill to a local park and went around the park, and over the speed bumps to see how the bike handled fully loaded.

I made it, but found out that (a) I'm still carrying too much weight and (b) I need to anchor the panniers better on their lower end so they don't come away from the rack.  Overall the bike felt good. I put very heavy rims and solid tires on so the bike feels solid and handles fairly well.
After I got home again I weighed everything. Bike is 26 lbs. Not bad with racks, fenders, and touring tires. The panniers and tent all together weighed 43 lbs! Too much. So, again I'll be trying to predict the future and weighing (literally) the benefit of having too much or too little of something "just in case". I heard recently that we "pack our fears" so I'll be confronting  the naked position of travelling without a full tool kit, lots of extra food or multiple little stashes of toilet paper. Already this morning I found unnecessary duplicates of items, so chucked out the odd one. Want to get down to 35 lbs max.  Part of my problem packing is that I'm used to the back-country preparation of the continental divide trail where you might be 50 miles from any kind of service and unless you are racing, you really need to pack more stuff. Two years ago, friends and I met up with some horrible sticky mud that coated everything with 4" of gloppy abrasive sand and pebbles and ruined chains and derailleurs in less than a 100 yards of riding. We know better this time not to ride through those conditions, but after an angel rescued us (thank you again Walter from Elkford, B.C.), Tom, our mechanic, spent the evening and into the night turning 3 ruined bikes into 2 fully functional and 1 that was good enough to go on a parts run the next day. The point is that we were well prepared mechanically and it saved our trip.
This trip won't be in the back-country but will be along the North Cascades, Highway 20. If we pack less food, we will resupply more often. Normally I eat lots of organic fruits, vegetables and range free chicken eggs.I know what awaits us in small roadside gas stations and convenience stores are shriveled jo-jo's, over cooked hot dogs, soda and potato chips. We will make our best selections and try to visit local farmer's markets, but the diet is not something that is under control when cycle touring. It is compounded by a ravenous appetite that craves any kind of calorie and NOW!
So the real story here is that cycle touring is about confronting a greater lack of control than we perceive we normally have. If you embrace the truth that one has very little control except in how we confront an issue, then you can experience a great deal of freedom. If you fail at this task, then you are having "an Adventure"!

Blue Beauty is Ready

“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.” - G.K. Chesterton

The thought of riding over 650 miles in 2 weeks (Seattle, WA to Whitefish, MT) is daunting, exciting and holds lots of anticipation. I hope the adventure lies in seeing new things and meeting new people and any inconvenience has to do with something other than equipment failure. I built my touring bike, the Blue Beauty, at a UBI class in Portland in April of 2010. I've since added racks for panniers and also built the bike my daughter will ride. Given that almost everything on these bikes has been made, assembled (credit also to Bainbridge Island Cycle, www.b-i-cycle.com), and inspected by me means that any equipment failure will also point directly to something I've done or failed to do. I'm also hoping that means that I can fix any issue that arises. The 3 pounds of tools and extra parts that I'll be lugging up the many passes we will climb provides a perverse comfort. I certainly hope I never have to open that tool kit and curse its wasted weight at the end of the trip rather than use it often and be glad I brought it. Regardless, we are at 11 days and counting before starting the adventure and I think the Blue Beauty is ready. Note the new handlebar bag that had its maiden voyage this morning in the thick fog of my morning commute from Bainbridge Island to Seattle.

Packing and re-packing

Trial packing of all essentials is a good way to get down to the bare essentials. I've kept gear lists from past trips, and use those but every trip is different. Crossing northern Washington state in summer is going to be both warm and alternately cold at night, so I'll include the down jacket (small warm and weighs less than a pound). We will be following a highway so I assume we can find water that is drinkable and so I'll leave the water filter behind. Will use that on the Continental Divide trip later in the summer. Anyway, there is always the trip to the post office on day 3 when you figure out how silly it was to bring X item and are more than willing to ship it back. Love those flat rate boxes!
Less than two weeks to launch now!

Preparation is endless

Preparing for two trips. The first is a father daughter trek from Seattle to Whitefish, MT following the Adventure cycling northern tier route (mostly). See http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/northerntier.cfm

The second is leg number two of the continental divide trail with my touring buddies. Two years ago we covered Banff, AB to the US border at Roosville, MT, so this year we start in Roosville.

Different trips, different gear. First trip is road bikes with panniers, the second is mountain bike with a trailer. Some gear will be used for both, stove, water pack, clothing, basic tools. Making sure both bikes are in great shape and we have critical spare parts. Will include more detail later.