Day 29: Onward to the Mississippi
I started from the Marina in Stillwater feeling very refreshed. The sun was coming up over the east bank of the St. Croix and the water was calm. I rode slowly through Stillwater, taking in the town in the morning light. I love the air in the early mornings, cool and still.
Day 23: Heat Dome
This week there was a high pressure dome of air that had settled high above The Heartland, trapping warm air below and creating a massive heat wave across the plains states. I woke up at 4:30 in Hazelton in an effort to beat some of it. Lucky for me there was a low layer of clouds and fog that obscured the sun for the better part of the morning, allowing me several relatively cool decades before temperatures climbed into the nineties.
Day 18: Headwinds
I was planning on having a “short” day of only 60 miles this day. The road was flat and straight from Glasgow to Wolf Point. Unfortunately, strong and consistant headwinds turned the day into another long one.
Day 15: Rest day in Havre Montana
Warmshowers.org is a website designed to allow people (usually bicyclists not on tour) to connect to touring cyclists and allow them a spot to stay for the night. I found John Paul Schmidt on there and he was gracious enough to let me stay for two nights while I took a bona fide no-cycling-at-all rest day in Havre MT.
Day 10: Paradise in Whitefish
The day started smoothly from Peck Gulch. I slept in and sat by the water, taking in the breeze and some instant coffee, proud from my last century. I was eventually on the road and things moved smoothly to Eureka where I met Olivia and Eric of Riding Wild. These two are on a worldwide tour, bikepacker style, and had just gotten started on the Great Divide trail when I met them in the parking lot of Stein’s. We shared lunch sitting on the curb watching our precious bicycles and chatted about the tours we were on, how we were blogging and documenting things.
Day 7: Idaho Bound
Starting from the bike hostel near Colville, Amy and I made our way up and down the hills towards Ione. We were mostly rolling through national forest land, and the hills were more or less deserted, giving us some good conversation oppourtunity on the bike. We stopped at a pond for lunch where I ate a triple-decker sardine sandwich. It was salty fishy deliciousness. The pond was still and reminded me of what I imagined Walden Pond to be like. I thought I might have seen a beaver lodge by one corner.
Day 4: Okanogan County is Very Friendly
Descending on a bicycle is some great fun. If you lean forward far enough, you can’t really see your front wheel, so all you get is the road and the wind on your face. At 40 miles and hour it’s quite exhillerating. My bicycle developes a slight wobble when the bags are unballanced though, which can be pretty terrifying at high speeds. The descent from Lone Fir Campground was wobble free, and I was really flying down that hill.
A Trans America Bike Tour has always been a dream of mine. It’s only been a question of when, as a tour that can reach lengths of 4000 miles takes a while. Hearing my dad mention one of his old partners making the trip was my first inspiration. The fact that that partner accomplished the trip on a bike identical to the one hanging in front of my dad and I while he described the journey also helped. Slowly over the last few months the idea became a reality. When I recieved my nod from UW, and some encouragement from my boss I starting gearing up.
Andrew Bondesson 