Author: Greg Pezoldt

It’s Monday. Time to get back to the grind stone.

I don’t know if my parents knew something I didn’t or not. They fed me the biggest breakfast I have had in a long time. Cereal, toast, grapefruit, eggs, sausage, juice! Wow.

We headed off to Ennis, the exact point I left off over a week ago. No cheating the cycling gods. The weather was nice too. Sunny and only the slightest wind. And I was off…. to continue the journey.

The first hour went by easily. Easy pedaling and I felt great being back on the bike saddle. But something was nagging at me in the back of my mind. What was it?

Shortly after a brief stop in Cameron I met these two cyclists. Jay and Stan. They were really happy cyclists! They were cruising going toward Ennis. Later I met two more cyclist and they were really happy too. Going toward Ennis. It finally hit me. They were enjoying a monster tailwind! The ever so slight wind I had noticed at the beginning of my ride had turned I to a howling gale and I was going the wrong way!!

So my day was going poorly but I had to concede the wind to those going the other direction after they described the awful winds they had encountered in Wyoming. It seemed only fair that I had to suffer for a day so they could recover a little bit.

My pace was down to about 7-8 mph in the headwind. By the time I was able to turn out of the wind, my legs were too fried to really enjoy it. Plus I had to climb up to Earthquake Lake. Ouch.

Earthquake Lake is an interesting story. Tragic but interesting. In 1959, there was a huge earthquake that brought an entire mountain side down across the Madison River and a campground. Around 28 or so people died in the event, but the resulting lake that was formed due to the damming of the river still exists today.

Luckily, the campground was now only 4 miles away and it was mostly downhill. Thank goodness. I considered riding a few more miles to a small resort on the lake for some dinner but opted for coking on the camp stove instead. The end to my day came quickly after that. I was certainly hoping for a better day tomorrow.

After arriving in Ennis, my parents picked me up and drove me to Bozeman. YES, drove me. It is off route soit doesn’t count as a foul!

During my week off the bike I attended Randi, my niece’s 27th birthday, played some golf with my father and generally enjoyed myself and gained a few pounds back which I had lost over the past month.

We all got together on a few occasions had had a good time.

Here are a few stats for you at this point in time:

Total Miles: 1480

Highest point: 7400

Crossed Continental Divide: 3

National Parks: 3

State Parks: 5

Number of States: 3

Number of flat tires: ZERO!

I was up and on the road a little early today. I was supposed to be in the town of Ennis by 1:00 and it was 44 miles and a decent climb (again).

The sun was out although it sprinkled a little bit early this morning. Life on the road makes you just deal with the variability of the weather. So off I went. A gradual climb to Virginia City and then a more serious gradient for 5 miles to the summit of the climb.

I don’t know what it was about this section of the route but there were a lot of cyclists on the road today. Meeting touring cyclists is pretty funny. We just stop on the side of the road and start talking to each other. The questions are always the same. Where are you from, where did you start, and where are you going. First I talked to this guy Stewart from Australia. He said I could expect to see a lot of others today. Next I met Lynn and Jenny from Michigan. When I told them I was going to be going through Michigan later, they said I could sleep on their floor and they would make breakfast for me in the morning. That sounded pretty good so I gave them my contact information so I can possibly coordinate with them later if they are home by then. I really hope I hear from them.

Then in Virginia City, I met more cyclists. 2 from The Netherlands and 2 more from Missouri. They were all going in the other direction, but there were supposed to a lot of others just ahead going in my direction.

Speaking of Virginia City, it is another old mining town from Montana’s gold rush past. Unlike Bannack, Virginia City and nearby Nevada City are developed for tourists with lots of tourist shops and attractions. I only stopped to briefly talk to those cyclists I saw there. I still needed to get over the big hill and get to Ennis.

The steeper part of today’s climb started right after Virginia City, but it was no worse that the other recent climbs. The top came in under an hour.

Even though there wasn’t any sign to designate the top of the climb, there was the favorite sign that cyclists love to see!

The view was really nice from the top. There were several mountain ranges to see on both sides of the valley along with the Madison River.

I would make Ennis by 1:00 easily now. Flying down the downhill to Ennis was fast and effortless. I ended up at the Hwy intersection in town and bought some drinks. By the time I got out of the store, a familiar pickup truck was there. My Parents. They had driven the 50 miles from Bozeman to meet me and drive me back to their house.

I am now officially “off the bike” for a week now. A vacation within a vacation as I like to say. I will be enjoying my nieces birthday, playing some golf, visiting with my brothers, but mostly eating my mother’s (and father’s) home cooking.

So take a rest from the blog along with me but I will be back on the road before long. Still lots of adventure to come. National Parks, BIG mountains in Colorado, the Great Plains, and more.

This part of Montana is defined by broad valleys and the rivers that flow through them. Unfortunately there are passes to ride over to go from one to the next. Today would be a good example of this geography lesson.

The sun was out this morning! Finally. Today’s ride would start off climbing right from the State Park. 4 miles up just to get to the highway, then the climb up to Badger Pass. Badger Pass would NOT be a new elevation standard today (for a change). It was actually pretty reasonable as far as climbs go. The Montana Highway Department must also think so since there isn’t even a sign at the top. This Pass represented the division from the Big Hole to the Beaverhead drainage.

I cruised over the top thanks to a tailwind and put it in the big chain ring and really raced down the back side. 10 miles just like that. Dillon was just a few more miles and I got there for an early lunch. Tailwinds are a GOOD thing.

After lunch, it was another 28 miles to Twin Bridges. But the tailwind continued so it ended up being a pretty easy ride there too averaging almost 15 mph. Not very impressive for a day ride but I felt pretty good about it with the full touring load.

In Twin Bridges, they have a town run Bike Camp! It is awesome. Free camping, free showers, a lounge to relax in with sofas. Electricity for charging electronics, a very nice set up just for touring cyclists. Every town should do this. They do accept donations which I gladly obliged.

If you look carefully, you can see the Beaverhead River flowing a mere 40 feet from the lounge building. What a prime location to camp.

Just as I was getting ready to go downtown to eat some dinner, Paul arrived. He put in a monster day, almost 80 miles taking advantage of the tailwind today. I waited around for him to get a shower then we both went to eat. Always better to have company when you can in my book.

Today was the first day I really missed being home. The local market here in Twin Bridges was selling fresh cherries from Wenatchee. I really do like cherry season.

Tomorrow it is over to the next valley. The Madison River, the town of Ennis, and a surprise!

Whew boy. The weather was not great this morning. Not bad enough to warrant a rest day, but bad enough to know that I was going to get wet.

The plan was to start a little late so I would get to the town of Jackson around lunch time. This worked out pretty well since it was only 18 miles and I arrived on the wet side just as I thought. There was a nice little restaurant so a hot meal was just what the doctor ordered. Fellow cyclist Paul was also there so we had lunch together. That might be it though. He had already decided to stay in Jackson for the night and I was probably going to be ahead of him from now on.

So after lunch I began the climb up to Big Hole Pass. Right on schedule, it started raining, luckily not very hard. Then something odd happened. Right as I reached to top of the climb, it stopped raining and the sun came out.

Big Hole Pass was now the new high point of elevation for the trip. It seems every new Pass was higher than the last. With Yellowstone and Colorado further down the road, I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

Now it was decision time….. Where to camp tonight. My choices were to put in a long day and ride to Dillon or to have a more reasonable ride and camp at Bannack State Park. The only thing was that Bannack SP was 4 miles off the route. This is where I needed to remind myself that this trip is about more than just riding. I also want to see the sights along the way- so Bannack SP it was!

The old town of Bannack was a town established in the early 1860’s after gold was discovered near by. Today, it is a true ghost town that is now obviously a State Park. There must be close to 100 old buildings of which most you can go inside of. It was really interesting.

You can really get a sense of what life there was like. And apparently it was pretty wild with nightly gun fights in the saloon and the streets.

The camping area was nice too. There was a bike/hike area and two other cyclists showed up. They were doing the Continental Divide Trail like a lot of others I have met.

So off to sleep I went. And guess what? Another Pass tomorrow awaits.

I just did not want to get up this morning. Did I mention that I enjoyed a few beers last night? That might have had something to do with that.

Eventually I did get up and was on the road around 9:30 which actually is pretty typical for me. Yesterday my brother Jim said that the weather called for afternoon thunder storms but the sun was out this morning.

The day started with some gentle flat and very gradual elevation for 18 miles to the “town” of Sula. There I had lunch with a fellow cyclist named Paul. He is pedaling a tricycle recumbent with a Bob Trailer. His rig is funky and cool looking all at the same time. After we had lunch I started the climb up to Chief Joseph Pass. Paul would be quite a bit behind me since his cycle wasn’t very fast.

The climb went pretty well today. No real issues as far as tired legs or excessive grades. I did take a planned break 3 miles from the top. Just to get off the bike and eat some more food and drink water. No sign of Paul even after 20 minutes. But there were lots of other cyclists….. all bombing down the road in the other direction. It was a big group of supported riders with a touring company I later found out. After my break, the summit came fairly quickly.

The Pass was a new high point for the trip at 7241 feet, but I was also surprised that I had crossed the continental divide for the 3rd time on this tour. And that I was also on the Montana-Idaho border again.

For once the weatherman was correct. Right at the summit, the thunder started with some gentle rain too. I was going to wait and see if Paul was going to eventually show up but with the weather, I decided not to wait. The descent was disappointing. The climb from the Bitterroot side was steeper than the other side. I was only able to coast for a mile or two before I had to start pedaling. The pedaling was easy since the gradient was still downhill so the miles ticked off pretty fast.

About 10 miles from the town of Wisdom, MT I came to the Big Hole National Battlefield site so I pulled in to see it. After visiting the Visitor Center I pedaled out to the battlefield site to see the area up close. Right as I got to the parking lot the skies let loose with rain. I did find a “nice” dry and warm refuge.

It even had a nice seat to sit down on while I waited the thundercell out!

Once the rain stopped, I decided to forgo the hiking and set out for Wisdom and a motel room since I figured the rain was not over for the evening. That turned out to be a good decision since it has started raining again for the third or fourth time since I arrived in town.

Tomorrow is calling for a 70% chance of continued rain showers. I guess it will be another interesting day.

The Bandit Brewery in Darby calls itself the smallest brewery in Montana. That is saying something.

The bobbleduck (their spelling, not mine) is a pretty dang good beer. I am thinking the climb up Chief Joseph Pass might not go as originally planned.

Great news! When I was repacking with my new front panniers, I found out they are bigger than my old ones. I can take even MORE, heavier stuff with me now! (By the way, I actually did weigh my bike in Whitefish. 82 pounds minimum, sometimes more depending on how much food and extra water I am carrying in any given day).

My stay with the Drapes was so great. They live at the top of a hill so while the end of yesterday was tough, the beginning of today was easy.

I was going to be heading south into the Bitterroot Valley today. It is another beautiful Montana valley with an added bonus. From Missoula to Hamilton, there is a 44 mile bike path!! It is named the Bitterroot Trail and it is awesome. And it is fairly flat terrain and a bit of a tailwind to boot.

I made a short detour today into the old town is Stevensville for lunch today. It was at a really nice sidewalk bistro. Well worth the extra mile off the route for today.

After lunch, the scenery got even better. You could start to see the mountains to the west that were in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area. There were a few snow capped peaks as a part of these mountains. I was reminded of a nice backpacking trip I took there many years ago.

Once in Hamilton, I stopped for some groceries and decided I would press on to Darby, MT. It was only 16 more miles and would set me up a little better for some serious climbs due up tomorrow.

So now I am sitting in my camp, looking at a cloudless sky, thinking of the shower I am going to take in about 5 minutes, and then the dinner and beer I am going to enjoy after that. Oh yeah. I will be thinking about Chief Joseph Pass too which awaits tomorrow morning. Something for all of us to anticipate for tomorrow.

The wind from the previous night had died down over night. Or so I thought…..

I wanted to try to get to Missoula at an early hour today for several reasons. I wanted to have lunch with Tom Crawford who I had been rafting with in the Grand Canyon for 3 weeks earlier this April and May. I also wanted to visit the Adventure Cycling headquarters.

Heading south for the last 7 miles of Hwy 83, there was an ever so slight headwind to foreshadow a possible long, hard ride today. And after those 7 miles and turning west on Hwy 200, that headwind turned into a mighty reality.

The road followed the Blackfoot River, but it was hard to enjoy the scenery with the effort it took to carve though the wind. There was some reprieve in parts of the lower canyon and I did get to sit up a bit to see the views a little. Eventually, I did make it to Missoula, just not quite as early as I had hoped.

I met Tom for lunch at 1:45 and we had a great time revisiting our recent Grand Canyon adventure. He wanted to know all about the bike trip and I wanted to hear all about his upcoming trip to Ireland. A great lunch!

Then on to Adventure Cycling. There they gave me a tour and posted my photo on their wall of cyclists on tour in 2018. I think you can see the photos on their website. I also needed to get some things there too. My 32 year old panniers (bike bags) finally gave up the ghost a few days ago so I bought some new ones here. I also reviewed some routes I plan to follow in Wyoming and Colorado with them. Good information from people at a good organization.

Finally at nearly 5:00 I began the final part of the day which was to ride through town to my friends Greg and Debi Drapes house where I would be sleeping in a real bed! Greg was one of my college roommates so it is always good to see them. We all went out to dinner, made some modifications to my new panniers, and generally stayed up too late trying to catch up with our goings-on.

Missoula is the home of “that other university”, but I still had a fun time today. Seems that I forgot all about the #$@% wind from this morning.

The thing about the TOSRV is that it wasn’t all about the Swan River. It also was about Seeley Lake which is further south but on the same route (Hwy 83). Today I would see the Seeley Lake part of TOSRV.

The weather was nice when I woke up. I really hope this going to be a trend. I was on the road just before 9:00 (which is my “not very rigid” goal each day).

The scenery continued to be great. The Swan Mountain range was to the east and the snow capped Mission Mountains were to the west. I stopped in Condon for lunch. I don’t what it was about Condon, but a lot of cyclists stopped there for food about the same time as me. No one was quite on the same route as I was, but it was still interesting to talk to everyone about their route and individual stories. Lunch turned out to last 2 hours today.

The terrain definitely turned more rolling hills in nature in the afternoon. I arrived in the town of Seeley Lake around 4:00 and bought some Lemonade and took a little break before riding the last 7 miles to Salmon Lake State Park.

The Park was really nice, but the wind had really picked up in the late afternoon. The park had a separate bike camping area which was really set up nice. It had 8 constructed tent pads (perfectly level and smooth), electrical outlets at the covered picnic tables, and even a Park Tools bike mechanic stand in case you needed to work on your bicycle. Nicely done Montana Parks Department!

The park also had showers in the main camping area so I took advantage of that amenity as well. Then between the wind and mosquitos, I ended up in the tent around 8:30.

With only 7 miles of the TOSRV route left for the next morning I felt comfortable in concluding that it was a great decision to ride the Swan River and Seeley Lake Valley. My personal TOSRV was a joy to experience.