Transamericaride 2023

On the road at 7 again. I love riding in the early morning. I’d like to say peaceful and quiet but not with all the commuter traffic. Had a bike path for a short distance and then it immediately went on the highway with a great shoulder except for the bridge in the first 100 feet. Forced right onto the highway. I wasn’t quite ready for that. But the shoulder was great except for 6.4 miles near the end of my day’s ride. It totally disappeared and the road became somewhat hilly and very narrow. Only 4-6 inches of gravel on the edge, and then it dropped off into oblivion. I knew this was coming but wasn’t prepared for the two tanker trucks with trailers and the dump truck with a trailer all within the first half mile. I tho’t I was doomed. Absolutely no way to get off the road. As soon as the shoulder disappeared, there was a sign showing bicycles on the road and SHARE THE ROAD. The traffic was basically good, but it was hairy. Hope that’s the worst I have to deal with. And because we were following the river, there were stretches of road with guard rails. I HATE GUARD RAILS. I always feel like I’m going to get sandwiched, and I think I’d rather be pushed off the road.

No noxious weeds today but I did see a pretty patch of purple lupine. And another purple flower whose common name has eluded me. I know the Latin name and will have to look it up. How weird is that! However, I saw nothing but the road those 6 miles and looked in my rear view mirror constantly. There could have been bears or whatever and i’m sure I wouldn’t have noticed. I just put it high gear and pedaled like a maniac to get done with that stretch as soon as possible. My legs were complaining and I hope I won’t feel worse for wear tomorrow. I don’t ride like that unless I have to. Not my style, but I felt like that was survival.

Camping tonite at the base of Lost Trail Pass. I need to rest for the 12 mile up first thing in the morning.

Got on the road soon after 7. Very low clouds, mostly fog, but looked like it should pour the first couple hours. Fortunately, the sun came out and burned it off. So, no rain today. However, we did have a good storm last night and the bike path had 5 separate lakes that I had to go through, anywhere from 1/2 inch to two inches deep and up to 15 ft long. All but 10 miles of the bike path was nice and smooth, but those 10 miles had hundreds of expansion cracks, and my butt really got a beating. It was so nice to not have to ride the highway because there was LOTS of commuter traffic. It was a 4 lane road all the way to Hamilton, and the bike path parallelled it all the way. Yeah!

I really have to watch the road so can’t be gawking off very far for very long. Consequently, my major focus was on the vegetation along the bike path.

More leafy spurge and the deadly Nightshade plant. And I’m pretty sure I saw Dalmation toadflax, a close relative of the common toadflax known as butter and eggs. Some of the worst weeds have the most beautiful flowers, which may be one reason why they take over since people often don’t try to control them. I really enjoy identifying the flowers and weeds I see. I’d say Montana has a rather extensive noxious weed problem. There was a fairly big sign along the path that said something to the effect of “help us control noxious weeds!” I just laughed to myself.

Well, the long awaited day finally got here. My friend, Char, drove me to Missoula, MT, where I started at Adventure Cycling’s office. Only rode 14 miles today to Lolo, Mt as a warm up ride. After the drive, not much time to go any further. So we have ordered pizza and plan to party tonite before I start the ride in earnest tomorrow.

The ride from Missoula to Lolo was a bike path all the way and a glorious bike path at that. Teton Valley should take lessons from the bike path people up here. The path was smooth all the way, unlike the awful bike path in Driggs. The two things that I noticed the most were all the bloomed western salsify that had already gone to seed and the copious amounts of leafy spurge along the bike parh. The spurge is a noxious weed and the salsify is an obnoxious weed. Their heads are 5-7 times the size of dandelions. When they all go to seed in Teton Valley and the wind is blowing, it looks like it is snowing. DISGUSTING. Very hard to eradicate. Before I left home, I noticed the salsify coming up and starting to head, so I pulled all I saw. Then I hired a landscaper to come three times this summer to pull weeds. Anal I am.

Good start to what I hope to be a good ride across America. I just want everyone to know that I will tell it like it is. I will try not to complain, but I will not sugar coat anything. Doesn’t mean I’m not having fun. I know there will be challenges, but my positive attitude will get me thru even tho I may not be 100% happy at the time. That’s all for today.

I finally got my bike rack to accommodate my panniers, so I have been riding fully loaded to make sure all is well. But now I’m ready to go and my ride to Missoula has been delayed til next Monday. That will work, but I am really getting antsy. I have been prepared to leave since May 15th, but one thing after another just keeps getting in the way. And the weather is still the pits. Maybe there’s a reason for this, but my patience is getting thin. So I visited my 88 yr old friend in Twin Falls this weekend since I won’t be passing thru next weekend. We had a good time. I extended my work at ACE to four more days. Will ride in the morning and work afternoons. I have to keep busy or I’ll go bonkers.

U

I am a planner and never leave things til the last minute, but some things out of my control are messing with my carefully planned ride. First, the weather is totally, and unusually, unsettled. We’ve had some rather hairy thunderstorms with heavy rain and hail almost every day. I can’t see myself sitting in a tent every afternoon, fearing for my life.

But, the biggy is not having my front bike rack yet. I can’t ride without all four Panniers. The rack was ordered months ago but when installed, needed another part to accommodate panniers. It is finally supposed to arrive on the 30th and be installed on the 31st. I’m scheduled to work the next two days and leave the 3rd, not allowing any time to practice riding fully loaded. So it looks like I’ll be postponing my ride a week and starting further down the ride. Plan D.

When I found out the part wasn’t coming in a timely manner, I got my Surly Longhaul Trucker out and took it to the bike shop to have it checked out as a backup in case the part for the other one didn’t come. But, alas, there are 40 bikes scheduled in front of me. I can pay time and a half to get bumped up but the mechanic said I need a new chain and cassette. The cassette has to be ordered. Scheduled date of arrival, the 30th. I can’t win.

The moral to this story: I need patience and flexibility. My friend said this is an omen that I shouldn’t leave yet. Whatever.

I finally got to take my first ride on my new bike on April 26th, but only on the in town bike paths. That was fine. It was like learning to drive a new car with so many buttons to push. I was glad I didn’t have to deal with traffic, too. I’ve been out four times now and learning more each time and getting more comfortable with it. I’m really going to like the ‘assist’ on hills and in headwinds. Aiming for a June 3rd departure.

I can’t believe it. We are still getting snow almost every day, and our Temps are 15 to 20 degrees below normal. Usually, by now, the valley is turning brown and my driveway is almost bare. Not this year, so my departure date is still in limbo. Check out the snow, picture taken today.

My poor bike hasn’t been out of the garage since he came home. Resting up for the long awaited ride.

It is really hard to think about riding when we just keep getting more and more snow. I added up the total inches and you won’t believe it. 102 since Nov. 5th and the forecast shows snow for the next 6 days. I was hoping to leave mid – May but it might be mid – June. Campgrounds won’t be open for a long time. Oh, well, I’ll just have to continue to be super flexible.

Finally, after one year and three months, my new e-bike arrived, and I picked it up on Jan 20th. He’s a beauty. His name is Eby. Still waiting for the front rack.

Don’t know when I’ll get to ride. Just had 14 inches of snow. And more than two feet on the ground.