Holy Toledo!

We are actually 105 miles further along, as Glenn just reported his miles since mid-August. That puts us southwest of Toledo, Ohio.

Post-Laura Ride

 (Art, 21) Hurricane Laura was largely punched out by the time she reached Virginia, but she still dumped a bunch of rain on us. Still got my mileage in.

Riding Nine Mile

(Keith, 32 miles)  Nine Mile is a large, heavily forested area just west of Missoula.  It is best know for the "historic" Nine Mile Ranger Station built by the CCC in the 1930's and still active today as a place the USFS holds its mules and pack horses.  In fact some 300 mules and horses used by the Forest Service across the west winter at the station.

I started my ride at the Huson exit of I-90 and road up Nine Mile Road.  About a mile into the ride I was stopped by this rafter of turkeys.  

The day was glorious, mostly clear but with a little smoke in the air from the Northern CA fires. The terrain was beautiful and the ride went up and down modest hills.  The only challenge was the surface as almost all of the ride was on hard packed gravel.  It reminded me of the C&O Canal towpath we rode several years ago. 

 

An aesthetic ride

 (Clem, 53 miles) Just missed seeing a mother bear and two cubs, according to two excited cyclists who passed us, but we did see a white bison calf, which I hope will be spared from the hamburger factory. Lazy late-summer day, interrupted only by this over-excited patriot (this is, after all, the Bitterroot valley).

Week Seven

At the end of week seven, we are in the heart of Amish country in north-central Indiana, near the town of Millersburg. We have 760 miles to go.

Training Ride Yesterday

 (Art, 20). I forgot to do a blog post yesterday, but I did my usual 20 with my usual group. The snow made it pretty  Freaky weather, right?

by.

Me too

 (Clem, 24 miles) Flat early in my ride up the Rattlesnake this morning made me look closer at my rear tire and...it was close to shot after 2,500 miles, so replaced both, and I'm good to go. No pix from the ride but here's a cute photo of my grandson Everett, 1000 days old tomorrow!

Flat Tire Ride

 (Art, 20). Rode with friends for a hilly 20 miles. Had my first flat in decades along the way. Fortunately, I had a tube and a pump.

Back to Alberton's Natural Pier Bridge

(Clem, 72 miles) Puffy clouds kept the temps down in the morning and a NW tailwind scooted our tired butts home. Nice day.

Week Six

We are in the suburbs of Chicago, in the burg of Algonquin, IL, on the Fox River, and just 22 miles shy of St. Charles, the terminus of our middle segment . We've now ridden 1,827 miles. Photo: Tom's Farm Market.

Tornado Ride

 (Art, 20) rode with my riding group through the area heavily damaged by tornadoes a week and a half ago. It’s amazing to see a hardwood forest with every tree snapped in half.

Morning Ride

 (Art, 22) Out with my riding group. 

Lake rides

Friday, August 14th - Jeanne and I camped, hiked, kayaked, and biked at Tully Lake this week.  Had a great 6.5 mile off road ride that was gorgeous on Old Tally Lake Road. 

Today, August, got in a very hot 21.5 mile ride, but rode surprisingly strong (do remember who is writing).  Can't match Art's 16.7 MPH speed, but did blow by this elderly gentleman on a one speed!!

Nice Day, Finally

 (Art, 12 miles). Finally caught a break from the rain and heat. 

Week Five

255 more miles this week puts us over the halfway mark, with a total of 1,555 miles ridden. We are on the west bank of the Mississippi near Great River Bluffs State Park, 18 miles north of LaCrosse, Wis.

To Rock Creek

 (Clem, 65 miles) Nice August morning turned into a HOT afternoon, but we managed 65 miles to Rock Creek and beyond, punctuated by a nice lunch at Ekstrom's Stage Stop (world-class lemon meringue pie!)

Weekly Ride

(Art, 20 miles). Another 7 am ride with the Wednesday morning folks. What we lack in distance, as a lot of these peeps have day jobs, we make up in speed. 16.7 mph today. I’m like “What’s the hurry?”, but to no avail. 

Bison in the Bitterroot

 (Clem, 38) Beautiful August morning. Rode O'Brien Creek, then to Blue Mountain and down the Bitterroot bike trail well past Lolo and back with a sweet tailwind. These beasts are destined for burgers one of these days.

Harpers Bridge

(Glenn, 37 miles; Keith, 35 miles)  Glenn and I took a morning ride west of town.  Our endpoint was Harpers Bridge, or rather what’s left of it.  The bridge was built in 1943, closed in 1982, and largely swept away In 1993.  The site now serves as a put in for fishing rafts.  Getting there took us out Mullen Road, the same road mentioned earlier but on the opposite side of Missoula.

Wheels Across the Prairie: Week Four Summary

 This week, we collectively pedaled 257 miles, landing us near Tracy, MN, home of the appropriately named Wheels Across the Prairie Museum. We are only 83 miles from the halfway mark!

Blue Mountain

(Keith, 17 miles)  Just coming off the DL after pulling a hamstring muscle while fishing on Tuesday.  Road the 3 Bridges Route.  Past the cow, over the one lane bridge, along the river then past two NFS Recreation Areas.  The second is Blue Mountain containing a network of trails used by dog walkers, mountain bikers and horses.  On the upper frnge is the little used University of Montana observatory.

Hill of Beans Resturant

This is at least the 7th time this year I rode from my cabin north about 7.5 miles to a small restaurant for breakfast.  Strava says a total climb both ways over 1200', and auto-labels it the "roller coaster".  Normally I'm only passed by a car or two on this twisty county highway.   The restaurant is strange for this part of Wisconsin - it could be in Madison or Missoula.  The food is a big step from the small town grills.  From the patio seating (see pic) you can see the tourist and communication towers that mark this as the highest point in Wisconsin (1952'). ( No one is wearing masks, by the way.) On another note, Ken and I are about 3 blocks from the latest riot here in Madison.  Note the "Onion" style reporting.

https://wkow.com/2020/08/04/mpd-3-people-shot-at-garner-park-during-celebration-of-life-for-recent-homicide-victim/  

Or how about this one from a few weeks ago.

https://www.channel3000.com/man-arrested-in-connection-with-violent-peace-park-robbery-assault-police-say/

Wheaties Ride

 (Art, 21) Got up early and did a quick 21 miles with my riding group. The Northern Neck is still recovering from the tornado so there was a bit of riding around closed roads while work crews cleared debris.

To Alberton and beyond

(Clem, 87) Possessed by some demon energy, I rode to Alberton, explored every possible frontage road from there, crossed the busy RR track half a dozen times, checked out mask usage in the local grocery store (there is none), then rode back amidst signs of an impending storm this evening. 

Oh, and this happened yesterday, trying to teach my 15-year-old granddaughter to drive. (Yes, she was driving, oversteered and took us down an embankment just around the corner from our house). But no injuries to us or the car, and less than 15 minutes after I called AAA, three wreckers showed up. That is service!

Chill Morning Ride

(Art,13). Did an easy ride after having worked hard yesterday helping friends with tornado damage. We got away with just one tree down and debris everywhere. 

Clinton MT on old Mullan Road

(Keith, 39 miles)  I took a long morning ride to Clinton MT, one of 34 places named Clinton in the US - not quite as many as The Simpson's Springfield.  Clinton itself is not much - a small, dusty, rundown town alongside the main Burlington Sante Fe railroad line and I-90. 

The last four to five miles of the ride into Clinton is on a section of Mullan Road, the first wagon road to cross the Rockies to the Pacific Northwest. Built in 1853 the Mullan Road linked Fort Benton, MT, which some COD-ers will recall was the starting point for our Missouri River trip, with Walla Walla in eastern Washington.  There are segments of Mullan Road throughout Missoula.  

August 2 - Glenn here;  Jeanne and I took as 13 miles ride total, to breakfast.  Beautiful day, but verging on very hot!!

Sunday Funday

(Art, 20)  Rode a hilly 20 miles, or at least what passes for hilly on the Virginia Coastal Plain. Wanted to get a ride in today as hurricane/tropical storm Isaias is heading our way Tuesday and it looks like a rainy week. 

Week Three Summary

In our third week, we equaled our mileage for the first two weeks combined, riding 523.5 miles (thanks, Glenn!). We have now completed 1,043 miles, which is 449 miles ahead of our target. We blew past Sturgis and are now on Segment Two, south of the Cheyenne River Reservation and just four miles shy of Pierre, the capital of South Dakota, where we will cross the mighty Missouri.