Blog updates

Hey all -

Unfortunately my laptop charger broke while we were in Ennis, Montana. I have a new one being shipped to Rawlins Wyoming which we will pick up in a couple of days. In the meantime I am keeping our journey chronicled on paper and will upload all of our stories in a few days.

Comments have been enabled!

Hey everyone - Comments have been enabled on the blog! WE LOVE COMMENTS! We especially like to hear from people we have met on the road, and of course friends and family! Make sure you leave your name and where we met you, or you will show up as "anonymous." Thanks to my brother Steven in Brisbane, CA for enabling this feature. More to come soon!

June 19, 2009 [This Post Written and Edited by Doug Lybeck]

June 20, 2009

[This Post Written and Edited by Doug Lybeck]

Montana treats so unbelievably well!! This evening we rode from Jackson Montana to Twin bridges. Over the last few days we’ve become quite adept at working with thunderstorms. Each afternoon they become more and more intense. The skies are so enormous in Montana that we are able to see for miles and have some sense of where the rain will hit next. As we dodged storms, we talked about rainbows, specifically how you rarely see a full ‘bow.’ Not five minutes later an ENORMOUS DOUBLE rainbow opened up, crossing the entire sky! Not even the torrential rainstorms can dampen our spirits.

Double Rainbow!

As our maps had warned, we are deep in some of the worst mosquito territory in the entire country. The town of Wisdom, MT is the epicenter, where the bugs are so dense you literally have to keep riding at 15 mph or they catch you and EAT YOU ALIVE! We found ourselves running from town to town, ditching our bikes and running into the nearest grocery store. One store renamed their bug-spray isle “Wisdom Valley Cologne”

"Big Hole Cologne" LOL

We arrived in the town of Twin Bridges, concerned about staying dry and finding a place to cook dinner after a rough 80 mile day. Weekend days are always the best for local events, and today was no exception. We were lucky enough to find the annual Darby County “Welcome to the Neighborhood” party in full swing at the fairground pagoda. About 100 locals were celebrating with live music, home cooked food and a delicious local honey-brew beer. All we asked was to use the restroom, but were instead welcomed with open arms. Food and beer flowed freely, and when that ran out we were encouraged to bring all our camp gear into the pagoda and spend the night. The building itself is quite stunning; a turn-of-the-century log-built octagon. It’s a HUGE space, likely 150 feet across and 40 feet high. Many thanks to the event coordinator Rebecca for letting us spend the night in such a wonderful place. You’re generosity kept us warm and dry. Twin Bridges will remain in our memory forever.
The 10.000 square foot wooden pagoda which we were welcome to camp and cook in after the town-party.



One of our favorite campsites "May Creek," which we nicknamed "The Shire." It's in the Big Hole National forest at about 7000 feet elevation. BEAUTIFUL.

[This Post Written and Edited by Doug Lybeck]

MON TAYN!!! June 16, 2009 [This Post Written and Edited by Amanda Michaud]

[This Post Written and Edited by Amanda Michaud]
8 of us rolled into Lolo Pass ranger station which you read about previously. Montana welcomed us with another hellacious afternoon thunderstorm that soaked us all to the bone. :(. That is day six of rain! But that doesn’t stop us from being ecstatic about the journey. After a two hour ride out of the sawtooth mountains, we found ourselves indulging in Mexican food (thanks to the recommendation from our New Zealander friends, Heather and Jackson), while waiting out some torrential downpours. As we were being bombarded by awful repetitive news (this is why I hate tv ) and consistent rain storms and failing at trying to find a place to stay that was affordable some kid came in and mentioned this was the worst rain he had seen in the area! HAAHAHA. Just our luck ;). As we became frustrated with our lack of options, we were approached by a couple who had been dining at the same restaurant. They asked us if we wouldn’t mind letting them indulge us in a little bit of western hospitality. They welcomed us into their GORGEOUS apartment with open arms. We biked from Lolo to Missoula which is where they lived, and our destination as well. When we arrived they cleared us a space in the garage and told us to make ourselves at home. We had no choice because they literally had us in our own apartment. It was set up to be sold and everything was immaculate. There were two bedrooms with queen sized comfy beds and amazing pillows and fluffy towels!!!! There were two full baths for us to use and a living room/kitchen area. They also offered us there washer and dryer so we took full advantage and did two loads of laundry and took showers in probably the hottest water we could ask for! It was so awesome. We chatted all night and got to know a bit about each other and then they told us they wanted to make us breakfast. We woke up to homemade whole wheat oatmeal flax pancakes (pancakes are my favorite breakfast ever) and eggs with fresh spinach and fresh northern Montanian locally produced sausages which Nick kept talking about the whole time. They were the best pancakes ever! Thank you so much Jerry and Debbie! We all chatted some more and exchanged information and we will keep in touch with them. Thank you again for your hospitality, you have no clue how much it meant for us.

We headed on out to the adventure cycling association and it was everything and more than we thought it would be and moseyed on around there and then had a very late start to our destination which is Hamilton, MT, where we are right now utilizing some good signals and loving the big sky state…it’s a whollleee lotta sky, but we don’t get to see it in full, instead, we get MOUNTAINS AND ELEVATION AND AMAZING AWESOMENESS! Check back soon!!!! Every day on the road is the best day of our lives. And to all my CT and ME buddies…my mobile home is holding up great! One broken spoke way back many moons ago, and my first flat today!

[This Post Written and Edited by Amanda Michaud]

What are we riding?

I've had a lot of people ask me what kind of bikes we are all riding, so here is a quick bio on each of us:

Nick Morin’s 2009 Specialized Allez + BOB trailer:


This is a brand new bike, really meant more for racing than touring, but a good bike is a good bike no matter what. Nick tow’s a one-wheel BOB (Beast of Burden) trailer, which has a large single waterproof bag for all of his stuff. We found out in the first couple of days that it’s VERY hard to do loaded hill climbs with a double-chainring on the front of the bike. The rig is set up for speed, not distance or hills. The solution was elegantly simple: put a dinner-plate sized rear cassette on the back gear, bringing the drive train ratio to about 1:1, and hills become A LOT easier. The bike is otherwise stock except for new puncture-resistant Continental tires.

John O’Toole’s 2008 Surly Long Haul Trucker ‘Fatties Fit Fine”

This is THE RIG for long distance bike touring. It’s solid as a tank, with a chrome-molly frame, 40-spoke wheels and beefy 37 mm tires. I just learned that ‘fatties fit fine’ actually means that those large-diameter tires will fit into the forks and breaks, an expensive problem to resolve in other bikes. John has outfitted the bike with a Brooks B17 leather saddle, new handlebar cork (padding), two HUGE Arkel pannier bags, and a handlebar bag to finish it off. The LHT is really the way to bike tour trouble-free.



Tony’s 2005 Giant Boulder SE:


Tony decided to refit his existing mountain bike to suit touring needs. He took his stock bike and added more-durable Deore LX derailleur and XT wheel hubs. These components are simply more heavy-duty, and intended to handle the weight of long distance riding. The front suspension fork is stock, but has been tightened to allow for almost no flex. Tony also has front and rear Arkel pannier bags, and a Brooks B17 saddle. I’m jealous of how smooth this bike cruises.

Amanda Michaud’s 2002 Specialized Allez:


Amanda is riding a borrowed race bike very similar to Nick’s and mine. It’s a light weight rig with a carbon front fork, and is stock with the exception of a new Cloud 9 saddle. She decided to go light and stick with only two rear Axiom pannier bags. Her gear seems to be growing in height, as there is nowhere else to put it. Her latest creation is a mobile snack bar. She has taken to strapping red vines, cookies and cereal to the side of her rig so that we can all come along and snack. Its pretty grand.

Doug Lybck’s 2008 Specialized Allez:


Despite many discouraging comments about my decision to tour on a race bike, I’ve been completely pleased. I’m towing a 14 lb Burly Nomad trailer which keeps almost all of my gear weight off the bike. I’ve replaced the stock wheel set with a bladed Vuelta pair with Bontrager Race Lite tires. My Brooks B17 saddle is keeping my butt happy. I’ve taped over all the identifying marks to keep it from getting stolen. No problems yet, except for 5 flat tires……

MONTANA!

We just hit the Montana boarder! We're drinking hot coco and playing on the internet at the LOLO pass ranger station. Happy day!

WHITE BIRD IDAHO IS AMAZING!

June 13, 2009

GREAT DAY!

I have to give a HUGE promo to the Silver Dollar Restaurant and Bar in White Bird, Idaho! If anyone is anywhere in or near northern Idaho, make sure you stop by and get taken care of by Sheryl. After last night’s dinner we went back for breakfast this morning, and were stunned to find that she wouldn’t take our payment! Thanks again Sheryl! Your HUGE all American breakfast powered us up the pass this morning.

Over dinner last night, Sheryl had told us about today’s bike race, which we all decided to take part in, as it followed a part of our trail up Old Hwy 95. Nick and I wanted to race it without our gear, while Amanda and John wanted to keep true to the “Transamerica lifestyle” and carry all their gear themselves. An awesome local guy offered to carry our gear to the top in the truck – thanks buddy! We hit the race line at 9am with about 80 other riders. The course was 13 miles long, with almost 2500 feet of vertical elevation! It was a long haul, but I managed to come in third place out of the 75 who finished, with a time of 54 minutes, 10 seconds. I was EXTACTIC! Nick placed at 1 hour and 11 minutes, and Amanda and John hauled in at 1 hour 47 minutes – while carrying 70 pounds of gear each! We got pretty lucky that such a fun event just happened to jive so well with our schedule. We have an open invitation to compete again next year……. Perhaps?

From left to right: Nick, Doug, John and Amanda at the finish line for the "Just for the Hill of it" bike race. White Bird, Idaho.



The rest of the day was a 65 mile cruise through the gorgeous Idaho Sawtooth mountain range. The forests are extremely dense here, as logging is not as mainstream as in Oregon. It seems like normal national forest service terrain, but everything is on a MASSIVE scale. Rivers are 100 feet wide and run faster than we can ride our bikes. The mountains are no taller than we have experienced, but they rise out of valleys at monumental steepness. The vastness of the terrain makes me feel meek in comparison to our surroundings.

Our group, following the Lochsa River in Idaho. We're gathering Transamer's.
Left to right: John, Phil, Amanda, Dave (top), Nick (bottom), Doug, Jackson, Heather

Pictures

Remember, you can see all of our pictures in full resolution here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30670486@N03/

Enjoy!

June 9-12

Showing where we've been

Amanda, Doug and John at Zim's hotsprings outside of New Meadows Idaho. Highly recommended!


Our good Transamerica buddies from New Zealand, Heather and Jackson. We seem to run into each other about every other day. GREAT people!


Doug Cresting McKenzie Pass

John riding one of Oregon's many personalized bike racks.


June 9, 2009

We finally made it to Idaho! After days of riding through the beautiful Oregon high desert, we finally made it to the boarder. In our excitement we immediately crossed the river and started riding the wrong way towards “Hells Canyon,” an attraction we had seen advertised for 200 miles. We didn’t realize our mistake until we were deep into the canyon. It turned out to be a wonderful accident, as we had some of the best swimming to date, but we ended up having to ride back out over 6 miles.

We ended the day in Cambridge Idaho, a small town of 300 or so people with not much going on. Two older gents talked us up at the hardware store in the early afternoon. They kept the conversation fun until politics came up. The older fellow started out “I’ll bet you’re those types who voted for OBAAAMA……..we’re seein more and more ‘O them liberals out here every year.” After hashing out our political differences we decided to keep the conversation somewhat more PC, and stuck to the scenery and “small town” vibe. We camped in the town’s park for free, but not before hitting up the local bar. We got some stares from the locals as we came in wearing skin tight neon spandex at 11oclock at night. The initial tension was alleviated when we explained our story, and the $1.50 beers were flowing freely. I’ve never been in a bar where I would feel financially comfortable buying the entire bar a round before, but it would be NO problem here.

June 10, 2009

This afternoon we crossed the “45th parallel, which is the halfway point between the equator and the north pole.” Combine that with a change to mountain-time and it really feels like we are making some progress. Nick’s bike speedo shows that we are 827 miles into the trip – its flying by! Right now we are camped just a few miles outside of New Meadows, Idaho at a place called Zims hot springs. Their Olympic-sized pools are filled with 95 to 104 degree water were a welcome retreat for our weary bones. We realized it’s been 10 days since we have taken a day break and have found this to be a wonderful place to stop. Amazing taco’s for dinner, a hot shower and a killer half hour sunset to end the day on. This is the life. :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

June 12, 2009

Its been rain rain rain for two days now, but nothing can suppress the beauty of the Idaho Sawtooth mountains. We’ve been happy to find that rain-riding is really not all that bad. The key is to keep moving, as you only really get cold when you stop. This afternoon’s 65 mile ride was almost all downhill, running alongside of the Salmon river. The waterway lived up to its name, as literally hundreds of fishermen were crowded around the banks trying their best to yank out the huge salmon swimming in the rushing water. There were places so crowded that small shantytowns of moterhomes had popped up to sustain the group. John’s perpetual attempt’s to catch a fish with a large sharpened stick never fails to amuse me. Today he seems to have moved his river-based attention to gold panning, which is equally fun. :-)

We decided to camp out in White Bird, Idaho tonight, right at the base of the gnarly “Old White Bird Hill Road.” We figured tomorrow’s fresh legs would help get us up the 9 mile, 2500 foot elevation gain in the morning.

We’re once again camped out for free in the town’s small city park, next to a babbling brook, and across the street from the “Silver Dollar Saloon + restaurant.” The locals are cracking us up, trying to remember our names, and telling us about the town. The first sentence we heard coming in was “Watch out for the woman with big boobs, she’s trouble!” Turns out she’s the town’s matriarch of sorts, who was our waitress, cook, bartender and town-guide. We had a yummy dinner of $5 burgers and 75 cent ‘pop’ (soda). The barback casually strolled over to our table as we were finishing dinner and nonchalantly cracked open four Keystone light cans and dropped them off at the table. “You all better come back and sing some karaoke with us later!” As we chatted we found out that there is an annual bike race called “Just for the Hill of it” which goes up the grade we are riding tomorrow morning. What timing! Apparently the best time in the race’s ten year history is 57 minutes bottom to top. I’m gonna try to beat the record while towing 50 pounds of gear behind me. :-) GREAT people here! We’ve been invited back to the bar to sing Friday nigh karaoke with the locals. We’ve been informed that “We got no stage, you can just go on ‘head and sing from your barstool.” WE LOVE THIS TOWN.

Sad Day.....

Unfortunately one of our riders had to head home this week. Tony decided to go home to be with his lovely fiancee two days ago. It was sad to see him go, but on the plus side we got to meet his awesome dad, Frank, who drove 36 hours all the way from Chicagoland to give him a ride back. That's love right there. We'll miss ya Tony! You were our resident camp chef, and an eternally positive energy on our trip across Oregon. You better come see us when we cross southern Illinois! Peace.

Pictures

Amanda Making Sage Tea!


Doug, Nick and Amanda, sad to find the road closed to Mckenzie Pass

Henry the bear in Mitchell, Or

"Picture Gorge" in Oregon. This was THE BEST DAY OF RIDING EVER!!


Sahalie falls

Photo update

Hope everyone has been enjoying the blog thus far. Internet access has become very inconsistent, as I rely on my phone to provide the service. We've been traveling in VERY rural areas, and the little service we do end up finding is almost never the EVDO high-speed necessary to upload pictures. Today we've stopped in the Baker City Oregon public library to get our web fix. Enjoy!

If anyone would like, feel free to follow me on Flickr where you can see all of my pictures in full resolution:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30670486@N03/?saved=1

Just click the link above and you can see all of my pics!

June 4-12

June 2, 2009

A few days ago our group had stopped on the side of the road in Coburg to find our route into Eugene. Luckily a fellow cyclist came blazing by on a race bike and offered us a place to stay in he and his wife’s house in town. It turns out that Brian and Carrie had ridden the Transamerica 7 years ago, and had promised to give a roof to cyclists in need. The generously put us up in the living room, let us do laundry and get some GREAT showers. It turns out that the couple owns the premium bike wheel company “Rolf Prima.” Their company designs, manufactures and sells their products right here in the US. If anyone is in the market for new bike wheels, its definitely worth taking a look; they are works of art! Thanks again Brian and Carrie!

The last few days of riding have become increasingly rural. We’ve spent the last two days coming up and out of the western Cascades in Oregon. It’s been stunning countryside – there is water EVERYWHERE and everything is unbelievably green.

Yesterday we crested Mckenzie Peak and headed down into Oregon’s central high-dessert. The climate change has been dramatic, going from the lush forest of yesterday to a stark, barren landscape. The weather has become increasingly erratic, and we have found ourselves caught in the middle of more than a few afternoon thunderstorms. Yesterday almost got out of control when we went from riding in sunny- 70 degree weather to marble size hail and blackout in only about 5 minutes. A woman had stopped her car earlier in the afternoon and told us there was a “severe weather warning” on the radio. Within minutes of her warning, the hail came down so hard we had to ditch the bikes and run for cover behind a big post box. We managed to weather out the rest of the 30 minute storm on someone’s porch. These thunderstorms move unbelievably fast, and it makes me feel SO ALIVE to be in their midst.

Right now we’re sitting in a small park in Mitchell, Oregon. We tried to make tea out of sage brush, and ended up with a beautifully-green, but unbearably bitter brew which we are somewhat pleased with. The mountains are getting higher! Today we cross two 5000 foot passes. It takes about 3 hours to climb up, but its all worthwhile for the 10 mile cruise down the other side.

We’ve been eating well, sleeping better, and loving life!

June 6, 2009-06-06

Well, we have collectively agreed that this had been our coolest day of riding to date. Our route this afternoon took us up from Mitchell to Prairie City Oregon. Mitchell is a funny little rural town with a population of 127 where EVERYONE knows EVERYONE. The sheriff hangs out with the locals all afternoon, and life is at a slower pace. The coolest thing about Mitchell? The town has a pet bear named Henry. Yes, that’s right, a 275 pound black bear resides in a large enclosure in downtown Michell. PETA would have a field day if this were in California, but the bear has lived there in relative comfort for 20 plus years. Apparently the bear belongs to the sheriff’s younger brother who took custody of it after it grew up from bring a cub-sized mascot for the local boy scouts troop in the 80’s.

We left Mitchell at 6am and journeyed into the John Day Fossil Beds, the Painted Hills, and Picture George. All the terrain is harsh, rocky and HOT, but amazingly beautiful. I broke out my Ipod for the first time this afternoon and was sprinting 30 mile runs, unable to wipe the ear-to-ear grin off my face the entire time. An 85 mile day left us in Prairie City, a sleepy but comfortable old-west town in the shadow of tomorrow’s mountain climb.

As always we having the time of our lives, and never want this experience to end.