Riding wise, today was a smaller version of yesterday, which had been a smaller version of the day before. Again, we started out with 10 miles of easy flats down to Waitsburg. Almost immediately out of Waitsburg we split off onto a quiet side road through the wheat fields and started climbing. It was the usual under 5 miles per hour climb, but only for two miles this time. I practiced some deep breathing and was able to make it up with only one break.
Over the other side we had a wonderful sweeping downhill run for several miles. About the point we were thinking maybe it was downhill all the way, we came to another good hill, but only half a mile this time. From there on it was basically a regular up and down over small hills.
The emotional ups and downs involved the bike. Midway through the hills I had another flat. Like the one days earlier, it was not from a puncture, but something down near the rim, perhaps some kind of pinch on the tube. It was getting hot enough that changing the tube was more wearing than usual. It was good to have Corey and Scott there leaning emotional and other support.

First flat

With the flat finally fixed, we headed on. My tire felt funny though, kind of a thump thump feeling. Then, only a few minutes later, another flat! Again, hole in a similar location. I was out of tubes, so we had to patch one of the tubes that had flatted. Fortunately Scott had a patch kit that actually contained patches.

Second flat!

We also spent some time looking at how the tire was seated. Corey had noticed earlier in the trip how my rear tire especially did not seem to seat uniformly. Some parts seemed to fit deeper into the rim than others which meant the tire was not very round, thus the thump thump. We spent some time trying to manipulate the seating to achieve a more uniform shape, which helped, but not completely. I will be visiting a bike shop while in town for new tubes, patch kit, and maybe even new tires.
There were very few cars on this backroad, but I noticed that most that did come along while we were working on the bike stopped to check if we were ok or needed any help. Nice people!

Strange roadside decoration

Gingerly we made it the rest of the way into Walla Walla, hot and thirsty. Scott mentioned milk shakes, which sounded wonderful, so we looked around and found and ice cream shop and all ordered shakes (salted caramel for me). Cooled down, we headed up the street to a brewpub for lunch.

Downtown Walla Walla

After lunch we rode out to College Place to find the Airbnb we have rented for two nights. It is a great little house, much much nicer than a couple hotel rooms. We hid from the heat, reading etc. I was able to pull up the Sounders game on my iPad (thank you YouTubeTV). 3-1 over NYCFC, one of the best games of a dismal season.

GO SOUNDERS!!! At least Mike was wearing the correct colors.

Come evening we still did not want to venture into the heat any more than necessary, but also wanted something better than our emergency supplies, so we managed to Uber into downtown to a very good Indian restaurant.

The goal for today was Dayton, WA, a place I have read about several times but never managed to visit.

Leaving the motel in Pomeroy

We started out with a fast 20 miles. It looked flat but felt like downhill, best average speed of the trip so far (of course not a speed that would seem fast to anyone else).
Then everything changed when we hit a smaller version of yesterday’s climb. It was not as bad, but was still a grind for about 10 miles, especially the last 4.

Climbing out of Pomeroy

Weee! The descent.

However, it was some gorgeous scenery, rolling fields of wheat and windmills.

The beauty of the southern Palouse.

Also, we did not have anyone Iike the a-hole yesterday who actually moved out of the passing lane to buzz us. That happened when I was at a low point emotionally and I am afraid I screamed some nasty things at him. Corey had to cover his ears. (T: GRRR!)
The last couple days have been a special treat for Corey, as you do not see anything like this back on the east coast. Like many people from other parts of the country, he has been surprised how different from western Washington and Oregon the east sides of the states are. I told him the politics are very different too, like completely different states.
Dayton is the nicest town I have seen since Missoula.

Mural in Dayton

Tough dogs- protecting the quilt store! Grr!

There is a great brewpub (lunch AND dinner for us), a good looking fancier restaurant, a very good bakery, an art gallery, a couple museums, a beautiful old courthouse (most articles about the town feature a photo of the courthouse), and a classic old hotel with Victorian furniture (beats the heck out of the basic motels we have been staying at).

Now that’s a brewpub!

Another great courthouse

A hotel lobby to spend time in

There is even a drug store with a soda fountain. I was disappointed that it was closed. One more place I need to bring Tami back to! (T: we must go when it is open!)

Mmmm… ice cream

I was amused when we first rolled into town to see two wild turkeys crossing the road ahead of us. Unfortunately, we were not able to get our cameras out fast enough to get pictures before they wandered into the grass on the side.

Hey, who are you calling turkeys?

We did, however, later get some pictures of several deer crossing the street.

Watch out! Cyclists coming through!

The hotel has a great second story outdoor patio for guests.

A deck to relax on

We have desecrated it with our laundry, but fortunately are the only guests out here.

Airing his dirty laundry. Oh, he claims it’s clean.

We discussed using the grill to cook some steaks for dinner, but it appeared we would have had to wait too long for the sun to go down so it would be comfortable out here. We hated having to go back to the brewpub, but what you going to do? (T: Counting on you guys to make the sacrifices)
Tomorrow we should have an easy roll into Walla Walla where we have reserved an Airbnb for two nights. It is time for some rest and recuperation, not to mention wine tasting. I also need to find a bike shop. I need to replace a tube that flatted a couple days ago, as well as buy a patch kit that actually has some patches in it (that will teach me to just grab a patch kit out of the drawer at home without checking the contents – no, on second thought I probably will not learn a thing). (T: Nope, probably not)

Mike says he found some protein bars

We had thought that possibly we would just do the 20 miles to Lewiston/Clarkston today and have a rest before tackling the climb up towards Pomeroy tomorrow. However, we found ourselves sitting down to breakfast in Lewiston by 7:30 am, and were not inspired to spend the day in town. By the way, should you find yourself in Lewiston at some point, we were impressed with the Mystic Cafe. Far better than we expected to find in town. I had the huevos benedict street tacos (yum!). I believe I also saw a maple bacon cinnamon roll in the bakery case!
The first 10 miles or so heading out of town were a flat cruise along the Snake River. So far so good. Then the road turned abruptly away from the river and started to climb. Still not too bad, I think we were able to make 8 mph or so for a while, though that speed did gradually come down a bit.

Lewis and Clark went back this way.

Then the real climb started. I was immediately dropped down to a speed of 3 1/2 – 4 mph. I was in my granny gear, which is what the lowest low gear is often called. This continued for 5 long miles, though at least near the end we were able to up it to 4 – 4 1/2 mph. At first I was able to make it a mile before I had to take a break. Then a couple of 3/4 mile stretches. Then a 1/2 mile, and soon I was only making it 1/3 of a mile before wheezing to a stop.

Climbing, climbing, climbing that hill.

I was in major bonk mode, and my water was running low. Did I mention it was HOT out there? Corey hung with me, but Scott could not go that slow because he did not have the low gears we did. Finally we hit the part where we were able to increase the speed just a smidgeon, and I was able to do two last 1/2 mile bursts.
At the top I pretty much just sat down in a heap on the ground in some shade. There was a rest area there with pit toilets, but after looking around a bit Scott found a faucet with cold water. I drank at least a bottle and a half, and we all refilled for the last stretch. Between having water and eating some of my emergency candy to get my blood sugar back up, I slowly came back to life.
From there it was a breeze to make the last 10 miles into Pomeroy, all downhills and flats. We got checked into the one motel here, and then headed out for lunch and BEER. It is a sleepy town, but a bit more than we expected, including a beautiful classic county courthouse.

The Pomeroy Courthouse

It looks like we have a few climbs tomorrow, but nothing like today. I expect we will aim for another early start.

Today was not an exciting day, just ridin’ the white line and bakin’ in the sun.

Ridin’ that ole white line.

We got away from the bakery (chocolate croissant was not bad) right about 6:30. The morning was pretty much riding 12 along the river.

The Clearwater River.

On the one hand the traffic was pretty light. On the other hand the shoulder was fairly narrow, when it existed at all, and often not in really rideable condition. Therefore we mostly rode right on the white line, moving over onto what shoulder there was when a vehicle came along. Overall it really was not bad, just a little monotonous. What saved it was that the view was beautiful the whole way.

Along the Clearwater.

After a few hours we decided to stop for some food in Orofino. The Subway we found was a blessing. The shop was not busy, and the young woman working the counter went above and beyond to take care of us. We ordered breakfast sandwiches as well as lunch sandwiches for later. Our water bottles got filled with ice and cold water. It was hard to leave, but with the temperature rising, leave we did.

Rest stop- they wetted down their shirts.

At the rest stop.

Lewiston was just a bit farther than we wanted to go, and there are no lodging options along this stretch, so we were checking out the campgrounds as we came to them. Our ace in the hole was a place Scott had been once before on a fishing trip, McCay’s Bend, and that is where we ended up.

Campsite: Sunny! Hot!

Camp Bunny.

Because of our early start, we got here about 11:30. Fortunately there is a roofed shelter with picnic tables, and that is where we have set up until the sun goes down.

Waiting in the shade for the sun to go down at the campsite.

As you can imagine that makes for a quiet afternoon. We have read, worked on projects (like this blog), talked to the park manager and one of the RVers, did laundry, ate our lunch sandwiches, etc. I am really looking forward to evening when the sun goes behind the hill.

Cozy? At least there’s some shade.

Sleeping in tents on the ground, it was a restless sleep, so we were all up by shortly after 5 am, and on the road by 6:45. Most of the day was just following the river downhill to Kooskia.
After 25 miles we did finally find some breakfast at a cafe in Lowell, the first civilization we came to.

Lowell – much lower elevation than Lolo Pass. Uh oh, missing someone!

Another 25 brought us to Kooskia, where we raided the grocery store. I got a large bottle of cold water to put in my bike bottles, but somehow half of it never made it that far. The three of us also made short work of a box of chocolate mint ice cream sandwiches. We later learned that the temperature hit 101 today!

Kooskia, the town of ice cream

On the road to Kamiah. Do those people know there is a dinosaur on their roof?

No, that is not a moose. But is it a mutant jackalope?

We rested a bit, then jumped on the final 8 miles to Kamiah where Scott had learned there was a good brewpub. What luck to discover that the brewpub was right next to our motel! I had a huckleberry cider and a cucumber sour. The only problem was they went down VERY fast.

Our basic motel. It’ll do.

Over dinner at the Kamiah Hotel Steakhouse and Bar, we went over the maps planning our next few days. It looks like we will take a couple of shorter days both because of the temperatures and a paucity of places to stay along the route.

No moose. Although I do not think we gave it a fair chance, as we were pretty much in bed by the moosing hour.

Odd thing behind lodge- perhaps it scared away the mooses?

Critters- moose precursors?

The night was uneventful. It was good to learn that no one snores (or at least if I did, no one told me about it, or covered my head with a pillow, or anything).
While we had plans to dawdle this morning so we could have lunch at the Lochsa Lodge 20 miles down the road, once we were up we just wanted to hit the road. Lunch be damned, we will make it breakfast.

First we had to tackle Lolo Pass. That meant about 3 1/2 miles of steeper grade, but not granny gear steep. We ground up at maybe 4-5 miles per hour. We topped out about 15 minutes after we started. Hmm, that math is not working for you? Well, we had the benefit of a time zone change right at the summit!There is a great visitor center at the summit as well (we did not determine if it was on the Montana or the Idaho side of the line, or even straddling both). They were so nice they even offered free coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. (T: No beer?)

Lolo Pass Visitor Center

No cell service at Lolo Pass!

When we left there, it was an immediate downhill scream for about five miles. We were very glad no one came along to try and pass us during that section, as we were well out in the lane because of the speed. The next five miles were a more pleasant no brakes down hill cruise. I could have done THAT all day.
Finally it flattened out and we came to the Lochsa Lodge. Now that is a place I would like to come back to and spend a few days! It is just a magical place with cabins spread out on a green grass lawn, and with a restaurant and a general store.

Lochsa Lodge

Beautiful grounds

Even the bikes got a well-deserved rest

We had our breakfast there and were very impressed, not only with the food, but also with the three little girls who set the table for us and took our coffee orders. Extremely cute. I also ordered a breakfast sandwich to go, to make dinner out of later.

Breakfast at last! Now where IS that food?

The best service

While leaving we ran into another cycle tourist going our direction.(T: Hope you didn’t hurt her?) She is also following the Louis and Clark route, but she started in St. Louis. Hopefully we will run into her and her companion again down the road. (T: Be careful, Mike, and don’t run them over)
The highway continued to wind gradually downhill (and it does wind, we saw a sign that said “Winding road next 99 miles” – which I also saw on a t-shirt at the lodge) following the river, which helped our speed quite a bit.
We had been warned about road construction, and we eventually ran into it. We had to be ferried in a highway department pickup through two different 2 miles segments. The last pickup ride left us off about two miles from the campground we were headed for. It was a relief to get there, as it was getting very hot by that point. The first thing we did as soon as we picked out our campsite was go sit in the river for a while. Oh boy did that feel good!

Aaahhhhh…

Mileage total for the day was about 56. We are probably looking at about the same tomorrow. We want to get to Kamiah if possible, as Scott spotted a microbrewery there. It looks to be another hot one, so hopefully we will get an early start.

Today was THE DAY, the first leg of our bike tour! Knowing that this would be a fairly short day, Corey and I left the hotel around 8:30. At Scott’s house we took a few pictures and headed back out around 9:30.

Wonderful hosts, Scott, Anna, Roo.

The Three Amigos, ready to roll. Scott, Mike, Corey.

Between Missoula and Lolo, which is where we would turn West on 12 to head up over the Lolo Pass, there was a nice bike trail. I understand the trail heads south another 40 miles or so to Hamilton (Tami, a good bike trail for us to try, maybe when we go sapphire hunting!) (T: Yes, please! Sounds like my kind of riding). Along that trail there was a spot where everyone had told us we would be able to see a large herd of bison. Unfortunately today was their day to go into hiding somewhere else. Scott said he had never failed to see them there before. Oh well, Buffalo Gal won’t you come out tonight, come out tonight….

The Bitterroot River. Looks cool and refreshing.

Shortly after we turned off onto 12 at Lolo, we stopped at a park at Travelers’ Rest State Park, a Louis and Clark camping spot.

Travelers’ Rest State Park

There was a nice museum, and we ran into a docent who walked us around the grounds. He even showed us where the L&C latrine had been! This was actually significant, as it was what enabled archeologists to determine that this was the actual camping spot by analyzing the soil and finding traces of the mercury that was used as a medicine for ailing members of the party.

Gives a new meaning to the term Thunderbolts. Science is grand.

Travelers’ Rest story

Good thing these two guys were there to point the amigos in the right direction.

A short while after that we visited the site of Fort Fizzle, a site where the army tried to stop a Native group trying to escape the area (and being put on a reservation), but the Native American’s simply bypassed the fort by going up into the hills above it, so the army’s effort fizzled.

Well-named fort.

Corey and Scott stay hydrated. Mike, are YOU staying hydrated???

The whole route from Lolo up to Lolo Hoy Springs Lodge where we are spending the night was a remarkably consistent low grade climb the whole way. We climbed maybe 1000 feet over the course of around 25 miles. At one point I noticed a business sign next to a driveway. I am guessing it might have been either for a blacksmith or a jeweler. The business was named Maxwell’s Silver Hammer. We got a chuckle out of that.

At one point, however, we LOST SCOTT! Great Scotts! We discovered today that Scott is a stronger rider than I. At one point he could no longer bare my “climbing” pace and rode ahead a bit. Soon we came around a corner and he was not visible in the distance. We were not sure whether he had pulled off or just pulled away. There were two possible places to pull off, a campground or Jack’s Saloon, which was a place we had seen a sign for a ways back that I thought might be a good place to stop for lunch. Since we did not see him when we rode by the campground, my stomach decided to gamble on Jack’s. Only it turned it when we got there that Jack’s was an indeterminate distance up a gravel road. Who knows, it might have only been 100 yards up, or it might have been several miles, but I was not about to go and try to find out. As it turned out, Scott had pulled into the campground and quickly came back to the entrance to watch for us, but we apparently rode by in the short period when he was turning around just past the bend in the campground entrance.

It did get hot, so we were glad to get to the lodge about 1:30 (total mileage for the day was 38), where we guzzled some of the pure and cold spring water in the lobby. We will fill our water bottles with THAT in the morning. We were told it is actually the water flowing into the hot springs (the lodge has two indoor soaking pools just off the lobby). The secret is to just fill your bottles with ice before you fill them with the water from the pipes pouring into the pools.

Nice of Lewis and Clark to drop by, but what is this with Christmas in July?

What is that thing? How do you use it? What is it for? Ten cents? Really?

An actual phone booth! Mike used it to call home.

This evening we will be on moose watch. There is a moose, or maybe several moose, that like to frequent a pond right next to the lodge in the evenings, and there is a fire pit where people gather to watch for the moose. Our room looks down on the pond, so we can also just sit in front of the window to keep watch if we want. We are told that the pond was specifically built to attract moose. Melinda, you might need to come stay here! (T: maybe you should try your moosey moosey song to attract them? Although it didn’t work very well in Alaska)

Corey and I have very different styles for bike touring. He values being prepared, while I put a premium on getting my fat ass up the hills. As such, he has a lot more gear than I do. After seeing how I was packed into two panniers to his four, he suggested maybe we could go through his pile together to do some winnowing, though it may be me that ends up wishing I had packed differently. In any event, there is now a small pile that will get home through other means, which may make the following days go just a bit easier. I only hope that nothing we culled out will be regretted down the road! (Mike, why did we take out my pants?)

After breakfast we took the bikes out for a test ride to check that we had not missed anything in the reassembly. Missoula has a great bike trail network that we were able to follow almost the whole way to Scott’s house. Did I say how much I like this town?

Scott then led us on some beautiful and quiet backroads, ending up at a park on the grounds of the old Fort Missoula. We toured some various historic buildings that had been moved there as well as a nice history museum.

At Fort Missoula

More of the fort.

Also at the fort museum.

The history was not all positive, the fort having been used both in the repression of local Native Americans and for housing Japanese non-citizens and other “non-resident aliens” during WWII. On the other hand, the fort history also included having been home to a black regiment in the early 1900’s, some of whom participated in a great experiment with mounting soldiers on bicycles. At one point they cycled all the way from Missoula to St. Louis, without the benefit of significant roads. Makes our trip look like nothing!

(T: here is a link to a PBS feature on the Bicycle Corps. Amazing story- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNnTSD219GA )

I was also able to find a shop that was able to adjust my bottom bracket, not the easiest thing to find on a Sunday. And then they only charged me $15 for probably an hours worth of work! I was gobsmacked.

Come evening, Scott picked us back up for dinner at his house. His wife has a family recipe for chimichurri sauce, an Argentinian sauce that is wonderful on beef and just about anything else. Scott grilled steaks, which went perfectly. When I told Tami later she was very jealous, as steak with chimichurri is one of her all time favorite things.

Where Scott lives- wow!

The view from the porch. Not bad, not bad.

Sharing Ardbeg. Why bother going on the ride?

By the way, since I do not have Tami along taking pictures, I will be leaning on Corey a bit. He has a knack for it.

Mike, that is me, is heading off on a trip without Tami. Not that she was not invited, but more that she refused to subject herself to such foolishness. (T: Mike’s big mistake here is that he is leaving it up to me, Tami, to put his posts up. So that means I get final editorial control. Bwa ha ha ha!)

I am, as you probably know, as passionate about cycling as Tami is about soccer. I have had a desire to do a longer cycle touring trip than Tami would be comfortable with. On the other hand, Tami is also not comfortable with me heading out on such a tour alone. (T: No siree) That brings to her mind too many images of me lying bleeding in a ditch somewhere.

She therefore insisted that I find both a doctor and someone who could actually handle money as travel companions. So I did. There are several online forums where one can find cycling companions. On the Adventure Cycling Association, Corey had advertised that he was looking for a few people to join him on a ride from Missoula, MT to Portland, OR. That sounded doable. Even better, he was planning to keep it down to 40-50 miles per day and stay in motels as often as possible (as opposed to the hard core crazies who ride 80-100 miles per day and camp every night). Perfect!

Corey is a retired business executive from Connecticut. Scott, the other person who responded, is a newly retired ER doctor from Missoula. I think we have got everything covered, though it is not clear what skill set I add to the group. So far my role seems to be the annoying know-it-all. (T: I am quite confident that Mike’s navigating prowess will come in handy. The question is whether he will let on that he is using technology as an aid to navigation, or just let them think he has some kind of internal map in his brain.)

So the day finally came (I had been pretty much packed for weeks). At the airport I was horrified, or at least highly amused, to discover that our Alaska turboprop was painted in WSU cougar colors and logo. They did let me on, and somehow the thing was able to fly (clawed it’s way into the sky), and 90 minutes later we touched down in Missoula.

Uh oh. GO DAWGS!

Three cycling dudes at the center of the cycle touring universe!

Scott graciously picked me up at the airport, bike box and all. We stopped at the hotel to drop off luggage and pick up Corey. From there we made the pilgrimage to the Adventure Cycling Association headquarters in downtown Missoula. We were thrilled to be on hallowed ground, and even more thrilled to be given a guided tour. The whole place is decorated with old touring bikes hanging on the walls, as well as other bike touring related photography and other art. We even got our pictures taken and hung on the visitors wall. (T: Now they’re going to think they’re famous or something.)

They’re famous! Or at least pinned on the wall.

They even let them inside!

Mike thought this was for Tami’s skirt, but since she doesn’t have one, it must be for Mike’s kilt

After that excitement, we cooled down by walking around downtown a bit, hitting a couple farmers markets as well as a couple bike shops (of course). Then Scott introduced us to The Notorious PIG BBQ for lunch. Heavenly burnt ends! (T: Okay, now I’m jealous.)

Back in my room I spent some time putting my bike back together. It went well enough, but I did notice that my bottom bracket seemed a bit loose. Hopefully I can find a bike shop tomorrow that can adjust it for me.

The bike in the bubble. Well-protected and safely arrived. Mike, too.

Corey and I discovered that the bar and grill at our hotel was surprisingly good! We tucked into a couple local beers and split a bison burger and an elk burger that were wonderfully prepared (the bison came with huckleberry BBQ sauce).

I rounded out the evening watching the Sounders trounce (have not been able to use THAT phrase much this year) the Vancouver Whitecaps. It was also great seeing our new player Raul Ruidiaz get his first minutes on the field as a Sounder. Go Sounders! (T: As a live witness to the game, it was truly glorious. An actual win at home against a Cascadia rival, in the sunshine, and we got our brand new toy (Ruidiaz) to boot!)