Yesterday after riding Rattlesnake outside Missoula I continued my drive down US 93 up the Bitterroot valley stopping in Hamilton. I visited The Red Barn bike shop outside of town. I had visited there several times. Chad, the owner recognized me better than my recall. We recounted  experiences on same trails as he has gotten around. Small town with local involvement. His shop is a receiving station for donated bicycles. some are bicycle shaped objects. He fixes some up and they are donated to people who need them, yesterday his truck was hitched to a double axle trailer loaded up with bikes as was his truck bed. He would be taking them to Missoula for the same community effort. Friend Randy  of Spokane, bought his Turner Burner from this shop. I asked for ride ideas. A local bike club has been formed, Bitterroot Backcountry Cyclist, has a web site. This club has built new trail on the Bitterroot NF, some at Como Lake. I drove out there for the night and a ride today. Memory recall of previous visits. Found a spot off the rough resource extraction road. 31 degrees this morning. Sunlight keeps arriving later each morning, 7 AM is dark and not stimulating get out of bed motions. Furnace ran all night. The propane gauge gives me an idea of amount in tank, yesterday i checked while still in town then took action to refill before last night.

Their bike club is establishing itself with the FS for trail work approval. Chad suggested 3 trails they have built, all hand built. The ground is very rocky.

I rode 2 of them. Well laid out and all pedalable. 9.81 miles climbing 1247′ pedaling for 1 hr 28 mins. Short ride, very pleasant weather and all by myself. I did wear a short sleeve wool T shirt to ward off the morning cold. Fall colors. Tamarac going off way up above me.

Yes, a bear does shit in the woods.

Thursday laundry day chore returned me to town. Task accomplished. Heading back to visit at shop then back to Como for the night. I might ride there again and ride that 3rd trail.

Later recounting of Missoula visit.

Still here in Whitefish, MT area. Foliage cover is going displaying their natural colors mixed in with year long conifer greens except for larch which will turn its needles golden brown. I visited with a rider who rode up closer to the US CA border where he said the larch are turning. Here there is a foreshadowing of change.

I use Trailforks for ride selections then use it for navigation. I have ridden several of the local locations. On Friday I rode Tally cliff from where I have been staying. Another road climb mixed in with pieces of ST till I reached the overlook spot above Tally Lake.

As I climbed the former logging road became more primitive. I followed the long Trailforks route passing on a short cut to the overlook. I had run into 2 couples ahead of me. My choice was much hike a bike up fall line trail. From the overlook the trail was local single track going mostly downhill. Balance on my bike is different when gravity is pulling versus pedaling against it. The trails are not signed, Trailforks keeps me found. Except it kept crashing. Tread is narrow with woody vegetation hard against the tread. Keep in the center of the tread in hte blocking brush. I rode back on pieces of ST instead of the road back to my anchorage.

12.1 miles climbing 1529′ pedaling for 1 hr 43 mins. Rode from my home and returned to same.

Sat I picked Spencer mtn trails nearby. Again Trailforks sort of kept me found. In TF I search for a rider’s submitted route seeking the most blue trails and an acceptable distance. I don’t research the actual trail descriptions. I paid a negligence penalty as I ended up on lots of bike park trails. And TF kept crashing. I had  a shitty ride. I popped out of woods onto the climb road. A riding couple were resting there. I vented my frustrations to them, locals. He said that the legacy trails were preserved, the bike park trails are new. Land manager is not federal to allow those trails to be built. Perhaps if I researched better I could have ridden those old trails instead of siding mostly go arounds on the features. Short ride 5.79 miles climbing 669′.

Returned to same anchorage where internet doesn’t reach although cell phone reception.

My next ride was down near Kalispel at Herron park trails. Found it on TF. Area has like steeple chase features for horses. Again, TF gave directions on a route that I selected. Big climb leaving the main area on wide tread then changing to newer machine built trail nicely laid out and built. Again I did not research the individual trails. My phone is attached to my handlebar where I kept it turned on for navigation. I stopped for a blow and looked at the battery level icon on the phone. To me the level looked almost empty. Shit, I need the phone for navigation. I decided retracing my ride would be safer as I hopefully remembered the correct trails. Direction was downhill till a short climb was made. I stopped for a blow and I decided to put on my reader glasses to see the battery level. Shit, I had 65%, enough to finish the ride. I turned around retracing my uphill. The route left the main trail and I followed. It turned out to be several pieces of logging haul roads with fall line pieces down to the next haul road below. Another mistake not researching the route. 13.5 miles climbing 1706′ in 2 hrs 6 mins. I would ride there again and stay on system trails. Nice day. Nice colors.

Returned to anchor spot near Tally lake.

My guts are not happy which is making me unhappy.

Today I left anchor spot driving past Spencer mtn trailhead then parked at rest stop outside of Whitefish for internet. I saw a Sprinter pull up along side me, I watched a guy walk up to me. Guy looked familiar by memory would not retrieve his name. It was Sam from The Hub at the Pisgah. Short visit as he had riders with him and they were headed for Spencer.

I will be heading south.

In discussion with laundromat about replacing 5 liners that were damaged by the hot water wash. Guy looked up the Patagonia web site and found said liners. He said shit, they are expensive. Duh, I paid for them, I know, I expect him to make some kind of amends, should be buying me 5 new liners as a result of his machine not using cold water per the machine setting that I picked.

Rain is forecast for tomorrow.

New Freehub mag or book is out. You can read my article ands see pics of me. Movie release date is in November.

Very little mask wearing here, I am an oddity wearing mine.

 

 

 

Monday morning I bid adieu to my former neighbors who let me sleep in their driveway then drove a scenic route to Whitefish Montana and a FS XG on Tally lake.

On Tuesday I pedaled 2 hrs 11 mins on 14.7 miles of gravel road climbing 2441′ to start of trail Reid Divide that at the other end dumped me back almost at the XG where I stayed for 2 nights. Senior pass cuts the camping fee by half.

Seems friend Randy from Spokane and I rode this ride the first year of my travels, the first month. Somehow that rode was 4 miles shorter. I don’t remember the ride. I spent 2 nights at the FS XG. Tuesday was the ride all by myself. Just sit and spin and spin and spin on the FS gravel roads. Needed Trailforks for picking the correct roads. Made the trail junction. By now my morning get up and go seemed to have been used up.

Give man a chain saw and a skidder for somebody’s needs:

9.31 miles descending 2615′ but climbing 472′, took 1 hr 14 mins down. Narrow single track with hardly a feature on the tread. Vegetation grows tight to trails’ edged possibly hiding pedal strikes. Nice sunny day with enough chill to be comfortable with a long sleeved wool top. A woman hiking up greeted me in my passing for my only human contact. 24.7 miles climbing 2953′ pedaling for 3 hours 30 mins. Trailforks data disagrees with EDGE, EDGE gathered descent data of 2615′ while TF reported 3649′. Big difference.

Spent second night in FS XG. No electronic signals

Yesterday I drove out of lake basin heading to Whitefish town. On the way I moved into internet range for researching next ride. I found the Pig Farm on the road I was driving. Exrensive trail net work, another need for phone holder mounted on my handlebar for route finding following a posted ride log. State land. 13.6 miles pedaling for 2 hrs 8 mins climbing 1191′. No trail signs, Trailforks kept me found.

Seems forest is managed for timber yield. All by myself.

Afterwards I drove into town for resupply and contact with people. My body had issues leaving me not feeling well and loss of memory recall. Earlier I read the propane level gauge indicating I needed refill today. While in town I researched future rides. I picked my next one to be on the other side of Tally Lake up high. I drove to TH and parked. I started settling down for the night. OH SHIT. I remembered I should have bought propane. I looked at the gauge which is mounted on the propane tank underneath the van. Needle was on I need to be filled now to last the night. It is about 5:30. I drove quickly the 25 mins back to town to find all 3 refill locations were closed. I will have a chilly night and cold dinner and bfast. I headed back out of town to return to where I started from. i saw a state XG on the shore of Whitefish Lake just outside of town. To stay there would be closer in to town for morning refil and doing wash then drive back out to do my chosen ride. Pulled into XG looking for an empty site. Score, I found 1. I paid the $24 and settled down. Shortly a loud mechanical noise sounded. Another shit (but smaller) my spot was hidden from a busy railroad track. Frequent train passings. Seems Randy and I prolly slept in the same site. Back then the host gave each of us soft ear plugs, this year’s host made no mention. Last night’s sleep was toss and turning during train passings. Hardware store in town opens at 8 AM. I arrived shortly after their opening. Guy pumped 5.2 gals in to 5.6 fill. I cut it close. Propane heats my food and living space and refrigerates my food. I can live around cold and hunger but loosing a frige full of food is a hard take.

Did my wash. Washing machine had selections to make. I selected cold temp. When the machine stopped and I opened the door, I was greeted with a cloud of steam. The machine ran hot water, not selected cold. I suspected possible fabric damage. I caught a management person to show what happened. He said he would make me whole. I line dry my wool and synthetics that will take longer to dry than my stay here in Whitefish to learn of fabric damage. 5 liners, wool jersey, 2 pairs of overshorts and all the cotton clothes. Prolly $1,000 of clothes in play.

Parked on a side street doing this computer stuff. Big Mountain ski area sits above town.

COVID mask wearing protocol is hardly followed, I wear mine here in Whitefish, MT.

My travel plan is to drive south on US 93 finding riding locations.

Mark attends to my web site. I met him back when we were XC ski instructors at Snoqualmie Pass like 35 years ago, We reconnected at Salida the first year of my travels and he set up my site. Today I received his retirement notice. In almost all cases now I am older than the persons servicing my needs.

Done enough for today.