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.

 

Yesterday I drove into town to Roast House for coffee beans. I learned of this roaster back on a past visit. They have grown. Enjoy visit with people that we remember each other.  Then drive north on Maple to 5 Mile shopping center to laundromat I prefer to use. Thurs visit means I have been in Spokane for at least 3 weeks. Clean dried clothes put away and wool and man made materials hung on drying line. Off to Riverside for riding.

Riverside, park off Parkway. Pedal 1 mile to park trails at Seven Mile. Today was to be last ride here this visit. I avoided Nine Mile area sharp basalt babyheads for flatter trails. I GPS every ride the first time using backcountry navigator, Riverside is a bowl of spaghetti of trails, Today I added more. I ran into Thomas whom I had met on a previous ride, he the rider with Catalyst pedals. We visited to a break in the conversation thread then pedaled away. He was the first of the triple. Today I wanted to learn bike handling skills over rock gardens. Today’s last one this ride was a long stretch, I rode it on the previous ride. The bike pedals over the rocks, so sweet. I remain balanced and in control, the bike is so easy to ride. So I am riding this patch when 2 women walking their bikes approach. One woman says Hi, we met on MT Spokane, I’m the plant lady. No shit. I am smitten by her, alas she said she had to catch up with her friend. She was the double of the triple.

A military reservation shares property lines in places, tonight there were army people in full camo in shooting positions on both sides of the trail. Shit. Very timidly I said I am just trying to get out of here. Civilian variable in exercise. I mostly wandered searching for remembered or possibly new trails. So, in 18.3 miles I gained only 899′. That’s pretty flat.

Evening was coming on. My dinner plan was restaurant Flying Goat again as they had a good salad albeit small. I ate there same menu choice last week. Tonight the previous visit server was working the bar making me her customer again. I remembered her, she maybe. I ordered previous salad but did not hold the peppers that I was told last visit were spicy which my stomach voices dissatisfaction. She returned and told me that previously I asked to hold those peppers. Connection. I thanked her. She was the third of the triple.

For me these and other connections keep me , well, connected to another people. My lifestyle is solitary, as I want it to be, but I still seek connection. Most connections are 1 time, to meet again the above 3 people was special.

This morning I had an van code talker appointment out at Liberty Lake. The shop has Mercedes code reader that can read the Sprinter brains. 9 AM in their lot. Wrench drives van away. An acceptable time later he returned and spoke with the front man. report is van’s old memory has been cleared and there are no new codes meaning brain is not upset. Clean code health. They charged me $0 because they found nothing to fix. I keep lifting rocks and looking underneath them so to speak with the van as I do not want to be run aground. No cause for wheel chatter, will be standard. Transmission still rumblestrips.

weather today was cloudy with the next 2 days calling for rain. Ride today then sit out next to days. I was at Liberty Lake where I could ride the mostly old double track up and downs. I could. MT Coeur d’Alene was a bit further east which the drive there would be a test drive. And I wanted to reverse rode direction. Done. Steered east on I90 to Beauty creek road along shore of namesake lake. About 3 miles up old pavement with several tank tank holes. Park under old growth cedar. Today I will ride the paved road to pass instead of pedaling trail 257.  Pavement ride was just sty after it effort. Pavement ended , next was several mile of gravel to narrow double track to summit of MT Coeur d’Alene where once stood a USFS fore lookout. 1 hour 13 mins of no break pedaling to top. Then to descent down trail 227 which has many too steep pitches for me to climb. Accepting gravity pulled me downward. Proper judicious braking controlled my speed. No butt over the rear tire, just seat dropped and weight back, heels down negotiated the steeps. Coasted into the hole. A short break before the start of the hump out. I hadn’t ridden the loop this way for years, I thought back to those climbs. Shit, today I stopped to blow, steep but no hike a bike. Kept after it to top. Short dirt road over to top of trail 257 and another reward a downhill. Firm dirt, deep tree cover. I opened my bell dinger for announcement of me. Have I mentioned how stable this bike is? I am limited by my courage and the bike is allowing greater confidence. Outstanding bike suspension and also to the RUNT. 14.4 miles climbing 2815′, that’s 195′ / mile. Just the facts.

Rain is forecast this weekend here. I have done beyond due diligence for van care. I am free to move. I have not planned where to go as I kept putting making plans until I learned of van health. That was an excuse for not directing my life. I would like to ride Palisade Plunge east of Grand Junction, CO before last shuttle on 10/10. It is 1,000 miles from here. For me that date is too early for me to be that far south. My travel direction is linear one way for me to do the ride then return north then drive south later. I can be where and when I want to be. I just need to figure those out. How much am I willing to drive?

Bed time.

One last mega ride left for me here around Spokane. From the Beach to MT Spokane summit then down entire length of trail 140. A great big climb then a very challenging downhill. I drove to the Beach which is about 3/4 mile below park entrance. Plan is to ride the hwy to cut in to trail 110 and climb it to Kit Carson then pedal pavement to the summit, then descend 140 to hwy. I figured about 1 hr 30 mins of climbing and just knew the descent distance.

I arrived at empty Beach parking and geared up. I still carry my Wingnut pack containing all the good stuff for multitool repair, flat remedy items like slime tube, Lyzene pump, and Stan’s darts, water, munchies, headlamp, jersey, fire starter, firstaid kit, and a bunch of small stuff. I only have 1 pack that I use on every ride. I just pack the same stuff for every ride. Haven’t had to use headlamp when finish riding before 4. But I got it.

Pedaled upwards, past Bear Lodge, then park entrance ranger station, then junction for Wailer on right hand side of road, trail 100 on the left. Hump to cut in, today I was 3 minutes faster. This piece of wide single track will be the flattest of entire ride. Under deep tree cover. Climb start in earnest after crossing Kit Carson road. My engine lacks output to make 2 climbing turns then masters everything else to the summit. It took 1 hr 32 mins of mostly uphill pedaling. Yes, it was a grunt but I just bore down and my body got me to the top.

Back when I lived here I lift and ski climbed the mountain. Pretty steep black runs. Paved road was one gear from granny 46T. Just few cars and motorcycles passed me on the pavement which was 2.36 miles climbing 650′.

Just below the summit trail 140 takes off. Last time I rode this it was on my 5 Spot 26er. The trail is nasty with lots of decisions and actions to be taken. The angle is prolly climbable, it’s the abundance of embeded rocks, exposed roots, and loose rocks. Ski area expansion since last visit cut over the trail leaving clear cut. It’s a handful of rocks and roots up high down to Kit Carson, below and down the trail is a steep single track made by mtn bikers. I finished on the lower 140 that is so beat up. Trail 140 was 5.41 miles dropping 2510′ taking 35 mins of pedaling.

The descent was another test for my Revel Rail and my skill to pilot it. I stayed after it while allowing gravity as my engine. Switch backs with blind exits. My eyes tear up blurring my vision even with large lens glasses. The bike is so stable which adds to my confidence. It was a challenge needing sharp reflexes and looking ahead to prepare for what’s ahead.

I would need other rides before riding this again. I rode a new downhill trail named The Goods which is shorter than 140. That ride the trail was just completed not ridden in or winterized. 140 is not a speed downhill which maybe filters out riders. It is completely shuttleable on hard road.

Park entrance is at 3100′ summit is 5883′. EDGE reported 2267 climb which is less because of my below speed recording threshold.

I park out beyond Mead in a parking lot adjoining a small airport. I watch small airplanes take off and land. I fix dinner as colorful sunsets put on a light show.

Tomorrow is drive train appointment. It’s only money, it’s the unpredictable inconvenience for possible repair.

I lived across the road in a log house I paid for design and build for 16 years. I became familiar with the area. Driving around is just like the past. The roads go the same places, there are some building changes. Many acres and many farms  of dry land wheat farming interspersed with conifer woodlands.

New issue of Freehub is out. Catch my article.

Bed time.