Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Best of pics and final shaggy pic

Here it is, the final shaggy picture. I will be hitting the barber a little after this post.
To answer some of the bike issue questions. I would say I broke the chain around 8 times. I got 3 new chains then just fixed the link. I never broke a chain before this trip. An estimate on flat tires would be 15, but 5 of those were in 2 days and another 5 were because I kept using tubes with patches. I think I made it the last 1200 miles without a flat since I was using good tubes. I didn't have any busted spokes after I got the rear wheel fixed at Pinedale WY. I broke 2 good seats. Threw away 1 cheap seat and am still using the 2nd cheap seat.

I went through all of my pictures and picked out what I thought were some of the best.

Thanks again for following along.

Big A signing off.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Day 148

Miles 68.9 Total for trip 5497.25
Avg spd 11.85
Max spd 35.58
Climb 3022
Alt chng --800

Today was it, the last time I would be packing up my tent, sleeping bag, air mattress, sandals, etc. I was going to try and make it to Boise today since I would have a lot of slow downhill and only one big hill out of Horseshoe Bend. I made it to Banks by 1pm and saw it was only 14 miles to Horseshoe Bend so I figured it would be no problem making it to Boise. It is funny how you remember hills. I have biked the Horseshoe Bend Hill before and remembered it to be around 600ft in a few miles. Turned out to be 1600ft in 5 miles, took about 1.5hrs to get up it. From there it was downhill to my last Mcdonald's run. I was finishing up my cone and my parents stopped by and gave me a ride for the last couple miles.

I am really happy I made this trip. I suggest if anyone has ever thought about taking a long trip of any kind to try and do it, because you might not get the chance next month, or next year.

What to do now? I am not sure, but it will involve getting a hair cut and beard trim. I will be going through my pictures and putting a best of set in my cool pics in a week or so.

Oh yeah, I think getting a job will be high on the list.

Things I will not miss from the trip: blowing up my air mattress every night, eating the same dried food for breakfast and most dinners.

Things I will miss from the trip: waking up in a different spot each morning, meeting great people, talking with other bikers about their trips, riding in new areas, seeing nature, and many more I currently can't think of.

Thanks for following along. I hope everyone enjoyed the trip, I know I did.

Day 147

Miles 36 Total for trip 5428.35
Avg spd 13.43
Max spd 29.22
Climb 250
Alt chng --3200

Cold!Cold!Cold! I rolled out of the tent about 8am to find ice on my tent. Mike left his pot with water on the picnic table and it had 1/2 inch of ice in it. I figured if I could get to the top of the pass fast I could coast down and get warmed up. The top turned out to be less then 1 mile. If I only knew. I coasted for around 8 miles, then I had a nice slow downhill. I am glad I had an easy day cause I broke my chain about 3 miles out of Lowman. I had to use my last link to fix it. Traffic was not too heavy so I decided to try and make it to Banks. I only made it about 5 miles and my chain broke again. Luckily it was right near a campground. I had to take a link out to fix it. Who knows how it will work, I will find out tomorrow.

Day 146

Miles 54.72 Total for trip 5392.35
Avg spd 9.70
Max spd 22.56
Climb 1939
Alt chng ++1243

Still going up today. It has been a long slow climb for the last 3 days. I should reach the top today or come very close to it. I stopped in Stanley to take a rest and eat lunch. About 8 miles out of Stanley I ran into a couple my parents know by the name of Albers. They offered me something to eat & drink if I made it to Bull Trout Lake later today. Thanks for the offer, but I ran out of gas and stopped at a campsite right on HWY 75. I stayed with another biker that left Missoula a few days before I did. We talked for a while, it looks like Mike is moving to Boise and look for a job.

Feels like it will be cold tonight.

Day 145

Miles 56.63 Total for trip 5337.63
Avg spd 10.22
Max spd 25.74
Climb 1892
Atl chng ++1200

Today I would be going through Challis ID. I was still on the 93 and would be getting on HWY 75 at Challis. I actually found an Idaho Statesman in Challis. The first time I have read that paper in about 5 months. I found a nice campground. I was the only one there which was surprising for Labor Day Weekend.

Monday, September 7, 2009

A day of coasting...


It seems Big A rode about 35 miles today and lost more than 3000 feet of elevation.


From sitting in front of the computer it appeared to be a pretty easy day.


Ride time was about 3 hours so he was averaging 12 MPH.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Day 144

Miles 35.38 Total for trip 5281.00
Avg spd 11.89
Max spd 26.61
Climb 950
Alt chng ++642

I got to bed a little late last night so I got a late start today. Still riding on the 93. Not much going on today, just a very slow climb today, 600ft in 35 miles. Much easier then the climb into Idaho. Found a nice free camp spot. during dinner there was a very windy storm for around an hour. My tent poles are going to be retired after the trip. I have to put a band aid on one of them to keep it standing up.

Day 143

Miles 20.41 Total for trip 5245.62
Avg spd 10.70
Max spd 23.14
Climb 491
Alt chng ++370

I woke up this morning and found out I set up camp a little too close to some big trees. My tent was dive bombed many times during the night. I did some serious washing on the outside of the tent. It looks like the birds eat a lot of berries in this area. Had a short day to Salmon today. I found a nice place to watch the BSU/Oregon game. Go Broncos.

Day 142

Miles 42.23 Total for trip 5225.21
Avg spd 10.84
Max spd 30.95
Climb 2654
Alt chng --570

Today was the big climb. I would be climbing to around 7000ft. The climb turned out to be 2492ft. there was a nice rest area at the top. I ate lunch and rested for a couple hours. For the remainder of the trip I have no set plan on how far I will be riding on any given day. I will try to do from 35-40 miles and find the next good camping area. today I found a nice spot about 20 miles out of Salmon.

Day 141

Miles 46.89 Total for trip 5182.98
Avg spd 10.37
Max spd 21.40
Climb 1247
Alt chng ++1020

Waking up this morning I did not know how far I was going to ride. I am waiting for some serious climbing that will happen before the Montana/Idaho boarder. I have been real happy with the shoulder and occasional bike path on the 93. It has been a very slow climb all day today. I ended up making it to Sula MT, only 13 miles to Idaho.

Day 140

Miles 43.78 Total for trip 5136.09
Avg spd 11.09
Max spd 27.48
Climb 832
Alt chng ++295

Sorry no pics for today's upload.

Today I woke up early to get to the USPS and retrieve my food package. I took a quick glance at the map to get directions to the post office. I was on Reserve St and could not find the post office. I called the USPS finally got through to a live person and was told there was no post office on Reserve St in Missoula MT. I went to a convenience store grabbed a pop and checked out the map. The guy at the store told me the grocery store had a USPS pick-up location in the store. My package was not there and did not make it on their delivery. I called the main office and found my food package. I finally got my package around 4.00pm hit the locale Mcds and was out of Missoula around 4.45 pm.

My map showed a campground around 20 miles out of Missoula. I couldn't find it so kept on riding. It was getting dark, I thought I might have to ride all the way to Hamilton. Around 10 miles out of Hamilton I found a nice spot a little of the 93 that would work for a campsite for the night.