Date: Mon, 6 Jul 1998 14:14:33 -0700 (PDT)
From: Eric Zander
Subject: RoadKill Report 6July98

RoadKill Report 6July98

Howdy everyone!
I'm finally east-bound and not looking back (except for that old man in the RV behind me that's sitting on the horn!). This report comes to you from bustling downtown Helena, capital of Montana. Did you know Montana has less than 900,000 people? Yes, people are a rare thing here. But RV's are everywhere!
Jezebel says Hi to all you mountain bikes out there. She's getting tired of me. I think I'm wearing her out!
Since my last report I spent a week in Seattle with my Peace Corps friend Liesel (and her parents) and then headed east through Washington, Idaho and now Montana. I've traveled about 750 miles in 7 days of riding but only had a real tailwind on two of them.
So, here's what happened (in my new-streamlined form):

23June98 Olympia to near Seattle
Found the biggest grocery store in the world (I think) just west of Olympia. You could set up an indoor track in there! I was in heaven! Also found that my rear rim was disintegrating. Many of the spoke nipples were cracking through and several chips had come away. This was bad. very bad. So, I took extra precautions in avoiding bumps. It rained during the night. This is how I knew I was very, very close to Seattle.

24June98 into Seattle
I only covered about 10 miles today since it was about three miles to the ferry across Puget Sound to downtown Seattle then about a total of seven miles to Liesel's house.
Crossing the sound was really neat - gave me a real panoramic view of downtown. cool.
From the ferry I headed to Green Lake Bicycles to get a new rim. They hooked me up with a rim of similar quality but stiffer than my old one. But, they didn't have time to build the new wheel so they directed me to Larry at Perfect Wheels just around the corned. Larry built the wheel (which has done me quite well so far, by the way) and I was on my way. Thanks Larry! Total cost for the rim and build - about $100!! Yikes! The new wheel is definitely stiffer than the old and it is stronger too.

25June98 to 28June98 Seattle
Hung out with Liesel in Seattle, grew a goatee and drank lots of coffee. Dude.
No, actually we went to visit Liesel's grandfather up in Anacortes on Puget Sound - really beautiful. One night Liesel and I went out with two of her friends for dinner, another Liesel and I went to a really amazing Thai restaurant just around the corner from her house (Thai of Wedgewood). Gina and Paul (the Thai owners) liked us and invited us back for dinner on Saturday on them! It was delicious (for those who speak thai, it was kow mon gai which was "sep elie!").
Sunday Liesel made really cool german pancakes and then we went downtown for the afternoon.

29June98 Seattle to Coles Corner, WA
Biggest excitement of the day was going over Steven's Pass (4,061ft.).
Lots of trees and some hills. I wanted to ride through hell, I mean Redmond but Microsoft bought it all out.

30June98 Coles Corner, WA to Coulee City, WA
Today was pretty hot - about 95 degrees and sunny. I liked it!! I'd better - Missouri is coming up soon...
Just past Wenatchee (check your map!) I had a serious and long uphill climb up a canyon. When I thought I was near the top I passed a group of HS students who are riding across the country (with support) who informed me that "the high red peak you see up there is the top" ugh! four more miles!
I expected a long downhill at the top. Instead I found myself on a plateau! mostly flat/rolling almost all the way to Coulee City with only one break to drop into a canyon and climb back out. Interesting. I think I now have an idea what Nebraska/Kansas will be like. The whole plateau is wheat.

1July98 Coulee City, WA to Spokane, WA via the Grand Coulee Dam
Long day today - 125 miles. Started early and (of course) had a headwind all the way to the dam but, it was really beautiful with the reservoir on my left and high (?1,000 or 2,000 ft.) cliffs on my right. I was actually unimpressed by the dam, I expected it to be higher and bigger. But, according to one of the signs, it is the biggest pile of concrete in the world. I don't think they've seen Bangkok yet!
After the dam I had a similar climb as yesterday to get back up on the plateau. From there I rode into Wilbur and stopped for lunch where I saw a few bicycles parked. Ends up, it's the rest of the group I passed yesterday! There's 18 in all and they've got a serious itinerary set. They know where they'll be EVERY night of their ride.
Scary!
With a tailwind I decided to press on to Spokane (It's pronounced spoke - ann) and made it by about 6:30. Stopped in a Thai restaurant (of course) for dinner. The owner, Sawat, was really nice and gave me 1/2 price for dinner!
After dinner I headed to the state park nearby and got TWO flats at the same time. With dark about 15 minutes away, I tried to patch them, in the rush I botched the patches and was caught in the dark. Put 2 new tubes in and headed (slowly) down the road. Fortunately, I knew I was only about 2 miles from the park.
Looking for a light to check my map, I saw a sewage plant with halon parking lights. I rode in just behind a truck and parked under a light to check my map. Verifying that I was only about a 1/2 mile from the park I went to leave and.... the gate had closed on me!
Trapped in the sewage plant! HELP!
I rode around and founda guy working there who laughed (I did too) when I explained my predicament. He said I could have gotten out if I had a car - the gates are weight-activated. He opened the gate and I headed to the park....

2July98 Spokane, WA to Sandpoint, Idaho
Heavy headwinds all the way to Newport (it's on the border) but it died down after that.
When I arrived in Sandpoint I found another Thai restaurant and, again, dinner was great. Ann was my waitress. She's the daughter of the owners and was very surprised/happy that I could speak Thai. We chatted for a while and when I finally said I had to leave and asked for the bill, they told me no, dinner is on them! Not only that, they gave me rice and hard boiled eggs with fish-sauce (it's the Thai way of packing a sandwich in America) to go for free! Nice people! They are also probably the only Asians in all of Sandpoint. As Ann said, it was so nice to talk to someone in Thai who isn't her parents....
To make the day even better, when I arrived at the campground I planned to stay in, I asked for a discount (I always do - it usually works!) and the guy let me stay for free!
I love Sandpoint, Idaho. Apparently so does Mark Furman of OJ Simpson fame - three people pointed out to me that he now lives there.

3July98 Sandpoint, Idaho to Thompson Falls, Montana
Today looked like rain - thunderstorms. But, I only had a few sprinkles. At one point I thought I was going to get dumped on so stopped at a house to put trash bags on my tent and sleeping bag. I don't think they have to lock the doors at that house - they have a pet mountain lion in the garage! She looked cute. Her litter box is a kiddy pool filled with sand. I didn't try to scratch her.
Felt I got ripped off in Thompson Falls - had to actually pay for dinner and the campground. The injustice of it all! The campground was run by a crotchety old man who was a jerk but the campground wasn't too bad.
Terrain has become drier with less trees and more mountains as I travel east...

4July98 Thompson Falls, Montana to Missoula, Montana
As I headed east the trees continue to become sparser. When I was about 20 miles away from Missoula two interesting things happened - first, I passed two HUGE cattle along the road. They were just trotting along until I approached. They were eyeing me up - I though I was gonna be charged and wondered what you say to a one ton cow. "here puppy" didn't seem appropriate.
I moved over to the other side of the road and slowed down. They kept staring at me (cows do that a lot I've noticed) but didn't charge. phew!
Then there was seven miles of road construction. The road (if you can call it that) was a mess of wet gravel and mud. YUK! I was able to ride most of it though.
Saw a really awesome thunderstorm off in the distance as I ate dinner. Fortunately it didn't hit the campground until after I was safely in my tent.
The campground I was in had some, um, long term residents (White trash) who were up all night shooting off fireworks and drinking... I can understand fireworks but at 3am???!!!??? UGH!

5July98 Missoula, Montana to Helena, Montana
Woke at 5am, knowing I had a long day ahead of me. My neighbors were still sleeping so I played with their dog and got it barking nicely. I didn't apologize when they came out telling the dog (not me) to shut up. Revenge is sweet.

Today was another great day! Tailwind ALL DAY LONG! Covered 153 miles - my longest ride ever, to date (I plan to dust that in Nebraska!) - in great time - about 11 hours.
Great scenery all day. Followed the Blackfoot river most of the way.
When I got to lincoln I started looking for a place to eat when I saw 3 cop cars all pull into one small diner (obviously to eat). Knowing that cops are good at finding good food (and donuts) I followed suit.
The cops weren't wrong! The food was good. Never felt safer....
From Lincoln it was about 15 miles to the continental divide at Flesher pass and then mostly downhill with a wicked tailwind for nearly 35 miles to Helena.
When I got to town the campground I was planning to stay in is now becoming a strip mall so I headed to my #2 choice which should have been my #1!
Robert, the owner gave me 1/2 price b/c he's a cyclist also! His park used to be the KOA in town but he didn't like KOA so he's independent now. It's definitely the nicest park I've been in yet. Robert even invited me to go kayaking today 'cept when I told him I've never done it before, he said maybe next time. Damn! Well, it gives me impetus to return! Robert sure is nice!

6July98 Rest day in Helena
So, that's about it for now! What do you think? Am I still writing too much?

Next up is Bozeman, Yellowstone and then Wyoming all the way to Mel & Rich's in Fort Collins, Colorado. Stay tuned!

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