Nerd Em's Adventures
Last night I looked all over the internet to figure out the cheapest and quickest way to get a new pump and spare tubes sent to me. In the end, I order from Amazon and pay for 48-hour delivery, which is surprisingly cheap.
If you could choose a time to be stuck, then this is it. The weather is crap. It is cold and windy. It rains at times. It is not a day you’d want to be riding anyway. Read more
Woohoo!!! We are rolling again!
The forecast tomorrow is 100% chance of rain, 3/4 inch expected, high of 52, winds north 13-18 with gusts to 25. I’ve never been so excited to ride in such crappy weather. Read more
I leave the motel in the late morning decked out in rain pants and rain coat. My goal is just to get down the road a little ways to set me up for a longer ride tomorrow. The weather is not ideal. But the initial little climb out of Cut Bank gets me warmed up and the ride is not too bad. Plains stretch out in all directions, the landscape is vast but gentle. The temperature is 42F, the windchill is 36F. The rain is light but constant. The wind is 18 mph out of the north. This means the wind blows the rain sideways a bit, making my right side stay drier than my left. I marvel at how cold it is today, when it was not so long ago we were baking in smoky air at 103F. I contemplate temperatures and climatic regions, and glaciers and soil properties, in the couple of hours it takes to ride to Shelby. Read more
At the moment, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has gone viral. This charity fund-raising activity has swept the globe. It is all over my facebook feed. Today, I participated in the ALS Challenge. However, unlike all the videos where people wearing summer clothing get doused by a bucket of water for 15 seconds, then go grab a towel and dry clothes, the version I participated in was a bit different. You see, I participated in the Alberta Low-Pressure System (ALS) Challenge. The huge, churning weather system that dropped down out of Canada has been bringing cold temperatures and rain for quite a few days now. Mother Nature’s ALS Challenge went a bit like this: Read more
I’m riding my bike along what I think is the approach to Glen Canyon Dam. I start to ride over the dam wall but overbalance and fall over the edge, bike and all. As I’m falling I keep saying, ‘I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry’. Then I wake up with a start. I’m in my sleeping bag in a Super 8 in Havre, Montana. It’s been about 12 days since I had a very close call with the front end of a pickup. It’s not something that has haunted me whatsoever when riding. But for the first six days afterward, I woke up from biking death nightmares each night. In the last six days, the frequency of nightmares has diminished. I’m happy to report this one is the last one I’ll have. I guess my rational, daytime brain got over things quite quickly, but my sub-conscious took a little longer to process it all.
I get a super-late start today. Read more
Fort Benton is the most important place in Montana that you’ve never heard about. Everyone knows Missoula and Bozeman, and that the state capital is Helena. But how many people have ever heard of Fort Benton? If the name rings a bell, do you know why the town is so important in Montana’s history? Read more
Today will be one of my favourite days on the bike tour. It starts super early, as usual. Mark groggily pops his head out of his tent to say goodbye, then ducks back in for a few more hours sleep. I roll down to Front Street where shadows of buildings still shade the road. I turn east and cross the bridge. The gentle climb up out of the floodplain begins immediately as the road curves north. The gradient steepens to climb between the river bluffs. A school bus with squeaky brakes and non-enthusiastic occupants rounds the corner. School went back last week. Summer is over. At least for some – I’m trying to draw mine out for about a month more 🙂 Read more
The water from the tap at the Hobson pool does not seem to have produced any ill effects. So far. I decide to use the rest of the water to fill my Camelbak. This negates the need to double back to Hobson then catch the highway east of there. Instead, I can take gravel roads to meet up with Fed Hwy 191 further south. My map doesn’t show specifics or mileage, so I could end up riding more miles than doubling back to Hobson. But, it does mean all the scenery will be new and there should be less traffic for a bit. Let’s go for it! Read more
My attempt at sleeping late is interrupted about 8.30 am when an older man opens the door, takes two steps into the room, and picks up the trash can.
I say, “Excuse me!”
He looks up, incredibly startled, and backs out of the room like a dog sprayed by a skunk, as he says, “Oh! I’m sorry.”
He must have thought I’d already left since there was no car in front of the room. I bet he knocks before he enters a room for a while after this experience. Read more
The wind pushes against the poles of the tent. Rain beats down in sheets and rhythmic sprays that coincide with the gusts of wind. The temperature has dropped. The cold front is making its way through. But I don’t need to get up and on the road yet since I’m just doing another short hop today down to Columbus. So I settle further down into the sleeping bag, shift my weight off my right hip, and go back to sleep.
Later, the rain has stopped but the wind has not. I let it dry the tent, for the most part, then pack up slowly. Read more