Jason Goes Home

So I took a spill today 15 miles into the ride. The doctor says I tore one of the muscles in my right leg. I won't be 100% for a couple weeks. Its too bad because we were a quarter of the way done. Good luck to Aaron!

Day 10 - Helena

We did two Continental Divide crossings today. The views aren't that great but at least today's elevation gain was ridable. Yesterday's climb to cross the CD was extremely steep but afforded a nice view and held a couple of tiny stream crossings. Additionally, it's been extremely sunny. There are no clouds in the sky and sometimes the trail leads us through long stretches of treeless terrain. Needless to say Aaron and I have developed fierce farmer's tans.

The mileages these past few days and tomorrow are small compared to our 50 and 60 mile days just last week. We're only doing ~30 miles and tomorrow is only 19! Which is a really good thing since my bike won't be fixed until tomorrow morning.

Well I guess its off to the luxuries of Helena and to do some tourist things.

It seems all these libraries are using a stupid Novell solution to secure their computers, which restricts me from uploading pictures.

Follow us on GPS!

http://www.spotadventures.com/user/profile?user_id=43827.

updated every 20 minutes as we move

Motel Experience

So Jason and I are staying in a Motel in Helena tonite. Jason had to drop his bike off at the shop here for a major drivetrain overhaul and there were no campsites or hostels within walking distance.

This motel is so luxury, or is it? We each have our own beds, running water, comfortable temperature, showers, even a microwave. Quite a contrast from our campsite last night which consisted of a stream, a stump, and a fire pit (not even an outhouse). But when we layed our stuff out in our room we found it a little cramped. And we will have go out for supper because we probably shouldn't start our stove on the carpet. We even have to walk all the way to the bathroom if we need to pee...

We may have been living in luxury all along.

writing from lincoln

Things that have failed:

jason's pedal, my chain, my gears, jason's derailler, my gloves, every payphone in seeley lake and numerous others in other towns

Things I am grateful have not failed:

my immune system, our tent (warm and dry every night), our food supply, my legs, the rest of my bike

Not Bad!

Stop in Lincoln, Montana

Its been a wet couple of days.

The most memorable day so far was the one from Holland Lake to Seely Lake (Saturday). The route took us through 3-4 miles of single track wilderness. The view was beautiful and the trail left me wishing I had a full suspension bike like Aaron does.

Our ride today was a short 22 miles and we reached town before 12 just as the rain stopped. Lunch was had at a burger place in town. We set up camp, dried our things, showered, and then did laundry at the local laudromat. It's never felt so good to be clean and dry.

Tomorrow we tackle our first divide crossing.

I can't upload any pictures because of the restrictions on these computers. Hopefully I can upload later.

are you unclipped?

Stop in Columbia Falls

So we continued from Whitefish to Columbia Falls today. It's raining pretty hard right now.

We are camping at a motel that has rooms, cabins, tipis, an RV park, and some meger campsites. The campsites are just metal firepits on grass. There are no trees or anything. Just some bushes separating the RVs from the campsites. Infront of the campsites is a field where there is some guy cutting wood and other industrial things. The motel has full facilities (showers and restrooms).

The rest of the day will just be grocery shopping and maybe some laundry. Below is a picture taken on the way to Tuchuck Campground (Day 1).

hello from whitefish

Our trip started Monday at the border at noon. After the ten miles to Eureka we felt this trip was going to be too easy: paved roads with mild grade. Then at mile twenty-ish it started to climb. Then the pavement ended. Then it climbed some more. In summary, Montana is very hilly. Yesterday we were intending to throw 2 riding days together but we could barely stand up after finishing the 30 miles to the first campsite. Today we left camp early (at 8) and finished day 3 to Whitefish by 11. We ate McDonalds; it is better than Canadian McDonalds. We'll probably continue to Columbia Falls after our internet break

I miss orange juice

In case you are wondering how bikes compare to cars in terms of mileage, we are averaging about 10miles/pop tart. Not bad...

Leaving tomorrow!

Don't really know what to say. Today we played some squash, had Indian food with my family, and tried to fit everything we'll need for 2 months into 2 bags.

It was tight.

We both bought harmonicas, we intend to be very good when this trip is done.

See you in August, we'll try to update when we can. My parents also bought a GPS tracking system so I'll post the map when I determine the link

How to train for a trip like this

The past month has been pretty much dedicated to preparing for this trip. I haven't found much advice on how to physically train for a long distance bikepacking trip so I came up with this plan myself:
1. Prepare for a triathlon (Jason and I are doing a sprint tri this Sunday) because strictly biking can be really boring in the same city
2. Try to average 2 of the 3 triathlon disciplines per day with the occasional rest day
3. Do some weights on pool days so your upper body doesn't atrophy
4. Alternate road biking and mountain biking
5. Play tennis if it's nice outside and call it "cross-training", play squash if it's cold
6. Eat what you want, when you're hungry. Sleep when you're tired. Train whether you feel like it or not

Pretty simple

Some highlights from my training have been:
-Tailwinds while bikepacking with Jason to Cooking lake for the night
-A long Sunday road bike-ride punctuated with multiple flat tires with real triathletes Andy and Jon
-Learning some triathlon swimming drills at Kinsmen
-Trail runs and running photography with Christina
-Riding Jason's motorcycle after completing the "Jason Ma Invitational Bike/Run" (adrenaline + endorphins = best all-endogenous high)
-Visiting Ben after a particularly wet bike ride and watching him squirm in the presence of my tight riding shorts


Photo: Motivation to Run

Jason's Rig

Specialized Hardrock Pro '08 with a suspension seat post, fenders, and handlebar extenders. I have the same Ibex trailer Aaron has. We both have Specialized cyclo-computers - Aaron has a wireless version. I also have a nice cushy BG bikeseat.

Test Run

We went to Cooking Lake for the night. We left between 5 and 6pm on Sunday and took a scenic route along the Whitemud to Cooking Lake. The wind was behind us most of the time and we arrived about 2.5hrs and 60km later. We ate some peanut butter sandwiches and leftover peach-raspberry pie for dinner. Monday morning we woke up at 5am and left around 6am. We were biking against the wind but we took a shorter route home. It took 2hrs and 45km to get back to Aaron's house.

Trip total: 105km (Aaron), 140km (Jason - he lives further west)

Good practice run.