Off Day Missoula, MT
July 13, 2020
Off Day Missoula, MT
I had a nightmare last night that I was out in the middle of nowhere and my front fork was crumbling and I was riding on flat tires. My dog Blanka was running besides me and we were heading towards a highway. It startled me and I woke up. Other than that I slept well at the Bell Aire Motel in room 115.
Scott and Chris were both been giving me a hard time about the videos I had posted on Instagram and my squeaky chain that needed to be lubed. I also learned that Andy from the 2018 Transgang had been in the very same teepee in Ovando just a few nights before me. I had seen his name in the guestbook, but couldn't wrap my head around the coincidence that it had been the same Andy S. He was doing the Great Divide from the Canadian border to the Mexican frontier, the trip that I had wanted to do this summer. He was posting his tour on Instagram: @stoutabout
I packed up my dry tent, ground cloth, Thermarest, and laundry, and was ready for breakfast. I had enjoyed the Buttercup Cafe two years ago when I was in Missoula, but it had unfortunately closed. I rode across the river to the Hob Nob Cafe on Higgins Avenue, where I had the corn beef hash, eggs over-easy, potatoes, orange juice, and a cappuccino.
I rode over to The Trail Head outdoor specialty gear store and purchased an MSR Trailshot Microfilter and a can of bear spray. I returned to my motel room to work on my bike and swap out my old worn-out tires. As I'm occasionally prone to do, I reinstalled the front inner tube incorrectly and upon inflation, it exploded. I was afraid someone in the motel would mistake it for a gun shot. I replaced the tube and correctly installed two new tires. Afterwards I lubed and cleaned my chain. I tested my stove and then rode over to Missoula Bike Works to get a replacement inner tube.
I stopped by Adventure Cycling Association Headquarters, who published the routes that I'd been following. I was a member and an enthusiastic supporter. Readers who ride bikes should support them too. Unfortunately, as I had heard from other cyclists, they were closed to the public because of COVID-19.
I then went to Albertsons and picked up granola, cheese sticks, pepperoni sticks, trail mix, apples, and raisins. I noticed a wobble on my rear wheel, and went back to the motel to tru it. The spoke nut was stripped, so I rode back over to Missoula Bike Works. The mechanic told me that my rear wheel was about to catastrophically fail. The side walls had weakened because of cantilever braking. He had a replacement in stock and I asked him to swap it out. It had been my bike's original wheel, that I had had custom built at Bicycle Habitat in New York. It had carried me on 2-3/4 cross-country tours as well as the Carretara Austral in Chile. I was extremely lucky to have realized this mechanical issue before I left Missoula. Tomorrow I would begin my traverse across the Bitterroot Range in remote territory and out of cell phone service range.
I had planned to cycle at least part of the ACA Lewis & Clark Lolo Trail Option. The Lolo Pass was one of my all-time cycling favorites. I had done it two years ago with Scott and Eileen, as part of the Trans Am. After having enjoyed Stephen Ambrose's 'Undaunted Courage' I had been captivated by the Corps of Discovery's treacherous Bitterroot Range passage. I yearned to go off-road to take the gravel and dirt original ‘Road to the Buffalo’ Lewis & Clark Route. I didn’t have wide enough tires or enough time. Other than that, I was prepared. There were two legs to the optional route. Whether I took Highway 12 or went off-road, I’d pass through Lochsa Lodge, where I had stopped last time. There would be WiFi in the small resort. Other than Lochsa Lodge, no matter which route I chose, I’d have no cell phone service for the next three days.
I returned to the Tamarack Brewing Company where I enjoyed several more pints of Yard Sale Amber along with a mountain of nachos. Reading the news totally bummed me out and I looked forward to getting back out on the road and away from it all.
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