Dispatch from America via Bike

So there is a little background information and catching up to do. The route that Abby and I are riding starts with section 7 of the Lewis and Clark route, Cape Disappointment, WA to Missoula, MT. We will take the Trans America bike route South through the Rockies and East across Kansas. Once in Virgina, the plan is to drop into NC and ride to the coast for Thanksgiving on what I am calling the improvised "Tobacco Road" bike route, which is yet to be mapped out in detail.

That out of the way I can start at the beginning of the trip. This "Project" to ride across the country started when I learned about mapped bike routes from Beast on the AT a few years ago. I thought it would be a fun trip and not take 6 months of savings and time like another thru-hike. 3 years later, I am approaching 700 miles and besides the heat which has been a blessing/curse the ride could not be better.

Abby has stuck with me the whole way despite my desire to ride more miles and get earlier starts. So far we have reached a compromise on early starts and late mornings to make both of us enjoy this experience. Abby has done some touring and has helped me learn bike-touring specifics. I have never done any bike touring and with one 66 mile ride earlier this summer we have set out across the country, besides it can't be much different then thru-hiking, ride-eat-sleep-repeat.

The first 11 days took us from the Pacific coast at the mouth of the mighty Columbia River. In Astoria, OR we found places the 'Goonies' movie was filmed, my favorite from childhood and maybe to this day. Along the Columbia and through the Gorge to Hood River, OR there was the coastal temperate rain forest and scenic byways to ride through. Then it stopped and Eastern WA-OR gave us the intense sun and strong head winds followed by sweltering windless days. The scenery right out of a Steinbeck novel, looking for Lenny and George, "working up a stake".

From Hood River we crossed the Columbia a few times, constantly reminded about what the river "used to look like" as told by interpretive signs before the dams went in. The most striking where the pictures of rapids and elaborate fish traps that brought native tribes from as far as Alaska to trade, it was called the "Great Mart" by Meriwether Lewis. Now a series of dammed lakes, the Columbia above it's mouth holds little of what I would define as a 'river'.

Upon reaching Walla Walla, WA we continued to be zapped by the heat and head winds. Getting early starts to beat some of the heat, we peddled into Eastern WA and over the Snake River to the sister cities of Clarkston, WA and Lewiston, ID. From Lewiston we continued on US 12 up the Middle Fork of the Clearwater River, through logging towns following the L&C trail/Nez Perce Trail. Climbing on a gradual grade towards Lolo Pass was refreshing because of the clean river to swim in and the being back in the mountains, which is why Abby and I chose this route. With out steepest climb to Lolo Pass 5233ft. we descended into Montana.

Now we are in Missoula taking a "zero" day, relaxing, and getting ready for Yellowstone, the Tetons, and Rockies.

Thanks for the support and keep posted for more "Dispatches" from the road.