whitefish, montana

ok, i have some time to write. the internets are few and far between up here. we're lucky to find running water in some places, or a gas station. gas stations are good, gas stations are gooood! i'm pretty sure there are lots of rotary phones still floating around up here, and perhaps a few paper cups attached with a string. eastern washington was pretty desolate, as was the first part of montana.

i'm in whitefish, montana now. i rode 100 miles yesterday, drank about 57 gallons of water to compensate for the 56 gallons of sweat that pored out my pores and down my face and all over my sunglasses and then turned to salt on my face. you try and wipe the sweat away and it hurts because the salt makes it feel like you're wiping your face with sandpaper.
such are the joys of a cross country bike trip during the dog days of summer! why are they called the dog days? well, i have no idea of course.

i met this guy along the road yesterday that was rock climbing with a few friends. i stopped to watch them climb for awhile. super cool dude, his name is sam, he's 23. he asked where i was headed, i said i was hoping to get to whitefish, he said 'well i live in whitefish, why don't you stay with me? i have a washer and dryer and shower and all that' -- i said 'well, shoooeeeeeeeee sounds good to me!' he lives with his brother isaac, they started a wind farm repair company, or something like that. so i set up camp in their backyard. we ended up going to a concert in town last night, galactic. it was great. and dinner at a cuban restaurant beforehand that left me so full that it hurt to move. two ears of delicious corn covered in delicious cheese and herbs and spices and the biggest burrito i've ever seen with rice and beans on the side. i really overdid it. ugh. i left the concert early because it hurt to stand! ridiculous. overeaters anonymous.

so i may stay here another day because it's relaxing and a great town. or alexander and i may head to glacier national park today, which is about 40 miles away. yvette and her boyfriend kevin are going to stay in whitefish tonight, then kevin is riding down to missoula to fly back home tomorrow.

i'm torn between keeping up with the group, which at this point - after tomorrow - will be down to yvette, jim the 69 y/o irish guy, and alexander the russian guy... or just going on my own. spending more time in each town, spending more time in glacier national park. meeting locals, finding places to stay. each has its positives and negatives. alexander will leave us in minnesota - he's going down through iowa, illinois and indiana since he doesn't have a visa to go to canada. plus he's only riding back to nyc, not maine. so we'll lose him in minnesota.

so that leaves yvette, hand-signaler extraordinaire, she points out every twig and branch, stick and rock on the road. with vigor. she means business. the hand shakes, it points, it wiggles - it ANNOYS. just kidding. but if you can't see the big boulder in front of you and avoid it, well, then, you have bigger problems to deal with and should see your local optometrist. and jim the old guy - we were all retiring for the night in our own tents the other night, and he lets out the loudest fart i have ever heard. i burst out laughing. i'm not sure he cared, or even knew he farted.

so do i stay or do i go now? decisions, decisions. we'll see.

i've taken tons of pictures but haven't had time to download and post them. hopefully soon.

at times i think 'man, somebody ought to be filming this!' - like at little joe montanas restaurant, when we're talking to the owner who proclaimed that 'jesus was a cool dude that rolled his own cigarettes' and then gave us a jar of his self-proclaimed world's best salsa. he also mentioned that little joe himself was gunned down in the bar. i asked why he was shot, the response was 'love triangle gone bad.' yikes!

or talking to the locals at a subway restaurant in eureka, montana. they were convinced that 9/11 was arranged by our government, who planted explosives in the building to make it fall the way it did. too much conspiracy channel for them! they told me that riding without supplements - namely salt tablets - is like committing suicide. i'm not sure what that meant. the one guy gave me his business card, it reads - 'Distributing Breakthrough Healthcare Products, Radio Communications, Internet Technology, Website Advertising' -- in other words, I have no idea what he does! breakthrough healthcare products AND internet technology??? wow. he's busy.

the day before i was at the antler's restaurant in libby, montana. minding my own business in the bathroom, i tend to stare at the wall and avoid conversation - at least until i get to the sink, then it's fair game. but this guy starts talking to me so i answer his questions, where ya going, it's hot out there isn't it, etc. anyway, turns out he was sitting at the table next to me.
as he gets up to leave, he says 'be safe out there, and may the Lord bless you.' i didn't hear the last part, so i said pardon? he said 'may the Lord bless you. i would feel awful if something happened to you out there and I hadn't said that. Then I wouldn't have done my job' -- I thought that was pretty cool, so I said well thank you very much sir. Bless you too.
After he left it occurred to me that my response sounded more like he sneezed, I may as well have said gazooontite! oh well. I forgot to say Lord bless you, instead of bless you. I'm not sure I have blessing powers, but I'm sure he understood. It was a cool moment.

i saw a sign the other day at a restaurant that said 'no weapons past this point' - and it was not a joke. totally serious! and nonchalant about it. most street signs, actually ALL street signs (I've begun checking every single one, just to make sure), whether it's a turn in the road sign, a deer x-ing sign, a speed limit sign, all signs - are riddled with bullet holes! apparently the locals use them for their target practice as they drive along. pretty standard really.
and i've become all too familiar with the pungent smell of dead rotting deer. i'd never really smelled it before, but it's amazing how often you smell this smell. every 10 miles or so. i've seen much more road kill than i would have liked. mostly deer. some raccoons, one coyote. lots of butterflies, if you can consider them roadkill.

BUT - i cannot tell you how amazing it is to ride each day. alongside pristine lakes and rivers and streams and fields and trees and mountains and waterfalls. it is so beautiful that you cannot possibly think a bad thought. in fact, i have trouble even thinking. it is pure bliss running through my mind. so freeing to be on the move like this, no particular destination. just BEing. sunlight, wind, motion. it's almost better than i envisioned it.

we've encountered a few other cross country riders. a father riding with his two sons and their friend, two of whom just got back from the peace corps in kenya. they had lots of good stories. there's a german guy that busted his fork (and face!) when he tried to turn around in a median to get a picture of something he had just passed. he claims that germany doesn't have medians and he 'didn't expect it to be so bumpy.' rrrrright. i have funny visions of him flying through the median - even though crashing isn't really funny. at least he was ok.
there was a crazy french guy too, but he's gone ahead of us. funny guy named thierry, he rides a gazillion miles a day and has an 'adjustment' problem. we were trying to get a campsite one night and as we're talking to the lady, he's standing there adjusting himself, and i'm just thinking 'dude, stop playing with yourself at least until we're done talking to this lady!'
there's another guy and his girlfriend who are pretty cool. he brought everything except the kitchen sink. you should see his trailer. he even has a floor tire pump. no joke.

anyway, i should get going. i have to go into town to the bike shop, get an extra spoke - just in case. alexander broke a spoke about a week ago and was riding on a wobbly wheel for days. which apparently weakens the other spokes, so even though he got it fixed - another spoke broke yesterday and this spoke breaking pattern is expected to continue until he replaces all of them. the chain - and the wheel - are only as strong as their weakest link. goodbye!
we're learning as we go. such is life.