summary: my first day; tons of mixed feelings: excitement, loneliness, happiness, anxiousness; huckleberry milkshake in Eureka; not making the days recommended mileage; setting up camp for the first time

summary: rare early start; filtering water successfully (which made me confident that i could rely on myself and i wouldnt die out in the woods); fast, rocky descent; not sleeping on the side of the road; feeling sick and considering giving up

summary: red meadow lake was gorgeous; only having a single snickers bar to eat all day; long descent into Whitefish; having a pizza and a beer at a restaurant; deciding that i could do this

summary: hot sun and a nasty sunburn; dry, dusty gravel roads; first 40+ mile ride; fun trail from Swan Lake to Bigfork; getting a real meal at the end of a hard day; camping (perhaps illegally) in the city park

summary: hot day again; tough climb; fun descent; getting low on water; riding in the dark because i couldnt find a good campsite

summary: awesome singletrack through forests and meadows; arriving at Holland Lake lodge only to find that there was a private wedding there and no food was being served

summary: first deviation from the mapped route; another huckleberry milkshake; bored with seeing deer; sleeping under the stars

summary: long day; resting in Ovanda (population: about 50, dogs: about 100); long gravel roads; finding a hidden campsite; dreading a hard day tomorrow

summary: met a couple of young guys who worked for the forest service; 6-mile climb up Huckleberry Mountain; finding out the climb wasnt so bad after all; incredibly bumpy washboard roads; finding out Lincoln is the home of the Unibomber; choosing from an extensive menu of: hamburgers, cheeseburgers, or bacon burgers

summary: tough 4-mile alternate trail deep in the forest with several stream crossings; bear sighting; first continental divide crossing; first time i got rained on; not finding the recommended campsite; setting up camp in a place where i knew there were bears; playing the harmonica; nighttime visit from a bear

summary: super early start; vowing to never visit Deadman's Creek again; first taste of riding into the wind and on pavement; getting a hotel room and taking a shower

summary: cloudy and rainy; having to decide to take an unplanned rest day; spending most of the day sitting in a restaurant

summary: looking forward to a super short day; feeling more tired after a day off; walking up a majority of a tough climb; finding out that my recommended campground was closed because the nearby dam had a crack in it

summary: very long day; 3-mile mostly hike-a-bike over Lava Mountain; ran into a group of 4-wheel drives doing a trail run; awesome descent down Uncle Sam Creek canyon; lucking out that the only restaurant in Basin was open on a sunday; non-maintained cattle access trail; taking a nap in the middle of the ride; first bad taste of frontage roads; scary fast descent on the interstate into Butte

summary: having to replace my seat; another tough climb; laying on my back and looking at the clouds; seeing an eagle; having to mentally and physically grind out the last 6 miles before dark; looking forward to having other campers in the campground (not that i talk to them, but i found myself hoping for their presence anyway)

summary: super hard climb, including the first time the map instructed to 'push your bike up the hill'; deciding to try to ride the Fleecer ridge descent that the map warned against; finding out that BOB is tricky on the super steep stuff because he has no brakes; feeling good after i rode the 'toughest hill (up or down)' on the whole trail; meeting Steve & Agnes (and Emma the dog) and having a good conversation with them

summary: Steve & Agnes' incredible generosity; missing out on a good downhill because of construction; getting caught trying to avoid the pilot car; first ride in a vehicle in over 2 weeks; missing out on a soak in the hot springs; little bit of refreshing rain; hammering it on the pavement; forging on past my recommended campsite; finding an unexpected cafe in Grant; meeting Jack & Jim, two awesome guys who even shared their room with me

summary: meeting some folks doing a faithful re-enactment of the entire Lewis & Clark expedition (including building a ship and making dugout canoes, etc); being in the middle of nowhere; deciding to ride 2 days worth in one day

summary: late start; lots of gravel; having to push it to get to my camp before it was too dark; realizing i was getting much stronger

summary: seeing some Trumpeter swans (even if it was from a *very* far distance); completing my ride through Montana and entering Idaho; seeing a bald eagle; Rob & Faye offering me a place to camp because it got too dark to continue riding

summary: soft, bumpy old railroad bed; realizing the book's description of this portion of the trail as being 'tedious' was spot on; incredible views of the Warm River; the last section of the trail was a fun descent with wildflowers and an old tunnel; being warned by the campground host to watch out for skunks

summary: potato fields; unexpected lunch at Squirrel Meadows Ranch; first views of the Tetons; finishing Idaho and entering Wyoming and not even knowing it; riding along the edge of Yellowstone; incredible scenery; narrowly missing a wicked thunderstorm; meeting a couple from California at dinner who took my picture and called my mom to tell her i was doing good

summary: having to ride on the pavement all day; cars and RVs whizzing within inches of my handlebars; stunning views of the Tetons; meeting a guy (Mike) riding the TransAmerica trail from Washington, DC to Portland, OR; finding out that Blackrock Bicycle campground was non-existent; struggling up an additional 4 miles to Togwotee Village in the dark; having the best meal of the ride and an ice cream sunday to top it off; having to find my campsite and set up camp in the pitch black

summary: losing my rain jacket; finding my rain jacket; looooong climb up Togwotee Pass; meeting a family from France who had a son who had riding his bike around the world and trekked across Africa; fast descent on pavement; climbing the 2nd pass of the day; wind that almost blew me over; turning down a ride up the hill; finding an awesome primitive campsite

summary: more wind; feeling a little bit sick; finding the tree carving from the first group to ride this trail; skipping my campsite to find some real food; stumbling upon 'The Place' restaurant

summary: short ride; trying to see how fast i could go; finding out that all of the hotel rooms were booked by oil companies who were drilling in the area; finally finding a family-run hotel tucked in by a creek that held their rooms for tourist only (no oil employees); feeling like i went back in time in the local grocery/sporting goods store

summary: headed out for a 135-mile stretch through the Great Basin desert; running into two seperate people looking for a lake in the middle of the desert; meeting Mike & Birdie, two Californian hippies who had just sold their house and were touring around the country living out of their camper; setting up camp in the dark

summary: just a lot of pedalling through the desert; finding a neat place to camp right next to the river

summary: long day riding through the desert; no water sources for 70 miles; more wind; deciding to skip the cow-patty campground and continue riding to (what i thought was) a town; seeing a herd of wild horses; finding out my 'town' was just a single condemned-looking building; stupidly deciding to try to continue to Rawlings even though it was dark and 33 miles away; running completely out of water; contemplating just lying down and dying on the side of the road; watching the cars tail lights keep going up and up the never-ending hill; finally getting to Rawlings at 2:15am; being super dehydrated; getting a room at a super sleezy looking motel; deciding to quit my ride

summary: trying to recover from yesterday; spending the day in the library reading about rivers and canoe-camping; deciding to try to keep going with my ride

summary: struggling with the ride right from the start; deciding to just try to do 30 of the 55 miles planned for the day; incredibly steep gravel hills; trying to hide my campsite because i didnt know if it was private property or not

summary: more climbing; finally getting back into the forest and out of the desert; a complete stranger offering me all of his ice water; Aspen Alley; private property everywhere; trying desperately to get back onto public lands before dark; getting too dark to even ride my bike; having a guy (Peter - the chef at the huge guest ranch down the road) stop to make sure i was doing alright and help me set up my camp

summary: single-minded vision on making it to Steamboat Springs today; very steep climb; enjoying cold water while watching the hummingbirds; finding out that 'all down hill' isnt; some good nachos at Hahn's Peak cafe; passing a hiker; arriving in Steamboat Springs - my unofficial halfway point (actually, just past halfway); re-meeting the hiker from earlier in the day and having him offer me a spare bed in his hotel room; hearing stories of hiking in the Alaskan wilderness

summary: laundry; meeting Dan who wanted to sell his house in Florida and come ride with me; hanging out in the park most of the day; getting to see Michaleen for the first time in over a month

summary: riding the gondola up the mountain; relaxing in the grass; chinese food; making marshmallow- roasting sticks; sitting on the porch in the rain; roasting marshmallows over my pathetic excuse for a fire

summary: fun ride along a creek; crossing a dam; some singletrack around the lake; the bridge being out; noticing bike tracks and wondering if i would meet someone else doing the ride; meeting Craig & Sheri who were riding from Steamboat Springs to Winterpark

summary: late start; wondering if i would catch up to Craig & Sheri; fording a deep stream; meeting up with Craig & Sheri again; enjoying riding with some people to talk to; some tough hills and then a steep descent; lunch on the Colorado River; dreading a big hill; helping Craig & Sheri hitch a ride into town; hammering the remainder of the ride before dark; Craig & Sheri borrowing the hotel's van to come back and get me; Craig & Sheri renting a cabin with an extra pull-out bed so i had a place to stay; steak dinner

summary: saying goodbye to Craig & Sheri; long climb up Ute Pass; fast descent down pavement; stopping short of my destination because i was beat

summary: eating pizza for lunch; riding the awesome bike path from Dillion to Frisco; getting rained out; spending the day in the Frisco brewpub; talking to the locals about how cool it is to live there; getting a hotel and hoping the weather tomorrow was better; shortest day so far

summary: early start; riding through the forest in the morning was awesome; the bike path from Frisco to Breckinridge was fun; finding out that the climb up 11,500 foot Boreas Pass was not really that bad; getting rained on again; taking shelter in an old railroad car; getting a ride down the mountain from a friendly ranger; setting the top speed of the ride (38.5 mph); first taste of the flat, treeless areas of South Park; tons of wind; arriving in Hartsel to find out that the only restaurant in town only serves food until 4pm; camping in the back lot of the local bar with dogs barking all night

summary: more wind; hating wind; more boring areas of Colorado; super fast descent into Salida; Scot at Absolute Bikes fixing up my bike, giving me tips on where to eat, and offering to let me stay on their back porch; falling asleep to the jazz coming from the place next door

summary: big, long pass that ended up being not too bad to climb; crossing the Colorado Trail; starting to plan my next adventure (kayaking trip); weather is starting to get cold at night

summary: more !@#$% wind!; exotic animal ranch with white elk, reindeer, and yaks

summary: back into the forest finally; climbing two 10,000+ ft. passes (Cochetopa and Carnero); over 1700 miles already ridden

summary: the worst wind of the trip

summary: big day - had to climb up 11,900 foot Indiana Pass; for being the biggest hill of the trip, i just slowly and surely rode up it; contaminated Summitville; trying to get to camp before dark; getting really really cold on the final descent

summary: shortest ride of the trip; the wind was fierce and that made it very cold as well; warming up by the fire at the Platoro Cafe; the incredibly nice lady that ran the lodge offereing me a free room for the night ("its going to go empty anyway" she said); warm peach cobbler with ice cream (x2)

summary: more wind (notice a pattern?); chicken and broccoli fettucine in Horca; last night in Colorado

summary: bummed that i wouldnt get to see the Cumbres & Toltec coal engine; ending up getting to see it anyway; long downhill into Charma; deciding to take an alternate route to Cuba because of potential rain, bypassing Abiqui and cutting up to 3 days off my ride; feeling guilty about taking the alternate route; finding out there was a big fire near Abiqui and feeling better about my route; pounding the pavement for the first half of the ride; pushing past my intended campsite; surrounded by private property and nowhere to camp; riding through the dark, hoping each little spot on the map might be a town; deciding to ride all the way to Cuba; making it to Cuba in time to have a great dinner at a Mexican restaurant

summary: not looking forward to 2 long days of riding on the pavement; getting a tip on an off-road alternate to my already alternate route; riding across the reservation with no idea where i am going and no map to tell me how to get there; hiding my campsite just in case i wasnt supposed to be there

summary: just racking up the miles on the pavement; starting to think about the end of the trip; chinese food for dinner

summary: starting a 6-day stretch between Grants and Silver City; met a guy hiking the Continental Divide who had left the Canadian border on June 13th; cool scenery; just enjoying the ride and not looking at my odometer

summary: looking forward to the famous Pie Town; met another guy hiking the CDT; ate lunch and two pieces of pie as i watch it start pouring rain right after i got inside; lost my fleece sweatshirt; found my fleece sweatshirt; spent the afternoon relaxing

summary: trying to get to Silver City as fast as possible; fell asleep to coyotes howling

summary: long day; 'small reservoir' water source listed in the book turned out to be a big mud puddle; way out in the middle of nowhere, wondering if maybe i took a wrong turn; finding out my intended campground no longer existed; riding in the dark; falling asleep to elk bugling

summary: very, very steep, rocky hills; soaked in a cool stream; weather is getting hot

summary: last big climb of the trip; met a guy who had ridden the trail on a motorcycle (cheater) =); fun zip down the Mimbres River canyon; hot climb up the Georgetown road; first flat tire just as i rode into Silver City

summary: another flat tire just after leaving Silver City; finally getting off of the pavement; riding through the desert; trying to ride as fast as i could to make it to Hachita before dark; free beers and a place to stay thanks to the owner of the only business in Hachita

summary: dilly-dally start; trying to ride slow; nothing but flat road ahead and sagebrush in every direction; two flat tires at the same time (all four flats were in the last 3 days of my ride); reminiscing on the trip; counting down the final miles; arriving at Antelope Wells; seeing Michaleen; heading home