becsher

After biking 492 miles across Washington (minus 2 days), the panhandle of Idaho and two days into Montana, I have decided that my body has had enough. It has been a great experience to view this beautiful country while riding my bike. Today’s weather forecast was for showers and temperatures in the upper 40’s and well let’s face it…I just do not like to be cold. So we watched Barry and Phil head out this morning from Eureka, Montana to West Glacier then Kevin and I headed out for West Glacier, Montana. It was a beautiful drive and probably could have seen more if it had not been raining off and on. We stopped in the wonderful town of Whitefish, MT and had a late breakfast. This town was so cute with lots of little shops ... read more

Oh Montana!!!!! I am quite sure that God spent extra time creating Montana. We rode from Clark Fork Idaho to Libby Montana today. It was 68.6 miles, 2,861 feet of elevation gain and maximum grade was 6%. Every corner we rounded and every hill we crested (there were a lot of them!), we had to stop to take a picture. I know Minnesota is called the land of 10,000 lakes but I have never seen as much water in lakes and rivers as I have seen in north eastern Washington, northern Idaho and now especially in northwestern Montana. Our route followed a river the entire day and snowcapped mountains were everywhere. Kevin was fishing many times along the way. He did not catch anything but the scenery made for a great time. We stopped for lunch ... read more

We hated to leave our hotel in Ione, WA. It was such a beautiful setting with the Pend Oreille River right outside our door and the access to the river was so convenient on the private dock. Kevin tried fishing but to no avail…the owners said the water was cold and full of glacier and snow melt making fishing difficult. This did not stop Kevin from trying. We took off this morning at 9 am from the hotel and headed out into a brisk chilly ride. The wind was not our friend and kept us aware of its presence all day. The route was flatter than other days of biking with some rolling hills and a few short climbs. We rode 56.2 miles, elevation gain of 1,586 feet and maximum grade was 6%. The countryside was ... read more

May 19, 2021 But those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31 Today did not turn out as I expected...After the long bike climbs yesterday my knees let me know they were not happy. I started the day with icing, Voltaren, stretching and massage. The beginning of the ride was pretty flat maybe slightly downhill and quite enjoyable. Then the climb to Loup Loup Pass at 4020 feet began. The scenery was different more arid but so beautiful as we gained altitude it started to rain. Both my knees were hurting so badly that I did not feel that I could continue the ride. I was slowing down to 4-5 mph going ... read more

The ride today started at Marblemount, Washington to Ross Lake in the North Cascades National Park. The North Cascades became a National Park in 1968 and is sometimes referred to as the North Americas Alps. I have been to many National parks across the great USA but I cannot believe the beauty we saw today. It is a whole different perspective when you are riding your bike through the park. You can see things that you would probably miss if you were driving and as Barry said today “It makes you feel like part of the park.” I agree. Our heads were reeling around looking from right to left at the vistas, the waterfalls and the emerald colored lakes. Every turn there was a waterfall with snow melt from the massive mountains. Today Phil took the ... read more