First off, apologies to all my devoted fans who’ve been waiting eagerly for an update 🙏

We’ve made it to Montana. I think Montana might be the most picturesque state I’ve been in so far, not just on this trip but in general. I don’t know if “picturesque” is the most useful description, and the PNW is a high bar to clear, but I really haven’t seen scenery like this before in my life. My GeoGuessr vibes would liken (southwest) Montana to somewhere in Central Asia, maybe Kazakhstan?


Big Hole Valley, Montana. Surrounded by snow capped mountains.


The cows here live a life of luxury, grazing on truly expansive fields of grass.

I’m writing this from the city of Dillon, which has a population of just under 4000. It feels like a big city, with plenty of restaurants, a Safeway, a bike shop (that opened just 4 weeks ago- shoutout to Matt at Beaverhead Bikes!), and even a university. Getting here, however, was a difficult journey.

We left Oregon and entered Idaho along the Snake River. Along the way we faced our first thunderstorm at Bates State Park, which we waited out with Wayne from Tennessee. Wayne is a veteran who spends his summers touring the country on his e-bike with his dog in a trailer, since he sadly cannot afford the rent at home on his social security income. He gave us great tips, including eating freeze dried mashed potatoes with rehydrated gravy. We split up somewhat abruptly towards Baker City (we wanted to get to our hotel ASAP, and I think he was looking for a convenience store), but I hope to see him again.

Wayne and his rig, including solar panels to charge his batteries.

Wayne’s companion, Jake.

There were some difficult climbs, but nothing that we couldn’t handle with sufficient breaks and settling into a rhythm.

Eventually, we ended up on US Highway 95. This turned out to be the worst highway so far on the trip, in terms of traffic. There were numerous logging trucks, several of which blared their horns at us while passing with little space (not out of necessity: the other lane would be empty). Around this time my saddle pains started to really ramp up, including an unfortunate day where 600 ft of total ascent (a “chill” day) ended up being excruciating.

We made our way into Montana along Highway 12, which followed the Lochsa River. Our initial impressions were tempered by 2 hostile drivers, but that turned out to be a fluke, with the rest of the ride being fairly uneventful.

The stretch from Kooskia, ID to just before Lolo Pass looked more or less like this.

Coming over Lolo Pass was more exciting. We faced lightning, rain, and hail on the ascent (which is apparently what the Lewis and Clark expedition encountered), and freezing rain on the descent. The temperatures were well below 50 degrees, not factoring in wind chill, soaked shoes and gloves. It was honestly miserable, but it made my hot shower in Missoula feel incredible. I have no photos from this day, other than in the morning right before we started riding.

In the clouds at Lochsa Lodge, before the rainy ride.

We took 2 full rest days in Missoula, and met up with An who flew in to see us. It was a pleasant and relaxing time, and I’m really happy I got to see her.

Pre-departure selfie with leftover strawberries, in front of LOGE Missoula where we stayed.

From Missoula we headed to Darby on Monday, then Wisdom on Tuesday, and finally Dillon on Wednesday (6/25). That was the plan, at least. After finishing the first of two climbs for the day, I waited for my dad partially down the descent from Big Hole Pass. As I was waiting, I heard my satellite messenger chirp, indicating a text to my satellite SMS number. I immediately had a bad feeling, since no one had texted that number unprovoked (I usually  send the first message, as a status update). Sure enough, I checked my phone, and saw a message from my dad: “I fell.”

I don’t quite want to relive those moments, but in summary, a kind driver gave me a ride back up the hill to where he had crashed. I left my bike where it was and brought my first aid kit (which I didn’t end up using). Another kind driver, who happened to have his trailer with his truck, loaded my dad’s bike, the two of us, and later my bike as we hauled our way quickly to Dillon.

After a million X-rays, it was concluded that he hadn’t broken a single bone and his head was fine, despite having pretty bad rib pain and a cracked helmet, along with some pretty bad road rash. The next day, Matt at the bike shop looked over his bike, and found no structural issues either (other than a bent rack stay, which he un-bent). It’s hard to overstate how lucky of an outcome this was.

My dad’s safety vest after the crash, shredded by the road.

There was obviously no way we were going to continue on after this, at least not immediately. I booked 3 nights at the Sundowner Motel, which turned out to be a great deal for $75/night. I would highly recommend staying here to anyone on a budget. As of today, my dad still has pretty bad rib pain when any tensing action is performed (which unfortunately includes getting on/off the bike). He also badly bruised his foot, but that seems to be getting better much more rapidly.

We are planning on moving to the bike camp in town tomorrow night, to get back in the groove of things and see how camping feels. Then, optimistically, we head out on Sunday morning towards Alder, with a bailout stop at the Twin Bridges bike camp (which should be an easy 20 miles downhill from Dillon).

I am far less concerned about finishing this tour than ensuring we don’t push things too far. The last thing I want is to end up with another fall, or worse. With that in mind, I should still have a good chance at finishing on time even if we were to take an entire additional week off starting Sunday. I’d have to average something like 56 miles/day for the remainder, but I’ve been told I’m young and should have no problem with that.

That was a lot of words. I’ve been horrendous at keeping this journal updated, but my Strava is usually updated every day if I have internet. I’m going to try to at least paste my Strava ride as a stub for each day going forward.

Alright, cool, see ya.