Today is day 9 in Dillon, and it will be my last day here. We’ve decided that it doesn’t make much sense for me to stay any longer, so tomorrow will be the beginning of solo touring.

On a positive note, my dad is doing much better - he was able to do a moderate 20 mile ride yesterday without any significant discomfort. Getting on and off the bike is still mildly awkward but within control. We would set off together tomorrow, but he has some packages coming in on Tuesday that will be essential for the road ahead. (A proper front rack + panniers, and a satellite communication device.)

Leaving on Wednesday would put me at close to 60 miles/day average required to finish the tour in time (without rest days). Roughly, it seems like each additional day I stay (within a few days range) will add something like 1.2 miles/day average to the rest of the tour. Those miles add up fast!

I’ve liked staying in Dillon; it has all we’ve needed, some neat local spots, cool gravel riding, and friendly people.

I did a gravel ride (my first one!) this Wednesday (7/2), and I really enjoyed it. It felt totally different from road riding, which might seem like an obvious statement. My bike handled it decently, but I’m seriously considering a suspension stem to smooth out some of the bumpier washboard-y sections. I ended up getting caught in a thunderstorm, which was exciting but also probably kind of sketchy. At one point I had lightning striking ahead of me and to my right (a few miles in the distance), with no shelter in sight. Thankfully, I was able to reach the highway and find shelter at someone’s cabin before the storm hit me.

I met some free roaming cows.

Nice, open riding.

Rough trail, and the storm ahead.

The views were worth it.

On Monday (6/30), I actually biked back out of Dillon to the place I stopped when my dad crashed. I knew that if I didn’t, it would bother me forever that I didn’t fully “bike” across the country. It ended up being kind of an unpleasant ride, with serious headwinds on the return and possibly mild heat exhaustion. I remember feeling fairly lightheaded, short of breath, and nauseas on the final climb. I contemplated taking a break and lying down for a while off the highway, but something told me that was a bad idea - would I fall asleep and not wake up? Anyway, it was fine in the end, but an excellent reminder of my limits and to be more attentive to the heat and weather conditions.

A photo from where I stopped on the day of the crash, but not from that day. I was admiring this exact view when I got my dad’s text. The American flag seemed to encourage more respect from drivers on the road, but more testing is required.


Tomorrow I will ride to Alder. I’ll be taking a gravel detour that bypasses Highway 41 (from Dillon to Twin Bridges) as well as a portion of Highway 287. The westbounder we encountered in Idaho, together with journal entries online and Mat Ryder’s TransAm YouTube series, suggests that this stretch of highway is possibly the worst/most dangerous stretch on the entire tour. The westbound rider was pushed off the highway (literally, through physical contact with a trailer), and something similar was documented in Mat’s video. This doesn’t sound like something I want to risk, and definitely not something my dad should in his current condition.

Matt (not Mat) from the local bike shop in Dillon vouched for this gravel route, having ridden it just last Sunday. I’m very grateful for his advice and help.  It’ll be about 48 miles and 2700ft of ascent, which is nothing too crazy (although doing it on gravel fully loaded will be interesting).

That’s all for now! I’m going to try and get some rest, but it’s the 4th of July and Dillon is booming with fireworks. It reminds me of my childhood in China during the eve of Chinese New Year.