Category Archives: Bicycle

High Voltage

We slept in and had a leisurely morning yesterday before we pulled out of the 50,000 Silver $ RV Park. We drove west on I-90 and climbed up over Lookout Pass. The climb wasn’t bad. I took it easy and climbed in fourth gear at 45-50 mph.

The challenge on I-90 is the road construction. The day before, west of Missoula, they were painting stripes on the new surface. Only one lane was open. They had plastic stanchions on my right along the center stripe to keep vehicles from driving on the fresh paint. There was a concrete barrier on the left. It was tight. Our coach is eight and a half feet wide (102″). I didn’t have much room for error. We made it through without hitting anything, but it wasn’t a pleasant drive.

Coming over Lookout Pass yesterday, as soon as we hit the Idaho border, the road surface deteriorated. The steep descent down the west side of the pass was rough and uneven. I had the Jake brake on the high setting and kept our speed at 50mph.

West of Wallace, Idaho, a light rain began. Of course, I just spent hours cleaning the coach and wheels. The coach was already dusty from going through construction zones during Monday’s drive on MT200. The drizzling rain made a mess of the exterior.

We had another pass to cross before we reached Coeur d’Alene – 4th of July Pass. Again, I took it easy and climbed in fourth gear and used the Jake brake to control the descent. The engine temperature stayed cool and pulled us past semi tractor-trailer rigs as we climbed.

We programmed Tamarack RV Park as our destination in Nally (our GPS). Nally has been super-reliable and I rarely question her directions. This was a rare case where I knew something wasn’t right. She took us into a private road with narrow residential streets. I could see on the screen that the road we were on was a dead end.

I quit listening to her directions and looked at the map on the screen. I made a turn at the next intersection, which looked like it would connect to a major road. Donna phoned the RV park for directions. We weren’t far off. For some reason, the GPS was taking us to the back of the park where there isn’t a way to enter.

Once I got out of the private residential development, I was on Kathleen Avenue. I could see the road we should have been on, a quarter mile to the west. We turned south on Government Way and found the park entrance.

The Tamarack RV Park has nice, paved roads. But there are many trees and tight quarters. We’re in one of the largest pull-through sites here. It took a lot of jockeying back and forth to get the trailer lined up and position the coach where I wanted it.

As I began to set up, I plugged our Progressive Industries Electrical Management System (PT50C) into the pedestal. It registered an error and showed 255 volts! I saw a park maintenance man and called him over. He had me plug into a couple of other pedestals. It registered the same fault every time. He told me the last pedestal I tried was wired to a different circuit.

This made me think the PT50C might be the problem. I checked the power pedestal with a multi-meter and found 122 volts on each leg of the 50 amp circuit. My PT50C was the problem. I think it was damaged by the over-voltage occurrence at the 50,000 Silver $ Park.

I plugged us straight into the power pedestal without the PT50C and continued setting up. Donna made our site comfortable with the mat, chairs and flower pots on the table cloth-covered picnic table. She also added decorative lights along the edge of our site.

Donna relaxing at Tamarack RV Park

Last night, I grilled chicken breasts with strawberries. Donna drizzled the chicken and strawberries with a balsamic reduction and served it with a side of mixed grains – red and gold quinoa, brown rice, amaranth and wild rice.

Grilled chicken and strawberries

There are lots of trees in Tamarack RV Park – pines, firs and spruce. I don’t see any tamaracks though. The trees are blocking the Dish Network satellite signal. I’ll have to rely on the park’s cable TV. I hope I can tune in the Moto GP race this weekend.

Lots of trees here

This morning, I placed a call to Progressive Industries and told them about the problem with my PT50C. They told me that an internal component fried, causing the 255-volt reading. They said to ship the unit to them with a note describing the issue. They will replace the circuit board and reseal the unit and ship it back to me. No charge. Now that’s good customer service.

Donna is out riding on the Northern Idaho Centennial Trail. When she returns, I think I’ll get my bike out.

Up Early

Maybe it’s a case of wanderlust. I don’t know. I woke up at 4:30am. An hour and a half later, I got out of bed. This isn’t my usual routine. Lately I’ve been sleeping in. Donna is usually the first one up while I linger in bed.

Yesterday, while Donna went for a bike ride, I finished my clean-up job on the coach. I polished the wheels, replaced the lug nut covers and treated the tire sidewalls with 303 Aerospace. It’s looking good!

Looking good!

Later, I scootered Donna over to Barnes and Noble. She worked on her book project again at the Starbucks there, utilizing the free wifi and enjoying a latte. I intended to go to a self-serve car wash to wash the scooter. I forgot to bring microfiber cloths along to dry the scooter though, so I scrapped that plan.

I came back to the RV park and organized the trailer and loaded the scooter. The trailer is set to go. When Donna returned, I grilled a pork tenderloin that she had marinated earlier. Paired with a Lagunitas IPA, it was scrumptious.

Pork tenderloin with sweet potato and broccoli

This morning, I’ll dump and flush the tanks, then it will be time to kick the tires and light the fires. We’ll head west on MT200 to Missoula. I know there’s some road construction on MT200, but I think it’s the best route for us.

The alternative is I-15 to Helena, then I-90. I think MT200 will be more scenic and we won’t have to climb Mullan Pass and McDonald Pass. I’m ready to say goodbye to the ubiquitous prairie dogs and cottontail rabbits in Great Falls. It’s time to move on!

Summer Solstice

Yesterday was the summer solstice. It marks the day with the longest period of sunlight. It would be more correct to call it the northern solstice, as it’s the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere. The southern hemisphere enjoys a summer solstice between December 20-23, depending on how the calendar falls in a given year.

We enjoyed a beautiful midsummer day. There were few clouds in the sky and the temperature reached a comfortable high of 74 degrees. More of the same is forecast for today and tomorrow.

Donna took advantage of the agreeable weather with a bike bike. She rode south on Fox Farm Road, along the Missouri River. She found a route she really enjoyed and put in 23 miles.

While Donna was out riding, I went to the office and paid $10 for the privilege of washing our rig. I started on the roof and then did the cargo trailer. I used Rain-X car wash with carnauba on the roof and trailer. I used NAPA (Mac’s) car wash on the rest of the coach. The Rain-X car wash left fewer water spots than the NAPA product. Next time I’ll use Rain-X on the entire coach. I spent over three hours washing the coach and cleaning all of the glass. It was 3pm by the time I finished and had some lunch. I was too whipped to do the wheels.

I scootered Donna over to Barnes and Noble, which is a mile from here. After being cooped up in our coach all week, she wanted to get some work done in fresh surroundings. She took advantage of the free wifi at the Starbucks inside Barnes and Noble. I came home and kicked back inside with the Formula One qualifying I recorded for Sunday’s race in Austria. It was great to see Filipe Massa take the pole position. Later, Donna walked home.

Last evening, a couple from Australia, Dave and Meredith, pulled into the site next to us. They flew from Australia to Washington State and bought a Ford truck and fifth wheel trailer. They plan to tour the USA and Canada over the next 12 months. What an adventuresome couple. This is their first RV experience and they’ve jumped into the deep end!

We chatted with them for a while. Dave wanted to buy beer, so I rode with him in his truck and showed him where the store was. I picked up a six-pack of IPA as well. Donna and I enjoyed happy hour snacks and drinks outdoors.

Donna enjoying happy hour

Today, after I watch the Formula One race, I’ll polish the wheels, put on the new lug nut covers and treat the rubber with 303 Aerospace Protectant. This is a great product to protect against UV degradation. I use it on the tire sidewalls and the lens covers on our coach. Some headlight lens covers can be damaged by UV rays and turn yellow.

New lug nut covers go on today

I also need to organize the cargo trailer and prepare for travel. Tomorrow morning, we’ll pull out of Great Falls. We’re heading for Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, which is nearly 400 miles away. We’ll break the trip into two days, stopping in Missoula, Montana. We’ll probably stay overnight at the WalMart there.

Last week I neglected to post a photo of a great meal Donna prepared. She has the convection oven down and is getting the induction cooking down as well.

Cornish hen and roasted potatoes

I don’t know if I’ll post again before we reach Couer d’Alene.

Blow Out

Thursday’s weather was running behind schedule. The forecast called for clearing around midday. It rained all morning and well into the afternoon. The RV lifestyle isn’t all fun and games and sightseeing. We’ve been cooped up in roughly 300 square feet of living space for five days. We finally had a break around 3pm and rode the scooter over to the Holiday Inn to pick up Donna’s race packet.

A break from the rain

When we returned, I changed the inner tube in her rear tire, removed the aerobars (they’re not allowed in mass start races), and then I cleaned and lubed the chain. Everything looked good – she was all set for the Friday morning start.

On Friday morning, we were up at 7am. Donna had her pre-race meal while I had a cup of yogurt and coffee. I checked her tire pressures and set the front tire at 115psi and the rear at 120psi. We rode our bikes three miles to the Broadwater Bay Park to check in for the race. We arrived at the park at 8:30am, half an hour before the scheduled start.

We learned that the actual start/finish line was another mile upriver on Lower River Road. After a short riders’ briefing in the parking lot, everyone rode to the start/finish area. I was a feeling a little out of place, tagging along on my mountain bike. I wanted to see the start and see Donna off. The field for the 40k bicycle race was small – only eight riders. Three were women and Donna was the only woman in her age category. All she had to do was finish the race to win her age group and qualify for the National Senior Olympics next summer.

It was shaping up to be a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine and just a light wind though the race director warned of high winds up on top of the Eden climb. Right at the start of the race, the wind picked up along the river. I rode back to our coach, battling fierce wind across the Central Avenue Bridge and back up the trail to the RV park. I could only imagine how tough the wind would be on top of the hill.

Once I reached our coach, I locked up my bike in the trailer and got on the scooter. I was about a mile out of the park when I realized that I left the bike lock back at our site. Donna and I planned to have lunch after the race and I would need to lock up her bike. I turned around and retrieved the lock.

When I reached the start/finish line, it was already after 10am. I rode up the race course, expecting to find Donna riding back toward the finish line. After I made the climb up the first big hill on Eden Road, an oncoming pickup truck slowed and the driver frantically waved at me out the window. He stopped in the road. I turned around to see what he needed.

He said, “Do you have a tire pump?” I thought, why would you stop me and ask a question like that? I told him I didn’t have a pump. He said, “Your wife has a flat tire and no pump.” I told him we didn’t need a pump and asked how far away she was. He told me she was about four miles down the road.

I blasted off on the scooter, riding 70mph. Another oncoming pickup truck was waving at me as it approached. I blew on by without stopping. A few minutes later, I saw Donna on the side of the road. She said, “Did you get my message? My tire blew. I don’t know if it’s fixable.” I didn’t get the messages because I was riding the scooter.

Her front tire was flat and I could see part of the tire had come off the rim. I pulled the wheel off the bike and removed the inner tube. I installed a new tube and reseated the tire. I didn’t need a tire pump because we had an Innovations air chuck with CO2 cartridges to fill the tire in a situation like this. I filled the tire with a 16 gram CO2 cartridge. The tire inflated and then, after a few seconds, the tire bead blew off the rim. It blew off in the same place as before. I looked at the bead. It was damaged and wouldn’t seat in the groove of the rim. We were out of options. If I had received Donna’s message while I was still back at the coach, I could have brought the entire front wheel from my road bike.

That was it, race over. Donna was an official DNF (did not finish). One of the race staff volunteers put Donna’s bike in his truck – it was the same guy who flagged me down and asked if I had a pump. He gave her a ride back to the RV park.

Her race was over, but her goal of qualifying for the National Senior Olympics may still be attainable. We’re looking at a couple of options. Since our home state of South Dakota doesn’t offer a qualifying bicycle road race event, there are two ways for Donna to qualify. The Montana event would have qualified her without question. Now it seems we have to find another qualifier in another state (Washington is a possibility) or she has to complete two races and petition for inclusion. She’s already completed one of the two required by racing in the Tour de Mesa back in April.

After Donna returned to the park, we rode the scooter over to MacKenzie River Pizza for lunch. I think I was more bummed about the tire failure than Donna was. I should have changed her tires. They were old, but the modern tire compounds wear like iron. They looked decent, until the bead failed. I guess I need to treat them like RV tires – replace them based on age, not visual cues.

After lunch, we rode over to the Big Horn Outdoor store, which was recommended to us for high-end road bike gear. I bought new tires for Donna – Continental GP4000 S tires to be specific. These tires are hand-made in Germany and it’s reflected in the pricing!

New hand-made tires

We stopped back at the park and dropped off her tires. Then we went to the grocery store to stock up. Did I mention the weather? It was a partly cloudy, but dry day. We had a load of groceries to scooter back to the park. I think it was the biggest load ever.

After we returned, I installed the new tires on Donna’s bike. No issues, the bead seated with no problem. I still can’t get my head around the tire failure. I put a new tube in that tire last Sunday. Donna rode over 40 miles since then. How does the bead suddenly fail and the tire blow off the rim? I’ve changed hundreds if not thousands of bicycle tires and tubes over the last 35 years. I don’t recall ever seeing a failure like this.

Last night, I grilled Jamaican jerk chicken. Donna served it over brown rice with mango salsa and broccoli on the side. We were able to dine al fresco at the picnic table. Hurray!

Jamaican jerk chicken with mango salsa

Today, we have blue skies and a fair weather forecast for the coming days. Donna is planning to go out for a bike ride. I want to wash the coach and polish the wheels. We’ll pull out of Great Falls on Monday.

Tamale Tuesday

This morning I awoke to the sound of raindrops drumming on the roof of our coach – the same sound I heard yesterday and the day before that. The north and east ends of Dick’s RV Park are giant mud puddles. I’m happy to be in the drier southwest corner, even though we’re closer to the road noise.

On Tuesday afternoon, we had a break in the rain. The forecast called for about an hour lull in the rain showers. Donna went for a walk while it was dry out. I checked our batteries and puttered around. We had about 60 or 70 gallons of fresh water on board. I dumped the tank and refilled it with 100 gallons of the city water here in the park. Great Falls has great water! Much better than the water we’ve been carrying from the desert. When Donna returned, she told me she saw a tamale vendor on the street corner across the 6th Street bridge.

The next bout of rain showers hadn’t arrived yet, so I hustled over to check out the tamales. There was a trailer set up as a kitchen in the church parking lot at 6th Street and 10th Avenue. It had a sign that said “Electric City Concessions” on the side. Electric City is the nickname given to Great Falls, due to having the first hydroelectric generating plant on the Missouri River here.

They offered homemade tamales wrapped in corn husks. Two dollars each, six for $8.50 or $16.00 for a dozen. Tamales are a traditional Mesoamerican dish made from masa ( a corn based starchy dough). In Mexico, tamales are made with different fillings and can be eaten for breakfast (usually with a sweet filling) or dinner. The masa is wrapped with corn husks or leaves and steamed.

I bought half a dozen tamales. These were savory with a ground pork filling. I brought them back to the coach and split them with Donna. They were fairly small, so three each was about right for lunch. Electric City Concessions sets up every Tuesday at the church (Tamale Tuesday). We won’t have another opportunity to buy them as we’ll be leaving Great Falls next Monday.

Yesterday, it rained all day with only a brief break in the evening. Donna and I took a short walk through the park during the break. We avoided the muddy north side. Last night, Donna prepared fish tacos for dinner – one of my favorites.

I’m trying to use the RV park’s wifi as much as possible. With the rain and the park fairly full, their wifi is unreliable. Being inside all day means we are burning through our data allotment. Eight days into our cycle, we’ve used 59% of our current plan. I can raise our allotment and probably will before the cycle ends.

The rain is supposed clear up around noon today. I need to change the rear inner tube on Donna’s bike. I’ll also clean and lube the chain in preparation for tomorrow’s race. At some point, we need to scooter over to the Holiday Inn to pick up her race packet. We may have a shower or two this evening, but we should have clear, blue skies for tomorrow’s race.

Giant Springs

Yesterday’s weather forecast called for a six-hour dry spell between 9am and 3pm. I took advantage of the break in the rainfall and got on my mountain bike at 11am.

After I crossed the Central Avenue bridge, I followed the River’s Edge Trail north, then east as the Missouri bends that direction. I rode at a steady pace until I passed under the 15th Street bridge and stopped at the Black Eagle Dam.

Black Eagle Dam and Falls

Below the dam are the Black Eagle Falls, the first of five falls that make up the Great Falls of the Missouri in Montana. The Black Eagle Dam was first constructed of wood in 1890. It was a timber and rock crib dam, the first to supply hydroelectric power on the Missouri River. In 1926, it was rebuilt with concrete, which still stands today. The original structure is still there, submerged behind the current dam.

The dam is 782 feet long and 34.5 feet high. It houses three turbines that can generate up to 18 megawatts of power. The dam can generate power from the flow of the river, without creating a storage reservoir behind it. Thus it’s called a “run of the river” dam.

The falls downriver from the dam drop over 26 feet. Meriweather Lewis was the first white man to see these falls. The name “Black Eagle” came from an eagle that Lewis saw nesting on a island below the falls.

A few hundred yards downstream, there’s an iron sculpture next to the path. It depicts Lewis and Clark with their guide, Sacajawea, looking at the falls.

Lewis and Clark with Sacajawea

View of Black Eagle Falls from the sculpture

There are many interpretive placards along the River’s Edge Trail, giving short history lessons. I photographed a couple of examples. Click on the placard photos to enlarge and read them if you’re interested.

Montana mining history

Smelting operation

Along this section, the bike trail is high above the river. I could see dirt trails below, near the banks of the river.

Dirt trails by the river

I came to a fork in the path. To the right, it passed under Giant Springs Road. To the left, it continued along the river. I stayed left. A short distance later, the trail forked again. To the right, it ended at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center parking lot. On the left, the trail made a rough descent to the river.

I took the left fork and rode down to the river. There was a mixture of dirt and paved trails along this section. I rode into the Giant Springs State Park. The Giant Springs are an amazing sight. Fresh water flows up to the surface into a large pool. It reminded me of Yellowstone in a way, but this water was cool, clear and pure.

The water temperature is 54 degrees Fahrenheit. It originates from snow melt in the Little Belt Mountains (where the Mumbro Park cabin is located). Giant Springs is formed by an opening in the Madison aquifer. The water comes to the surface and forms a pool, which drains 150 million gallons of pure, fresh water into the Missouri River daily. Some of the spring water is diverted and bottled for human consumption. It’s also used to supply fresh, cold water to Montana’s largest trout hatchery.

Placard at Giant Springs

Look closely and you'll see three streams of water shooting to the surface

Look closely and you’ll see where streams of water shoot to the surface

Water shooting to the surface of the pool and flowing over the rocks to the Missouri

Water shooting to the surface of the pool and flowing over the rocks into the Missouri

The pool of water rushing over the rocks into the river is an amazing sight. I tried to capture the beauty of it.

Giant Springs

A guy walking by asked if I wanted my picture taken at the springs. Why not? It didn’t add anything to the beauty factor though.

On the way back I stopped at the Knicker Biker bike shop downtown. I bought spare inner tubes for our road bikes and a few energy bars.

I came back to the RV park at 1pm. It was an enjoyable two-hour ride. Donna and I had our lunch outside at the picnic table while the sun was shining. Donna went out for a walk and I walked a couple of laps around the park. I chatted with some folks. I found out both tour groups currently in the park are bound for Alaska. I think they will be pulling out this morning. Once the tour groups leave, the park wifi should become usable again. In the meantime, we’re burning through our Verizon data plan.

Donna walked for about 45 minutes, then went back to work on her laptop. The rain returned around 4pm and hasn’t let up since then. We may have a small window – maybe an hour – of sunshine this afternoon. The weather guessers have been right so far and they say the weather should start clearing up and warming up tomorrow.

Rain Falls in Great Falls

We were shut-ins for most of the weekend. Thundershowers and rain damped our enthusiasm. During a few of the breaks in the precipitation on Saturday, we walked laps of the park.

Adventure Caravans assembled another tour group here at Dick’s RV park. They’re joined by another tour group called Fantasy Adventures. This filled the RV park again. We had a couple of quiet days in between the groups. While the park was fairly empty, the wifi worked great. Now that it’s full, the wifi service is spotty. I don’t know the details of these tours.

Yesterday, we had a break in the rain showers. It looked like we would have dry conditions for a couple of hours before the next bout of thundershowers. I pulled Donna’s bicycle out of the trailer and pumped up her tires. While I was filling the tires, I found the front Presta valve was broken. I replaced the inner tube. After I pumped up the rear tire, the thumbscrew on the Presta valve broke off! I put a cap over it and Donna was able to ride. The valve will fail the next time I pump up the tire though.

Inner tube with Presta valve – Google Image

Donna rode 3 miles out to Broadwater Bay Park where her bicycle race starts. She rode the race course which is 25 miles. The climb up Eden Road was tougher than she anticipated with several steep climbs and long uphill pulls. After the turnaround, though, coming back on Eden Road was faster than she thought it would be. It’s a grueling course, but her elapsed time overall was close to what she expects to do in the race.

The rain showers returned before Donna made it home. She rode in the rain from the Central Avenue bridge. While she was out, I caught the Moto GP race on Dish Network and squandered my chance for a bike ride.

Later, we had another break in the weather. I rode the scooter to pick up a few groceries. While I was at it, I bought a six-pack of beer. It’s a beer from Bayern Brewing in Missoula, Montana, called Dump Truck Extra Pale Summer Bock. There are so many craft breweries nowadays and countless styles being brewed. It’s fun to try something new, but I would prefer to experiment at a brew pub where you can order a sampler flight. I had no idea what an extra pale summer bock would be like. It turned out to be a fairly strong (6% ABV) lager with the yeast contributing to a bitter finish.

Last night, I was able to fire up the grill and grill fajita-spiced chicken thighs before the rain started up again.

Today’s forecast calls for about a six-hour window of sunshine before we hunker down for another 48 hours of thunderstorms and rain. When we looked into Donna doing the race here, I remember reading that the average rainfall for Great Falls in June is two inches. It’s their rainiest month of the year. So it’s not like we didn’t expect to have some rain. But it looks like this rainy weather will clear up later in the week.

After I dump and flush our holding tanks this morning, I want to ride my bike east on the River’s Edge Trail. While I’m out, I’ll buy spare inner tubes for our road bikes.

River’s Edge Trail

I studied a street map to get a better idea of how Great Falls is laid out.

The Missouri River bends through town. The river flows north, then east. The downtown area and much of the city lies south and east of the river. This part of town is fairly easy to navigate – it’s mostly a grid with numbered avenues running east-west and numbered streets running north-south.

The river throws a monkey wrench into the scheme though. North and west of the river, some of the roads follow the river’s contour. There are only four bridges crossing the Missouri. On the west end, the Sun River flows into the Missouri from the west and only has two crossings. You have to know where you can cross the river or you’ll find yourself at dead ends.

Yesterday, Donna and I went out on our bicycles. We rode separately though – Donna on her road bike and me on my mountain bike. We both crossed the Sun River on 6th Street and followed the bike path to Central Avenue West. We crossed the Missouri on a bridge constructed for pedestrians and bicyclists. The bridge is made of wood. It’s wide and well maintained.

Map of the River’s Edge Trail system

Bridge on bike path across the Missouri River

Donna headed north and then east on the River’s Edge Trail. I rode south. Although most of the trail is dedicated to cyclists, walkers and runners, there are a few areas that are on roadways or through parking lots. It can be confusing at times as the trail runs into a large parking lot with no clear direction of where to pick up the trail again.

At one point on my ride, the trail crossed a train track next to the police station. I rode through the police parking lot and guessed at the direction to take. I rode down a street, across the tracks again toward the river. I found the trail at the end of the Broadwater Bay Park.

The bike path took me along River Road. I climbed the hill at Overlook, past the Visitor Center and found a gazebo in a park, overlooking the city. You can see for miles from this overlook.

Gazebo overlooking Great Falls

View to the northwest from the gazebo

I rode down the hill to the Visitor Center. There’s a sculpture and placard there that I took pictures of.

Sculpture – Explorers at the Portage

Placard with excerpt from Meriwether Lweis' journal

Placard with excerpt from Meriweather Lewis’ journal

On the ride back, I stopped and took a picture of a striking building on the east side of the Central Avenue bridge. It’s called the Milwaukee Station. It has a sign on it that says “Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Ry.” It’s not a train station anymore. It’s occupied by various businesses and office space.

Milwaukee Station

As the name implies, much of the River’s Edge Trail runs along the Missouri River. The scenery was beautiful, but some areas of the trail had excessive amounts of goose droppings.

Missouri River

I rode past the Milwaukee Station, north to Gibson Park. There’s a large pond and fountain there and also a small amphitheater. I saw a man setting up equipment. He told me there would be an event later called “Live at Five.” His band would be performing original compositions.

Setting up for “Live at Five”

As I retraced my route back to the RV park, I stopped at the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway yard. There was a rail snow plow on a track there. Removing snow from the train tracks is a formidable task in the Rocky Mountains and across the great plains. Most of the time, a simple wedge or blade plow is pushed by a locomotive. Sometimes though, there’s too much snow for this method. In extreme conditions, they use a rotary snowthrower that chops up the snow and throws it clear of the track. Rotary rail snowthrowers are expensive and require much maintenance, which is why they are only used in extreme conditions.

The old plow I looked at was made in the 1940s. It’s weight is stenciled on the side: 280,000 pounds. It appears to be in service still as it had recent inspection stickers.

Rail snow plow

After my ride, I had lunch and showered. Then I rode the scooter back to the Visitor Center and picked up a couple of maps. The lady there gave me directions to the Parks and Recreation office and also showed me where I could find more convenient shopping.

From the Visitor Center, I went to the Parks and Recreation office to obtain more information about Donna’s bike race. They gave me a map of the course. Then I crossed the river at 9th Street and stopped at Albertson’s. The woman at the Visitor Center was right – this is an easier store to access from Dick’s RV Park.

I came back to our site and picked up Donna. We rode the scooter over the bicycle race course. It starts out at Broadwater Bay Park, then goes south along River Road. This is fairly flat and very scenic. After about four and half miles, Lower River Road becomes Eden Road. The course climbs up Eden for nearly a mile, then it continues to gain elevation through a series of rolling hills. The short climbs are followed by short descents, but overall, it continues to gain elevation to the turnaround point. The rolling hills mean there are some climbs on the way back, but it should be fast coming back down Eden. The total distance is 40 kilometers or about 25 miles.

Last night, I grilled bacon-wrapped filet mignons and sweet potato fries for dinner and we ate outside at our picnic table – a great way to end a great day.

Bacon-wrapped filets and sweet potato fries

RV Caravans

The day started off cold with light drizzle yesterday. We had to run the heat pumps – it was 58 degrees in the coach when I got up. It remained overcast and breezy for most of the day. The sun came out in the late afternoon, but the thermometer never rose much above 60.

Donna spent most of the day working at her laptop. I puttered around, handled a few tasks online and wrote the government a check for my second quarter estimated taxes. Grrr.

Around 2pm, Donna and I went for a walk. We walked on the bike path and crossed the 6th St. Bridge over the Sun River. Today I want to get my bike out and ride the bike path down River Drive. I’ve been gaining weight since I hurt my neck in Mesa. I need to ramp up my physical activity. I don’t believe there’s any magic or mystery when it comes to weight loss. The equation is simple – increase your activity and decrease your intake. It works every time.

When we arrived at Dick’s RV Park, it was almost full. There are two caravan groups here. They are both run by a company called Adventure Caravans. RVers enroll and pay a fee to join the caravan.

One of the caravan groups is following the Lewis and Clark Trail. They started in St. Louis, Missouri. They arrived here on Monday, their 26th day on the road, and pulled out yesterday. Adventure Caravans organizes the route. They make all of the campground reservations. They have tour buses that take the group from the campground to various points of interest along the way. They have social gatherings most evenings and some meals are included. This caravan tour finishes in Warrenton, Oregon after 46 days on the road.

The other caravan is just starting out. Dick’s RV Park was their meet-up location. They spent a couple of days here, going through orientation and preparing their rigs for travel through the Canadian Rockies to Alaska. They’re pulling out as I type this. This caravan lasts 59 days. Adventure Caravans provides staff in two motorhomes – one that leads the group and another that follows. If anyone has a problem or mechanical breakdown, the following staff stops and helps them. The cost of this tour for two people with a motorhome is $8,895.00.

I think we’ll continue to see the sights on our own. Donna and I don’t get too excited about guided tours. We prefer to move at our own pace.

Yesterday, I rode the scooter over to Albertson’s grocery store and bought a fresh wild Copper River sockeye salmon filet. Donna topped it with a mixture of mayonnaise and fresh-dried dill from her mother’s garden and I grilled it on foil. Donna sauteed vegetables and pierogies on the side. It was a great combination!

Sauteed veggies and pierogies

Copper River sockeye salmon with dill-mayo

Today, the weather guessers are calling for high temperature of 80 degrees with a chance of a thunder shower this afternoon. Other than getting out on my bicycle, I don’t have any plans for the day.

Riding with the Wind

I’ve been running both air conditioners non-stop the last two days. It’s been unusually warm, with the temperature reaching the upper 80s. There’s also humidity as scattered thunderstorms form in the late afternoon. We’ve only had a few stray rain drops here in the park, but I heard thunder and saw rainfall in the area. Yesterday, a nearby storm cell created wind gusts that rocked the coach for several minutes.

Today, the forecast calls for a more seasonable high of 77 degrees. I have windows and the door open this morning. Maybe I can give the air conditioners a break.

Yesterday, I rode the scooter out of the park, five miles north on Redwood Road. I wanted to check out the Pilot/Flying J fuel station. I’d like to to fuel up the coach when we leave here on Tuesday. I was told there was road construction by the station, so I wanted to check the area before driving the coach there. After checking it out on the scooter, I don’t think it will be a problem to stop there for fuel.

I’ve been using an app from the folks at Technomadia, called State Lines. It gives me useful information on various laws and taxes in each state. One of the things I look at, are fuel taxes. If I know we’ll be driving through a state with high fuel taxes, I’ll fuel up ahead of time. Here, in Utah, the tax on diesel fuel is 48.9 cents per gallon. When we reach Montana it will be 52.9 cents. When we head west from Montana I’ll buy fuel in Idaho where the tax is 49.4 cents per gallon. If I wait until we reach Washington, I’ll pay 61.9 cents per gallon in taxes! This app helps me to plan fuel stops.

After I reconnoitered the fuel stop, I went out on my mountain bike. I rode the Jordan River Trail again. I had a tail wind on the ride north. Along the way, I saw a group of people canoeing the river. I don’t know if it was an organized tour or just friends and family. There were about a dozen canoes together.

Canoes on the Jordan River

Canoeing down river looked fun. I wondered if they were going to pull out downriver or if they planned to paddle back upstream.

When I reached the moto-cross track, I was surprised at the lack of activity. No one was out on the track. Then I saw why. They must have read my last post about the dust being kicked up! There were two water trucks spraying water on the track to keep the dust down. The motorcyclists were taking a break as the track was being prepared.

Water truck in the center of the photo

After enjoying the tailwind on the ride down the river, I expected to battle the wind on the way back. I was pleasantly surprised. The wind died down for most of the ride back. The lack of wind made the ride easier, but it also meant swarms of gnats formed along the river. I rode through countless flying insects. I tried not to breathe through my mouth as they bounced off of my face. About a half mile from the park, the wind picked up again.

Later, after I showered and washed a load of laundry, I took a stroll through the RV park. The evening air was beginning to cool. The late afternoon was hot and muggy. I met a couple of guys from Canada. They were on their way back after buying a truck in Arizona. Not just any old truck, but a 1964 Chevy K10. The truck was in excellent condition.

1964 Chevy K10

It had a custom cap on the back and an auxiliary fuel tank. The guy that bought the truck told me he had a 1964 C10 at home and found the K10 online. The C10 is a rear-wheel drive truck while the K10 features four-wheel drive.

This morning, I’m taking advantage of the great wifi here at the KOA. I’m downloading the European coverage of the Moto-GP qualifying and race at Mugello, Italy. I’m looking forward to Donna’s return this afternoon.

Our plan is to pull out of here on Tuesday. Our next destination is West Yellowstone. We’ll stay there a few days and explore Yellowstone National Park.

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Bicycle

High Voltage

Up Early

Summer Solstice

Blow Out

Tamale Tuesday

Giant Springs

Rain Falls in Great Falls

River’s Edge Trail

RV Caravans

Riding with the Wind

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