20th July
As usual, I wake stupidly early, as the rest of the world showers, eats and leaves for work (0500 here, apparently). I get up, read my emails, then go back to bed and re-awake at 0845…
I pack the bike and I’m on the road for 1045 – I’ve decided to follow a route suggested by one of the ADVRider chaps. I follow Highway 2 north west out of Libby, then turn left down the Bull River Road, which, as its name suggests, follows the Bull River down to Bull Lake…
It’s a cloudy day, and the weather could go either way – I leave the waterproof cover on the tank bag.
I reach Noxon, a small town built on the western side of the Clark Fork…
The town has 2 bars, but no restaurant, so breakfast will have to wait. It’s amazing what you find lurking in small town America, though…
I continue down the western side of Clark Fork, planning to meet my original route in a few miles. Interestingly, the road I’m on suddenly changes to gravel and starts looping off south west away from my original route. So what? I’ve got all day…
I continue riding for nearly an hour, threading my way through a number of low passes and generally following the line of the electricity pylons. Eventually, the road descends back towards lake level – wouldn’t you like to stay in that cabin?
About a mile further on, the road turns back to asphalt. I increase my speed and notice an unsteadiness in the Adv’s handling – I pull over…
…and, sure enough, the plug I put in the other day has pulled out & the rear tyre is deflating…
I get the Tyre Plugger out and replace the plug – in less than half an hour I’m back on the road. I stop at a small café in Trout Creek for lunch. I’m served by a careless, sullen teenager, who’s clearly being employed during her school holidays. I wonder if employers realise how much damage this apparently ‘cheap’ labour causes their business…
After lunch (and checking the tyre pressure) , I rejoin the original route. I ride down the Blue Slide Road, climbing slowly up into the Lo Lo National Forest…
I then turn left up Cougar Peak Road – a gravel trail which climbs way above the Blue Slide…
The trail is good to begin with, but gets rougher the higher I climb…
Eventually, at 6200ft, I come across a closed gate…
…which means I can’t go any further up. They have supplied a handy metal topped post, though, so I use it for a Kodak moment using the timer …
I turn the bike around and, in what is becoming a regular occurrence, I find that the plug has failed in the rear tyre again…
…in a well-practised routine, I have the tyre re-plugged in under 10 minutes and wait whilst the compressor gets it up to pressure…
…keeping a keen eye out – that’s bear poo in the left of the picture.
I manage to re-inflate the tyre without becoming Yogi’s afternoon snack and make my way back down the trail to re-join the civilised world in Thompson Falls, where I refuel and re-check the plug (which looks fine) and pressure. I then ride out towards Eagle, a small town the Idaho border. Despite being exactly where it’s marked on the map – I’m unable to find the town
– I carry on towards Kellogg.
As I’m riding down the NF-9, I notice something off to the left. I stop the bike & walk back to see a female (Cow?) Moose and her calf. Unfortunately, her sense of danger is acute and, after staring at me for a few seconds, she plods off into the woods with her offspring. This is the best picture I could get, given the distance…
Betty calculates a route which then takes me down the Old River Road…
It’s stunningly pretty. It’s clearly a forgotten by-way and, in the late afternoon sunshine, is a completely quiet and idyllic spot. I stop for a few minutes and enjoy the silence…
It’s one of the moments that makes me consider how lucky I am, and how strange it’s going to be to try to rejoin the ‘real world’ in a few months time…
I get back on the bike and ride into Kellogg. I decide to stay there, as it has the best decorated hydrants I’ve yet seen in the USA…
As usual, I wake stupidly early, as the rest of the world showers, eats and leaves for work (0500 here, apparently). I get up, read my emails, then go back to bed and re-awake at 0845…
I pack the bike and I’m on the road for 1045 – I’ve decided to follow a route suggested by one of the ADVRider chaps. I follow Highway 2 north west out of Libby, then turn left down the Bull River Road, which, as its name suggests, follows the Bull River down to Bull Lake…
It’s a cloudy day, and the weather could go either way – I leave the waterproof cover on the tank bag.
I reach Noxon, a small town built on the western side of the Clark Fork…
The town has 2 bars, but no restaurant, so breakfast will have to wait. It’s amazing what you find lurking in small town America, though…
I continue down the western side of Clark Fork, planning to meet my original route in a few miles. Interestingly, the road I’m on suddenly changes to gravel and starts looping off south west away from my original route. So what? I’ve got all day…
I continue riding for nearly an hour, threading my way through a number of low passes and generally following the line of the electricity pylons. Eventually, the road descends back towards lake level – wouldn’t you like to stay in that cabin?
About a mile further on, the road turns back to asphalt. I increase my speed and notice an unsteadiness in the Adv’s handling – I pull over…
…and, sure enough, the plug I put in the other day has pulled out & the rear tyre is deflating…
I get the Tyre Plugger out and replace the plug – in less than half an hour I’m back on the road. I stop at a small café in Trout Creek for lunch. I’m served by a careless, sullen teenager, who’s clearly being employed during her school holidays. I wonder if employers realise how much damage this apparently ‘cheap’ labour causes their business…
After lunch (and checking the tyre pressure) , I rejoin the original route. I ride down the Blue Slide Road, climbing slowly up into the Lo Lo National Forest…
I then turn left up Cougar Peak Road – a gravel trail which climbs way above the Blue Slide…
The trail is good to begin with, but gets rougher the higher I climb…
Eventually, at 6200ft, I come across a closed gate…
…which means I can’t go any further up. They have supplied a handy metal topped post, though, so I use it for a Kodak moment using the timer …
I turn the bike around and, in what is becoming a regular occurrence, I find that the plug has failed in the rear tyre again…
…in a well-practised routine, I have the tyre re-plugged in under 10 minutes and wait whilst the compressor gets it up to pressure…
…keeping a keen eye out – that’s bear poo in the left of the picture.
I manage to re-inflate the tyre without becoming Yogi’s afternoon snack and make my way back down the trail to re-join the civilised world in Thompson Falls, where I refuel and re-check the plug (which looks fine) and pressure. I then ride out towards Eagle, a small town the Idaho border. Despite being exactly where it’s marked on the map – I’m unable to find the town
– I carry on towards Kellogg. As I’m riding down the NF-9, I notice something off to the left. I stop the bike & walk back to see a female (Cow?) Moose and her calf. Unfortunately, her sense of danger is acute and, after staring at me for a few seconds, she plods off into the woods with her offspring. This is the best picture I could get, given the distance…
Betty calculates a route which then takes me down the Old River Road…
It’s stunningly pretty. It’s clearly a forgotten by-way and, in the late afternoon sunshine, is a completely quiet and idyllic spot. I stop for a few minutes and enjoy the silence…
It’s one of the moments that makes me consider how lucky I am, and how strange it’s going to be to try to rejoin the ‘real world’ in a few months time…
I get back on the bike and ride into Kellogg. I decide to stay there, as it has the best decorated hydrants I’ve yet seen in the USA…
