Cycling Advocates
Ride to Pro Walk Pro Bike 2006 |
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| Daily Trip
Log |
Jack |
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from Vancouver B.C. to Madison, Wisconsin
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Picture of Vancouver, BC  |
| from Missoula
to Deer Lodge, MT |
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Date: 2006-08-09
Distance: 135 Kilometres
Cycling Time: 6.61 Hours
Average Speed: 20.35 kph
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Trip Distance since Leaving Vancouver
1,317 Kilometres |
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| Thoughts
for the Day |
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Two flats in a day are just too much, especially
when we were trying to get an early start to the day.
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It was 7:00 am in the morning and I was at
the motel’s front desk checking out.when John informs me that our
departure has been delayed. The rear tire on his bike was flat. Then,
as we were ready to leave the restaurant in Drummond at the end of lunch,
I noticed that the rear wheel on my bike was not full. An external examination
indicated a wire stuck through the tire. So, another hour was lost.
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Despite it all that we did manage to make Deer
Lodge by 5:00 pm. |
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It was an excellent day for cycling. The sun
which became quite hot by the afternoon was covered for periods during the
day by clouds. A cloud even dropped one drop of water on me. The remnant
of the 100 kph winds of yesterday, while much lighter, propelled us towards
our destination with the body being a sail. The elevation change today was
minor with long 1.5 to 2 kilometres or more ascends and descends at reasonably
cycling grades. |
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The landscape changed as we cycled further from
Missoula. The valley that the Interstate Highway followed widened. The pine
trees on the hills became farther spread out. More peaks of hills were bare.
The hills colours changed to more pastel shade of light and deeper browns.
The valley spread out into plateaus. The mountain tops became more dimples
than majestic mountains. There was more farming happening along the way.
It was still very much semi-arid. |
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Service along the highway became quite sparse
with only two places having any food along the ride. |
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Cycling
Facilities
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| Interstate Highway 90 |
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For today, the interstate hade wide paved shoulders
except for two bridges were a white edge line was painted about .75 metres
from the road edge. The road was mainly paved with rumble strips along the
right white line. |
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Rumble Strip |
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For many sections of the highway, the road had
interrupted sections without rumble strips allowing cyclists to access the
inside lane for purposes of overtaking or missing debris o the shoulder.
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For other sections, the rumble strip was continuous
and to the right of the inside white line. |
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For my bike it was easy to cycle over the rumble
strip. For John’s bike it was a bit bumpy. |
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Shoulder Maintenance |
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For most sections of the highway the shoulders
were relatively clean, except for some piece of rethreaded tires left behind
by trucks. On one bridge in particular desperately needed cleaning for safe
cycling. It was littered with gravel, tire pieces, and other materials.
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Cattle Guard |
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Too many of the access ramps on and off the
highway had cattle guards that were a bit nerve racking for some to cycle
across and also difficult to walk across in cycling shoes. It would have
helped to have a narrow section of plate on eh guards for walking and cycling
across. |
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