Saturday, June 14, 2008

And on the Seventh Day, We Rested!

Teach Your Children Well

~Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young

Y
ou who are on the road

Must have a code that you can live by
And so become yourself

Because the past is just a good bye.

Teach your children well,
Their father's hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you'll know by.


And you, of tender years,
Can't know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth,
They seek the truth before they can die.


This song has been going through my head for the last two days. It seems appropriate on so many levels.

It is so nice to have a day off the bike. Yesterday was quite eventful. First, Sonia and I got lost and added about six miles to our day (for a grand total of 77). I must say that the map was to blame this time, really. I need to write the Adventure Cycling people and let them know. Second, Sonia and I took a longer way than Alison and Gus (we followed the recommended route off the busy highway). Third, and most importantly, we got the bike fixed! I actually needed two bottom brackets, so it is a good thing that I had ordered one and that the shop got one in as well. The bike rides like new and no more popping and grinding (except the sounds from my knees!).

The people at Glacier Cycling were awesome. They got my bike up on the stand right away, replaced the bottom brackets, and fixed the derailleurs so that they no longer sounded like we were towing a herd (?) of crickets behind us! In addition, they told us about an awesome pizza place right next to the bike shop where we all ate heartily.

While in the pizza place we met a guy just out of college who is bicycling from Seattle to Wisconsin where he lives. He's riding with a friend he has known since they were three years old. We invited him to sit at our table and eat. He was in town to get a wheel fixed that broke down along the road. He shared some road stories with us and we shared some onion rings with him. Not a bad trade. A good road story is worth several baskets of excellent onion rings any day. In fact, the stories we hear from people we meet make the trip just as rewarding as beautiful scenery. We met a guy at the hotel in Eureka who was pulling a trailer with racing pigeons from a club in Utah (I never even knew there were clubs for racing pigeon enthusiasts!). He opened the trailer to show the kids the birds and explained how the races worked. These pigeons had 600 miles to fly and would be back in their owners' roosts before a full day was up. I envied the power of what I had previously considered a rat with wings!

Today the kids are at the water park. This is the first warm day Columbia Falls has seen in quite some time. The water park isn't crowded so they don't have to wait in line for any of the slides. And they get to spend a day away from their parents!

Tomorrow we start our uphill into Glacier National Park. It is a good thing we had a day off to rest...the next two days will really test our legs and lungs!

Dan

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! First chance we have had to read of your adventures and they are fantabulous!!!!!

To know others are as crazy and are biking from West to east must be a bit comforting.

Your kids certainly will have a unique story of their own.

Rats with wings, great onion rings, log trucks and rain is the stuff that strong character is made of, grasshopper.

Looking forward to reading more. Wishing you continued safety and fun.

Debi and Megan Evans

Anonymous said...

Hi Kirby family.From Bob & Joyce Modesitt. We have been following your story each day. I went down to the bike shop, down the street and asked about your bike part, they had several, said the bike shops along your route should not have any problem geting you fixed up. Their cost was 27.00.So glad you are discovering interesting experences along the way.We found that what stumble on you will never at another time go back to find again.Happy Trails.

Anonymous said...

Good to hear you got the mechanical problems resolved.

Hey does a 4gig IPOD hold enough music so that you could listen from cost to cost and never hear the same song twice? Hope you got some ACDC on that thing.

OH YEAH, HAPPY FATHERS DAY.

FFEJ

Anonymous said...

Hey you guys! Hope your day off was fun. Happy Father's Day to both Dad's in the group. We wanted to let you know that we bought the Burley tandem yesterday and are having a blast on it. We can't believe how fast you can go!! The cost seemed reasonable, but, as expected, Rob is now decking it out with another $300 of fun toys. So much for staying in budget! Hope the hills aren't too high!

rachel

Unknown said...

happy father's day, cakeface calzaretta.

cubs win again!

glad to hear you're all doing well, having fun and collecting so many adventures and stories.

'hola' to Sonia and Gus, and of course, a big smooch for that eraserhead kirby!

scacco

Anonymous said...

Dan and Alison,

Good to hear that the second leg of your trip is off to a good start. Already seven days into it. We will be in Maine before you. Ha. Actually we'll be in Maine by Tuesday night if all goes well, as we leave on our East Coast vacation tomorrow, touring (by car) from Maine to D.C. Hope that you are beyond the bike repair problems for awhile.

Love, Peter & Carla

Anonymous said...

Hey K-Cs!
Team Bolduc chiming in. All is well here- will go by the house today. Had a great camping trip to Minam for Father's Day weekend.
There should be a wee package for you at Malta, MT next Monday. I'm dropping it off at our PO today. Just ask for a general delivery package...
Much love to all-
Thom, Jen, Cooper, Jack, Maddie, Nell and of course, Angus

Anonymous said...

hey guys i hope u guys are having fun and i hope u make it all the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!! u rock guys

Daniel Taggart

Jen said...

Wow! I just checked your blog for the first time and am impressed by BOTH the journey, and the beauty of your writing about it. In particular, I enjoy the quotes -- you all are right up there with Steinbeck, CSNY, and Shakespeare. Thanks for letting us join your journey vicariously. We wish you many more heron moments. Jen, Haydn, & Huck