And on the Seventh Day, We Rested!

Teach Your Children Well

~Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young

You 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