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-   -   Dodged a Bullet (https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=1204953)

indyfabz 06-17-20 04:16 AM

Dodged a Bullet
 
Had I been able to pull off my planned trip, today I would have been scheduled to end up smack in the pink, a bit to the left of Dillon, after crossing a mostly unpaved pass from Idaho.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...db10e9568.jpeg

GrainBrain 06-17-20 05:11 AM

That's crazy - would you have been starting your trip there or would you have been passing through at this point?

jamawani 06-17-20 05:15 AM

Mr. Fabz -

For years I have tried to tell folks about June in the Northern Rockies.
I have x-c skied on fresh, deep snow many years in June.
People from Peoria and Pittsburgh have a hard time pondering this.
(Just posted a warning about September on Crazyguy.)

Jama

indyfabz 06-17-20 06:03 AM


Originally Posted by GrainBrain (Post 21538493)
That's crazy - would you have been starting your trip there or would you have been passing through at this point?

Was scheduled to fly to Missoula last Saturday and start riding the next day. I've rolled the dice out that way at the same time of year and been mostly successful. A couple of days of chilly rain and light flurries at altitude, but never a huge storm. In 2016 a local in Hamilton told me there had been 5" of slush atop Lost Trail Pass a day or two before. It was clear when I rode it the next day, but I did get hit by a little sleet and snow, but it was bright and sunny by the time I left the rest area at the top of the pass.

fishboat 06-17-20 06:28 AM

Yikes..that's nuts. You would have survived..but had a heck of a story to tell.

indyfabz 06-17-20 06:36 AM


Originally Posted by fishboat (Post 21538572)
Yikes..that's nuts. You would have survived..but had a heck of a story to tell.

IKR. I would likely be stuck today in Leadore, ID. Not a whole lot there and no way to get back to where I would need to be other than my intended route or going backwards to Salmon and then eventually back over Lost Trail Pass that I would have crossed two days before. At least that is paved.

djb 06-17-20 07:03 AM

Yup for folks like me out east where it's low, we just don't think of this stuff in mid June.
glad you weren't in that

Happy Feet 06-17-20 08:57 AM

Same thing happened to me a year or so ago. I was planning to ride the Columbia Icefields but had to cancel and the day I would have summited they had 25cm's of snow. I would have had a road bike and minimal clothing.

indyfabz 06-17-20 09:00 AM

Nearly the entirety of my planned route is covered in pink. I have seen participants in the Great Divide race in the area a bit south of Butte around this time.

indyfabz 06-17-20 09:55 AM

Current conditions about 16 miles SE of where I would have woken up this morning at 5,900'. Wonder what it's like at 7,700'.


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...04d31ecdc9.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...929805c4be.jpg

pdlamb 06-17-20 10:06 AM

@indyfabz, maybe it's time to update one of the perennial thread starters on bikeforums.

Instead of recommend bike shoes, recommend snowshoes for MTB pedals.

:)

Tourist in MSN 06-17-20 12:47 PM


Originally Posted by pdlamb (Post 21538923)
...
Instead of recommend bike shoes, recommend snowshoes for MTB pedals.

:)

Snowshoes are the things you strap onto your boots so you do not sink into the snow, like the two pair leaning against my errand bike.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c04a9d04fa.jpg

It would be difficult to use those with any kind of pedals.

pdlamb 06-17-20 03:53 PM


Originally Posted by Tourist in MSN (Post 21539195)
It would be difficult to use those with any kind of pedals.

It's a joke, Spock.

mev 06-17-20 04:55 PM


Originally Posted by indyfabz (Post 21538813)
I have seen participants in the Great Divide race in the area a bit south of Butte around this time.

Speaking of that was there a formal delay/cancellation of tour divide this year? Since the US/Canada border is still closed, at least a strong modification would have been necessary.

djb 06-17-20 06:07 PM

Howdy mr mev, it must have been cancelled, changed. Didn't read specifics, but one would assume so.

Tourist in MSN 06-17-20 06:34 PM


Originally Posted by pdlamb (Post 21539453)
It's a joke, Spock.

Ok, I assumed you were a southerner that had never seen snow and did not know what snow shoes were. Sorry I mis-understood.

indyfabz 06-17-20 06:52 PM


Originally Posted by mev (Post 21539566)
Speaking of that was there a formal delay/cancellation of tour divide this year? Since the US/Canada border is still closed, at least a strong modification would have been necessary.

Good question. Totally forgot about the border closure. Wondering if a group decided to start in Roosville.

mev 06-18-20 06:43 AM


Originally Posted by djb (Post 21539705)
Howdy mr mev, it must have been cancelled, changed. Didn't read specifics, but one would assume so.

The Tour Divide has always had two variations: a Grand Depart the second Friday of June from Banff and possibility of riding it as an individual time trial with variations such as riding south to north or with different start date. Most publicity seemed to surround those who left on day of Grand Depart.

I guessed the Banff start would get cancelled both because the border was closed and likely if it was against BC Provincial guidelines for large groups. However, I was curious if there was still any variation of those riding it anyways. I looked a bit further and found a 2020 leaderboard tracking two riders who appear to have left at the customary start time from Roosville: Tour Divide ITT 2020 live tracker by trackleaders.com Looks like they are currently in mountains of Montana. Also a Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/376600539485069/

indyfabz 06-18-20 06:56 AM


Originally Posted by mev (Post 21540290)
Looks like they are currently in mountains of Montana.

ES is just south of Butte, heading towards the Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway and the 26 mile (paved) slog to the nearly 8,000' summit.

According to the U.S.F.S., the byway is closed due to the effects of the storm:

"The Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway continues to remain impassable to through traffic due to significant snow remaining at higher elevations. Beaverhead County officials are monitoring the snow depth and predict that they should be able to plow open the Pioneer Scenic Byway near mid-June. " Until the Byway is opened, travelers in the area are advised to be cautious of changing road conditions and respect the road closures. To become stuck in a snowbank puts you and someone that might be willing to help you at risk for personal injuries as well as damage to your vehicle.

"Upon opening the Byway, County crews will resume reconstruction of the roadway in the Moose Park Area. Motorists can expect to encounter delays during the reconstruction, including some possible short term road closures to expedite the work."
JC is behind in Lincoln.

djb 06-18-20 11:34 AM

Thanks mev. I suspect that there would be lots of less hardcore riders shying away from it due to the unknown aspects, and obviously all Canadian participants unless they've been in the US for a long time.
Up here, especially for the first part of this crisis, it's been recommended not to take part in more dangerous activities, so not to take up hospital resources if you crash and break your neck.
Its the old story with this aspect of this thing, if you poo poo the risks of a pandemic and the crap really his the fan big time and health system is overrun, then it becomes a disaster.
If you proceed cautiously, lockdown, tell people to stop jumping motorhomeswith their Harleys etc and things don't get over whelmed, then nobody notices or are aware of what's going on, and or just think because nothing happened then it was all a waste.

like the pandemic experts say, if we do our job, then nobody notices and thinks it was nothing.
Its when every Joe blow becomes a bit player in a real contagion movie and have family members dying does it then become real.
My mom's mom lost a sister in 1919 or 20 in England. Both my father's parents lost siblings also in Toronto.

phew, got off topic there didn't I?

stardognine 06-18-20 02:26 PM

Dang, Indy! Now you know why I’m still carrying my down parka, in the middle of June. 🙄😁

It’s been flirting with 100* F here in the Sacramento area, so I’ve been swimming at Folsom Lake and in the Sacramento & American Rivers. If you get a big enough magnifying glass, you can melt that snow into a wading pool. 😁😉

I’m actually leaving today, back towards Davis & their pervert ladies. Then probably towards the Ocean again. 😎

arctos 06-18-20 03:13 PM

When i lived in N.W. Montana in the early 1980's I met a bike tourist heading East. He was complaining about the hot temperatures. I told him to wait a few minutes. A long heavy hail storm dumped on the area and the temps dropped to the 40'sF. He was astounded by the almost instant change in the weather. Expect the unexpected in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming is a good plan.

indyfabz 06-24-20 11:37 AM


Originally Posted by arctos (Post 21541204)
When i lived in N.W. Montana in the early 1980's I met a bike tourist heading East. He was complaining about the hot temperatures. I told him to wait a few minutes. A long heavy hail storm dumped on the area and the temps dropped to the 40'sF. He was astounded by the almost instant change in the weather. Expect the unexpected in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming is a good plan.

You're the guy who lived in the Cabinet Mountains, right? I was out there again last year. Spent the night in the memorial park in Noxon then did a short day to Bad Medicine C.G. so I could spend some time at the Ross Creek Cedars area before moving on to Troy and then Yaak.

When our cross country group rode through that area back in '99 it was chilly and damp when we woke up at the campground at the junction of MT 200 and MT 56. Headed north on 56. Chilly and misty with low clounds. Stopped for coffee at the roadhouse in Little Joe. Came out maybe 30 minutes later and there was hardly a cloud in the sky.

fietsbob 06-28-20 01:08 PM

So not one of these ? Larry vs Harry - Bullitt cargo bike

http://www.larryvsharry.com/wp-conte...lder-front.jpg

djb 06-28-20 01:54 PM

Met a retired French couple in a French campground touring with a Bullitt, carrying their cute Labrador.
very cool bikes.


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