I didn't know that, but now that you mention it, I do kind of remember them grinding loudly as they passed.

They're called "Jammers" because of the noise the gears make going up and down the hills.

Hello Andrea,

You were very lucky to have the Kootenai as your home river. It really is beautiful. I wish I would have taken more pictures of it. There were many good views of the river west of Libby too, but back then I rarely stopped pedaling solely to take a picture.

Greg

FIFTEEN!!! I knew you've been doing this bike touring thing a long time, but, man, you're even more of an inspiration than I thought.

I think my riding through that area was less a case of questionable judgement, and more a case of naivete. I had no idea there was a desert in eastern Washington. I wasn't disappointed though, as I am a fan of deserts.

July in The Coulee country. Wow! Questionable judgement is right - a bit charitable, actually. My first longer ride was like this, from Seattle to a resort near Grand Coulee Dam. I was 15, biking over two days to meet my family at our vacation rental. I slept on a blown over billboard in the sagebrush near Vantage, and arrived well done the next day. A ride I’ll never forget.

My home river, the beautiful Kootenai.

I never really thought about them much either. I used to think it was just getting knocked on the head hard enough to make you dizzy for a while.

This incident was actually the second time I've dealt with a concussed bike rider after a crash. The first one was on an organized day ride where a rider hit a curb and went flying into the grass. His helmet was broken, he seemed a little dazed, and he had trouble getting up, so I called 911. It's so strange to be sitting there talking to a guy for several minutes and then finding out the next day that he doesn't remember a thing about it.

So scary. I never really gave much thought to concussions until Rachael had hers.

Yes, he recovered just fine. He was a strong guy, an athlete who did triathlons. In fact, despite their ragtag appearance, all of those young guys were exceptionally good cyclists. None of them own cars and they ride every day on those steep hills of downtown Seattle, delivering sandwiches, pizzas, documents, etc. Incredibly, almost all of them have been hit by a car at one time or another. My son has been hit twice. They shrug it off as being part of the business.

Hi Keith,

Yeah, I guess I am too easily influenced. Normally I reserve my beer consumption for the end of the day. I definitely overdid it in my attempt to fit in with the young guys, but I sure had fun. The rest of the tour was pretty tame in comparison to day one.

Thanks for checking in,
Greg

Oh, my gosh. What an awful way to start a tour. The photo of the bashed in door is really chilling. Did your friend recover well from his crash injuries?

Hi Greg,
Bloody Marys, beer, crashes and now this. And its only day one. You really outdid yourself on this tour.
Cheers,
Keith

Hi Scott,
Thanks for the message, but you don't have time to read this--at least for now. You've got a tour of your own to conduct and to write about. I don't want to distract you from that.

The northwest to the midwest was nice, but it's not Mediterranean Europe.

Greg

Well, the good news for me is that I never read this in the first place, Greg; or, if I’m mistaken, it’s been so long ago that I’ve forgotten..Looking forward to following along as you reminisce.