butte

i did not want to ride today. today is a day of rest and relaxation; of sloth and slumber. instead, i had to hop on my beargrease and head 3.5 miles uphill to a bike shop in the belly of butte.

the shop appointment to replace a broken spoke is more complicated than usual because i have bladed spokes and they are not part of a typical bike shop inventory of j-spokes and butt-ended spokes.

if nothing else, riding the divide begets resourcefulness and so, i called sugar works wheels in portland oregon, builders of my wheels. once connected, i introduced my butte repair guy tristan, to ryan, the portlandia wheel smith.

that was a good interaction and tristan said “give me an hour you’ll be headed downhill.”

that has multiple implications in butte.

meanwhile, it is hot here and downtown butte is pretty much bereft of things to do. i could go to a gun shop, or a weed shop, or peer into vacant commercial buildings, because there are plenty of those here but instead, i ended up at a taco bell because the closest gun shop was closed.

‘merika!!!

coming out of basin, mt and our feed bag of calorie uptake, scott and i picked up a third cyclist for our party. sam eldersveld is from the pnw and has ridden big chunks of the divide. we originally met sam on the ride out of whitefish. he was headed south bound with a friend.

as it turned out, his buddy bailed because of a neck injury, while sam continued his journey south. we ended up staying at the basin community center and after our bountiful breakfast, sam became our new traveling partner.

knowledgeable and engaging; eager and our age. watch out for old men on the divide. we will pass you.

or not.

all should be good, unless he conducts a background check on me or talks to my old girlfriends.

tomorrow, it’s back on the dirt and the rock and ruts of the great divide.

yahoo!!!