Day 9 miles: 36 Total miles: 361
The ride from Colville to Diamond Lake was mostly uneventful and boring. Cloudy, tons of trucks, narrow shoulders.
Chelewah was a great town but small. I passed through it in 30 seconds.
Coke zero at a gas station across from a tilty barnhouse.
I eventually got off 395 due to the shoulders and made it to our meet up point.
One patch of sun for 30 minutes
I will once my knee lets me.
We once again had pizza and went to Spokane for a much-needed trip to REI and to meet up with someone that had reached out to Lauren after she posted a photo of our tour on Reddit. His name is Ben, and his wife is Breanna.
I was probably at my lowest spirits on the way to Spokane. I was smoked and my knee really hurt.
Ben was there for a reason. When we met up and had the best (only) vegan pizza I’ve ever had, he helped me after we got my bike and showed me how to properly ride a bicycle during long tours (low resistance, high cadence). He even gave us saddle butter and seam repair material for our tent.
It was so needed. I had my spirits raised and was ready to hit the road the next day biking at 90-110 rpm. Thank you Ben!
A kingly gift of beeswax to put on my saddle.
By car:
As Matthew has explained, today’s travel was uneventful, which in my opinion was welcomed. I met Matthew for lunch at a small pizza spot (I never thought I would say this, but we’re starting to get tired of pizza). I walked up to the small coffee outpost for my own boost.
In my endless bike touring research, I’ve joined several subreddit groups to learn from other people. Since this trip has begun, I’ve been occasionally posting pictures and videos on a bicycle touring subreddit. Other uses will comment, give their advice, or just share the excitement with us.
I posted a picture of the Cascades one day, and received a message from one of the users:
“Hey there,
My wife and I live in Spokane Washington. If you pass through we’d love to take you out for a beer.
I don’t have an extra room to offer right now, but you’re also welcome to use our backyard to camp in and take a shower, do laundry if you need.”
I never expected to receive such a kind offer. I talked with Matthew about it- of course there’s always the slight “is this person a murderer?” postulation when it comes to strangers over the internet, but if we’ve learned anything at all from the bike touring community, it’s this: strangers want to help.
I was planning on driving down to Spokane anyway to replace our tent’s footprint, so this was perfect. We drove down and met up with Ben and his wife, Brianna. Of course we’re kicking ourselves for not getting a picture of these two!
As Matthew noted, they provided us with seriously some of the best pizza we’ve ever had- and it was vegan! I wouldn’t have known had they never told me. We also met Brianna’s brother, their dog, and briefly saw their cats.
Ben had some incredible long-distance bike touring stories of his own.
“Will you guys be going through North Dakota?” he asked.
“Yeah, after the plains of Montana.”
“Let me just tell you…North Dakota sucks. I mean it REALLY sucks. It’s horrible!”
He explained how hot it can get and the strong head winds (upwards of 40mph!).
He also shared a unique moment during one of his tours where he found a single tree to rest under (I think it may have been in North Dakota), and he saw a man walking towards him to ask if he could share the tree to sit under for shade.
This man was originally from Seattle and had moved to somewhere in Michigan with his family as kid. Apparently it had always been his dream to walk back home to Seattle. So, finally, he just got up and did it. He was walking every day, all day, from Michigan to Seattle.
Ben not only had incredible stories of his own, but a wealth of bike knowledge. He offered to take a look at Matthew’s bike for a maintenance tip and give advice on bike fit, maybe see why Matthew’s knee has been bothering him.
Ben to the left, Matthew on the right
With a seat height adjustment, a saddle reposition, and tinkering with the derailleur (Matthew’s front gear shifter was acting up), Ben crafted what felt to be a series of miracles.
Not only did Matthew get excellent bike service and riding advice, but Ben kindly gifted us with saddle wax to help protect and break-in Matthew’s leather saddle.
“Are you guys camping a lot?” Ben asked.
“We’re hoping to!”
“Here.” He hands us a small container of seam repair glue. “You should apply this before you need to use it.”
Before we left, Ben also handed us a 4-pack of the local brew he picked for us.
Ben and Brianna: Thank you so much, from the deepest chambers of our hearts, for your supreme kindness. Yet again, we’re approached by the part of life that doesn’t get as much media coverage as it deserves: the genuine good in people and a natural willingness to help others.
Life is pretty wonderful at the moment.
No Jobs, No Home, No Worries. A Shared Journey by Bike and Support SUV Across the U.S. 