Pit Stop: Whitefish, MT

What a week it has been and what wonders can be accomplished with a credit card! We had some work done on our bikes at ashop in Sandpoint so we thought we were in good shape heading out for Montana... We had some rainy spells and some great campsites and we headed north along the Bull River. We saw a black bear cross the road about 200 feet ahead of us. He just ambled along his way and probably didn't know we were there. Meanwhile I'm noticing that while climbing hills I drop down to first gear sooner (or more often) than expected. Then, while taking a snak break, we see another bear, brown in color, cross the road about 150 feet in front of us. Bears dont see very well but they have a great sense of smell. He was downwind of us and I was eating peanut butter & bread. He paused, sniffed the air, took a step and looked toward us then ambled on his way. We packed up and moved on. Im pretty sure he was a black bear. Nancy was pretty sure she was going to buy bear spray at the next town. That afternoon we made it to Libby, MT, and camped in the city park. NF got bear spray and I counted the teeth on my new cassette (the gears on the rear wheel). Long story, shortish, through miscommunication or malfeasence my 34-11 got replaced with a 32-11 (translation: my lowest gear was not so low any more). AND I had a disconserting clicking while climbing. We met other bikers...we saw awesome country...we sweated...we got wet. We biked up the east side of Lake Koocanusa and camped at an amazing USFS campground with only 2 RVs. It was so quiet...except for the birds and, for a while, the generator of the "camp host." Meanwhile, NFs brakes are getting worse. She had a cable replaced in Sandpoint but now her breaks are going thunk, thunk, or as she says, like catch and release. So eventually we make it to Whitefish, MT...I guess that was yesterday. We get a campsite at the state park and ride into town to visit the bike shop. Do they have a 34-11? Well, they have 4 models to choose from. This is a great bike shop! Whitefish is at the junction of the Northern Tier bike route ( thats us, coast to coast) and the continential divide bike route. They sell me the cassette, install it for free, and remedy the clicking. I figured Nancys breaking issue was a wheel out of true and a decent mechanic could remedy that in a few minutes. Not so. This was more like one mechanic saying to another, hey, have you ever seen this?!? The rim was bulged out and would have to be replaced. And we have 20-inch wheels which are not standard and this was a Friday afternoon. After going through some options with the wise and kind mechanic, Nancy called Bike Friday the folks in Eugene, OR, who manufactured our bikes. After some back and forth and some call backs she arranged for BF to send a new wheel to the bike shop by Fed Ex Express. The mechanic was skeptical, they never get Fed Ex on Saturday...but if it arrives they would call us and get us road ready. The state park was great but the train went by about 5 times during the night about 150 feet from our tent. Today we moved to a hotel, the wheel came in, they changed out the reusable parts, adjusted everything, and charged us $18!!!!! Nancy gave them a tip. This evening there was a thunderstorm. We really enjoyed Whitefish but tomorrow we head to Glacier National Park. Our plan is to have 2 short days then ride over Logan Pass / Going to the Sun highway....the biggest, baddest pass of our route. That is the continential divide and we will be over the rockies and on to the great plains....we'll see.