Home again! 810 bike miles later... Next time, we'll...

build in some rest days or shorter days.

Sometimes we didn't have a choice because the towns are far apart or we had a deadline to meet.

Renting a one-way car worked well. We used a Prius, so we were able to throw all our stuff on the back with the seat folded down. It also eliminated finding a bike shop, bike box, packing the bikes, getting the bikes to the bus, meeting the schedules for the bike shop and the bus, then getting the biles to our hotel and unpacking the bikes for our drive home.

The rental car cost about the same as one person's bus fare. But, we had to finish in a big city to be able to rent the car.

The drive from Bismarck to Missoula was about 12 hours, followed by a 16 1/2 hour drive home. It's hard to sit that long!

Stuff we wish we had, that we didn't bring: 

1. sleeping bag liners - our bags were  too warm, so we slept under them, not in them. 

2. Camp shoes - Frank's were too hot. 

3. A platypus to strap on the rear rack for making sun tea. I used a 1/2 liter water bottle with tea bags stuffed in the opening. No matter how snuggly I strapped it on, It slipped loose most days and skittered down the road behind me.

4. Inflatable pillows 

5. Ear plugs

6. Refillable squeeze tubes for peanut butter, jelly, and lotions

Stuff we wish we didn't have:

Frank brought a few too many layers of clothing. Three bike water bottles, plus the sun tea added quite a bit of weight, but was reassuring on days when it was hot and far between towns. 

Trudy was pretty happy with what she brought - she brought 2 too many pairs of socks...

Bike repairs:

We brought an extra foldable tire, but it probably wouldn't have worked on Frank's bike, with wider rims.

Trudy's shifting problems were caused by the handlebar bag settling down between the cables and stretching them - we thought that might be the case, but didn't have the tools or know-how to fix it.

Aches and pains: 

Trudy had an accident 3 weeks before we started, with 3 fractured ribs and a pulled groin muscle. She was OK pedaling, but couldn't stand up to pedal and get some "seat relief." That makes long days realllllly long!

We both had "hot foot" later in the day, but stopped to loosen our shoes.

We both used SPF 50 sun screen, but still have "biker tans."

Frank had some pain between the shoulders the second day that was probably due to the different geometry of the bike.

We're talking about what tour to do next year!!!!