Starting just East of Glacier National Park, BROQUEST has encountered a large number of other touring cyclists, all totally awesome people. Here's a list of who we have met:
Russ, from Boston:
Russ is a former lawyer who now does web programming/design. Russ decided to ride from Vancouver to Portland, Maine. We met him at a campground in Browning, MT and helped him fix a tire. We were originally going to ride with him but it turns out he spins about 25 mph all the time and does like 100+ mile days, forever. Way more hardcore than us. Good luck, Russ!
Dave and Pat, from Louisiana:
We met Dave and Pat while riding from Browning to Cut Bank, and repeatedly ran into them over the course of three days. We camped with them in Shelby, MT, and Pat, a retired Psychiatrist, checked out Stuart's brain. Dave was a retired lawyer who currently manages a family manufacturing business, and is touring on a Trek Madone (an extremely high-end carbon fiber racing bike) and a one-wheeled BOB trailer.
Pat is a retired psychiatrist and also a serial entrepreneur, running several extremely interesting, extremely diverse business interests. Pat is on a Cannondale road bike also carrying a one-wheeled BOB trailer.
Interesting story: Pat and Bob were camping S of Glacier Park and their campsite got attacked by a bear! Pat's trailer got attacked by the bear but somehow escaped any damage. Pretty amazing. Pat and Dave were really funny guys, it was awesome running into them in towns across Montana.
Dave and Pat are also blogging their trip, the website is http://patanddavesbiketrip.blogspot.com They've got some interesting (and unusual in this day and age, extremely well-written) articles, if you're interested in reading other perspectives on cross-country touring or just interested in reading excellent prose, it's worth an hour or two.
The Canadians
In Shelby, MT, we met a group of four Canadian bicyclists who were riding from Edmonton to Guatemala, where they were planning on spending six months working in a free clinic that they help support with a charity they founded. It's always amazing to meet people who are spending their "wasteful" years for the betterment of humanity, especially when they are doing so on a larger-than-usual scale.
Their website and charity is located at http://pedal4pasos.com, and the work they have already done is ASTOUNDING--$10,000 raised last fall!
The Magnificent 7
While looking for a new tire for Cameron in Cut Bank, Stuart found an unattended touring rig with an Oklahoma flag. After searching the area liquor store (without success), Stuart found the owner in the neighboring Radio Shack--a lady from Stillwater, OK! She was riding with a group of 6 other cyclists, including three other cyclists from Oklahoma--two from Tulsa and one from Oklahoma City. They were a really fun crew, planning to pause their ride for a week to participate in RAGBRAI, a 20,000 person rolling bicycle party all the way around Iowa. They are blogging at http://c2c4500miles.blogspot.com, and they referred to us as athletic/racer types--we somehow convinced them we weren't out-of-shape blobs that decided to get our bike on!
Gordon and Dave, from Washington
Gordon and Dave were retired and from Washington. They were also in much, much better shape than we were and were traveling lighter. We met them in Cut Bank, camped with them in Shelby and then again in Havre. They were really awesome!
Zach, from Rhode Island
Last but not least, we met Zach in Havre, MT. We ran into him again that night in Malta, and then the next afternoon in Saco we ended up riding with him. After two days he isn't tired of our stench/profanity, and is crashing with us at a couchsurfing location in Williston, North Dakota. Zach decided to ride along the Adventure Cycling Northern Tier route about 10 days prior to leaving, and will be returning to help teach at the Syracuse School of Architecture. Ace!
We've got photos/stories about these great people, will tell them when time permits!
