Bush Mechanic Special

Posted from Missoula, MT

“East of there, the infamous and stunning Magruder Corridor and another crossing of the Bitterroot Mountains begin – 90 miles of rough and taxing dirt and 4×4 roads sandwiched between two of the largest Wilderness areas in the Lower 48. Do not underestimate this section – it is demanding, exposed, incredibly wild, and is one of the most remote sections of the entire WWR”

Western Wildlands guidebook by Bikepacking Roots

It was in the above described section that we premiered our bush mechanic special, a clickbait title I’m borrowing from my favorite Australian YouTube series 4wd 24/7. A bush mechanic special indicates an episode full of breaking your equipment while way out in the middle of nowhere, and then fixing it in whatever sketchy way you need to in order to get out of the bush. From our rest day in Darby, MT, we loaded up at Montana Cafe, a really charming diner run by a family of 7, that serves pancakes that drape heavily over the side of a large dinner plate for $2 a piece, and took off towards the Magruder Corridor. The guidebook really talks this section up as being pretty tough and way out there. The route so far has been very tough and we haven’t seen much civilization, so the fact that the guide was specifically calling this section out was a bit ominous. It started off with many miles of pavement and nice grades, and a lot of motorcyclists loaded up to do what we were doing, just faster and easier. Then we descended down a very nice gravel road along the densely forested Pacific Northwest like Selway river to our camp. There, we met a group of four dirt bikers who had just come from the opposite direction. We chatted for a long time and when I asked, “did you see any other bicyclists on the road?” our new friend Bryson burst out laughing and said “are you joking? No one else is doing this, you are crazy people.” He really thought I was joking, but I was actually hoping there were other crazy people out there. We took off to find camp.

So far the magruder corridor had mostly been pavement and full of people. It was incredibly beautiful, but not feeling that remote compared to other sections.

The next day we started a 4,500 foot climb up into the high country of the Magruder. We often do big climbs at our own paces, stopping every hour or two to regroup. I stopped to talk to the forest service and Zoey rolled up in a small panic. Her bottom bracket, (the bearing that the crank/pedals spin in) had come nearly unscrewed, almost pushing the cranks off the bike and cracking the bearing preload insert. Of the many tools we brought, a bottom bracket tool is not one of them, as this is not a problem I’ve ever seen happen and neither had the mechanic we eventually made it to in Missoula. Zoey was feeling somewhat distraught as she squeezed some week old medium cheddar that resembled gogurt, out of its package and exclaimed, “this is all I have left.” I thought this was funny and somewhat offensive as I was currently sitting in the road working on pulling apart her bike (she was assisting while snacking). We did however bring a very wide mouthed adjustable wrench, which allowed us to get the bottom bracket back in and move on.

As we crested the hill I got a flat tire. We fixed the flat and got going again. Then I got another flat tire. We investigated further and found that my rim had cracked internally, about two inches wide, and the sharp exposed metal was shredding my tubes. Our best solution was to sandwhich many strips of duct tape and superglue over the crack. The wheel was also very out of true, so when I hit the rear rim brake, it would send my wheel into a slide once a revolution. I mostly avoided using the back brake from this point on. My headset was also loose, so we tightened that too. We decided to roll on and hope our various maladies would behave well enough to either get us to the tiny town of Elk City and hitch hike to Missoula, or that we could make it 250 miles to Superior where we had plans to meet my parents and go to Missoula.

Since leaving Salt Lake City we had only met one other bikepacker. After patching up our bikes and heading on, we were very excited to round a bend and see Matt, a seasonal bike messenger in the winter and bikepacker all summer. He was on a couple thousand mile journey to go to his families annual “sit by the pool and eat junk food reunion” at the KOA in Craig, America, a spot we know well from our days leading conservation corp crews in nearby Steamboat Springs. We were quite satiated with meeting just one other rider, when he told us that two Germans riding to Argentina were right behind him and sure enough Felix and Michelle showed up moments later. We got to chatting when another unaffiliated cyclist, Zoe, rolled up in a blazing fast racing setup. She was as surprised as we were and assumed we had all ridden there together. She was also riding from Salt Lake to Canada, as a quick warm-up jaunt for a 600 kilometer race she was doing there. She had done the same miles as us in about 10 fewer days, and within moments of taking off together, dropped us. She’s probably in Canada by now.

It was very exciting to trade stories and tips and tricks. I hope they are all doing well out there and it’s energizing to meet the other wacked people doing these kind of trips.

At that point I think both Zoey and I were starting to hit our stride in terms of mental and physical fitness, and despite our bike problems we made really good time through the Magruder. We were starting to do more 45-60 mile days with 4,000-6,000 feet of climbing and not feeling completely destroyed. And the bush mechanic special bikes were holding up so well, we decided to skip hitch hiking into town and make a run for Superior.

Shortly after exiting the Magruder, I got another flat tire and we were certain the the wheel was continuing to crack. We pulled it apart again and our duct tape/super glue fix was holding up fine, but a patch had blown. We replaced the tube and carried on.

Along the way to Superior we met a number of other great folks. Mary and Dean (I may have gotten the names wrong, my apologies if so) chatted with us at the Three Rivers Lodge, gave us good conversation and info on the store and fluffy dog pets. Greg and Sarah were riding a tandem with a trailer and were out for few weeks doing a “backyard loop” from Oregon to Idaho/Montana and back. And Sandy from Australia was riding Western Wildlands in the opposite direction and gave us great beta on the road ahead.

Twenty miles out of Superior we met up with Bridger, one of our friends that led us out of Salt Lake. He prepared a very nice lunch for us and provided us our favorite riding drink, Coca-cola. He also invited us to the Butte Folk Festival and transportation of our bikes to a Missoula bike shop. It was a departure from our trip, but too good an offer to pass up. We spent two days watching a variety of music, from bluegrass to Ukrainian folk music to zydeco. My parents showed up to check out the festival and bring us back to Missoula, where we spent the last two days relaxing and getting our bikes fixed. A big shoutout to Missoula Bicycle Works, who found a wheel (a good upgrade from my old one) that had been donated from a broken bike and gave it to me for free. We also stopped by the Adventure Cycling Headquarters, creators of the Great Divide route we will be following on our way down to Mexico and got a headshot up on the wall! And thanks to Bridger’s parents Brent and Lynne for feeding and housing us at the Butte Folk Festival and to my parents, Alison and Steve, for doing the same in Missoula! We continue onward to Canada tomorrow.