Please note that the Novara sizing is different. This bike fit a 5’8″ rider comfortably.
It is a 52 cm frame.

This is a great touring bicycle, but overkill for our current needs. Our old clunkers serve us fine for the type of riding that we are doing. Wish that we had another long tour on the calendar. Since we don’t we hate to see this bicycle sitting instead of touring.

$700 – local pickup or you pay shipping.

It comes equipped as described on the Trek page, with the exception of the saddle, which is NOT included.

The bike has some signs of normal wear and the downtube got scratched in the shipping process.
The brake levers are also scratched due to a crash that resulted from being attacked by a dog.

The rear tire has been replaced with one that is the same as the original and has zero miles on it. The rear brake pads are also new.

This is a great bike for somebody looking to tour.

$900
Buyer to pay for shipping or arrange pick-up in the Albany NY area.
Leave a posting in the comments section if you are interested in more details.

Back to those bikes for sale. My bike has no seat, but sure looks forlorn sitting in its corner with motionless wheels and unladen frame. My old Specialized will suffice for doing short tours and rides to our other house. I would never just take the Trek 520 for a short ride to the grocery store. If you know anybody looking for two nice touring bikes, we are in possession of them. Send a comment to us and we will get in touch.

Not hopping on the bike everyday didn’t phase me at all. I think that I was ready to be finished with the tour, but now I am getting antsy and am thinking of doing a short tour. Riding around Lake Champlain still appeals to me as does just doing a short overnight ride. We found an excellent route out of here to the east. As long as we don’t go beyond North Adams and up the hairpin hell, we are good.

Last night we ate at the restaurant right next to the Wilderness Lodge and found the food to be more than adequate. We both tried the Aztec soup and split a sandwich, which is customary for us. I tried the Huckleberry Ale, that is brewed in Couer d’Alene and has a nice touch of huckleberry added to it.

We had walked over to the Three Rivers Resort in search of internet, but only found a group of people hanging out in the bar, which was not open for business. The person said that we could have gotten wifi outside, but the group there was not too welcoming. We me Big Wave or Big Water Dave at a gas station a few days ago. He told us that Three Rivers was a great place. Seems odd that such a place would only be open on weekends. The clerk at our place turned down several potential guests and referred them to the Three Rivers. One told her that he had stopped there and they told him that they were closed. I guess that the main tourist season doesn’t start here until after Memorial Day and rafting is popular on the weekends. We had made a reservation in advance since the Wilderness Inn only has six rooms.

We went to bed very early so that we could roll out of bed at 5. Neither of us is a morning person, but we wanted to be sure that we made it to Powell by dark. It really shouldn’t have been a problem, but we wanted to give ourselves extra time. The morning was brisk to say the least. For once, we didn’t start out climbing right away.

Riding along Route 12 takes considerable concentration. Not only is traffic a concern, but the closeness of the edge of the road to precipitous drop-offs is also a factor. Just one moment of inattention and it would be entirely possible to find yourself in the river and it would really hurt getting down there. Not that I think about such things.

The agitated river provided the background music for the day. Whiffs of pine, some fragrant plant and something that smelled like rosemary where thrown in for good measure.

Although I have an altimeter on my computer, it is hardly accurate. The instructions that came with it mention in almost every paragraph that many things affect it and contribute to its inaccuracy. Although this computer was recommended by other cyclists, I am not pleased with the altimeter, which is the reason that I spent more money on this computer than I usually would. In fact, I had already purchased a new computer and then saw that this one was on sale, from its usual price of over $100. I just assumed that it would be reasonably accurate. No matter what the altimeter says, we gain elevation. We might gain the same amount over a much shorter distance tomorrow. Now, that’s a scary thought. I am definitely not looking forward to climbing Lolo Pass.

One of the highlights of the day, besides that tailwind that was once again in our faces, was getting behind the brooming operation. This has nothing to do with curling. There were several trucks, one sweeping, another putting down some de-icing solution (do they know something that we don’t?) and the truck with the sign warning us of the brooming activities ahead.

The brooming dust blew behind the trucks (odd thing to happen considering our tailwind hahahahaha) and blinded us and gave us instant dermabrasion.
We pulled off up the road a short distance and took refuge in the woods when the broomers came again. We had a snack and left and pedaled a few miles and there they were. The Broomers!!!!! Fortunately, they pulled off the road for a break or lunch and we passed by them and didn’t run into them the rest of the day.

The heat became intense since we were riding around noon. The last 10 miles of the day were tough and I really wished for that predicted tailwind. We pulled into the Lochsa Lodge, the only thing besides the ranger station in these parts.

The desk clerk said that it looked as if we had been taking our lives in our hands today from the way we were dressed. We are no fashionistas, and certainly didn’t realize that the fashion police patrolled these parts. The clerk said that last year the road was especially bad and that there were many accidents. He claimed that it was because of SWIFT trucking, which the guy back in Prescott had made a few jokes about. He said that due to all the accidents that SWIFT had caused, their insurance company forbade them to travel on Route 12 anymore. That’s good news for cyclists and motorists on this route as well. We found most of the semis and drivers today to give us wide berth. Had they not, we may have had the opportunity to take a swim in the Lochsa as there is nowhere to go in many areas if somebody forces you to the right.

We had lunch at the lodge and tried to hook up to the internet. I am sure that the lodge’s website said that they had wi-fi in the restaurant and after knowing that the place in Lowell had wi-fi, I didn’t doubt it. It turns out that it’s possible to use the internet if you have a local dial-up number. Ummmmm… bet there are tons of local numbers for here. I would be hard-pressed to even figure out how to set up a dial-up connection anyway.

Tonight we are in a small log cabin with bathrooms in a central bath house.
My shower had four or five trickles of water coming from the head, so I had to be a bit of a contortionist to get wet. I told Robert about how bad the shower was. He took a shower later and said that it was the best shower that he had ever had. It seems that the shower for the men is in fine working order. Guess somebody knows that they probably smell more than women and need the stronger pressure.

Our room has a woodstove and is stocked with logs for the night so that we can have some heat. If it gets as cool as it has been, we will definitely appreciate having a fire. Maintaining the fire during the night is entirely another matter.

Dinner tonight will be at the lodge. There are no other options here. We are a captive audience. It wasn’t all bad being held captive here. We talked to Brian who studied at a culinary institute in Manhattan. He just started here three weeks ago and really enjoys being here. No wonder the food is so good. Our evening meal was just as tasty as our lunch was. We asked Brian about the impending Lolo Pass and especially if the road had a shoulder. Unfortunately, it will be pretty much the same as it has been.

Brian said that the lodge receives many bikers (motorcyclists) and rafters. The atmosphere here is certainly more pleasant, friendly and welcoming than we experienced at that other place in Lowell. The main lodge was rebuilt in 2002 after a chimney fire. Something about a building constructed of logs gives it a warm and welcoming feel.

Tonight is our last night in Idaho. Montana is just over the pass and is in a different time zone. That will make it seem like it took us even longer to get to our intended destination: Lolo Hot Springs. It isn’t that far from here, but we figure that after conquering the pass, we might need to soothe our muscles and take it easy the rest of the day.

We only have one more day to receive some last-minute bike stuff that we ordered. The folding tires are on backorder, but we have only needed a new tire once or twice.

In the past few days, I have downloaded software to the laptop and figured out the helmet cam, new camera and the drawbacks of my digital tape recorder. I put up things on Freecyle and recycled lots of other things.

Tomorrow, our daughter is giving us a going away bbq. We live with her after starting that new trend of moving in with your kids after they finish college instead of the usual situation. Actually, we are helping her remodel the house that she bought, but work has slowed down since we have been renovating another house for the past year.

Podcast produced by Robert and Theresa Russell
Edited by Erik Russell
Intro music Cluck Ole Hen arranged by Bandjoe
Outro Tall Fiddler arranged by Deyo
Logo designed by Laura Ross
Copyright 2007

I didn’t fall down once from the trainer. Monday will be the first day that I can go outside and try the clipless pedals in a real situation. It will be interesting to see how many times I fall down.

There is a video of a terminal cancer patient who cycled across the US. Nothing like putting some of us to shame. I couldn’t keep up her pace without the health issues that she has. As inspirational as her story is, I disagree with her comment that her transcontinental tour is only newsworthy because of her condition. She claims that there is no story when a healthy woman bicycles across the US. Everybody who takes on this endeavour has a story. Some may be more interesting or less dramatic than others, but the mere act of riding across the country creates the story.

Jane, the aforementioned woman, refused to let her cancer wear her down. She is proof that conquering the disease, or at least holding it at bay, is as much a mental feat as a physical one. The same can be said for doing a long distance tour. While the physical component is obvious, the mental aspect of touring supercedes physical ability. With the wrong attitude, the most physically fit person finds such a trip grueling and impossible. The right frame of mind in some mysterious way makes physical challenges easier to overcome.

This DOCUMENTARY feautres lots of on-bike footage, which shows the magnificent scenery across the USA. I am ready for such a ride.

A recent concert experience is one thing that has made me reconsider switching over to clipless. It was impossible to change my position because of the way the seats were arranged. My knees began to hurt after the first hour of sitting. It wasn’t pleasant and it is definitely not the way I want to feel because my knees, will in effect, be at the mercy of the clipless pedals.

I already bought some spd shoes, but I have used these before with my toe clips and have no problems going that route again. And whether I went clipless or not, I would carry a second pair of shoes just for a change. Not going clipless actually saves us from having to look for the pedals, which are somewhere in the storage unit.

Even though the temps around here have been unseasonably warm, I haven’t taken advantage of it for training. Besides, if I trained now, I certainly wouldn’t maintain that fitness level unless I trained continuously. So my logic, faulty or not, says that I should wait until the month before departure and seriously train then. The weather should be consistently warmer then and if the temperature now is any indication, it may be close to tropical weather by April.

It’s hard to believe that my last post was over a week ago and I haven’t been on any vacation. The work on the house continues and it seems that we work later and later every evening only to come home without a lot of energy to do much. We hope that by the end of January that most of the work will be completed and then we can relax. No we can’t. We have another house that we have to work on. There is no rest for the weary or for those who have the renovation disease.

I have put my sleeping bag, thermarest and other stuff in a big garbage bag bungied to my rear rack. No, she wasn’t talking about this. Surely touring cyclists are lowlifes with multiple DUI’s who forage for food from dumpsters. Now, I have traveled with some fellow hostelers who raided the “free food” pantry at a hostel and concocted some tasty dishes like salt and pepper sandwiches from all that stuff in the freebie closet.

We passed over that bed and breakfast realizing that if they had these distorted images of the touring cyclist, they would not treat them properly as guests in their homes. Fortunately, other hosts gladly welcomed cyclists into their homes and knew that they are ideal guests.

For a while, I had all the statistics about bicyclists on hand. I resented the ignorant and condescending remarks from those who haven’t a clue what a typical cyclist is, but immediately
categorized him or her as that homeless, drunkard on the street. One time, I had to explain to such a person why a cyclist might enjoy a massage after a long day on the road. The owner of this establishment didn’t think that dirty, garbage bag carrying scumballs were worth marketing to. I don’t know if she became enlightened or if she still believes anybody who rides a bike to be some kind of second-class citizen. How sad that people think this way.

We enjoy all kinds of touring. We like to mix in some camping with hotel stays. We have no intent on cooking just because we don’t want to carry the extra gear required for that. We don’t mind eating cold food. We could eat PB&J a few times per day if necessary.

I noticed UHT milk in the store the other day. I hope that is readily available throughout our journey. It’s perfect for when there is no place to keep regular milk cool. It will be ideal for packing away and using on cereal when we are in the boonies.

All touring cyclists don’t cook either. Some never eat anywhere except for restaurants and that is perfectly fine. There are many variations on the theme, but the common element is getting on the bike and touring at that perfect pace to really experience the world.

We just bought some new wireless computers, but after hearing some of the drawbacks, like having multiple batteries and multiple parts that can malfunction, I am having second thoughts.
My current computer is literally hanging on by a thread. I jiggle it around when I notice that it isn’t recording any data. Although I don’t question the big 0.00 when I am climbing the hill outside the village, I do start the wire-wiggling when I am going downhill and that big 0.00 still registers on the screen.

I wasn’t even aware that skiers used altimeters until a search on eBay turned up a skier’s watch. I am not interested in knowing how far I descend. That usually takes very little effort.
Maybe I missed the point of an altimeter for a skier. Do they use it to make some technical calculations based on their blood oxygen levels? They surely don’t ski uphill, which would be rather impressive and a perfect reason for wearing such a watch.

It looks like I need to do some further investigation on the various elevation measuring devices out there. There are also inclinometers that hook on to handlebars. Sometimes, I don’t feel like I have space on the handlebars for the computer and don’t know if I could arrange things to accommodate an inclinometer. I am personally inclined not to care so much about the grade of climbs, but more so about the amount of climbing.

Guess it’s time to research the options and see what’s out there.

I want to document the ride so am considering getting a gps. I have no clue how to use one and am not sure that it will do what I want. I need something that we mark the route and then print it out when I get home. It should be able to show what we encountered along the way and list things like rest areas, water stops and services. Am I expecting too much from one piece of equipment? Is there something better that would serve the same purpose?

I definitely have to do something to increase the excitement of the arrival of new equipment and gear. I think that the first step just happens to involve ordering something more exotic than water bottles. They weren’t even fancy water bottles, just the plain old Nashbar model that we have been using for years.

The next order is a bit more exciting. Shoes, shorts, another computer, a new helmet, sunglasses….. Now those are exciting things to get. Now we have something to look forward to for next week.

The maps on the other hand seem to have some difficulty finding their way to us. The guy in the office promised that I would get them and wouldn’t fall through the cracks this time. Is somebody else in the village planning the same trip? Is the map being delivered by a x-country cyclist? We aren’t too far from one of the AC routes, or at least I don’t think we are.

Planning progresses little by little everyday. I only need to figure out getting out of Minn-St. Paul and into Wisconsin. From there everything seems so much more familiar to me. The terrain and town names don’t seem so strange. The roads seem straighter than they are in Minnesota. Even the distance seems easier. 70 miles in Michigan seems so much more doable than 70 miles in Montana.

Back to finish Minnesota.