Good call, Mat. Though, being Irish I prefer Swumded which is, of course, a close relative to the Welsh Swimded. Thanks for setting the record straight. Also, thanks for being such an inspiration to stay on two wheels. I hope we see you at Spoke'n again someday.
So cool to see your trip! A buddy and I did the same thing back in 2023 and we stayed with Art at Holland Lake as well. Best Burger-Trail-Magic we had!
@ 13:22, i've always heard this circus move called the "cowboy mount" (or dismount :-) (a.k.a. "cyclocross dis/mount" in some muddy circles) Best to practice _without_ a huge sausage bag hanging from the back of the seat. (and on a soft surface. ;-)
Although I worked on a ranch for a while I would in no way consider myself a "cowboy". But you're right, even with my limited time on horseback, it does feel a bit like swinging up into a saddle (sans the unpredictability of a thousand pounds of raw muscle and free will under the saddle).
Thanks Nicola! It was so fun, as you know, and terrible sometimes. But mostly fun. We're visiting the South Island in Feb/March. If you live there, and are around, we'd love to stop by and say hello. We're renting a campervan.
I got back home from a visit to Iowa at 11:15 p.m. and was ready for bed. I don't know why I had to turn on my computer first, but I did, and the first thing I saw was the notification of this video. "Okay, I'll check out a minute or two," I thought, "and finish tomorrow." HAH! I watched the whole thing. Among the many fine things I wanted to comment on was the perfection of the Soup Creek campsite, your good judgement in giving the skunk its space, and the beauty I saw between the 23:45 to about the 25:00 minute mark. And did I see some pork grilling @ 17:19? If so, I hope it was Iowa Pork.
Thanks for sticking with it at such a late hour, Mr. G. I appreciate it. The grilling was beefsteak, courtesy of camp host Art Crane. Thanks for watching. More to come.
Welp. There's no place as beautiful as Montana in June. I'm so glad you got mostly sunny skies and green grass and clear streams. Now I'm homesick. That drone shot! It stopped my heart.
The word “swum” is the past participle of the verb “swim”. It is used in perfect tenses (present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect) or in passive voice constructions, always with a helping verb like “have,” “has,” “had,” or “be.” Examples: 1. Present Perfect: • She has swum across the lake many times. 2. Past Perfect: • By the time we arrived, they had already swum to the shore. 3. Future Perfect: • By tomorrow, I will have swum five miles. 4. Passive Voice: • The pool has been swum in by generations of champions. For simple past tense without helping verbs, use “swam” instead: • Yesterday, I swam in the ocean.
Hey Ron, that was really fun to watch! Such a great ride and scenery! Well done capturing it! I’m not so sure about your choice of riding partners though. 😁❤️🍻
Thanks for watching, Rob! I love watching the trips you and Chris do. And we spent a not-insignificant amount of time talking about Parker wisdom, tips and tricks. And, yeah, I felt sorry for Pat and brought him along. He's so uptight and hard to get along with, which really comes through on the video 😆
Great video Ron. Does Pat have a breakdown of his ride pack? Liking how comfortable he's riding. Tnx man. th-cam.com/video/WCrJEb0EN7s/w-d-xo.htmlfeature=shared
@markdobbins007 my kit is a result of great people helping me make my first Bikepacking tour a success. Ron had great intel from his tours and loaned me some gear, as did another veteran touring friend Doug Strange. My biggest kit influence came from @RobParker8 who relentlessly chided me for packing too heavy. Rob is a former mountaineering guy, and rides regularly with Chris Wilson @pnwbikepacking on insane routes. His advice was critically important. The kit is as follows... Handlebars: Salsa Side loader Sausage dry bag with a down bag, inflatable pillow (all loaned to me by Rob), tyvek ground sheet and a pillowcase (must have). Also on the handlebars is my Fuji X-T3 and 3 lenses (go mirrorless my friend!). Bear spray. On the Stem: 1 Randijo Fab Feedbag and one Relevate Feed Bag for liquids. Right fork: Swift Walrus tent from eBay Left Fork: Kitchen which consists of a small titanium pot, with a pocket rocket 1.0 and fuel inside. A Tupperware container used for everything from coffee to dinner. Sawyer silicon water bottle water filter. Top Tube: Tent poles Frame Bag: Relevate Ripio Small (thanks to Doug Strange). Main compartments for food only. Rob Parker taught me the importance of always keeping a fast food supply in there. I only took one Mountain House as a backup (which I devoured at Soap Creek). Top left pocket was for passport, spork, papers, etc. A water bottle mounted to the lower bottle rack held patch kits, tire spoons and full size Allen keys. Rear Rack: Aero donated by @pnwbikepacking with a Relevate dry bag for (all clothes purchased used on eBay); 1 pair of merino full length tights, merino wool socks, puffy jacket, wild rag, sport towel, reflective rain jacket, first aid, tools, tire goo, charging cords, 2 small battery packs, fox MTB gloves, water shoes. RR seat stay: Cat Box... Light fiskar plastic shovel, wipes, extra Ziploc bags, water-bottle-bidet from Amazon (worth it when you really need it!). It's worth pointing out that my wife is the mastermind behind Spoke'n Hostel in Mitchell, Oregon, where I met Ron, Rob, Chris, Doug and literally thousands of other incredible people. I've had the benefit of spending time with life-long world-touring veterans and hardcore bikepackers and seen their kit setups. Hope that helps!
![A most Amazing Bikepacking Route: Via Transilvanica [Romania]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/H8IiC1577iI/mqdefault.jpg)
Excellent video Ron. I've been waiting for these. I think the word is Swimded.
Thanks Mat! We could have used you along to straighten us out on a few things out there.
Good call, Mat. Though, being Irish I prefer Swumded which is, of course, a close relative to the Welsh Swimded. Thanks for setting the record straight. Also, thanks for being such an inspiration to stay on two wheels. I hope we see you at Spoke'n again someday.
Really enjoyed this, Ron -- and a drone now too -- yay! What beautiful scenery, a fun biking companion, and a helluva good workout. Keep 'em coming!
Thanks Kathleen. I have some work to do on my drone skills, and wish I'd have shot more during the trip. But 2025 is coming! Thanks for watching.
So cool to see your trip! A buddy and I did the same thing back in 2023 and we stayed with Art at Holland Lake as well. Best Burger-Trail-Magic we had!
The best. And totally unexpected. The rest of the campground was full and we were not sure where we'd sleep, but Art came to the rescue.
Ron this is great! Love seeing the olderish guys back at it, and I do appreciate the grace and humor.
Thanks for the nice words. I feel lucky to be able to do this kind of stuff, and want to continue as long as I can.
Good work Ron. It's fun to revisit the Whitefish south from my trip two years ago. I guess we missed the mosquitos!
Thanks Larry. They really were only bad at Holland. Black flies were brutal south of Bannack.
We went from Eureka to Butte in late August-September 2023, so missed the bugs. That section from Ferndale to Seeley was my favorite part!
@ 13:22, i've always heard this circus move called the "cowboy mount" (or dismount :-) (a.k.a. "cyclocross dis/mount" in some muddy circles) Best to practice _without_ a huge sausage bag hanging from the back of the seat. (and on a soft surface. ;-)
I like the sound of cowboy mount. It seems like something I ought to try, but I agree, not with a lump of gear on the back.
Although I worked on a ranch for a while I would in no way consider myself a "cowboy". But you're right, even with my limited time on horseback, it does feel a bit like swinging up into a saddle (sans the unpredictability of a thousand pounds of raw muscle and free will under the saddle).
That is some really spectacular video footage Ron. And it looks like you guys are having a blast.
Thanks Bob, it was a lot of fun.
Brilliant! Thanks Ron. What fun 😁
Thanks Nicola! It was so fun, as you know, and terrible sometimes. But mostly fun.
We're visiting the South Island in Feb/March. If you live there, and are around, we'd love to stop by and say hello. We're renting a campervan.
Definitely. We will be here. Settling back in after a rewarding time away. Stay in touch will be great to see you 😊
@NicolaHoodless excellent!
Wow, it reminds me when I was hiking in Hong Kong 🇭🇰 my friends and I went deep in the streams. Oh, it feels so good ...
I got back home from a visit to Iowa at 11:15 p.m. and was ready for bed. I don't know why I had to turn on my computer first, but I did, and the first thing I saw was the notification of this video. "Okay, I'll check out a minute or two," I thought, "and finish tomorrow." HAH! I watched the whole thing. Among the many fine things I wanted to comment on was the perfection of the Soup Creek campsite, your good judgement in giving the skunk its space, and the beauty I saw between the 23:45 to about the 25:00 minute mark. And did I see some pork grilling @ 17:19? If so, I hope it was Iowa Pork.
Thanks for sticking with it at such a late hour, Mr. G. I appreciate it. The grilling was beefsteak, courtesy of camp host Art Crane.
Thanks for watching. More to come.
Welp. There's no place as beautiful as Montana in June. I'm so glad you got mostly sunny skies and green grass and clear streams. Now I'm homesick. That drone shot! It stopped my heart.
It's so beautiful there. I keep going back!
Bulletproof Surly ogre .Great video Ron I am going next year end of July or first week in August
Yeah I love the Ogre. You'll have a great time! I'm probably going back out next year to do another section.
The word “swum” is the past participle of the verb “swim”. It is used in perfect tenses (present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect) or in passive voice constructions, always with a helping verb like “have,” “has,” “had,” or “be.”
Examples:
1. Present Perfect:
• She has swum across the lake many times.
2. Past Perfect:
• By the time we arrived, they had already swum to the shore.
3. Future Perfect:
• By tomorrow, I will have swum five miles.
4. Passive Voice:
• The pool has been swum in by generations of champions.
For simple past tense without helping verbs, use “swam” instead:
• Yesterday, I swam in the ocean.
Brilliant! If only we'd have known that back in June. Thanks for watching, and for straightening me out.
Hey Ron, that was really fun to watch!
Such a great ride and scenery!
Well done capturing it!
I’m not so sure about your choice of riding partners though.
😁❤️🍻
Thanks for watching, Rob! I love watching the trips you and Chris do. And we spent a not-insignificant amount of time talking about Parker wisdom, tips and tricks.
And, yeah, I felt sorry for Pat and brought him along. He's so uptight and hard to get along with, which really comes through on the video 😆
To be considered questionable is a high compliment coming from you, Rob! 😁
❤
Thx Ron!!!
Thanks Matt!
Watching from asian ❤
Thanks for watching!
Richmond pass was a sod to climb ,we did it July 24
It's a beast!
When did you do this, I can't believe how clear the air is in the video. We did the same section in 2021, and it was so smokey. I was jealous.
We left June 23. Pat was with me through Helena, about 8 or 8 days, and we were incredibly lucky with air and weather. Thanks for watching!!
Same here. So much wildfire smoke we couldn't see the Wind River mountains in Wyoming while going over Union Pass.
Great video Ron. Does Pat have a breakdown of his ride pack? Liking how comfortable he's riding. Tnx man.
th-cam.com/video/WCrJEb0EN7s/w-d-xo.htmlfeature=shared
@markdobbins007 my kit is a result of great people helping me make my first Bikepacking tour a success.
Ron had great intel from his tours and loaned me some gear, as did another veteran touring friend Doug Strange. My biggest kit influence came from @RobParker8 who relentlessly chided me for packing too heavy. Rob is a former mountaineering guy, and rides regularly with Chris Wilson @pnwbikepacking on insane routes. His advice was critically important.
The kit is as follows...
Handlebars: Salsa Side loader Sausage dry bag with a down bag, inflatable pillow (all loaned to me by Rob), tyvek ground sheet and a pillowcase (must have). Also on the handlebars is my Fuji X-T3 and 3 lenses (go mirrorless my friend!). Bear spray.
On the Stem:
1 Randijo Fab Feedbag and one Relevate Feed Bag for liquids.
Right fork:
Swift Walrus tent from eBay
Left Fork:
Kitchen which consists of a small titanium pot, with a pocket rocket 1.0 and fuel inside. A Tupperware container used for everything from coffee to dinner. Sawyer silicon water bottle water filter.
Top Tube:
Tent poles
Frame Bag:
Relevate Ripio Small (thanks to Doug Strange). Main compartments for food only. Rob Parker taught me the importance of always keeping a fast food supply in there. I only took one Mountain House as a backup (which I devoured at Soap Creek). Top left pocket was for passport, spork, papers, etc. A water bottle mounted to the lower bottle rack held patch kits, tire spoons and full size Allen keys.
Rear Rack:
Aero donated by @pnwbikepacking with a Relevate dry bag for (all clothes purchased used on eBay); 1 pair of merino full length tights, merino wool socks, puffy jacket, wild rag, sport towel, reflective rain jacket, first aid, tools, tire goo, charging cords, 2 small battery packs, fox MTB gloves, water shoes.
RR seat stay:
Cat Box... Light fiskar plastic shovel, wipes, extra Ziploc bags, water-bottle-bidet from Amazon (worth it when you really need it!).
It's worth pointing out that my wife is the mastermind behind Spoke'n Hostel in Mitchell, Oregon, where I met Ron, Rob, Chris, Doug and literally thousands of other incredible people. I've had the benefit of spending time with life-long world-touring veterans and hardcore bikepackers and seen their kit setups.
Hope that helps!
I'll ask Pat to post his setup here. Thanks for watching!