Ferry County Rail Trail

Mike Petty, long-distance bike rider, from Edinburgh, Scotland keeps us
up-dated on his cross-country ride after stopping in Republic.

6/21

arrived in boston on the 12th june with a police escort for the last 100 yards! they dont like you going over bridges into airports with no cycling signs on them! a very amusing sendoff though to the end of an amazing trip in the usa! i picked up a cardboard bike box in a shop in boston the day before, then after having camped in a graveyard (shortterm) on my last night in the rain i managed somehow to fold the box up, wrap it in a tent then tie it to the back of my bike! it made my bike look massive and super cool. not that the policeman agreed.

so over the course of 3285miles i have encountered the friendliest most generous kind people i could ever wish to meet and seen sights from yellowstone to niagra that shall be memories forever and people such as yourself and countless others who if i am lucky enough will stay in touch with forever.

so as well as the fact that my legs fell off in boston a bike was worth it and definately the way to see a country on the cheap! (in true scottish style)!!

since i have been back i have been volenteering in a bike shop that a man (malcolm the messy englishman) runs from his house down the road from me and yesterday i cycled to my grandads house in newcastle england 132miles, to do some gardening and got a lift back via the roman emperer 'hadrians wall ' on the way back. bob, i guess you have been to newcastle with a band maybe?

say hello to everybody and tell me were you went once you got your panniers on your bike!

see you later

mike

5/22

Hello FCRTP! I just blessed a bike helmet yesterday. A man called Moises McGovern, who hitch hiked round USA with an inflateable dingy (he used to run barges up and down the Mississippi so was happy in the water!) I camped in his yard for a couple of days. I am know deep in Lincoln country and am laying down 100 mile days, only because money is evaporating in the heat and I need to get home to find a job!

Mike

5/8

east it is, and like a rocket now too! 112miles yesterday into nebraska with a wind that was like scotland! yellowstone was amazing. I met yogi! at 8000feet walking down the road and i wasnt cycling back down it for any bear! i think they get a bad press he looked hungry though but didnt fancy a fight! just his picture! I saw my picture on your website,cool! the only one with me cycling in my hiking boots and snowboard pants! no wonder people though i was homeless!

Mike

4/23

hope all is well

i am camping next to the washrooms in the public park at west yellowstone waiting for the east gate to open next friday! just arrived yesterday after speaking nicely to some buffalo that were on the road just out of town. i felt like a chicken amongst a herd of lions!

trip is going amazing, spent a couple of days helping out at the free bike shop in missuola sleeping on their floor apart from that its been rail road tracks and the woods.

thanks once again for the hospitality you showed me it keeps going, people buy me lunch put 20 dollar bills in my pocket, the list goes on, what a great country with even greater people!

Mike

3/29

Cross-country rider stops in Republic.
Michael Petty, long distance bike rider, from Edinburgh, Scotland, road his bike down from Kelowna B.C., then up and over Wauconda pass then down into Republic and just caught the tail end of our FCRTP meeting. Then Michael camped at Thirteen Mile campground, rode down Hwy 21, and continued on his way to Boston, MA. He was impressed with how nice everyone is in Ferry County, how cheap the gas is, and how large the pickup trucks are.