Day eleven.

Greetings from Tanluhu (tahn-loo-hoo) and Savoy.

Through hikers, people who take on the big trails like the Appalachian Trail from end to end, have a tradition of taking trail names. Max named me Tonluhu and I named him Savoy. I don’t know why.

We started with a tasty breakfast at “The Stray Bullet,” a charming restaurant with an unfortunate name, and headed out to tackle the days first climb, a 5 mile grind up a rocky road.

Waterboy in action.

In a bathroom in Lincoln, MT.

Then came the second climb of the day. The biggest of our trip so far. So much red! I had to walk about a mile of it.

We arrived at Llama Ranch, a bikepackers hostel.

This is Barbara. She’s lived here for 30 years. She slowly noticed that lots of bikers were passing by and she started offering them a place to pitch a tent. 15 people the first year, over 800 last season. She has five little sheds that serve as cabins, stocked with food and water. She doesn’t accept money and only says to “Pay it forward.”

And finally (sorry for the long post) we met Flourian from Germany. The cutest guy ever. He’s been riding for 15 months and plans to continue for another 15 months, circumnavigating the globe. Max and I are on our 11th day. We are heroes.