Eric Bruntjen

Hi there, Eric Bruntjen calling in from the Tour Divide. I’m in Flagg Ranch, Saturday the 20th. I came over the pass today on a mucky road, just getting clobbered by the rain. Makes it really tough out there for me in that wet mud, cold. I had a few mechanicals; I lost a sleeping pad, broke a spoke, had no rear brakes coming down, used my spare brake pads, fixed that. Just now running on almost no front brakes; going to have some pads sent to Rawlins; hopefully I can make it there. I had a chance to ride today with Joe from Minneapolis; he was in Lima for 24 hours waiting for a part. That was great -- I don’t normally get to ride with guys of that caliber, and he left me behind pretty quick. But it’s just an amazing thing to be out riding with guys like that. The way he motored up the passes today really impressed me. Other than that, the mosquitos are crazy. They’re not that big, but there are millions of them. Riding today behind Joe, and he was a couple miles ahead, and you could see clouds of mosquitos coming. You know, you just kind of think, maybe that mosquito that just went into my mouth was just eating on Joe, because there’s so many of them, they fly right in your mouth. It’s disgusting. Out here I’m sure some Tour Divide riders are solving world problems and thinking deep thoughts, but today all I was thinking about was accidental cannibalism and thinking about how cold I was. I’m out and I’m going to try -- I’m out for tonight, not out for the race -- I’m going to try and make Pinedale by tomorrow. It’s 160 miles and the weather does not look good, it’s going to be tough; so I might make it only 120, but we’ll see. Bye.

(Call received 5:15 a.m. Thursday, June 18)

Yeah, hi, it’s Eric Bruntjen calling in from Butte, Montana. I’ve been having some pretty good days. Leaving Whitefish, I went over a couple of passes, ended up going through some beautiful country, pretty green, lots of mosquitos. My hat’s off to Christian at the Holland Lake Lodge, it’s a beautiful lodge building with cabins around it on this nice lake. He opened his kitchen for us and I had a heaping mound of fish-and-chips and two beers in front of a roaring fireplace while it drizzled outside. Jeremy and I got a little cabin, it was pretty nice, a really unexpected treat on the Tour Divide.

Coming into Butte yesterday, I chased two things all day: a thunderstorm and two tire tracks, and I caught both of them in Basin, Montana. The thunderstorm was ahead of me all day long; I didn’t really get rained on until Basin, but everywhere I went was just mud and puddles. There’s a lot of tracks on the route right now; you can really see that some guys are heading straight for Mexico, they cut all the corners. Other riders, they’re going to Mexico too, but they go over to this side of the road first and then they go over to that side of the road and then maybe back to the other side.

There were two tracks, however, that were fresh. I chased those guys down and caught up to them in Basin. It was the Italians. I caught the Italians in Basin. I beat them out of town; they were having pizza and beer. I made it over the pass into Butte. Read more »

Hi, Eric Bruntjen calling in here from Whitefish, Mont. Getting a really late start. It’s driving me crazy but I had some mechanical issues I needed to get taken care of at Glacier Cyclery. Had a bad bottom bracket, a broken spoke, and I needed a new seat, too. I’m all hooked up now, getting some breakfast, about ready to hit the road. I feel like I’m making pretty good time. Still don’t know what Stephen Gleasner met by “Be Known,” but I’m thinking maybe I’ll find out on Richmond Peak. I’ve got about 200 miles before I can probably check in again, so it might be a little while. Thanks. Bye.

(Call made 9:59 a.m. Sunday, June 14)

Hey, it’s Eric Bruntjen calling in from Eureka, Montana. Back in the states! Canada was terrific and as usual they’re just wonderful people, but I’m glad to be back home.

Yesterday’s ride really went well, 130-some miles. Jeremy Noble and I pushed on just past the single-track connector, which was really steep and really muddy, but it was only a mile log. We camped out, got up this morning and bombed down Gallatin Pass - holy cow, what a ride. Across the border, no problem, just had lunch - or breakfast - and now we’re separated but I’m on my way to Whitefish. I think Jeremy is planning on the same thing. Been having a nice time riding with Jeremy and Cricket and Stephen and a little bit with Ray. Lost the Italians, haven’t got a clue where they ended up.

And had a nice thing happen yesterday with the wildlife: Riding up cabin pass, a wild grouse came out and defended his territory, that was pure comedy gold. He had his ring feathers all puffed out and he was strutting his stuff in front of me, wouldn’t let me by. Cricket actually said she was attacked by a chicken on the pass, but I’m pretty sure that was the grouse that went after her, too.

So anyways, going to try and make Whitefish tonight, but I’m not sure of the snow situation, so I’ve got enough food to spend the night out again. That’s it. Thanks. Bye.

(Call-in time: 8:59 a.m. Saturday, June 13)

Hey, Eric Bruntjen here calling from the Tour Divide. Going to do a little update right now because there’s been a route change and they’re sending us up into the Serengheti of North American outside of Sparwood, B.C. So I might be unavailable for two days. There’s three passes up there, and it doesn’t look like we’re going to be able to get back into civilization in one day.

Anyway, last night was pretty amazing. We pulled into Elkford, and they actually put us into a hotel room right above the honky-tonk, and there was a band playing last night. Didn’t get to sleep until like 3 a.m. I’m running on empty right now.

But it’s been all fun, and I’ve met some good riders. It’s an international group. We’ve kind of leapfrogging each other still; I rode with some Italians yesterday. They were nice. I think they were nice; one of them doesn’t speak any English at all, but he was talking to me the whole time.

We got some rain. We’ll be camping tonight; it’s definitely grizzly country, so I’m a little nervous about that. Let’s see, anything else to report? I don’t think so … uh, seems like there’s something else to report, but I’ll catch you later. Thanks. Bye.