Tuesday, June 7, 2022, Day 7: Idaho, Baby!
I knew today was going to be another long one because we wanted to get to Plummer, Idaho (new state!), where the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes. This is a 73-mile-long, paved, bike trail. After the misery (okay, misery is a bit strong but unpleasant and sometimes dumb) of the P2C, this sounded like heaven.
After a decadent breakfast at the hotel, I was off at 7:30 a.m. The first car passed me six miles into my day. The next car passed me 28 miles into my day. In all, maybe ten cars passed me in 100 miles. I was on trails for only 20 of those miles, but often on gravel or paved farm roads — maybe 50/50 of each. I’m amazed by such good roads that seemed to be used very infrequently. I guess the only reason to drive on these roads is if you are a farmer of the adjacent fields or live or work on one of these family farms.
Speaking of the distance…100 miles! For my second day in a row. I didn’t have a tailwind today and I had some climbing, plus some trail riding, so it was a long day and I’m feeling my knees now. Towards the end, I had to climb up my first mountainous road. It even had a couple of switchbacks. Blessed descending on the other side, all the way to camp on the banks of Lake Coeur d’Alenes. I didn’t arrive until 4:40 p.m. It was my latest arrival so far.
Normally, it would suck to ride that long alone, but I saw Sheri three times: in Sprague (practically a ghost town, but not quite, as you’ll read), Cheney, and Fairfield. It was so nice to see her son often and to look forward to it. In Cheney, after 52 miles, we had lunch.
Before that, though, we met in Sprague for a quick drink. I probably only stopped for 20 minutes. When I left the sleepy town, with boarded-up buildings on Main Street and not a single person sighted, a pickup truck passed me. It was only the second car to pass me. I headed to the Columbia Plateau Trail (CPT), got on it, and rode it for 15 miles. It was similar to the P2C, but a little smoother and a lot further from a road. At least I could never see a road adjacent to it. It went by a really nice lake, too. Early on the trail, I caught up to an older guy hiking and slowed to chat with him. He was a retired Air Force dude, who did his last 25 years of service in Arizona. His family in the Sprague area told him that he had no family down there and to move to Washington. He said, “I don’t have any winters here either.” But he did move and lives in Sprague. So at least one person lives there.
Sheri parked in Cheney, at one of the trailheads for the CPT and rode back towards me. We met six miles from where she had parked and rode back together for lunch. I spent about 45 minutes there and then hopped back on the bike, with 52.5 miles already done.
I rode mostly gravel roads all the way to Fairfield and had now ridden 75 miles. Sheri had found a good campground, but it was a bit beyond Plummer, and worried it might be too much for me. Peeshaw! I thought it sounds great and recalibrated my mind to ride 26 more miles instead of 17. On the plus side, I said, it would give me two hundred-mile days in a row.
I rode some gravel and then the paved hill I mentioned earlier. In Plummer, I got on the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes (TCA) and it was all I wished for and more. The more part? It was downhill to the lake. I had to ride 1.5 miles off the trail and along the shore to get to the campsite, but I was feeling strong.
In camp, I noticed our neighbors had a tandem bike rigged with packs. They had their tent up and I figured they were riding across the country. Heck, I’d already met two people who had done it. Nope. They had just retired and were of similar ages to Sheri and me. They had just got the tandem bike and this was their maiden trip. They started in the middle of the TCA and rode 35 miles to this camp. Tomorrow they will bike back to their car. They hope to do more of this and maybe eventually cross the country on that bike. Cool.
Of course, Sheri already had the tent up and the car unpacked. She is constantly working for me. Plus, she did three workouts today. She did the elliptical at the hotel, then the bike ride, and hiked a few miles after I arrived.
We made dinner, took a short walk afterward, and Sheri is reading while I type this report. The forecast for tomorrow has a high of 73 degrees. If so, it would be my first 70+ degree day. I’m looking forward to that.
Stats so far:
Days on trip: 7
Miles ridden: 573
Average miles per day: 75.6
Percentage done with projected trip: 14.2%
Number of days above 70 degrees: 0
Wednesday, June 8, 2022, Day 7: Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes
It’s official. I’m fully in retirement mode. I know this because I don’t know what day of the week it is.
We awoke to rain on the tent. It wasn’t forecasted, but it was light and didn’t last that long. I made pancakes. Sheri and I were riding before 8 a.m. and we enjoyed a nice ride down to Harrison. We went over a super cool cyclist/pedestrian bridge that climbed up to a trestle via a series of little ramps to short flat sections. It was fun to ride up and down this. I was impressed with the structure built just for cyclists (yeah, and walkers). We rode along the coast of Lake Coeur d’Alene until hitting Harrison. We rode off the trail and into town and found an espresso shop for some coffee and a muffin.
We lingered for half an hour and then parted ways. Sheri rode back towards camp and I headed east to Osborn, 45 miles away, all on the bike path. While Sheri did some errands (food, bike pump) in Coeur d’Alene, the city, I soft-pedaled along the trail. I stopped at each information sign. I even took a 30-minute break at one bench to just enjoy the Coeur d’Alene River.
Logging first came to this area in the last 1800s and it is still happening here. Back then the river was the main means of transportation. Mining was another draw to this area, with zinc, lead, and silver mines.
I got to the campground just five minutes ahead of Sheri. That was a first. The host was really nice, even giving us a tablecloth for our picnic table. Sheri’s ride was enough for her, of course. So, she went off for a hike to explore the town (there isn’t much of a town here).
Each day, after my ride, we both plot the next day’s ride. We aren’t looking that far ahead, but we’ll merge with the Adventure Cycling Northern Route in Great Falls, Montana, so that is our medium-term goal.
Today was basically a rest day. I only did 56 miles and not even 1000 vertical feet. I’m not even sure how I got that thousand feet. I must have been on a really gradual climb. Both after two long days, I was fine with that.
Stats so far:
Days on trip: 8
Miles ridden: 629
Average miles per day: 73.2
Percentage done with projected trip: 15.6%
Number of days above 70 degrees: 0
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