Category: Bicycling

No, the mileage is not a typo, especially considering this update is late, but all will be clear later… I woke up shortly after sunrise and Dave was already packed and gone – he had mentioned something about getting an early start. I walked over to the KOA Kafe for breakfast, and Phyllis and Geoff…

One thing I had forgotten to mention yesterday was that I had broken a spoke on the rear wheel. This is the first time I’ve ever broken a spoke in my life (excluding the tandem bike). Luckily the break was on a non-drive side spoke (quite unusual, actually), so it was a fairly straightforward do-it-yourself…

After breaking camp I made it to the town of Trout Creek. Not much there, but there were a couple of casino/saloons – both closed, since it was too early in the morning. There was also a cafe, though, where I had breakfast. Today had more good scenery along the Clark Fork, but I hadn’t…

After getting out of the US 2/95 logjam in Sandpoint, it was smooth sailing on Highway 200 eastbound, which would get me to Missoula, Montana in a few days, where I could rejoin my original planned route. Highway 200 has some nice views of Lake Pend Oreille before it breaks off to follow the Clark…

After riding to Walmart to pick up some stuff, I dropped the bike off at the bike shop for a badly needed cleaning. The rest of my errands could be done on foot. Despite this being a “rest” day, I still had lot to do (laundry, etc.). Sandpoint has a population of only 5,200 but…

Some days you wake up and know you’re not looking forward to riding. A couple of days ago the rain had conveniently stopped before sunrise. Not today. There’s nothing worse than having to break camp and pack a soggy tent while it’s raining. Even riding in the rain is better than that! Taking a rest…

Although there were no mountain passes, today’s ride was tougher than expected, with a big climb up out of Colville, rolling hills through the National Forest, and then a downhill to the Pend Oreille River, where it finally flattened out. This part of the Colville National Forest had a lot of interesting lakes, in addition…

The rain had stopped before sunrise, but the outside of the tent was still wet. At least it wasn’t wet inside like last year! So I wiped off the standing water from the rainfly, walked to breakfast, and let the sun do the rest of the work – when I came back all was dry,…

Another day, another pass. This time it was Wauconda Pass, at 4310 feet. Tomorrow is the last pass in the state of Washington (Sherman Pass, 5575 feet) – so stopping in Republic tonight midway between the two passes was the natural thing to do. Leaving Tonasket in the morning, Highway 20 splits off of US…

I had the whole city park to myself last night, with the exception of an RV that pulled up around 9 PM or so. I had forgotten my earplugs so I had to use my pocket radio to drown out the traffic noise (and the wind noise too!) from the main street. I woke up…