Another day and another outlandish adventure. The heat wave we have been broiling under
made a 180 degree turn and delivered us pouring rain and vicious head
winds. Ken and I started off from the
dorm this morning into a 20+ mph head winds and within a couple of miles a
downpour was added to the mix. It didn’t
matter whether it was up hill or down
the best I could manage was about 5-8 mph.
After numerous turns getting out of Spokane we wound up in this canyon
which had a distinct down hill and I am guessing at around 5 % down. Struggle as I would I could not get over 5.1
mph.
I was suppose to meet Wendy from Trilogy and ride with her
to picnic. The deal was I was suppose to
phone her when I reached mile 18. By
time I reached mile 13 I phoned and told Wendy not to come out. Have a nice cup of coffee and enjoy being at
home. It was quite disappointing as I
had looked forward to seeing a friend from our winter home.
Ken and I struggled on and by the time we reached mile 40 I
was soaked and freezing. The van showed
up just then and we jumped in. A few
short miles later we arrived at the trail head to the Coeur de Lane bike
trail. It wasn’t raining and Ken decided
to ride from there on to picnic which was only 8 miles as he wanted to get his
bike worked on. I have not had a good opportunity
to visit with my friend Ed so I stayed in the van.
We drove back to Worley where first water stop was to pick
it up and went in to a local eatery called Fredneck’s Saloon. I had the bleu burger which had to be a half
pound burger and had ¾ of an inch of bleu cheese on it. It was so good. Put this place on your stop list next time
you drive through Worley.
We weren’t on the road 5 minutes when the phone rang to say
the one of the riders had gone down and was injured. It was about a 20 minute drive so we were off
to rescue him. When we got to him I
jumped out of the van as the weather had switched around and was a beautiful
sunny afternoon with a very nice tail wind.
It was about 25 miles in to Kellogg down the bike path. So I just sailed along with a couple of other
riders.
The story on the rider who went down is it is a very serious
dislocated shoulder but no break.
Unfortunately he is going home.
Looks like the heat wave has dissipated and we are in for
some nice weather. Tomorrow is a 68 mile
ride into Thompson Falls. We cross the second summit of the ride at Thompson
Pass but I don’t want to leave a bunch of spoilers.
I am looking forward to a nice evening in the tent.
Terry
4 comments:
I am thinking back to Jos’ comment yesterday. Add to the previous trials and tribulations, now a truly tough headwind and rain. Glad you are able to find enjoyable moments. Glad you have stayed safe, but sorry for the fellow whose trip ended early. Stay safe.
Later,
Earnie
Just caught up with your blog. Wow, you are really doing well in spite of the heat, wind, no training and eating gut bomb sausages and burgers. So nice of you to stop and help a fellow rider with his tire too. Seems like you are slowly getting your groove. Very sorry you missed Wendy, that would have been a lot of fun. Love the blog, take care of your body and continue to stay smart by taking a lift now and then.
You are DA MAN!
I also just caught up with your bike travels. Never a dull moment and I do admire your strength and stamina. Keep us posted as Bill just got back from his annual fishing trip with the old guys - brought back some nice walleye. Glad you had a nice place to sleep at Gonzaga University . Have great memories of the place from getting my Masters with them.
Terry, from 2014, I remember the Coeur D'alene rail trail being a really pleasant ride and a chance to ride and chat with fellow riders. It's nice that the day got nice and you were able to enjoy the remainder of the day's ride. Stay sharp and stay safe.
Canada Ken C.
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