Day5

(This is cool if you like lots of data! It may take a few seconds to load but you can hit play and time compress our ride)

DAILY REPORT: David, John, James and Skip. What a beautiful day for a 80 mile bike ride. Start temp was in the 50's and by the time we got to Idaho the temps felt like they were in the 90's. No real winds to speak of.

Well I knew it would happen. I was typing up today's journal and I fell a sleep at the key board. So got up a little earlier this

morning and now typing away and watching the sun rise over the mountains. Looks like another great morning for riding. We have an interview with the local paper after breakfast so this entry may be a little shorter today......

We had a leisurely start this morning in down town Spokane. We packed up and did a little bike maintenance before we left. Once again we would like to thank the Marriott and their staff for a very pleasant stay.

During our evening pre-ride planning session; we decided to use the bike path from here to Kellogg when possible. This would include the Spokane Centennial trail, Northern Idaho Centennial trail, and Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes. This whole area is extremely bike friendly and these bike paths were a joy to use and took us through some really great scenery.

We spent aprox 50% of our time on bike paths today. We had a beautiful ride out f Spokane along the Spokane river and we cycled along Lake Coeur d'Alenes which presented some fantastic views. Two years ago our scout Troop 1506 went to BSA summer camp at Camp Easton which is on the western side of the lake. Who would have thought we would be biking along the same lake....pretty cool.

There was a section of our bike trip that required us to cycle on I 90. The Northern Idaho Centennial trail ended so we had to

"hop" the fence and ride on the interstate for nearly 20 miles. It is legal here in Idaho to have bikes on the interstates. There was a rumble strip along the shoulder and the interstate shoulder was normally 6 feet or more wide. There was some road debris and the traffic noise of semis going by temporarily seemed to cause me to go deaf in my left ear (or was that old age?). We had a several thousand foot climb over the 4th of July pass (summit 3069ft) but it had a respectable 6% grade unlike yesterday's climb. It did get pretty hot and were thankful Skip was on the other side so could refill our empty water bottles.

On the other side of the pass we reconnected with the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes to finish out the trip. There were lots of other great vistas along the way. We only had one minor mishap when John's front tire got stuck in some soft grass and he had to lay his bike down and got his calf stuck in his front cog. His brother demonstrated his brother love when he said "suck it up it's just a mere flesh wound!"

We arrived into Kellogg about 6 pm and our hotel was right on the bike path. Can't get much better than that. We really would like to thank Jennifer of the Baymont Inn. Not only did she take care of our two rooms for us, she had her staff prepare a wonder fruit basket for our arrival. Everyone one was very friendly; lots of great folks. If you are in the area you should stop by, you won't be disappointed!

Kellogg was a mining town for almost a hundred years, settled in 1885, and with the Bunker Hill mine closing just in 1982. For mining history, try the Staff House Museum or the Crystal Gold Mine Tour. Since that time, Kellogg has become a tourist destination. The biggest attraction seems to be the gondola to Silver Mountain Ski Resort. It is said to be the longest single-stage gondola in the world. We drove around after dinner and it had a historic charm of it's own with a number of sculptures. There was definitely lots of town pride showing.

YOU DON'T SAY:

While we were biking on the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes we stopped and talked w/ a number of bikers and families. On one occasion while were discussing that we don't have any real bike paths in Kitsap County which ran the risks of getting pushed off the road; our new friend said that he would have to ride with his 9mm strapped to his side. That way if he was pushed off the road he would be able to place a few well aimed rounds in the back of the vehicle. "I would forgive him after that; that's the Idaho way!!"

DID I REALLY DO THAT?:

John was reviewing the pictures at the end of the day and came across the picture of him laying on the ground after his slight accident. "Dad you were taking pictures of after I fell?" Hey I asked if he was OK and then took the picture!!

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
Some of the local wildlife along the bike bike path....didn't seem to mind all the cyclists and joggers.	This sign would have been much more appropriate for yesterday. We were all feeling much better today :)
I guess we really do have another 20 miles to go!	Look Mom; I keep my hotel room just as neat as my bedroom!!
We had a wonderful dinner at the Moose Creek Grill. The atmosphere was great, food outstanding and Kristie our waitress was perfect.	The town of Kellogg has some great metal works.

Day 05 (Thur 7/2/09)

Kellogg, ID; state number 2

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