Canada Trip!

A few months back Chris and I went to the Snowlander Expo/Powder Keg Brew Fest at the Spokane Convention Center. It's the perfect mix of local brews and winter sports information and gear. With admission, we got free lift tickets to Red Mountain in Rossland, BC. We figured since we had the tickets, we'd plan a weekend trip to Canada for some great skiing! We booked the hotel early and counted down the days...

When the day of our trip finally came, we weren't sure if the mountain was even open yet. They hadn't posted an update on their website, but since the hotel was locked in we decided to go anyway. There was always the Ainsworth Hot Springs if skiing wasn't an option. We loaded up the car with all of our gear, made sure we had some music and, of course, our passports, and headed out. Now it was on-wards to the border! After a nice drive up US-395 we arrived at the border only to be interrogated by the Canadian border patrol agent. In a stern tone and in rapid succession, he asked us about nearly every detail of our lives. I thought we had passed his test, but he asked us to pull into the lot so he could search the vehicle. Two agents came out and looked through every nook and cranny with a fine-toothed comb. A good ten or fifteen minutes later, they seemed satisfied that we weren't doing anything illegal and let us continue on.

The day was beautiful and sunny and we went straight up to Red Mountain, hoping that they might possibly be open. Turns out only the T-bar was open, but snow was expected later that day/night. We decided to head to the hot springs and pray to the snow gods that the mountain would open the next day.

The mountain passes were foggy but breath-taking on the drive away from Red, and we had fun driving on the snowy roads. We were passing through Nelson on the way to the hot springs, and saw a charming shopping area that ran up and down Baker St. We wanted to stretch our legs so we walked around and checked out a bunch of the local shops. We were pleasantly surprised with the number of local bike shops!

Driving on Highway 3B

The rest of the drive to Ainsworth included a short stop at a nice little stream, and some unintentional off-roading (due to an outdated GPS), but we arrived at the hot spring in time for lunch. The hotel and hot springs are situated between Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park and Kootenay Lake, so the view from the restaurant on the top floor was beautiful. For lunch, the waiter's hilarious description of the day's special helped me quickly decide what to order... In a slow and sophisticated voice, "You see, what they've done is they've taken a bacon cheeseburger and crumbled it into a dish of macaroni and cheese." That paired with a delicious beer brewed by the Nelson Brewing Company, made for a great lunch. The hot springs were clean, well maintained, and incredibly relaxing. We spent some time in the cave and even went in the freezing ice bath before going back to the restaurant to try another amazing Nelson beer.

Stretching our legs a bit

Restaurant at the Ainsworth Hot Springs

View of Kootenay Lake

Chris, nice and relaxed after being in the hot springs

We got back to Rossland in the early evening and decided to check into the hotel before finding a place for dinner. It was a good thing too, since the hotel owners invited us to their annual Christmas party that they throw for select local residents! Once we settled into the room we went over to the party. The food was authentic Indian cuisine, and it was FANTASTIC! Everyone was extremely friendly, we met some great people (hi to Dave, Karen, Leann, and Grant!), and we had a really good time. Hopefully we'll be able to make it back next year!

During the party, it had started snowing pretty heavily, so we had high hopes for Red Mountain the next day. Afterward, we relaxed in the room for a bit and played a game of Monopoly (which I won!) before turning in for the night.

In the morning, we woke up to a power outage! We had to shower in a dark bathroom, then had no wifi to check the status of the mountain. After a quick breakfast, we checked out, brushed some snow off the car, and went up for some (potential) skiing. It turned out that even with all the snow, they still only had the magic carpet and T-bar open. We were already there and wanted to at least get some skiing in, so we went for it! Neither of us had ever ridden a T-bar on skis before, so it took once or twice to really get used to it. We didn't spend a ton of time on the slope since only one run was open, but it felt great to be skiing again.

Red Mountain

Getting ready!

Look at that view!

Peter and Chris

After skiing, we went into Rossland to check out the town a bit. We walked up and down Columbia Ave., and went into local coffee shop for a quick pick-me-up before going home. The drive home was fast and uneventful and we had no issues at the border this time!

I definitely can't wait to go back up next winter!

Riverside State Park

Ride #8

November 27th, 2014

Kendall Yards through Riverside State Park and back

17 miles

950 ft ascent/descent

Partly cloudy, 45-50 degrees

It was a beautiful Thanksgiving morning with unseasonably warm weather. We couldn't resist. For our 8th ride, we decided to head west on the Centennial Trail and see how far we could get in 45 minutes. We'd allocated ourselves a mere hour and a half for this ride because--really--Thanksgiving is for relaxing with the family, not dying on certain infamous Spokane inclines. 

Heading out of Kendall Yards and barreling down Doomsday hill at 35 mph, we tried not to think about the immense climb back up it at the end of the ride. We entered Riverside State Park just after the TJ Meenach Bridge and continued for another five miles northwest until we were just about inclined out. This part of the Centennial Trail is really pretty and it's amazing to think you're within walking distance of downtown Spokane as you whiz through the forest, occasionally catching breathtaking views of the Spokane River Valley. We stopped briefly for a water break before turning around for the return ride. 

We huffed and puffed our way back up Doomsday hill and took a short break at the top to reflect on our incredible accomplishment before continuing on back home. We decided this was a ride we should definitely keep doing in order to build our leg strength and prep for longer, harder rides. But for now, time for turkey! Happy Thanksgiving!

"Recovery Day"

November 23rd, 2014

Due to some lingering illness and freezing weather, Chris and I decided it would be best to skip this weeks ride. Instead, we spent some time working on our bikes and cooking some delicious food.

Both of our bikes are in good mechanical shape, but had gotten dirty thanks to the poor weather on some of our rides. We grabbed the cleaner and towels and got to work out in the garage! Once they were well cleaned, we applied some T9 chain lube and left them to rest.

Now it was time to create the world's best BLT! Chris and I have "plans" to open Spokane's hottest new bar (we're calling it Raise), so we occasionally create menu items for it. After some planning and time in the kitchen, we came up with this incredible sandwich:

Raise the BLT:                  14

Raise’s spin on the old classic. Fresh from the garden spinach and tomato with applewood smoked bacon on a garlic baked jalapeño-asiago cheese roll. Topped with our famously decadent onion slices lightly breaded and fried in bacon oil. Avocado slices, a fried egg and Tillamook pepper-jack cheese finish off this heavenly sandwich.

Chris putting on a different saddle for testing.

Our workspace

Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes (Part III)

Ride #7

November 16th, 2014

Cataldo, ID to Wallace, ID and back

45.5 miles

699 ft ascent/descent

Sunny, 20-27 degrees

As I write this four hours after finishing Part III of our Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes adventure, my toes are still defrosting under a heated blanket. The hand-warmers we brought to put in our shoes had expired some time ago, and they didn't really work.  Plus, both of us neglected to bring appropriate shoes. So as we biked back from Wallace in the bitter 22 degree weather, the wind just about froze our toes off. It was quite painful for the last 20 miles... We'll never make that mistake again! But other than that, this ride went very nicely and at the end, though we were tired of the cold, both of us were surprisingly not too worn out from the ride. We were even able to sprint the last half mile!

Peter and I had bought balaclavas at REI a couple days prior, and thank God we did. Twenty degrees not including windchill can be quite brisk in the shade of all the mountains surrounding most of this part of the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes. The ride itself was probably the least pretty we've done so far. Following the interstate nearly the whole way between Cataldo and Wallace, it passes through a couple tiny towns famous for smelters and car dealerships before arriving at the very cool and definite highlight of the ride: Wallace. 

I'd always seen it from the interstate and wanted to stop there because of how cool it looked. It's an old mining town with a lot of history, preserved buildings and fantastic restaurants. We ended up at a place called "The Smokehouse," where we had a bison burger and a jalapeño pulled pork sandwich along with some heavenly mac & cheese, jumbalaya and red beans and rice. It was hard to pry ourselves away from the warm, delicious comfort of that restaurant and subject ourselves to another 23 miles in the cold, but we finally managed after finishing our hot buttered rum. 

On the way back, we set a new record for ourselves by completing the entire length without stopping. It took an us hour and forty minutes, which we declared was sufficiently badass as we warmed our frozen toes in the car. 

All decked out in our cold-weather (ninja!) gear

Stopping to admire the scenery in Wallace

Downtown Wallace

Time for some lunch!

We sat right by the hot stove

Nothing beats the cold like a hot buttered rum!

The food was incredible

We stood at the center of the Universe before the ride back

Totals since first ride:

Distance: 229.6 miles

Vertical climb: 3032 ft.

Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes (Part II)

Ride #6

November 9th, 2014

Cataldo, ID to Harrison, ID and back
53.4 miles
Rainy, 40-47 degrees

Peter and I enjoyed the first part of the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes from Plummer to Harrison so much that we figured we had better continue tackling it over the next few weekends. For part two, we decided to go from Cataldo to Harrison and back, and what a ride it was! Due to some sort of planning oversight, we had expected this ride to be ~40 miles. It turned out to be 53.4 miles. It also turned out to be raining... fairly heavily... nearly the entire day. But that just made it all the more fun!

With the new upgrades to my bike and Peter's new bike, we were both excited for the ride. Once we had all our rain gear on and secured, we took off toward Harrison. Our initial pace was noticeably faster than on previous rides. The ride was cold and wet, but it passed by quickly thanks to some good conversation and multiple animal sightings. We saw horses, cows, llamas, several blue heron, and even an eagle! We also had the trail completely to ourselves. The only other person we saw was a friendly hunter, decked out in camo, riding his ATV parallel to the trail. He gave us a big smile and wave.

In Harrison, we stopped for about a 20 minute break. We had some snacks and water and took a few pictures, then got on our way back to Cataldo. The ride back was similar to the first half; cold and wet. We made good time and only stopped once for a quick water break. The sight of our pick-up truck was extremely welcome as we crested the very last hill. We were both anxious to get back to the warm, dry car.

After changing into some dry clothes, we left Cataldo and headed to the White House Grill in Post Falls for some much needed post-ride food. For an appetizer we got the Turkish cigars, Turkish plate for the main course and a couple of pints of beer to wash it all down.

Heavy rain while driving through the 4th of July pass.

Decked out in rain gear! We wore grocery bags on our hands and feet.

Chris, trying to refuel for the ride back to Cataldo.

Harrison, ID

We weren't supposed to be on the beach...

Totals since first ride:

Distance: 184.1 miles

Vertical climb: 2333 ft.

Peter's New Bike!

My dad wants to get back into biking, and since I've been borrowing his bike, I had to get one of my own! After checking some local bike shops and doing a bunch of research online, I had an idea of what I wanted in a bike. While I wish I could afford to support a local bike shop, it saved me a significant amount to order online. I spent a few days looking for deals and finally picked a bike, just to find out that it was out of stock when I went to place the order! Fortunately, there was a better bike for a similar deal the very next morning. I bought it quickly just to be sure it wouldn't sell out!

The week long anticipation was killing me, but it finally came! My Nashbar 105 with a carbon fork, Alex ALX200 Alloy wheels, and Shimano Tiagra and 105 shifters and derailleurs. Now it was time to assemble it.

I got home just before the shipments arrived!

The bike came with clipless pedals but I wanted something more universal. These are Nashbar Soho pedals with a platform on one side and a clipless system on the other.

Un-boxing everything!

My ever helpful kitty, Aurora!

Stem adjusted, handlebars mounted.

All done!

Time to take it for a quick test ride...

Chris' New Stuff!

There were a few things I'd been wanting to modify on my Simple City 3 for awhile now, namely the shifter and handlebars. So I ordered some Retrospec Alloy pursuit-style bars and a Sturmey-Archer indexed thumb shifter from Amazon and sat by the door for about nine days and nights until the package finally showed up this evening.

I figured the pursuit bars would be a big improvement over my cruiser-style bars, and wow, they really are. My pursuit bars give me more hand positions for longer rides and help my riding posture during the daily commute, putting my back at more of a 45 degree angle. Plus, they look cool! I've wrapped them with black SRAM Supercork bar tape. It was my first time wrapping bars, but I think they turned out pretty well!

As for the shifter, the Sturmey-Archer thumb is made specifically to go with the Shimano Nexus 3-Speed hub which came stock on my bike. I think there must be a lot of demand for these shifters because the stock grip-shifter for the Nexus is absolutely awful. So awful, in fact, that I wasn't able to shift into first gear, despite many adjustments. Peter and I installed the new shifter on the stem and during the process, shortened the shifter cable by a good 8 inches, making the whole thing look even sleeker. Now that I've repositioned my front brake lever, I'll have to do the same with the brake cable. But that's another project for another day. The shifter works like a dream, and I love the solid, indexed feel of it. Here is a "before" picture followed by some pics of the new setup!

Notice the cruiser-style handlebars and grip shifter.

My Simple City with all its upgrades!

Close-up of the new bar setup

Close-up of my new stem-mounted thumb shifter

I wish I didn't have to have the bell, but it is really necessary when commuting

The Retrospec pursuits from another angle. Wrapped with SRAM Supercork tape.

The Shimano Nexus 3-Speed, which I absolutely love

My Bontrager Nebula crankset.