Ride #2
October 12th, 2014
EWU Campus, Cheney,
WA to Perry District, Spokane, WA
23.5 miles
591 ft ascent, 919 ft
descent
For our second ride,
we opted to take the city bus out to Cheney--a route with which I was very
familiar after having used it at least twice a day for the year I attended EWU.
All of Spokane's busses have bike racks mounted on the front, so when Peter and
I met at the STA Plaza, we loaded up our bikes and took a seat on the almost
empty bus for the 35 minute ride out to Cheney.
It was a beautiful
day, though it was the first weekend that the weather had turned cold. I
brought my jacket, gloves and some long johns, but Peter was severely
underdressed in just shorts and a t-shirt! So when we arrived in Cheney, we
biked around the town a bit to try to find somewhere that Peter could buy a
jacket. Alas, the only thing that seemed to be open on this Sunday morning was
a lone Jimmy John's. And unfortunately, they were fresh out of Jimmy Long Johns
(hehe...). We continued on our way.
The Fish Lake Trail
is part of the awesome "Rails to Trails" movement--a wave of
abandoned rail lines being reclaimed as recreational trails. It is a gorgeous
and fairly easy ride from Cheney to Downtown Spokane. We couldn't help stopping
along the way at Fish Lake to admire the scenery. There's a nice park just off
the trail with some picnic tables and a dock.
Upon arriving in Spokane,
we toured through Browne's Addition and linked up with the Centennial Trail,
taking it to Trent and Erie Street, where we headed South to the Perry
District. We've decided "Erie Street" could use another "e"
since it is quite the eerie street, its decrepit solitude running underneath
train tracks and the infamous East Sprague Avenue before chewing us up on a
Sisyphean incline and spitting us out on Second.
The trail runs through a cool valley right outside of Cheney.
The new rail line runs right beside the trail.
I couldn't hear any trains...
Hardcore bro!
I've reached the summit
There were some cool cliffs
We stopped to climb them.
Beautiful views of Fish Lake
Totals since first ride:
Distance: 55.9 miles
Vertical climb: 975 ft.
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