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. 

Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes (Part I)

Ride #5

November 2nd, 2014

Plummer, ID to Harrison, ID and back

32 miles

594 ft ascent/descent

Partly cloudy, 40-47 degrees

We started out early, leaving Spokane around 8:30. Both of us marveled at the beauty of the Palouse as we drove through the heart of it on the way to Plummer. Beau sat on Peter's lap for most of the drive, looking eagerly out the window, likely pondering what sort of adventure lay ahead. The trailhead is just north of the town of Plummer, and has a nice big parking lot and restrooms with a cool statue of an Indian flipping everyone off from his horse (or so it looked...). We spent a few minutes donning our cold-weather gear before taking off down the trail on our freshly-tuned bikes.

From the trailhead, it's a smooth 3% grade through Heyburn State Park for about 6 miles until you reach the lake. From there to Harrison, the extremely well-maintained trail runs right along the lake, past countless lake cabins and over numerous bridges. Once rounding the bend into the tiny town of Harrison, we took a half-hour break, eating some trail mix, exploring the town and letting Beau run around a bit. It looks like this place must be pretty happening in the summer with its restaurants, bike shop, antique shop and ice cream parlor. But when we were there, it was pretty empty--just like the rest of the trail on this beautiful, cold fall day.

We headed back toward Plummer, working on our spinning and grinding while having some great conversation. We powered up the 594 foot incline until we finally reached the indian statue again, his middle fingers vindictively letting us know we had succeeded.

Beau is so excited for his first bike ride.

View from the trailhead parking lot

Mandatory pre-ride ball session

He just wants to keep playing ball!

Isn't he precious?!?

Beau is getting comfy and we gawk at the scenery

Beau likes to look forward

Selfie!

First break

Beau loves checking out the nature

Crazy cool renovated railroad bridge

Poor Beau was pretty cold from the lake breeze.

Downtown Harrison, ID

Cool sculptures in Harrison

More cool sculptures

Playing in the leaves

Lakeside Harrison

There were a couple restaurants that smelled good around this time!

Ahem... 

Beau's Rig

Taking a break in Harrison

Heading back!

A break before the big ascent!

The Pmfbear! Porcupine?

Totals since first ride:

Distance: 130.7 miles

Vertical climb: 2288 ft.