Bike Log

Veggies! Rain! Sandpoint, ID

Monday, May 31 A restaurant in Sandpoint, ID is open on Memorial day that serves steamed veggies! The place also serves deep fried cheese. A 3.5 mile separate bike path comes up from the south, crossing gigantic Lake Pend Oreille. It's well used by bikers, runners, walkers.

It's rained 8 days in a row, and it was in the 30's when I woke. It's raining right now as I eat. OK, here's an announcement: I fully understand cold, wet and windy. I got it, really. I need no more practice. Really. I'm ready to try something else.

Oh the weather outside is frightful

Sunday, May 30 It's now rained every day for seven days. Today's challenge was headwinds, five rainstorms and - unbelievably, a hail storm that had me biking towards some woods for cover so the hail wouldn't rip my Goretex jacket. It was a day of many clothing changes.

I did stop and talk to Larry, from the Kalispel reservation, who was biking in my direction. He moved from town (pop 900) to the reservation to help mom in the last three years of her life. He stayed, finding life in the countryside beauty more appealing. The annual meeting of area tribes each summer is a big festival, and the grounds next to the Pend Oreille River are spectacular.

Last night in Priest River, finishing my healthfood dinner (hot wings and pizza) in the only open restaurant on a Sunday night, I heard a guitarist doing Bon Jovi down the street. It was almost dark, it had rained again, but I was drawn. Ken used to play at Pike's Market for many years, but left after three guitars were stolen. He specialized in 70's hits, and played ELP 'What a lucky man' for me. As dark approached, I felt pressed to find the campgrounds and pitch the tent.

The Priest River Recreation Area camping deserves special mention. While some camping sites put bikes next to RVs, some put them in a corner, this one has a special area, set apart from RVs. Surrounded by woods and amidst old growth conifers are five bicycle campsites. A wood and steel post at each is designed to lock two bikes; there is a fire pit in the middle, picnic tables, each tent site is on a level sand base and has privacy. There is a bicycle repair station that holds two bikes. The fee for bicyclists is $3, and showers are 25 cents for 5 minutes. Alas, I've still only run into only one long distance cyclist.

Ione, WA and thinking of rhythms

Saturday, May 29 Here at the end of day six, I'm in the town park of Ione, my tent in a picnic shelter overlooking a peaceful lake, with the last glimpse of light in the sky. The bike and equipment are behaving perfectly, and I'm meeting many wonderful people, though still only one biker so far (Josef from Ballard in Seattle). I was supposed to meet up with another biker at the fairgrounds in Coleville, but I think he may have turned back - he was on a racing bike with no fenders, pulling a prettly big trailer. Between our brief encounter in Republic and the rendezvous in Coleville was Sherman Pass, wet snow, and 30 miles of highs winds and driving rain.

Up till now, there has been the rhythm of doing one pass each day - schlogging up the west side, and screaming down the east side. Starting tomorrow, the terrain is flat until Glacier Park. I wonder what rhythms will emerge.

It never rains on the eastside

Friday, May 28 It's rained every day. Sometimes a little, sometimes enough to put on raingear, and sometimes, like the entire day today, the kind of rain that requires everything: Goretex jacket, rain cover for the helmet, neoprene gloves, Goretex pants, neoprene covers for the shoes, warm clothing under it all. I was cold most of the day. It snowed, 1/2 inch accumuation - on the BIKE - for more than an hour getting over Sherman Pass. It was pretty, but snow is prettier when you're skiing. I was unprepared for what followed on the downhill ride. The other passes were exhilarating. This was frightening. The wind howled. The rain dumped in sheets. Hwy 20 ran like a creek. My hands got so cold that I couldn't feel the brake handles - so I stopped, on the 1 foot shoulder, put my hands with wet gloves down my pants for about 20 minutes waiting for some feeling, then waiting for them to warm. With a now wet crotch, I continued 30 more miles in pelting rain. Sometimes screaming, sometimes cursing, and in the end, laughing maniacally. Is this why I'm doing ths?

At the end of this grueling then harrowing day, I finally rolled into Kettle Falls. My momma never used the axom 'if you can't say something nice...". Armpit is much, much too nice a metaphor. Actually, no part of the body is so vile, unless it requires lots of antibiotics. There was one notable exception - the natural food store and deli. Desperate for hot food after six hours of rain, my heart sank when I discovered it was closed. After all, it was almost 6pm. Two locals told me 'go to Colville' - another 10 miles. So it was my first 60 mile day, just to get a hot meal that was not inside a dark-windowed bar with animal beer neon signs in every window and a kitchen whose sole fixture is a deep fryer filled with biodiesel reject. Did I mention that the local high school's sign is clearly courtesy of Pepsi?

The waitress in Colville said it has never been this cold or rained this much in May in memory. They've had 6 tornados this past year, and they're getting bigger. This was never tornado country. Oh, I'm sure this is yet another random anomaly.

I remember talking to Josef, who is almost done with his Virginia to Seattle ride, who said casually, "I don't like shifting". I was stunned. Isn't that like a racecar driver saying 'I don't like steering"?

At dinner I talked to Jack, a 54yo truck driver. He drives 10 hours per day. When I asked if he had his own rig, he explained that unless you had a fleet of trucks, you couldn't get good gas price contracts. With hauling prices as low as $1 per mile, diesel at $2.40, and a truck that gets 4-5 mpg, independents are getting squeezed. Imagine that.

Republic, WA. It never rains here.

Thursday, May 27 It's rained a little on me every day, but not like today. Wauconda Pass, though higher and greater elevation gain from the start point, was much easier than Loup Loup. Hwy 20 runs along a lush creek bed much of the way to the pass. The wild roses reminded my of home. I pulled over and lunched at a waterfall, eating goat cheese on tamari crackers, and almond butter and homemade jam (thanks Ronco and David) on sprouted bread, with hot tea from the thermos and fudge brownies I made before I left. This biking thing is alright! Oddly, there are large, expensive houses at the 4310 foot crest. Winter comes early, stays late, and snows a lot here. The downhill ride to Republic featured driving rain and headwinds, but the food coop had warm advice, the Internet cafe is $1 per hour, and I met my first long distance biker, 19 yo Joseph from Seattle, who is biking home from Richmond, Virginia. He saw me down the block and yelled, "hey, biker!" Why, I've been called a lot of things in my life, but never that. I planned to camp out at the fairgrounds, but he arranged for a bargain priced, lovely B&B a few miles out of town. Instead of huddling in my tent in the rain, wondering how to dry my shoes, I was hot-tubbing with Joseph, finding out the fine points of how to treat your feet and how to prevent chafing of your butt. He had some great advice. It's instructive to see my still-shiny gear next to what my bike will look like in two months.

Greg and Jerri run the Allot Center Natural Supplements & Massage (and B&B). They moved here 9 years ago from Issaquah. The Wall Street Journal included 3 paragraphs on Republic in their article on the cheapest land in the country. Ferry County had some of the highest average income in the state in the 70's, but now it has 16% unemployment. Lumber business dried up, and the gold mine closed. You can buy a 3 bedroom house with barn and land for under $60,000. They like it here - Issaquah was getting to dense for them even 9 years ago. Jerri is from here. If you like cougars, bears, elk and five feet of snow, this is the place for you.

Tomorrow is Sherman Pass; at 5,575 feet, it still has snow, and thunderstorms are forecast. Geez!

Omak

Wednesday, May 26 Omak was going to be just a breakfast stop. I've been asking locals for advice, so stopped into the visitor's center. I ended up getting interviewed for the Omak Chronicle, with photo. If anyone is in Omak next week, could you pick up a copy?

If you're biking through, go out of your way to downtown Omak; on the corner of Main and Apple street is Our Place Cafe, the best (and least expensive) breakfast so far. Home made beef hash, three eggs, home made biscuit with freezer jam, really good coffee: $8. The Internet cafe - the first one I've encountered - is half a block away, so Omak will be home for another hour.

As the sun sets on Tonasket

Wednesday, May 26 I had become fond of Okanogan and Omak. I started running into people I had met earlier, even in the next town over, after only aBn evening there. A strong headwind doubled my expected time to Tonasket. Even pedalling downhill, I was hardly able to break 8-9mph. The world is filled with great finds. There is nothing between here and Wauconda Pass, about 3,300 feet up from here, so I had to find a spot for the night. I discovered that Shannon's Ice Cream parlor noted in the bike maps, who allows bicyclists to tent out back, is really Shannon's Cafe - and Wednesday is the weekly outdoor grilled steak special. Camping is free for road snakes, and Shannon treats you like family. Her daughters work for the Forest Service, and one of them was a smoke jumper until she hurt her ankle. She told me the difference between a good fire and a bad fire. A good fire buys your car and helps pay for your college tuition. Is rain these past few weeks good or bad, considering the land here is parched. It depends on who you are: The rain right now is making the grasses grow taller, providing more fuel for fires in September when they are dry. Because of this rain, they are expecting a fire season that will buy cars for smoke jumpers, but will pollute the air here so badly that you can't see the hills a mile from town.

An expansive outdoor patio is built around the trunk of a Catalpa tree that is larger than the building . When Shannon and her husband bought this tiny piece of land over 30 years ago, they were going to cut down the small Catalpa tree that the little girls would swing on, so they could get some money to park RVs for tourists. The daughter sobbed uncontrollably - this ended that idea. This specimen tree, together with Shannon, creates the character of the place.

Shannon liked my idea of outdoor misters for those 100 degree evenings in summer. Shannon is happy, vibrant, and says goodbye to customers by name. She won't open for breakfast, in spite of some pressure to do so. Some people just don't like getting up early. Or maybe because her friend owns the restaurant next door, and she doesn't want to take away their breakfast business. In response to her friend, she acknowledged "who wouldn't" want to be independently wealthy? But you could see in her eyes, 'Who would run this place?" Who would talk to a passing bicyclist while grilling a dozen steaks at a time, to order, while directing her family of waitresses?

Okanogan

Tuesday, May 25 Okagonan is filled with delights that are not obvious from Highway 20. Saron at The Bike Shop on 2nd avenue is an avid biker, knowledgeable and friendly. He recommended the Paramount Bistro, on 3rd a block up from the bike shop, and a block from the library & town hall. It used to be a Masonic temple - high ceilings, plus dining on the upper floor overlooking the valley and the old brick buildings in town. Chef and owner Adam Clements will let you put your bike in a locked hallway while your're enjoying the seared Ahi tuna with sticky rice cakes and a melange of fresh greens. Interesting atmosphere, great food, reasonable prices, friendly staff - what a find! Adam is just starting out, so if you're in Okanogan, support a young entrepreneur. Tonight I'll be camping at the American Legion city park ($3), with hot showers, to keep within budget. The park is well-kept, camping is on the grass, and it's next to the river.

At the campground I met John and Sarah, a retired couple from central Britich Columbia. They come down to the states often; this time they're attending a Cribbage tournament in Spokane. They're happy they have enough money to travel, though they have to watch their pennies. Things are good for them in Canada - health insurance is free, and though they have to get special insurance for each day they're in the U.S., it's provided by health Canada at a small fee.

Okanogan

I'm in Okanogan, where it's sunny over 300 days a year. It's raining, and I'm in the library here which closes in 10 minutes, with no Internet cafes in town. In a nutshell, biking the 22 miles from Winthrop up to Loup Loup Pass was a challenge, though it tops out at only 4,000 feet. I came to appreciate the design and shiny surfaces of the guard rails. I learned that an inch off the pavement is quite sandy, which pretty much halts the bike with little steering ability. And just like Washington Pass, the ride down the other side was exhilarating - I hit 40mph today as the Okanogan valley unfolded below. The effects of the irrigation is astonishing in an area that is usually quite dry (except for the next few days). Many meadows are watered to provide grass to feed cattle. I just got the word from the sweet librarian. A post that precedes this about Winthrop will be uploaded once I can connect the Palm to a phone outlet. I'm camping at a park in town tonight. Peace.

Winthrop and Pearrygin

Monday, May 24 Note: Most posts are typed into my Palm and uploaded. The post date in the header is the upload date. I'll be putting the date I wrote it on the first line of the post.

Washington Pass, 5477 feet, to Winthrop, 1800 feet includes long stretches of steep curves. 35mph feels really fast on a bike, but I got used to it! There was some spitting rain, but the 20 miles downhill was glorious. Winthrop is a Old West looking tourist town, and the Brewery serves great beers made 10 feet from where I drank rich, dark hoppy beers.

Brian and Christy, married and in their 20's, from Chicago, passed me earlier in the day, and we had a good long conversation. Brian just got laid off from his sofware sales job in Chicago. He's aware that lots of software development is being outsourced to India, Singapore, China and other far away places. But software sales are also slow. Christy is happy and doing well as an interior designer, which limits their ability to move to a smaller town - something they'd like to do. Brian wants to get his MBA. He also wants to get back into long distance cycling.

The sun was setting as I approached Pearrygin State Park, 5 miles uphill from Winthrop. I camped along the lake, watching hawks, swallows and ducks on the still dark water at the last light of day. From a card John Scott gave me as we departed: "Many hearts will be protecting you - Your own heart will inspire you."