Day 82: Riverlake Campground (Near Clark Fork, ID) to Cedar RV Park (Near Ione, WA)

August 2, 2008

121.29 Miles, 8:46:32 Ride Time, 13.82 Average Speed, 29.57 Maximum Speed

I was awake early, and, in contrast to yesterday's slow start, eager to ride today. The weather was nicer - sunny and cool - and I was in a much better mood after reaching Idaho. Montana was such a very wide state...

I stopped in Clark Fork for a Diet Pepsi, skipping a leisurely breakfast this morning; I wasn't too far from Sandpoint, Idaho, and the beginning of the final Northern Tier map, which I was eager to unfold. Breakfast could wait until then.

After a brief ride on State Route 200, the route took me onto Denton Road for a while, where there was very little traffic. I stopped in the tiny town of Hope, where I finally got a signal on my cell phone after a long interruption, and made a few calls home. Then it was back on the busier, shoulderless SR 200, which by now was full of Saturday morning traffic. As on my other big tour, in 2006, I was becoming more nervous about being hit by a car the closer I got to the end of the trip. I could imagine the newspaper story: "Bicyle rider struck by distracted, cell-phone-wielding driver, after 6,000 miles of 6,500 mile trip."

I rode through Kootenai (pop. 441), where I saw the first of many tiny drive-through espresso stands, and then arrived in Sandpoint (pop. 6,835), a nice-looking, friendly town. I stopped at a bank to get a cash advance on my credit card, and walked out to find an old guy inspecting my bike. He had done some bike touring, and had some not-really-that-useful advice about bears: "It's the Black Bear you should be afraid of: They want to EAT you. The Grizzly just wants to teach you some manners." Yeah, but the Grizzly teaches you manners by ripping your face off...

After switching to the last Northern Tier map, and briefly enjoying that short-lived "new map smell" (a byproduct of the water proof paper the maps are printed on), I got on the bike path that would I would follow out of town, only to find it completely clogged with pedestrians, dog walkers, joggers, baby strollers, etc. There was some sort of swimming event being held in the lake adjacent to the path, and I heard shouts of "Come on Bill!", "Don't quit Tammy!", and so on, as I rode 2.5 mph against the flow of people.

The bike path ended five miles later at Sagle, the primary attraction of which was a convenience store, where I had a belated breakfast of chocolate milk and Grandma's Cookies.

After a brief time on the shoulder of US 95, I enjoyed some nice scenery on quiet Dufort Road for the next twenty miles, and then crossed the Pend Oreille River at Priest River (pop. 1,754), where I encountered my old nemesis, the busy US 2, for a while. I stopped at Burger Express, a 1950's themed diner for lunch, where the radio was tuned to an oldies station out of Spokane. Spokane?! I had one of the periodic flashes that yes, I really had ridden my bike far, far from home.

I endured a few more miles on US 2 (which really wasn't that bad, but still: It was US 2), and then turned onto nice, quiet LeClerk Road, leaving most of the traffic behind. I crossed into Washington after about 70 miles for the day, and soon after that pulled into Pioneer State Park, which did not impress: It cost $14, there were no bathrooms or showers (just pit toilets), and bear warnings were posted everywhere. Back in Eureka, Terrie and Tom had raved about a campground in Ione, and had given me the phone number of the place. I called to make sure they were open, and then mulled it over: It was 2:30 in the afternoon, I had already ridden 70 miles, it was hot, Ione was 50 miles away, and there were no services until then. BUT, if the elevation profile on the map could be trusted, it was mostly flat, and the wind seemed to be with me. I decided to go.

After topping off my bottles at a spigot containing what I hoped was potable water, I got back on LeClerk Road, which was mostly deserted for the next 50 miles: No towns, few cars, and fewer houses - just trees to my right, and the Pend Oreille River to my left. My favorite kind of riding.

I passed through the Kalispell Indian Reservation, and then, with about twenty miles to go before I reached Ione, ran out of water just as I saw the sign for a US Forest Service campground, where there was a spigot. I saw a guy camping nearby, and asked if the water was drinkable. "My wife drank some, and she said it tasted funny, but she hasn't gotten sick yet." That wasn't the definitive answer I had been hoping for, but I filled up my bottles anyway.

Ione (pop. 479) was a nice enough town, with the usual bar and grill, convenience store, and a few campgrounds and motels. Cedar RV Park was a quarter mile outside of town, and was as attractive as I'd heard. My $10 got me a grassy, flat, shady spot with a picnic table, and the bathrooms at this place were incredible - possibly nicer than my bathroom at home. There was even a hair dryer(!). Gabe, the owner, invited me to a bonfire with his RV guests (as usual, I was the only tent camper), and after riding back into town for a pizza, I joined them.

I hung around the bonfire for a while, but went to bed just as it was getting dark. A nice day.