June 28, 2023
Day 12: What a Day!
Idaho
Starting with stats because I cannot get them to paste to the bottom…user error I am sure.
Tour Stats
- Cribbage Game Wins: Mike 4, Dawn 2
- Tortillas Eaten: Mike 16, Dawn 9
- Jars of Peanut Butter: 1
- Flats: Dawn 2
- Bike Haters: 3
- Bags of Salad Consumed: 6
- Dog Encounters: 2
Wow! What a day! It became a tough one but started out pretty nice. We woke up to a damp tent and the campground was shrouded in clouds at about 4:00 am; it starts to get light at that time as we are so close to the Canadian border. The mosquitos were clinging to the screens of the tent waiting for breakfast. The weather and the pests kept us in our comfy tent maybe longer than we should have been.
After breakfast with Hermon and Kristiana who had shared our site, we left the camp after them and Peter and David who had left a half hour earlier. We did see both groups again on the road, but did not chat much as everyone was anxious to get to Sandpoint, Idaho.
The first part was super pleasant; LeClerc Road had gentle rolling hills, scenery, and the most pleasant drivers I have ever encountered. Sadly, it was the end of the pleasant part of the day. We had a dog encounter, but we have had worse, and then just some barkers who meant business- they were not behind gates. Then, a screw on my shoe cleat had become loose and disappeared from my shoe; I only found this out when I tried to clip out and couldn’t. Not good. I was able to get to the side of the road where Mike had to help me get my foot out of the shoe because the shoe was stuck to my pedal- yes, that is what happens. Mike did chastise me. I should have known it was a bit loose. Well, now I know that if there is a little play, it needs to be tightened. Mike was able to get it unstuck and had a spare screw. He is pretty awesome in mechanical repair situations. I am lucky. I might still be stuck in my shoe if I had to do it…
So, on the way we went and crossed the boarder of Washington into Idaho. We stopped at Safeway for drinks, and while Mike was inside, I was out guarding the bikes. We usually take turns shopping and guarding. Whoever does the shopping gets to enjoy some air conditioning but also has the stress of navigating an unfamiliar store while trying not to leave one’s partner out there too long; it is easy to get sidetracked, especially when hunger is present. Hunger sometimes makes us buy really heavy stupid stuff. While I was out, I saw my first Confederate flag of the trip and people watched. I became a little worried about Idaho.
We got our first F’ you of the trip as well, and this was after having to turn around after several miles because there was a washout. This was an ACA route, and it was extremely busy with no shoulders. I am surprised it is a recommended route. It was pretty, but…
There was no detour sign; we could have gone ten miles and then had to turn around, but we got lucky. Another Good Samaritan drove up and told us. He wasn’t even going in our direction; he drove out of his way. Other tourists were not so lucky. We left a message with Peter, but did not have anyone else’s contact info. I know that The Germans went all ten miles; they stopped by our campsite tonight after a very long day. It is the last time we will see them. I am not sure what Peter and David experienced.
The detour took us on to Highway 2 that had some traffic but large shoulders, but still not enjoyable. You just feel yucky while riding the freeway; that’s the best way to describe it, and then throw in a flat and it really gets sucky… Yes, I had another FLAT! This was not fun as we discovered that the repairs to the previous tube were not sufficient and that one of our other tubes was for Mike’s 29 inch tires on his gravel bike not a 26 inch for the Surly. We had two more goods tubes that did fit.
Anyway, Mike kept his cool again after having to use pliers to extract two tenacious staple pin looking things with two sharp pointy sides.
We made it to Sandpoint, toured around the interesting town- it has somewhat of a Bend feel and amazing mountainous scenery, then made it to our camp after food and beer.
Long day. The campsite is at a beautiful location even though our site is near a busy road.
Good morning (Thursday 29): The evening was super quiet, and now we are sitting on the lake drinking coffee and watching three Bald Eagles having breakfast.
Off to Coeur d'alene,
Team Bean
Today's ride: 71 miles (114 km)
Total: 608 miles (978 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 6 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 3 |
10 months ago
10 months ago
I found it interesting that you wrote; "While I was out, I saw my first Confederate flag of the trip." That may be the only one you see, although it's still possible as you traverse Montana. It is a lot worse in the southern states, of course. I kept stats of confederate flags I saw on my trip last fall on the ACA Great Rivers South route; I saw 7 flags with 1 in Mississippi, 2 in Tennessee, 1 in Kentucky, 1 in Illinois, and 2 in Missouri. It won't be that bad on your route, but there definitely are some backwards folks in eastern WA, ID, and MT, and that's where I encountered the most aggressive drivers. You're about past that now, so enjoy the rest of your journey!
9 months ago
10 months ago
9 months ago