Selkirk Tour - Day 10 (Return to Sandpoint, Idaho)

After a relatively short (36 miles) day I made it back to the car in Sandpoint! Given the fact I had a long drive ahead of me I wanted to get going early this morning. I left around 6:45 a.m. and it was great to get going early but it was cold this morning. It was around 40 degrees at the start of my ride and of course had to deal with a big hill to start the day. Wouldn't be right if I didn't have to climb a hill to start the day. I rode another backroad today and it was a fairly quiet. I did run into a couple other guys out touring around my age and they were doing the loop in the opposite direction. They were from Vancouver so I've definitely run into quite the diverse group of people on the road!

Compared to my last tour the finish of this one was entirely stress-free and easy. The highway coming into Sandpoint is very busy and there used to be a four lane bridge across the lake. They shut down the east two lanes and it's now exclusively for the use of runners, walkers and cyclists. It was great to ride in on that and then I had a bike path the rest of the way until I had to turn onto the street where my car was. Really simple and easy! Looking back it went really quick. Physically it was more challening than my last tour because of all the hills here (that's what I get for touring in the mountains) but the scenery was much better. My favorite days were days three through five and my favorite overnight town (for everything that was there) was Kaslo. My favorite place to stay was the bed and breakfast in Slocan! Such a great trip.

Here's the route today and some photos. Not too many photos since it was a shorter day and I was pushing most of the day.

 

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Pretty foggy around the river today.

That's the separated path going into Sandpoint.

Back to the car! It was a great ride...thanks for reading! Until the next trip...

 

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Selkirk Tour - Day 9 (Newport, Washington)

Today was a relatively stress-free day of cycling. I rode along the Pend Oreille River the entire day (couldn't see it about half the day though) on a country road that paralleled the river. The highway was on the west side of the river and LeClerc Road, the road I took, was on the east side of the river. There was very little traffic (almost none) for the majority of the day. It wasn't the most eventful day but I made good time with no significant hills. I bought a sandwich early in the morning and some things for lunch since I wouldn't be going through a single town on the way. That was probably also why I made such good time today and ended up riding 52 miles.

Last day tomorrow! I have around 35 miles to ride and hoping to get an early start. Taking backroads again tomorrow and imagine I'll make pretty good time since I won't have to save my energy for another day of riding. After I finish up I'm going to start making the long trip back to Omaha and will spend the night in Billings, Montana which is about seven and a half hours away from Sandpoint. Here's the route and photos from today.

 

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There were about five more that ran into the trees before I could get the photo.

Last day tomorrow!

 

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Selkirk Tour - Day 8 (Ione, Washington)

Today marked my re-entry into the US and while Canada treated me extraordinarily well I was ready to get back to the States. It was tough sledding today, though. I had hoped to leave Nelson around 7:00 a.m. or so but as I looked out my window I saw pouring rain so I decided to wait a bit and let it pass. Around 8:15 I was getting stir crazy and the rain was beginning to let up so I took that as an opportunity to start moving. While I do love bicycle touring probably the thing I dislike the most is getting my bags packed and everything loaded on the bike. It seems like it takes so much longer than it needs to and today was no different. Once I got out of town I knew I would have some climbing to do. In the first half mile I had 250 feet of climb and I took that as a sign of what was going to come today. The first seven miles had over 1,300 feet of climbing without a single downhill and I was already tired! It kept going that way until after a few more miles I had a gradual downhill until about 8 miles prior to the border. Around 10:00 a.m. it did start to rain on me and the wind picked up and the temperature dropped. Had to happen at some point! I rode for a while, stopped in Salmo for lunch and kept going. It rained for the next two and a half hours. It wasn't a downpour or anything but just enough that I needed to put on my rain gear.

Getting back to the border took another large climb and then as soon as I crossed into Washington the skies cleared up, it was sunny and it warmed up to the low 70s. Perfect weather. I had initially planned on staying in Metaline but as I got to the campground the owners (the office is a room in their house) had apparently gone to a party and I had no idea when they would be back. That's fine and all but the bathrooms and showers are locked at this place so I decided to ride nine miles down the road to Ione where I'm now at the best campground I've had as a cyclist. I called prior to make sure he had room and as I got here Gabe (the owner) was waiting for me and gave me a big "Hi Tim!!!" as I rolled in. I'm in a grassy area all to myself away from the RVs (and noise) and he gave me a chair as well. I have a hammock to use if I wanted but I decided not to. The other nice thing is he has an electronics re-charging station set up, a microwave, stove and sink all outdoors for tenters to use. Really nice. And the bathrooms and showers are very clean and nice as well. All in all I rode 64 miles today which will be my longest day of the tour and I had 3,400 feet of climb. Tomorrow was supposed to be my longest day but now I will only have 51 rather than 60.

I'm riding on backroads the rest of the way. These are roads recommended by the Selkirk Loop Association so I know they're paved and will be away from traffic. Should be a calm ride tomorrow! Here's my route today and photos.

 

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The whole "Mountains" part of the sign didn't make me feel very good.

This particular border station is nothing too fancy. The border agent was very friendly though which was nice.

I was riding a little later than normal today (around 4:30-5:00 p.m.) and there were some really cool shadows on the road. The last picture is my campsite tonight.

Tomorrow is off to Newport, Washington and then the next day is back to Sandpoint and I'll be heading home!!

 

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Selkirk Tour - Day 7 (Layover Day in Nelson, British Columbia)

Today is my last day in British Columbia. Tomorrow I'll continue pedaling south until I cross back into the good 'ol U.S. of A after nearly a week here in BC. I'd highly recommend anyone to see this part of British Columbia. People here have been very friendly. This morning I got up and did my laundry and then went on a search for spare tubes. There are three shops here within walking distance and between all three they only had two tubes in the size I needed but that should get me by. I don't expect to have any other flat tires but you never know. Around 11:00 I took off for the golf course and was cursing my decision to golf when I found out it was straight uphill the entire way there. While that part wasn't fun it was a great course and it was a good way to spend an afternoon.

Last night outside of where I'm staying was an event called Market Fest. It happens four times a summer and they block off Baker Street (which is where everything is) and have a band on each end and all sorts of vendors on each side of the street. It was nuts. There were thousands of people out last night so it was definitely an experience. Here are a few pictures from that.

Here are some photos from golf today:

That was looking down from the green on #10. Pretty spectacular.

Not much for photos. Tomorrow I have a couple big climbs and a bunch of rollers so it will be another challenging day. I thought I'd use the rest of the space to answer some questions I frequently get on the road.

How much does your bike weigh? When it's loaded with gear, probably around 90 pounds. I don't weigh it because that would be depressing. You don't notice the weight when you're going on a flat surface (it's geared differently than an normal bike) but you do when you're starting out and going up hills.

How many times do motorcyclists say, "You know that would be easier if it had a motor on it!"? At least three or four times a day.

What are drivers like? For the vast majority, very good. Some of the drivers in Idaho weren't as courteous but for the most part I've had good luck. The speed limits in Canada on these roads at least are much lower than our highways so that helps.

What do you bring for food? I make some meals ahead of time that just need boiled water to cook and I bring a small camp stove. Otherwise I'll stop at places and eat. I bring a lot of snacks too.

How do you train for something like this? Get a lot of miles in on the bike. Ride a lot of hills and ride significant miles at least once a week with weight on the bike.

Do you get tired of hills? Yes.

How fast do you go? On flat road, around 9-13 mph. Going up hills, probably anywhere between 5-9 mph depending on how steep it is. On downhills, I can hit 35+ mph if it's steep.

Do you get bored riding long distances? In rare cases, yes. But up here that hasn't been the case because everywhere you look there's something incredible to see.

Tomorrow is off to Metailne, Washington. Three more days to ride (two long days and one short one) and then the trek back home!! Until tomorrow...

 

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