Sandpoint - Bonners Ferry, ID - British Columbia 2019

July 10, 2019

Sandpoint - Bonners Ferry, ID

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I slept well last night. I give credit to the soft pillows. Jacinto and Jim weren't quite as happy. Jim texted at 7 AM and said they'd go to breakfast now. Gulp. I was just getting in the shower. I said I'd hurry - but hurry still meant our 7:30 original time.

I have to say that the Quality Inn here is a great deal for the price. It's interesting how traveling just 50 miles changes the price range/quality of the lodging. We shall she what we get tonight. We are at a little mom and pop tonight.

We lingered over breakfast until 8:30, but depart time is 9 AM. I'd better get going. Today is cloudy, but no rain in the forecast. We are riding a loop around to the east, just to get an extra ten miles. We don't want to get to town too early. Jim and Genny ate at the Fat Pig last night, so they feel they have some extra calories to burn off.

We were out the door at 9 AM. Forecast said 10% chance of rain, although the sky was foreboding. I had routed that extra loop that Jim said I was in charge of - he hadn't bothered to download it. Gulp. I like being the caboose.

Jim got us out of town. We came to the intersection of the original route to turn onto Highway 2. My routing paralleled Highway 2 for a couple more miles, but it was dirt. The first section of dirt was very hard packed and no problem. We got just far enough down that road to be committed, then it had a layer of loose gravel on top. I didn't like that at all with my light front wheel. To add more fun to the occasion, my rear wheel started squirreling around on the gravel. Heck. Can't I ride a straight line? Then I decided there was a reason for the wiggling bike. I had a flat on the rear. This is the brand new Marathon Racer tire I just put on for the trip, as insurance against flats! I removed the tire and Genny spotted the culprit right away, a piece of brown glass. We didn't fix the tube, but inserted a new one in record time. Just to remind us that the day wasn't too bad yet, a few fat rain drops fell on us. A woman stopped to see if we were ok. At that point we were all but back on the road. We could see the bend, where we crossed the railroad tracks again and returned to pavement. Yay for pavement!

Now started the diversion. We rode through nice farm country with hay bales, a few farm animals, and barns. It was excellent. But not too excellent. It started to rain in earnest. I opened the 'I hope I don't have to open this pannier the entire trip' pannier for the second time in less than an hour. I got out the rain jacket, but decided it wasn't cold enough for the waterproof mitts. Genny has a nifty helmet cover with a flap that covers her neck. I left my hood down. It wasn't raining that hard and I didn't want to overheat. Jim examined the entire contents of his panniers before he found his jacket. Off we went again. In total, we had roughly 20 miles before we had to get on Highway 2. We debated if we were tempting the rain gods if we took our jackets off. The rain had been light and just strong enough to muck the bikes up.

The highway shoulder was mostly wide, if debris strewn. There were many logging trucks and semis. RV's towing toys seemed a minor issue today with all of the big, working trucks. We saw a double logging truck that had lost it's second trailer. Thankfully all of the logs had rolled to the shoulder. We all agreed that it would have been bad for us had we been just minutes quicker down the highway. The driver was standing next to the logs, talking on the phone. Later when Jacinto rode by, the police were there directing traffic.

Jim was keeping a slightly fast past for me. Every time I decided I was going to cut them loose and drop back a bit, the terrain leveled off and I kept up better. We rode right past a service station with nary a mention of stopping. The miles were ticking down in satisfactory fashion.

The air was warm and sultry from the rain. If it had to rain, thank goodness it was warm rain. The last time we were in Bonner's Ferry, I rode into town half frozen and could hardly move from the cold.

We had one last side trip before town, on old Highway 95, also known as Deep Creek Road. We had one more flat tire, making the turn onto the side road. Jim had a staple this time. I noted with irony that we were turning on the side road, but so were the logging trucks. They went perhaps a half mile to the mill. The big sign at the gate said they accepted logs from 5 AM to 5 PM. That is a long work day.

Deep Creek Road was the best part of the day. We rode gradually downhill the entire distance, next to the creek. There was no traffic at all, until there were two cars - which passed each other and us at the same time. What are the chances? We rode side by side, enjoying the silence and opportunity to talk and ride. We speculated when the road was going to go up, because surely it would. We got closer and closer to town before we decided that tomorrow would be the day we paid for this delightful downhill.

We had no more than gotten onto Highway 2 and entered the outskirts of town when we arrived at our motel. Directly across the street was a Subway. Jim and I agreed we wanted to eat RIGHT NOW, before we showered. Plus, it was a little early and that would give them time to get our rooms ready.

I ordered Jacinto a sandwich also, skipping the wet ingredients like tomatoes and pickles, thinking that he would be along later. Then I checked Strava and he was just outside of town. I called to let him know a sandwich was waiting and he arrived within five minutes. He could have had tomatoes after all. Jacinto ended up with almost the same miles as us, but he had gone up Baldy Mountain Road to Turtle Road and had double the climbing.

We went back to the Kootney Valley Motel and checked in. The lady let us know she had inspected our rooms and they were ready for check in. Jim and Genny are in room 1, which is huge and has a full kitchen. We are in a newer section by the highway, in a generous size room, but no kitchen. Jacinto's favorite part is that we have a full size bar of soap. He vows to take it with him and that it will last the rest of the trip.

Tomorrow we cross the border. We shall see if my passport with the misspelled last name is an issue. We are headed to Yahk, BC, which is a one horse town. We've tried several times to call the motel and see what the food situation is, but no answer. The gas station also has a sign that says grocery store. We might carry food from here. Everyone else has walked to town to the outdoor store to see if they have details on food and also on the dirt road we intend to take tomorrow.

I'm going to try to sneak in a little nap right now. It was a good day - even with rain and flat tires. The scenery here is beautiful. I'm appreciating the flat riding. Tomorrow we start to climb.

Later - The helpful guy at the outdoor store said it was 30 miles of hardback dirt to Good Grief. A little RWGPS research showed that distance to be 17 miles. We finally got through to the motel. The lady said there is only the convenience store, which has frozen foods and box dinners. We do have a kitchenette in our room. We shouldn't starve.

We went to dinner next door. It was handy and I'm well known for being lazy once we get to town. We lingered long after we finished eating, chatting. I took the leftovers back to the room while everyone else went to the grocery. I asked for an apple and two bananas for tomorrow.

I had suggested that I would get started early in the morning, since there's a big climb out of Bonners Ferry. Genny seemed quite surprised and said she's now slow climbing also. In the end I decided to ride with them and if I fall behind, so be it. We have about 11 miles to the turn where the dirt starts. There is one cafe on the way. Genny called to make sure they are really open. Yes, at noon. That might be a lunch spot? Just because it's our only real food opportunity until Cranbrook. There's an ice cream store in Yahk. Which seems strange when what they really need is food. I don't think there's much of a profit margin on ice cream . . . but I bet they sell plenty, since there's nothing else in town.

7:30 seems to be our hour for breakfast. The sky has cleared. We should be rain free tomorrow?