July 2, 2024
To Coeur d’Alene, ID
There was a lot of rain yesterday, for a day with no rain in the forecast. A heavy rain woke me up at some wee hour. Somehow I was able to get back to sleep. I was totally trusting the forecast of no rain. When we got up, the sky was solid gray. It sure didn't look friendly.
Mike and Sue said they usually leave around 9 AM. I was outside at the same time. We chatted a minute and said goodbye. Jacinto had three routes to choose from today - Mike's, Wayne's, and our original route. I went with the original. I was ready to get my layover started, and wanted the most direct route.
Highway 41 had a narrow shoulder that wasn't totally usable. The pavement had been overlaid, but not extended all the way to the edge, creating a lip. Traffic was fairly heavy. The shoulder was also dirty. At one point, there was a broken full size window, including the window frame, on the shoulder. I stopped, and waited for traffic to clear so I could ride in the traffic lane. I hope I missed all of the glass.
There was an area they were working on power lines, traffic was routed with cones. I hurried through. It wasn't a long area. Just long enough to snarl traffic up.
Once I passed Spirit Lake Road, there was a huge increase in traffic. It was bumper to bumper going into Spirit Lake. That seemed odd to me. Shouldn't traffic be heading to the lake, not away? Happily, after town a bigger shoulder appeared, and traffic slacked off.
I was relieved when I reached my turn towards Ramsey at mile 27. Magically I was on a quiet country road. I took a deep breath. I had ridden right through a pile of glass while looking for my turn. I stopped at a field entry and checked both tires for glass. I saw a tiny hole in the front tire that might have a little something in it. I got my tweezers out and dug around. I didn't find anything. I hope I didn't push something deeper. I suppose we'll see what happens in the next few days.
I had almost ten miles of enjoyable riding. Then I made an error and turned too quickly, onto 95 instead of Government Road. I routed back the next chance I got. Government Road was good riding with a shoulder, until I got to the town of Hayden. It was super busy. Wait several turns of the street light to get to the front of the line sort of busy. Everyone was polite. As busy as the day was, I always felt safe. It just wasn't exciting.
I finally made my way over to 15th Street, which had a marked bike lane and went five straight miles right to the motel. It went through residential areas. It was interesting to see what homes in this town look like. Before going to the motel, I stopped at a little burrito cart on the corner. I ate sitting on a pile of plastic boxes at the neighboring gas station. The things I'm willing to do when cycling!
Then I made my way over to the Budget Saver Motel. I spent way too much time on lodging for this day. It seems we either have no choices, or too many choices. In Coeur d'Alene, there's quite a bit of lodging and food up by the interstate crossroads. I'd like to get closer to exiting town. I didn't look at lodging by the river for long. That was way too expensive. Wayne Estes had stayed at the Budget Saver, and found it adequate. I made my booking. Months later, we were looking again. The name was a little off putting. No, I do like the price. We stayed.
The check in clerk was friendly and nice. She had just finished asking me all sorts of questions about my bike, so when she gave me a room on the second floor, it was fairly easy to point out my monster size bike would be really difficult to get up the stairs. Happily, they had a two bed room downstairs.
I had showered and washed clothes when Jacinto pulled up outside. I saw he had taken Wayne's route, but that wasn't his original plan. He was going to take Mike's longer route, but that clicking bottom bracket noise was so loud, Jacinto wondered if he should hitch a ride! Jacinto ended up asking Google how to get to town, and google sent him on Wayne's route. It went through Rathdrum and then along the bike path. Jacinto said the bike path itself was nicely paved and wide. But there were many cyclists, and when he got down by the river, a lot of walkers. Plus, the street crossings were slow.
When he got to the room, we googled bike shops. It turns out there's a bike shop only 700 feet from the motel, Vertical Earth. Jacinto rode straight over there. They removed his bottom bracket, and greased it. $15. and out the door. You can't beat that price. I rode over and asked them to check my brakes. This new bike has disc brakes. I wasn't sure how to judge the brake pad life. We have some big descents coming up. $13. for organic brake pads on the rear and $15. labor and I was out the door also. When we've needed work done while touring, shops have always taken care of us, and almost always at a very reasonable price. I made sure to tip accordingly.
There are three restaurants within eyesight of our motel. Jacinto picked going right across the street to a burger place. I like hamburgers, but I think I've eaten enough to last me the next year. They did serve a generous dinner salad for only $5.
Now we are back in the room. Jacinto has instructions to take the bike for a spin tomorrow. The mechanic's opinion was with Jacinto's style of riding, he should consider bottom brackets consumables, and replace them yearly. This bike is five years old. We can't ever remember him having the bottom bracket changed on any bike. Much less yearly. But, the mechanic said this particular bottom bracket is only $20.
I have my murder mystery to read. We've been riding for 12 days, and have 7 hard days coming up before we have another day off. I think I might not exit the room except for food all day tomorrow!
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5 months ago
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Today's ride: 45 miles (72 km)
Total: 1,076 miles (1,732 km)
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5 months ago
Weren't you with us on that trip in Colorado where Jacinto had a clicking noise when he pedaled? He only went to the bike shop because it was right across the street. One of the plates of the chain was pulling off. They charged him $5. to take a link out. Saying hello and describing the problem used up more of the mechanic's time than that!
We've only had the best of service/price when visiting shops while touring.
5 months ago
It's easy to imagine Jacinto trashing a bottom bracket after only 10,000 miles. Maybe your good luck with bottom brackets is partly because you and Jacinto generally replace bikes after less than 10 years. You don't ride elderly high mileage bikes like my 2005 and 2007 Bacchettas.
5 months ago
5 months ago