June 8, 2024
Mistakes, I made a Few
Priest River to Clark Fork
Cumulative miles
Avg speed 11.4
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Our early morning ride from Priest River to Sandpoint was along a back road with little traffic. Traveling along the Ponderay (spelling is a bit optional at this point) was peaceful. We did have one short stretch along a loud and busy Rte 95. But fortunately it didn't last too long.
We arrived at the Sandpoint Farmers market where we wanted to meet our warm showers hosts for the evening. They were quite busy vending their baked goods so we didn't stay long. Tina's friend Karen was in the area quite fortuitously. So they met up, had a Great visit, also with Karen's son, Nick, and two adorable children. Then Nick gave Sarah and Tina a 20 mile lift in the pick up.
Meanwhile, I checked out the market and town a bit. Seemed real nice. Especially the farmers market. They had a great band while I was there that was reminiscent of Old and In The Way, but without Vassar.
The rest of the ride was pretty much wonderful in terms of riding...ok there was 12 mile or so stretch on 200 that sucked . Otherwise nice bike trails and side roads.
Some of the things that happened. Sandpoint was a neat town from what I could see. I did get a flat ( a nail through the sidewall of all things), that took a bit to fix. ( Mistake one, though not really my fault).Of course it was the rear tire. And it was on wide open hot, busy 200. At least there was a good shoulder. Mistake 2, On one of the side roads I waved to a Mom and her 5(?) year old out bicycling. The little girl waved back. On lifting her hand off the handlebars promptly did a header. Fortunately it was into some very soft earth and water. She was physically ok but a bit shaken. Good thing Mom was there. Later, on the same road, I saw some people outside the house and asked if they had a bicycle pump. The bicycle travel pumps never seemed very good so I was hoping for a floor pump to get my tire back up to 80 psi. These two lovely people were very accommodating and happened to be named Pete and Ruthey, my parents names. That was sweet.
Mistake 3, Getting to the warm showers, I had the address in Google wrong so I got an extra 8 miles in, and went into Montana! Fortunately, it was a beautiful road.
Getting to our warm showers I immediately saw Chad, one of our hosts. After an engaging chat of 10 minutes or so I met Jess for the second time. Now Chad have been up since 11 pm the night prior making bread. Jess probably since 4 am. They both were in great spirits and engaging. They are two exemplary people to emulate. Their generosity of spirit is second to none. I can not describe their virtues well enough. What a way to end the day. Thank you both.
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Today's ride: 70 miles (113 km)
Total: 563 miles (906 km)
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Good for you.
Stop waving at little kids on bikes.
Justa head nod!!
5 months ago