Eureka, Mt To Whitefish, Mt

June 30, 2010
60 miles

Our route today was south on Route 93 to Whitefish. The first 30 miles were Ok because there was a shoulder but the traffic was heavy even early in the morning. This route goes to the Canadian border down to Kalispell.

Ed and my room at the Riverstone Lodge

Leaving Eureka around 7 :30 a.m.


A lake along the route

About the 30 mile mark things got worse. The road had a lot of bumps and the shoulder got very narrow down to about 1 foot. Cars and trucks are allowed to go 70 miles per hour down this road. Also there were many loaded trucks carrying logs and gas. They raced by without moving over.

I stopped at about mile 42 where Tim had the lunch stop. By then my nerves were frayed. Other riders started pulling in and commenting about how bad the road conditions were. I stayed at the lunch stop about 15 minutes, a short time because I wanted to get the ride over by getting to Whitefish safely.

About 10 miles before Whitefish the road got very bad with no shoulder, hills, and constant traffic.

When I saw the "Welcome to Whitefish" sign I was relieved.

First I went to check out a bike shop in town. Then headed to the church we would be staying at and noted others in the group also had been stressed out too.

I am thankful that we had good weather as I would not want to be riding this stretch of road with that added hazard. It was by far the scariest road I have ridden on. There were so many roadside memorials along the route that I lost count.


I saw dozens of these along Route 93

I was glad to see this sign after riding 60 miles on Route 93

Libby, Mt To Eureka, Mt

June 29, 2010
73 miles

At our meeting last night Ken told us that today's ride would be tough because we would be riding up and down drainage ditches around Lake Koocanusa. So I got up around 5:00 a.m. and got breakfast. Most of the others in the group were also up.

I went solo and took off at 5:45 a.m. However, I missed the highway turn for Route 37 and went out about 2 miles before realizing I was going in the wrong direction. Once I was back on course the first part of the ride was very peaceful. At about 6 miles up I saw where R.W. Grace had the asbestos mine that became a horrible tragedy for Libby residents.

Heading toward Libby Dam in the early morning


I hit the top of the Libby Dam at mile 17. No one was around and it was still early morning. Then started the constant ups and downs around Lake Koocanusa as the highway would go down every time you came to a creek feeding into the dam. Lake Koocanusa is named from Kookanai River, Canada and USA. Incidentally we are very close to the Canadian boarder. The lake was a bit low because of the lack of snow this year.

Libby Dam-mile 17


My dashboard


Lake Koocanusa

Up until the lunch stop I seemed to have the whole road to myself. There were no cars but a few cyclists going the opposite direction. Also there was shade as it was still early in the morning.

I saw Tim parked at the lunch stop around 42 miles. I sat and talked with him and joked around for about 30 minutes.

Arriving first at the lunch stop, mile 42 with Tim waiting


Dandelions Montana style


55 mile marker- the bridge over Lake Koocanusa



Then the bigger climbs came after lunch. Also it got very hot and I was sweating a lot. I drank a whole bottle filled with gatorade in a 20 mile stretch. By the time I got to Rexford I was really hot. I still didn't see anyone from our group. I did see a guy going the opposite direction on a fully loaded recumbent. I chatted with him a while but he was only going about 35 miles a day. He told me that the roads out in Montana are not good for the skinny tires I have on my bike.

Finally at around mile 69 I got into Eureka. It was very hot here too. I stopped at a convenient store and got directions to the Riverstone Family Lodge. I had to ride north on Hwy 93 four miles to get to the lodge. The lodge is 3 miles from the Canadian boarder. I was the first rider to reach the lodge and put up the clothes line- my official job from Ken. The lodge is very nice and I am sharing a room with Ed.

Tonight Tim is cooking dinner for all of us in the lodge dining hall.

Home for the night-the Riverstone Family Lodge- Ed and I have the first room with the bikes out front

Clark Fork, Id To Libby Mt

June 28, 2010
68 miles

Last night Ken and Nancy learned that the short cut to Route 200 had some major construction and we would have to go on a detour if we didn't get through by 8 a.m. mountain time. Ken encouraged all of us to leave the Diamond T Ranch by 6:30 a.m.
I first rode with Nancy to the construction area. When a large construction truck passed us I thought we weren't going to make it through the regular route. I then sped ahead and met up with Susan, Ziva, Dick, and Tom. It was 7:00 a.m when we got to the construction area. We saw the detour signs and debated whether to go through anyway. The others decided to go on the detour and I followed. I did not see Nancy yet.

The detour required us to ride on dirt roads for about 4 miles. When we saw a lady in a pickup on the road she told us that we were near the bridge to Rt. 200.

Morning at Diamond T Ranch


At the construction zone deciding what to do


Clark River just after the detour about 2 miles into Montana


We took Rt 200 east and stopped at a real estate office with a Montana sign as there were no "Welcome to Montana" signs on the dirt road.

Had to settle for this sign welcoming us to Montana


After about 8 miles we headed north on Hwy 56. This road had far less traffic and near perfect conditions. Our lunch stop was near Bull Lake. Tim had a hard time finding a decent spot to stop the support vehicle.

Early morning on MT Hwy 56 with Ziva, Tom, Dick, and Susan


Riding next to Bull Lake

Panorama of Bull Lake


After lunch I headed out first toward Route 2. I got to Kootenai Falls around 1:00 p.m. and was the first one to check out the falls.

Then I headed another 10 miles to Libby. We are staying at the United Lutheran Church tonight and are going to another church for dinner.

The tour organized that we take showers in various citizens homes. Tim and I went to Eileen's house. She was very sweet and told us about her family. Her husband recently died of lung cancer and you could tell she was very lonely. She wanted to bend our ears. Libby is a supperfund sight. R.J. Grace mined asbestos a number of years ago and Libby was contaminated. Many of its residents contracted different forms of lung problems.

Kootenai Falls- Where the movie "The River Wild" was filmed

Panorama of Kootenai Falls


Coming into Libby, Mt


Home for the night in Libby


Dinner provided by the folks of Libby


Sleeping quartes

Farragut State Park, Id To Clark Fork Id

June 27, 2010
61 miles

I had a relatively good night sleep despite camping. It seemed that the park got quiet around 9 p.m.

Ed, Dick, Tom and I took off around 7:30 a.m. and rode on the left side of Lake Pend Oreille toward Sandpoint.

We passed through Carrywood and then stopped at a place that raised wolves near Cocolla. This organization is trying to reintroduce wolves in the area but is getting some resistance.
Meadow along the ride


One of the wolves at the Wolf People Reserve


Our lunch stop was at the city park in Sandpoint. Great weather and a nice ride on the bike trail to Sandpoint. However, there was one section that had tree roots creating severe bumps in the trail. I lost my light from flying around on the bike.
Ed and I just south of Sandpoint on the bike trail.


Lake Pend Oreille In the City Park at Sandpoint



After lunch I headed out on my own and had a nice quiet ride all the way to the Diamond T ranch passed Clark Fork. We all got bungalows. I shared one with Ed and Dick. Nancy and Kim made a great soup and salad.

Our home for the night, The Diamond T Ranch, Clark Fork

Spokane, Wa To Athol, Id

June 26, 2010
65 Miles


We left the great dorms at Gozaga Univ. around 8 a.m. Before we loaded the trailer, Tim and I ran over to Starbucks to get a strong cup of coffee.

Typical Nightly meetings going over the next day's route


New dorm room at Gonzaga Univ.

We headed east along the Centennial trail across the state line into Idaho. It was a beautiful ride with great weather conditions. There was a spot along the trail were we stopped to see a classic car rally.

Dick checking out the classic cars


After we crossed the state line we headed north on Pleasant Valley Rd. Traffic began to pick up but there was a good shoulder.

Crossing the Washington-Idaho State line on the Centennial Trail


Kim and Ziva close to the state line


Farther down on the Centennial Trail


On the Centennial Trail East of Spokane


Lunch was in Rathburn Id. After lunch I rode with Tom, Ziva, and Dick to Farragut State Park. This park is supposed to be one of the biggest state parks in the country. Tim cooked burgers and veggie burgers and made salad. We are not starving on this trip. I am eating way more than I would normally and the support/food has been good.

The group had several tents and I shared with Ed.

Ziva along the route


Just before Farragut State Park


Tim, Our great support driver cooking dinner at Farragut State Park Campground


Roasting marsh mellows


The group at dinner

Rest Day In Spokane

June 25, 2010
4 miles

This being a rest day I wanted to do chores for then next leg of the ride.

I started out going to Starbucks with Tim, our support person. We had a good time talking for about one hour before we went to the Ganzaga Cafeteria for breakfast.

Next I took about one hour cleaning my bike as it is amazing how filthy it gets riding through all kinds of conditions. I also did some laundry in the dorm we are staying since the next several days will not have any kind of conventional laundromats. Next up was some shopping at Walgreens and REI.

Finally I went back to the Gonzaga library to blog.

We had meals provided in the Gonzaga University cafeteria.

We will have a meeting tonight as tomorrow is another ride day, this time crossing into Idaho.

Gonzaga University

Wilber, Wa To Spokane, Wa

72 Miles
June 24, 2010

Last night at our meeting at the church in Wilber it started to rain very hard. I thought we would have a rough time today as I lay in my sleeping bag at the church. However, in the morning we were very lucky as things quickly improved before we got on our bikes. We had beautiful skies all the way to Spokane. We also had a slight tail wind.

Ed heading out of Wilber in the early morning



We first rode to a place called Creston, 10 miles into the ride. When we stopped in Davenport we saw lots of people from the "Big Ride" traveling to D.C. They were taking a rest stop at the plaza in town along with most of our group.

Wheat Everywhere along the ride. All the wheat is naturally irrigated by only rain



Then about 42 miles into the ride we stopped at the lunch sag in Reardan. One guy from the Big Ride group came over to our lunch stop and admired the food that we had compared to what they get on the Big Ride-Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches all the time.

The ride into Spokane got a bit confusing as Ed and I decided to push ahead of the group and find our way. Ed, Dick and I went on the Centennial Trail but I think we veered off and did not see Nancy's chalk marks pointing us in the right direction

We got to the dorm at Gonzaga Univ. and I had time to update the blog. This was the first time I had a lot of time to edit it and upload pictures as it takes a while to do so. The dorm building was very nice as it seemed new with nice lobbies and a free laundromat. We had our meals at the university cafeteria.



Lunch Stop in Readon


On the Centennial Trail coming into Spokane


Riding on the Centennial Trail approaching Spokane


Our home for Two nights - Couphlin Hall at Gonzaga University