Summer Test Ride

Well, I certainly haven't been doing a very good job with this blog thing.  Mostly, I just wanted to know that  I could post anything at all... it seems to work.

As for the summer bike ride in July, all and all, it was a good trip...because we made it and everyone was still smiling at the end.  Our good friends April and Kevin accompanied us on the eight-day ride and made it extra special.

Day 3: Crossing the border after an uphill slog

It was, however, a bit harder ride than I expected. As usual, we didn't train.  Meg and I have this idea (left over from our 30's) that there's no point training for a long distance ride since after a week or so you'll be in shape anyway.  At least that's the theory.  For this ride, we rode about 60 miles a day except for the last couple, which were a bit shorter.  The last couple days were different in another way too in that they weren't over a hundred degrees.

Hot...damn hot!

It may not actually have been 109.5, but it certainly felt that way, especially after the hour or more at 3.5 mph going up a hill to reach the Canadian border.

Here's Kylie's and my rig at the top of one of the grades.

At the top in Rossland, BC

One of my big takeaways from the trip was to jettison the trailers.  I love the BOB trailer and pulled one for months in 2001 along the Continental Divide trail, but, unfortunately, they just encourage us to carry more stuff.  Once I got home from our summer ride, I started weighing things and figured the bike, gear, and Kylie are about 200 lbs.  Then I get on adding another 160, and away we go -- very slowly.  For our next journey, the goal is to limit our gear to whatever we can cram into 8 panniers (four for each bike).

The rain on the last day was a very welcome relief.  As an added bonus, there is a bike path much of the way between Coeur d'Alene, ID and Spokane, WA, which gave us a chance to just chat and even quiz the kids on some math and spelling.

Back in Spokane...and still smiling