Sandpoint, Idaho to Plains, Montana
Saturday, June 21, 2003
Westbound: Spokane Valley to Sandpoint Eastbound: Plains to St. Ignatius
I awoke early, had the last of my pizza for breakfast, packed and was almost underway by 6:30. The weather was threatening and I regretted sending stuff home from Spokane. A last minute thought prompted me to ask the desk clerk for a green garbage bag. If it did rain, then I could wrap the seat and avoid having the RANS cushion become a saturated sponge as had happened between Vancouver and Centralia, Washington on my 2000 ride from Dunes City.
On the way by 7, it was like the day previous: ride steadily, work a bit, stay ahead of the rain. Slow down on a hill, stop—even briefly—and seemed like the clouds would drip. The road was ok. With heavier traffic, the parts without shoulders might be dicier. For me, this day, there were no problems.
Not long after entering Montana, I came to a big Texaco Station with a restaurant and sporting goods store. It was a bit after 9 am and Mark Boyd’s idea of having a second breakfast seemed attractive. Getting a little warmer also wasn’t unwelcome. A nice short stack of pancakes and a local newspaper provided a good break.
Upon resuming riding, I found the rain had caught up with me, but it didn’t take too long to out run it again—only about long enough to get wet again. Even though it was the first day of summer, the conditions felt much more like April. On the other hand, the Clark Fork river continued to make appearances on my right. This was very nice riding despite the weather. And the green bag was protecting the seat from sponging.
Lunch time and Noxon arrived shortly after noon. I left 200 to cross the river toward town and found a restaurant almost immediately to the west. After lunch, it seemed like the sun was trying to cut through the clouds. I crossed back over the river and continued upstream on MT 200.
Thompson Falls was the next major destination. If I stayed there, I’d need to do more than a century and climb a decent hill to reach Missoula the next day. If I could make it another 20 miles to Plains, then the next day would be appreciably easier. I reached Thompson Falls around 5 pm. After becoming accustomed to commuting 17 miles home, I have the rule of thumb: I can always do 20 more miles if I start before 6 pm. I decided to try for Plains.
After intermittent cell phone coverage for most of the day, Thompson Falls offered an excellent signal. I called ahead to Plains to secure a room, called home to advise of my plans, and got going.
This last part of the day had two decent sized hills but miles of nearly flat road adjacent to the river. I didn’t worry about speed going up the hills and cruised along the river’s flood plain at 16 mph or more. Again, very nice riding.
The good news in Plains was that the motel owner was glad to see me, there was a nice looking restaurant directly across the street, and the cell phone signal continued to be strong. The bad news was that the restaurant only did breakfast and lunch. Worse, during the time I spent unpacking, I’d missed the closing of the supermarket. I went back to the west end of town to a drive in for a good sandwich and milkshake.
After 9pm, Verizon doesn’t count my minutes. That evening, I took advantage of that feature and the good signal to download a bunch of stuff using the cell phone as a modem.
A long but successful day. 107.83 miles in 8:20 on the bike for an average of 12.7 mph.
Back to Sandpoint to Glendive
Westbound: Spokane Valley to Sandpoint Eastbound: Plains to St. Ignatius