Rose Pedals . . .: Hello, Idaho!

Thursday, July 11, 2013
Day 5 - Spokane, Washington to Sandpoint, Idaho
87 miles
2,811 feet of climbing

Today was the ultimate recovery day. Only 87 miles, not much climbing, a tailwind and about 80 degrees. In other words, cycling nirvana. We made our way out of the busy part of Spokane, which, at times got a little hairy with traffic and people trying to get to work ("work" - that place I used to go to before I became a full-time cyclist . . . at least for the month of July). Today, we'd be riding to the second state of our tour - Idaho, the "Gem State."

Did you know that Idaho is known as the "Gem State" because nearly every known type of gemstone can be found there?

We crossed into Idaho at mile 53 and, I have to say, the "Welcome to Idaho" sign was a bit of a disappointment (see photo below). In fact, I almost rode right by it. It needs a photo or something. Or at least mow the grass around it. Geez.

We had such a fun ride today. Part of our route was on a back road with pretty scenery and hardly any traffic. It is worth commenting on the courtesy and friendliness of the Idahoan drivers. Many of them waved as they went by (and not just with the middle finger). One guy driving an old orange VW bug convertible, gave us the peace sign. Peace, love and bicycles - its all good.

With the tailwind and mainly flat terrain, the miles seemed to fly by today. We had our lunch stop at the Round Lake State Park at mile 75. At that point, we only had 12 miles to go to get to our hotel. Since our rooms wouldn't be ready until at least 2:30, we took our time getting to Sandpoint. When we arrived in downtown Sandpoint, a bunch of us stopped at an ice cream shop for a treat. We had time for a leisurely break and then a ride around downtown to check it out.

Our hotel was within walking distance from downtown, so Art & I walked to a little Italian restaurant and had a very nice, early dinner (no, unfortunately, we weren't early enough for the Early Bird Special). It was nice to take a walk and work the kinks out of our legs. Back to the room to get ready for tomorrow's ride - heading to Montana!