Riding along the River

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

I have learned that the Police Acadamy is being held here in our hotel, and I continue to see vehicles from more and different towns in the state. We are either very safe here, or not so safe elsewhere. There are quite a number of police officers here for some training.

Our first stop was to visit the bike shop for any information they might have about the trail or other options for riding. The guy there was not too infomative, but did give us the hint to leave the trail onto a side road (Meningo Marengo) to ride through a small residential area for two miles of low traffic, quiet roads to rejoin the trail. This hint was worth the bike shop visit.

Seems I ride through some college or university on almost all tours that we do. This one brings me through Gonzaga. The campus almost abutts our hotel.

Another college banner to add to my collection

We did quite the ride today -- all along the Spokane River on the Centennial Trail. Our wildlife sightings were few, but we saw a few hopping rabbits, some beautiful magpies (we must be in eastern Washington) and a couple of marmots looking at us as we looked at them.

The River runs close at some points of the trail

 

Not many people on the trail on a weekday

Potty stops and water fountains are placed along the trail, but one must leave the trail to find food and beverage. We took a side arm of the trail and found ourselves at the Spokane Valley Mall where we had plenty to choose from at the "food court" in the mall.

Vickie takes this time to apply sun screen (also purchased in the mall)

 

Gerry looks over the flowers and parking lot...

Having made good use of the Mall (food, restroom, sunscreen, outdoor picnic tables) we found our way back through the parking lot to rejoin the trail.

Had to take this photo for Susan (fly fishing rod)

 

Waterfall across the road from us

The Centennial Trail is about 37 miles end to end, one end being in Spokane, the other end at the Idaho state line. From there it, or a differently named trail, continues another 15 miles to Coeur d'Alene. Yesterday we rode about five miles to the west before cutting it short and returning to the hotel which is at about mile 22. That means we rode from mile 22 to mile 27 which leaves 10 miles on that end that we did not do. There are areas along the way where the "trail" is on traffic roads, but the shoulders are very wide and marked as bike lanes.

Today we rode from mile 22 to mile 0. With a few off the trail spins we ended up at 25 miles when we got to the state line. We were oh so disappointed when there was not a "Welcome to Idaho" sign, or at the least a sign telling us we had crossed the state line.

This is the best I could do at getting an Idaho sign

Continuing on to Coeur d'Alene would add 30 miles to the 48 we will have done on this day. No way! We will drive to the state line and ride this trail the next day.

We were all tired and spent by the end of this long ride, and I know that I for one slept VERY well. And my back is no worse than it ever is with slight to moderate later onset pain and discomfort, but nothing to truly complain about (I am tired of complaining anyway). A great day!

 

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