Yesterday I drove into town to Roast House for coffee beans. I learned of this roaster back on a past visit. They have grown. Enjoy visit with people that we remember each other. Then drive north on Maple to 5 Mile shopping center to laundromat I prefer to use. Thurs visit means I have been in Spokane for at least 3 weeks. Clean dried clothes put away and wool and man made materials hung on drying line. Off to Riverside for riding.
Riverside, park off Parkway. Pedal 1 mile to park trails at Seven Mile. Today was to be last ride here this visit. I avoided Nine Mile area sharp basalt babyheads for flatter trails. I GPS every ride the first time using backcountry navigator, Riverside is a bowl of spaghetti of trails, Today I added more. I ran into Thomas whom I had met on a previous ride, he the rider with Catalyst pedals. We visited to a break in the conversation thread then pedaled away. He was the first of the triple. Today I wanted to learn bike handling skills over rock gardens. Today’s last one this ride was a long stretch, I rode it on the previous ride. The bike pedals over the rocks, so sweet. I remain balanced and in control, the bike is so easy to ride. So I am riding this patch when 2 women walking their bikes approach. One woman says Hi, we met on MT Spokane, I’m the plant lady. No shit. I am smitten by her, alas she said she had to catch up with her friend. She was the double of the triple.
A military reservation shares property lines in places, tonight there were army people in full camo in shooting positions on both sides of the trail. Shit. Very timidly I said I am just trying to get out of here. Civilian variable in exercise. I mostly wandered searching for remembered or possibly new trails. So, in 18.3 miles I gained only 899′. That’s pretty flat.
Evening was coming on. My dinner plan was restaurant Flying Goat again as they had a good salad albeit small. I ate there same menu choice last week. Tonight the previous visit server was working the bar making me her customer again. I remembered her, she maybe. I ordered previous salad but did not hold the peppers that I was told last visit were spicy which my stomach voices dissatisfaction. She returned and told me that previously I asked to hold those peppers. Connection. I thanked her. She was the third of the triple.
For me these and other connections keep me , well, connected to another people. My lifestyle is solitary, as I want it to be, but I still seek connection. Most connections are 1 time, to meet again the above 3 people was special.
This morning I had an van code talker appointment out at Liberty Lake. The shop has Mercedes code reader that can read the Sprinter brains. 9 AM in their lot. Wrench drives van away. An acceptable time later he returned and spoke with the front man. report is van’s old memory has been cleared and there are no new codes meaning brain is not upset. Clean code health. They charged me $0 because they found nothing to fix. I keep lifting rocks and looking underneath them so to speak with the van as I do not want to be run aground. No cause for wheel chatter, will be standard. Transmission still rumblestrips.
weather today was cloudy with the next 2 days calling for rain. Ride today then sit out next to days. I was at Liberty Lake where I could ride the mostly old double track up and downs. I could. MT Coeur d’Alene was a bit further east which the drive there would be a test drive. And I wanted to reverse rode direction. Done. Steered east on I90 to Beauty creek road along shore of namesake lake. About 3 miles up old pavement with several tank tank holes. Park under old growth cedar. Today I will ride the paved road to pass instead of pedaling trail 257. Pavement ride was just sty after it effort. Pavement ended , next was several mile of gravel to narrow double track to summit of MT Coeur d’Alene where once stood a USFS fore lookout. 1 hour 13 mins of no break pedaling to top. Then to descent down trail 227 which has many too steep pitches for me to climb. Accepting gravity pulled me downward. Proper judicious braking controlled my speed. No butt over the rear tire, just seat dropped and weight back, heels down negotiated the steeps. Coasted into the hole. A short break before the start of the hump out. I hadn’t ridden the loop this way for years, I thought back to those climbs. Shit, today I stopped to blow, steep but no hike a bike. Kept after it to top. Short dirt road over to top of trail 257 and another reward a downhill. Firm dirt, deep tree cover. I opened my bell dinger for announcement of me. Have I mentioned how stable this bike is? I am limited by my courage and the bike is allowing greater confidence. Outstanding bike suspension and also to the RUNT. 14.4 miles climbing 2815′, that’s 195′ / mile. Just the facts.
Rain is forecast this weekend here. I have done beyond due diligence for van care. I am free to move. I have not planned where to go as I kept putting making plans until I learned of van health. That was an excuse for not directing my life. I would like to ride Palisade Plunge east of Grand Junction, CO before last shuttle on 10/10. It is 1,000 miles from here. For me that date is too early for me to be that far south. My travel direction is linear one way for me to do the ride then return north then drive south later. I can be where and when I want to be. I just need to figure those out. How much am I willing to drive?
Bed time.