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.

One last mega ride left for me here around Spokane. From the Beach to MT Spokane summit then down entire length of trail 140. A great big climb then a very challenging downhill. I drove to the Beach which is about 3/4 mile below park entrance. Plan is to ride the hwy to cut in to trail 110 and climb it to Kit Carson then pedal pavement to the summit, then descend 140 to hwy. I figured about 1 hr 30 mins of climbing and just knew the descent distance.

I arrived at empty Beach parking and geared up. I still carry my Wingnut pack containing all the good stuff for multitool repair, flat remedy items like slime tube, Lyzene pump, and Stan’s darts, water, munchies, headlamp, jersey, fire starter, firstaid kit, and a bunch of small stuff. I only have 1 pack that I use on every ride. I just pack the same stuff for every ride. Haven’t had to use headlamp when finish riding before 4. But I got it.

Pedaled upwards, past Bear Lodge, then park entrance ranger station, then junction for Wailer on right hand side of road, trail 100 on the left. Hump to cut in, today I was 3 minutes faster. This piece of wide single track will be the flattest of entire ride. Under deep tree cover. Climb start in earnest after crossing Kit Carson road. My engine lacks output to make 2 climbing turns then masters everything else to the summit. It took 1 hr 32 mins of mostly uphill pedaling. Yes, it was a grunt but I just bore down and my body got me to the top.

Back when I lived here I lift and ski climbed the mountain. Pretty steep black runs. Paved road was one gear from granny 46T. Just few cars and motorcycles passed me on the pavement which was 2.36 miles climbing 650′.

Just below the summit trail 140 takes off. Last time I rode this it was on my 5 Spot 26er. The trail is nasty with lots of decisions and actions to be taken. The angle is prolly climbable, it’s the abundance of embeded rocks, exposed roots, and loose rocks. Ski area expansion since last visit cut over the trail leaving clear cut. It’s a handful of rocks and roots up high down to Kit Carson, below and down the trail is a steep single track made by mtn bikers. I finished on the lower 140 that is so beat up. Trail 140 was 5.41 miles dropping 2510′ taking 35 mins of pedaling.

The descent was another test for my Revel Rail and my skill to pilot it. I stayed after it while allowing gravity as my engine. Switch backs with blind exits. My eyes tear up blurring my vision even with large lens glasses. The bike is so stable which adds to my confidence. It was a challenge needing sharp reflexes and looking ahead to prepare for what’s ahead.

I would need other rides before riding this again. I rode a new downhill trail named The Goods which is shorter than 140. That ride the trail was just completed not ridden in or winterized. 140 is not a speed downhill which maybe filters out riders. It is completely shuttleable on hard road.

Park entrance is at 3100′ summit is 5883′. EDGE reported 2267 climb which is less because of my below speed recording threshold.

I park out beyond Mead in a parking lot adjoining a small airport. I watch small airplanes take off and land. I fix dinner as colorful sunsets put on a light show.

Tomorrow is drive train appointment. It’s only money, it’s the unpredictable inconvenience for possible repair.

I lived across the road in a log house I paid for design and build for 16 years. I became familiar with the area. Driving around is just like the past. The roads go the same places, there are some building changes. Many acres and many farms  of dry land wheat farming interspersed with conifer woodlands.

New issue of Freehub is out. Catch my article.

Bed time.

Sunday.

Seems that Spokane riding opportunities are either mostly flat (Riverside) or monster climbs like MT Spokane or Mica Peak. I prefer to mix alternating between grunt and just pedal.  Sat was a grunt, yesterday was a pedal with some grunting as I rode Riverside yesterday from Seven Mile.

During Sunday’s ride I rode some of what I know and wanted to ride, others were new or reacquainted with old trails. Sharp Stick in the Eye out at Nine mile area is a grunt and lots of square edge rock gardens. What I was able to pedal years ago now mixes in blows or hiking like the Wailer. Today I started at the bottom of Sharp Stick pedaling and gasping to a connector trail to uphill as previous ride. At the top I turn right instead of left down Sharp Stick. The left goes across lots of feet of those square edged babyheads. I am still experiencing the prowess of the Rail’s suspension over these features. I just work on keeping power on the pedals and maintaining balance so both bike and boy roll over the nasty. The suspension does not buck me off or break traction. Phenomenal. This bike is much improved over the RFX. The I9 Hydra hub and wide carbon rims add to performance.  I found some of the new trails I rode on Thurs and rode several lesser traveled trails I knew from yore. Lots of distance of rock gardens on those old ones which is prolly reason so little traffic. I shared admiration for Catalyst pedals with a rider. Nice day yet I encountered fewer than 20 people during my 18 mile  pedaling 2 hrs 11 mins climbing 1119′ for 65′ per mile. Average speed was slower than when I followed Frank on Thursday. Nice day. Trails in places did not receive rain because of heavy tree cover.

So Washington is under mandatory face covering when indoors. I comply. For the most part compliance is what I experience. Except after dinner grocery shopping where I see customers maskless. To me it is up to each of us to take actions to comply with health regulations to protect all of us, the community, as a whole. Those that don’t should be named domestic terrorists. Laws can be passed for public safety but if they are not enforced compliance  comes only from us suckers who comply.

I have noticed the above with pedal assist bicycles, aka ebikes. Today USFS and BLM natural surface trails are open only to heart propelled activity. Ebike poaching happens because there is no enforcement. I learned to my dismay that Washington State parks permit E bikes where ever pedal bikes are allowed. I did check on Spokane County controlled lands to learn that E bikes are not permitted. At Mica I saw 2 riders on Ebikes. Again, no enforcement. I visited a bike shop today and asked where they suggest Ebikes can be ridden. He said ride them where ever. It is up to the rider to know where they are allowed to ride them but the shop gives the impression to ride where you want. The shop is in business to sell product but I believe they have a responsibility to be correct. I suppose a car salesman does not instruct the buyer to follow traffic laws.

I am making today a rest day and am finding it difficult to constructively occupy my free time. Wed is transmission check out day. Thurs my new Patagonia shirts are to arrive which is my last known need to prevent me from going down the road.

New issue of Freehub mag hits the internet and stores tomorrow. The film release is early Nov.

I have been in Spokane now for 17 days, I have ridden on 12 of those days. 60 rides and 971 miles on Rail since June 24 first ride.