First 100+ Mile Bike and Camp Trip

Originally, Josh and I took a couple days off work so we could take three days, plus one recovery day, to ride the 120 or so miles from the Hiawatha to Spokane. There was some gravel roads and highways as a part of that as well as paved bike paths. Since we still needed tires that would work for both, another set of panniers to hold all our stuff aaaaand I was unsure about how comfortable I was riding on the highway, we decided it was better to make it a two day trip and just stick to the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes, a paved Rails to Trails bike path, that is 72 miles from Plummer to Mullan.

Neither one of us had ever ridden more than 30 miles in a day, but figured if that was all we had to do for the day, and we stopped and took breaks to rest or eat than 50 or even a 100 in one day shouldn't be too hard. We reserved a camp site at about 50 miles in thinking we could stop then at 50 if we were tired or keep going and come back if we were up for it.

Goal 1 was riding the entire Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes

Goal 2 was riding 100 miles over the weekend.
Goal 3 was riding 100 miles in one day.

The always supportive Ms. Daisy, dropped us off at the trail head in Plummer pretty early. But for how hot the temperature was going to get we should have been there much earlier. We were feeling great and really pumped for the possibilities of this adventure. Since not everything would fit in the set of bike bags we have, we also had to take the trailer to carry our tent, sleeping pads, and a few other over flow items.

We chatted with other people in the parking lot as we loaded up our gear. Sharing our plans of camping along the way, and plans of 100 miles. Everyone was excited and supportive, and the consistently given advice was " stay hydrated". Armed with the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes Unofficial Guidebook and tons of enthusiasm we set off!!

Most of the first 7 miles are down hill. So we got to start our ride just crusin' along in the still coolish morning air. It was the perfect way to start the trip.

Whee! Winding down from the prairie was exactly as I imagined it would be. We kept saying, "This is awesome! I'm so glad we are doing this."

Then the thick trees withdrew to reveal the south end of Lake Coeur d'Alene and oh she was beautiful!

Next we went up over the Chatcolet bridge.....

Where Josh's seat post randomly broke! Awesome. He rode with an extra short seat the rest of the way to Harrison, where there's a bike shop. We were able to buy a new post and get it switched over with the tools we have.

At this point we are also 15 miles in so we snack a bit then head out. The energy is still high and I'm still stopping frequently to take pictures of all the purdy things. 

As we advance, the lake fades away and it turns into incredibly beautiful meadows and marshes back dropped by evergreen covered mountains, and flowers and tall grasses usher us along the trail. There are a few trees right along the path offering shade but not a lot. 

But it wasn't too hot yet so I fully enjoyed the feel of the warming air on my body.

I mean seriously, this is good riding! And I am HAPPY!

We passed the first 25 miles pretty quickly, but it was starting to heat up. Like a LOT! And even though I'm used to pulling kids in the trailer, it was definitely taking a lot of extra energy to tow and slowing me down quite a bit.

The trees became even fewer and it was up to 97 degrees. I was sweating my ass off and getting tiny water blisters all over my arms and legs. We coated ourselves in sunscreen over and over and I sucked down my water much faster than I had anticipated. The heat was amplified by the marsh that was on both sides of the trail for some long sun saturated stretches. I was feeling weak and exhausted so we stopped to eat on a shady bench. I was desperate to dunk myself in the river that kept coming and going from the side of the trail.

Right when I thought I couldn't take the heat anymore we found a shady cedar alcove which just happened to be next to a stretch of the river that was begging me to get in. It was shockingly cold which was totally acceptable. This quick dip was enough to keep me going.

The heat was oppressive though, so the energy didn't last long. Our water was almost depleted when we pulled into Cataldo where we were able to fill up our water supplies and I insisted we break for a beer to boost my morale.

At this point we are about 10 miles from camp and I know there is no freaking way I'm going any further than that today. I just wanted to find an accessible part of the river to submerge myself in again. That was all I could think about!

 We made it to camp, and Josh set up while I practically passed out on a picnic table bench. Stocking our ice, water, and alcoholic beverage supply at the combo gas station/ liquor store in Pinehurst was our first priority followed by finding a place to cool off. We then found a tiny piece of heaven on the river near by to do just that. This place was great! There was bit of a current on the far side of the river so we walked up a little bit and floated back down. We stacked rocks and I drank a beer to unwind. It was fabulous!!

We headed back to camp where Josh whipped us up some dinner and drinks and I shoveled it quickly into my mouth.

It was a loooong day and we both burnt a ton of calories!

My butt was sore but otherwise I was ready to do it all again the next day.

Trying to pack as lightweight as possible, I only brought the one sports bra, that was also doubling as part of my swimsuit. After our river swims and a days worth of extremely sweaty bike riding I decided it was a good idea to rinse some of my stuff out, including my bra, and let it hang to dry overnight. Heck, it was so hot, it should be dry in no time at all....right? WRONG! It was so moist and dewey overnight they were literally dripping in the morning. Unwilling to struggle getting into a soaking wet sports bra, I went without one for the first part of the day, and just hid in my looser fitting bike jacket. I had no choice but to hang my wet clothes from the trailer in hopes the wind would assist in the drying process. It didn't. And it heated up quickly enough, I ended up changing into it anyway. Lesson learned, I will never go without a second bra again.

There was only about 30 miles from where we were to the end of the trial, but we still wanted to get to at least 100 miles, so we went back about 10 miles, before turning around and finally heading to the end. The trailer continued to completely suck the towers energy so we traded back and forth to give each other a break. And we agreed to never bring the trailer again!

At one point Josh lost his balance while attempting to open a granola bar and crashed. He is so lucky he wasn't injured! His bike was a little battered though, so we stopped at the bike shop in Kellogg where they helped us out. 

Though we tried to get an early start to beat the heat, again it wasn't early enough. It was soooo hot. And the last 24 miles are all uphill! I was melting. And pretty sure I was going to go crazy or get heat stroke or something. In a rare patch of shade I literally got off my bike and laid in the path. I was SPENT! Somehow I got up and mustered enough energy to go the next 1/4 mile to Wallace. We hit a gas station on the edge of town and filled up every container we had with ice.

It's at this gas station that I turn to Josh as tell him I don't think I can tow the trailer any more. I'm too tired and it's too hard. He looks as worn out as I imagine I do and says he is sorry but he isn't sure he can go any further at all. We agree to find a shady spot to rest and think about what we wanted to do. 

I add up our combined miles from both days and we are at 92 miles. As much as I want to be done there is no way I can give up this close to my goals. We are 7.2 miles from the end of the trail and it's uphill the whooooole way. But if it's up hill the whole way to Mullan than it will be down hill the whole way back to Wallace for our celebration dinner! I said I would go alone or he could come with me. Annnnd he decided to finish too! Gaaah!! I love him so much! I'm so proud of us in this moment. It would have been so easy to say it was too hot, and too hard, and just stop. But we kept going!

We agreed to split towing the trailer. I took the first half and he took the second half. We just took it slow, because that's all we had left. Stopping in the shade frequently, like every half mile or mile to rest. It was the most challenging thing I've ever done. In my head I channel my inner Dory and start silently chanting, just keep pedaling, just keep pedaling, just keep pedaling......and setting mini goals like, just to that patch of shade, or just around that corner. It felt like an eternity. Then, like the light at the end of the tunnel, the trail opened up to the Mullan trailhead and victory was ours! We made it!!!!!!! OH MY GOD WE MADE IT!!!

Since there was zero shade there, we pretty quickly turned around for the 7.2 miles back down the mountain to Wallace, where our awesome friends Madelynn and Andrew would be picking us up and joining us for what would turn out to be an incredible victory feast. This was by FAR the best part of any ride I've ever been on. THIS is why I do this. The freeing feeling of flying down a hill, the exhileration of the sun on your skin and the wind in your hair, the beauty of your surroundings, oooh and that feeling of accomplishment. I AM ALIVE!!!

.......And starving after two full days of activity, so we ate and ate and ate.

106.71 miles total. I think we could have gone further and faster if it hadn't been so hot or if we hadn't had the trailer. Either way, I feel great about what we accomplished. The whole drive home from Wallace I kept thinking, wow! This is a long way!

Something I could have never fully appreciated before is what sitting on a bike for 50 miles a day does to your body. It hurts. A lot.  The hands, shoulders, feet and especially the butt really take a beating, blisters, chafing, pressure sores, sunburns, pinched nerves and numbness. We stayed in bed the whole next day, just relaxing and enjoying each others company. Yes it was hard, and yes it was worth it. This was our first long ride but it will not be our last.

Trial Run- Backpacking

We've collected the gear. We have done the planning. Now, the time for trial runs has begun! With backpacking and bike touring in my radar, my fantasy trips are too numerous to count. But I can't, or shouldn't, set off on a month long trip if I can't handle a week long trip or a weekend trip for that matter.

I realized early on in this process that most sports and outdoor activities each have their own special set of gear. A few things are interchangeable, but for the most part things are tailored specifically to that activity. Shortly after that I realized everything I own is cotton and that just wasn't going to cut it, as it's heavy and doesn't dry fast. I have spent a great deal of time, energy, and money researching the gear we need and acquiring it. Luckily back packing and bike touring can use a lot of the same equipment since they both need camping gear that is light weight and packs up small.

It is recommended that you try out your gear in your back yard or something before going on a long trip to make sure you know how to use everything and it all functions properly. The back yard sounded boring so we went out into slightly more real situations.

Round one was testing the camping gear in a campground then loading up into our backpacks and going on a day hike with a full load to see what that felt like and how far we could expect to go in a day.

Round two was to load up that camping gear into bike panniers and see what that felt like to bike long distance with a full load and how far can we expect to go in a day.

Round one in reality was a couple weekends ago. We camped at Lake Leo, in the Pond Oreille chain of lakes. We arrived at camp and set up our tent then ate dinner. We hadn't even finished dinner when it started raining. The water was coming down so hard that there wasn't time for it to soak into the ground at it was pooling around our tent. We used our small shovel and sticks to dig small trenches leading the water away from the tent. As we snuggled down into our sleeping bags, the rain beating loudly all around us, I couldn't help but think how much work and money went into roughing it.

The rain let up a bit in the morning. Enough to have coffee and breakfast then load up everything, some of it still wet mind you, before going to Sullivan lake for our hike. But when we arrived at the trail head it started pouring. Full on with thunder and lightning and the whole deal. We sat in the car debating how much we reeealy wanted to do this. I'm laughing at how ridiculous an idea this seems as we make sure everything is in waterproof bags and I decide a beer, or two, would make me braver and more accepting of the situation.

There was a slight break in the thunder and it felt like a now or never moment, so we went for it.

 It was instantly like we had stepped into a new beautiful world and it was well worth it to be walking in the rain to be there.  Everything was so magically beautiful.

See!?! Oooooh! Neat!

Lilies leaned across the trail, heavy from the rain.

We had planned on a different hike but a really nice ranger lady recommended this one and boy was she right!

The moss was blanketing everything!

And small creeks crossed the trail in a dozen different places.

 It rained for another 20 minutes or so as I giggled my way down the trail. Then the sun came out and the light peered through the patches in the branches.

Everything smelled so good and fresh.

And everywhere was something beautiful to see.

I was mesmerized by natures way of being stunning in such simple ways.

On this trail lined with wildflowers, I felt peaceful and at home.

We made our way the 4.2 miles from one end of the lake to the other, where we ate some warm soup before heading back again.

I'm so glad we decided to go for it instead of bailing because of the less than perfect weather. It turned out to be a great experience and we found out our rain gear and tent can handle the wetness just fine. Which is exactly what we needed out of a test run.

Round two was this weekend. Now THAT was an adventure!

To be continued......