Author: Greg Pezoldt

We had a relaxed start to the day. We left our campground at 9:30. Linus and Katie like to stop a lot it seems so we only covered 7 miles by 11:00. We finally got on track after that and got some miles in. We had an option on roads to take just outside of Clark Fork, Idaho. We chose the Heron Rd option since it promised less traffic. It was a good choice…. for Idaho. After about 10 miles we came to the Montana border. We were met at the Montana line with a gravel surfaced road. Not exactly what we were expecting. I proceeded slowly and cautiously with my narrow-ish tires. Luckily, the gravel ended after 2 miles and we were back on pavement.

We took a turn onto hwy 56 which followed the Bull River. It was stunningAnd to my brother Jim, it looks to have some fishing potential too. It is a good looking meadow stream.

Hwy 56 embodies what bike touring is about. Nice scenery, low traffic, and a moderate grade to the road. WOW! It was a nice 50 mile day and we all felt really good at the end of it all.

We camped along Bull Lake and I mean right on the lake shore. A truly great camp site.

After sleeping at the Bonner’s Ferry fairgrounds, I rode the Sandpoint bus back to town. Natalie was going to be checking out the city for the morning so I met up with her. I checked in with the bike shop and everything was in motion for getting the ole Fuji back together.

After lunch, Natalie hit the road heading for a campground on Lake Pend Oreille. I would see if I could make it but it would depend on when my bike was finished and the weather which was a bit unsettled.

My bike was done at 2:45! The guys at Greasy Fingers Bike Shop in Sandpoint deserve a medal for their work. I still had to get back to the fairgrounds to take down my camp but got out of town at 5:00. I road pretty fast (or as fast as the heavy beast would go). I got to the Sam Owen camp ground around 6:30 and found Natalie on the Skipping Stone Loop. At the campground, the neighboring campers, Larry and Paula offered left over hotdogs to me which sounded better than cooking some pasta.

So I ended up riding about 15 miles in the evening thus “Day 14” instead of “Rest Day 2”.

Right at dusk a couple riders showed up. Linus and Katie were bound for Maine too so it looked like more partners to ride with.

It was great to get the bike back together and be on the road again. I hope the troubles are behind me now.

Note: if you have not read Day13- Preface, please do so first.

The started out really good. Sunny, cool but not cold temperatures, little to no wind, gently rolling terrain, nice scenery through the evergreen forest along the Priest River. Nearly perfect.

We would cross into Idaho today. It would now be an interstate tour. It took all of 0.65 miles of riding to get to the Idaho border.

We were only going to ride 30 miles today to Sandpoint. I was going to visit a bike shop and have my chain replaced since I was having trouble shifting gears due to the less than lateral stiffness of my current chain. About mile 12 it happened. The crunching noise only a cyclist knows when his chain is wrapping itself around the derailleur and getting caught up in the wheel. My bike came to a very sudden stop. The chain was bound up I had to take the wheel off, remove one of the derailleur pulleys, and tug with all of my might to free the chain. Mission accomplished. Once the wheel was back on the bike, the second problem became apparent. The wheel had been badly tweaked. So bad it would not spin without rubbing on the chain stays.

I tried opening the brakes, but still no go. I resorted to actually removing the rear brake pads altogether. That did the trick, the the wheeled wobbled so bad it looked I was riding a clown bike. But on we went.

After about 8 more miles the bike again seized up again. This time, the rear derailleur exploded. We found most of the parts but needed a small bolt to assemble it again. We could not find it anywhere on the Road. Natalie had some extra parts and one screw had the right threads to jury rig it back together. But I ended up breaking a few spokes this time. One spoke actually pulled through the wheel rim. The wheel was now unfixable. But on we went.

About 5 miles from Sandpoint, the derailleur exploded again. We found the parts but I was only going to be able ride one gear into town. Amazingly, I made it. The bike is now in the bike shop getting a new chain. And a new rear wheel, a new rear derailleur, a new rear cassette, a new front triple chain ring (so long Biopace), and a new bottom bracket.

The good news is the new wheel will be much stronger than the original with 36 spokes instead of the original 32.

Tomorrows agenda is uncertain. I think the bike will be ready mid afternoon so I am not sure if I will ride or not.

I am camped at the fairgrounds which I got to by public transit. For free.

It was still a good day.

It was always my plan to replace my chain in Sandpoint. Really, it was!

We woke up to blue skies again this morning, but we weren’t to be fooled by that again!

We got a pretty early start today. We were looking forward to a fairly flat 50 mile to Newport along the Pend Oreille River (pronounced Ponderay). The weather started mostly sunny, but a cold wind. The profile was pretty flat which was fantastic after all of the climbing over the last 5 days.

About 11:00 we stopped for a roadside lunch. My lunches are typically peanut butter and jam on a bagel. We had an overlook of a large field adjacent to the river. And we saw a moose crossing the field. That was great since Natalie wanted to see some wildlife besides deer (we also saw a wild turkey with a baby chick this morning too).

Later that afternoon, we ran into the group that had helped us yesterday. They were 3 men hand cycling across the country. Two were vets and the other had most likely suffered a non military spinal cord injury. They were flying along on the flats but understandably were slow on the climbing sections. They had family support to carry gear and help with the inevitable flat tire and what not. They were a great group of fellow cyclists and that is how they wanted to be thought of. But inspirational to me. They are talking about Fairbanks to La Paz next year. I will try to get their blog info so we can follow them too.

Back to business now, we pulled into Newport before 3:00. We got our tents set up, I had a few long hot shower and bought some food at the Safeway. And guess what? It started raining! Not bad though.

So far, I estimate that I have pedaled about 650-660 miles. All across the state of Washington. But that changes tomorrow.

After the big rain from last night I was glad to see blue sky when I woke up. I was able to get all of my gear dried out so I was ready to go. As an added bonus, Natalie showed up in the morning. So I had a riding partner for the day and maybe longer.

Today would take us through the Little Pend Oreille Lakes Recreational Area and over the Tiger Summit. The Summit was a climb but very reasonable from the Colville side. The weather was nice to begin the days cycling, but clouds gradually were moving in. We put up with a few bouts of lite rain and drizzle for most of the day but were in pretty good spirits in general since the Tiger Summit paled in comparison to any of the 4 previous passes.

We got to the obvious Summit even though there was not a sign to designate the top. There was a sign showing a 4 mile steep descent. We decided to stop at the top and put some warmer clothes on for the fast descent. Before we could even begin we saw and heard 2 huge thunder and lightning strikes right on top of us and then an unbelievable hail barrage. The ground turned white right before our eyes. We made a quick decision to wait it out on top since riding in the hail would be really painful. Once the hail let up we started the descent…… going very slowly down since we were drenched and the temperature was most likely in the upper 30’s at this point.

I could not feel my hands or feet during the descent. Finally after 4 miles and what seemed an eternity, we got to the bottom. Frozen and borderline hyperthermia but at the bottom. There was a small gift store at this corner so we we went in to try to warm up. Some other people supporting a group ride (more on them later) where also warming up in the store too. They had some tea and the lady working was able to heat some water for us. I could barely hold the cup I was shivering so bad but it was heaven sent non the less. Still very cold but not shivering any longer, we decided camping was a bad idea. We headed toward Ione which was 4 miles away to get a motel room and really warm up. It was a good decision since it continued to rain on and off for the rest of the day and evening. Natalie got the bed and I got the floor but we both slept well that night.

After lounging at the Kettle Falls Pub and Grill, I set off to find a place to stay. Natalie (from the Washington Pass Climb had texted me about a bike hostel so I wanted to check that out. She said it was a few miles out of Colville at the top of a long hill. Well she was spot-on with that description. It took a while to get there, but it was worth it. I had a room to myself, and a hot shower. For free no less. This was all good since it started raining again. And in the middle of the night, the skies really opened up. I was never so happy in my life to be under a roof and not in my tent.

Today could have a lot of different directions.

First, I had developed a saddle sore yesterday so I wasn’t too sure how it was going to go today sitting in the bike seat.

It also rained quite a bit last night so I wasn’t sure if I was even going to get out of the tent if it kept up.

And the day had all sorts of potential for a rain soaked day.

Well, it stopped raining and I was able to sit comfortably on the bike saddle so off I went! Ahead was Sherman Pass! The highest year round open Pass in Washington at 5575. I have a LOT of history with Sherman Pass. I drove over it twice a day for 3 years commuting to Republic from Kettle Falls.

It turned out to be an excellent day for the climb over the Pass. Overcast and cool. I still sweated like a dog though. I summited right at 1:00 so it wasn’t too bad at all. The downhill was maybe less fun. Right after topping out, it DID start raining. I have cycled up and over Sherman Pass twice now in my life. Both times I have froze on the descent. It eventually stopped raining but not until I was close to the bottom. I am now warming up in the Kettle Falls Pub and Grill. I still have 8 more miles to go to Colville where I plan to stay. I hope it will be uneventful.

Tomorrow is the Tiger Summit, a climb but nothing like the last many days of climbing – at least that what I am thinking. I am glad to have the last 4 passes over with. Should have some decent cycling ahead. I will let you know.

I woke up this morning with a revelation. Up until yesterday, all of the riding I have done was pedaling closer to Wenatchee- home. Once past Twisp and Okanogan, I am now pedaling away from Wenatchee. I guess there is no turning back now, right?

I have to thank the people, especially Tom from the Tonasket visitor’s center. I camped behind the center but they let me have the key to the building so I could use the bathroom. We just made arrangements to return the key this morning. Again, thanks!

Once on the road again, big surprise. Another day, another climb. This time it was Wauconda Pass. It goes up to 4300 feet and was another challenge but not an impossible challenge. I topped out around 1:00 and cruised the downhill. As much as the climb would normally be the focus of the day, today was all about travelling to Republic. Republic is the town I worked in for 7 years when I first moved to Washington. So many stories and memories. I tried to look up a few old friends but they were all out of town. I left them messages.

While having a beer at the Republic Brewery (new since I worked there) I had an interesting conversation with a Guy who was visiting from Kettle Falls. I told him I used to live in Kettle Falls and it turned out he lived in the very same HOUSE I owned back in the early 1990’s. What would the odds of that be. Crazy.

For camping, I stayed at the Curlew Lake State Park. I had a great site over looking the lake and the weather was nice and clear. It was a good day.

As great as my rest was (and it was great thanks to Carol) it was time to get back on the bike and continue the journey and adventure.

Natalie was now a day ahead of me and Danny was on a different route so I would not see them today.

Ahead was another climb- Loop Loop Pass. It would not be as long or as high as Washington Pass but a challenge non the less. I left Carol’s house around 9:30. Not a great start but pretty normal for me. I was on the climb by 10:30. It was about an 11 mile climb but I really had no idea when I started since I don’t have a map of this portion of the ride. I took a 30 minute break at 11:30 to take some food and water. The summit came rather quickly once I started riding again. Then another nice downhill to enjoy. I have a confession to make! My biking friends all know that I perversely enjoy riding uphill. But given the nature of propelling this really heavy bike, I have quickly learned to savor the gravity assist of the downhill. Shhh…. don’t tell anyone.

I got into Okanogan around 1:30 and had lunch at this nice cafe. Really great soup! But I had another conundrum. Okanogan/Omak was quitting too early but Tonasket was another 30 miles. I felt pretty good so I opted for the 70 mile option and pushed on to Tonasket. I got some real good suggestions for a back roads ride option from some locals in the cafe and it was great. No traffic and great riding. Arriving in Tonasket around 5:15 I found that you could camp behind the visitor’s center (for free!). There was even an added bonus. The guy who lives begins the visitor’s center is playing his guitar and singing. Free music entertainment in Tonasket. BONUS!

There is a lot more climbing in the next 2 days but I am going to enjoy a hot shower and a meal at one of the local establishments tonight.

One last thing. Thank you everyone for following my ride on this blog and your positive support. It means so much to me!