As seen in some of my prior posts this year I have focused on riding in different areas when I can. One of the primary reasons is for maintaining fitness but it's also important to mix up the scenery where you ride to breathe some life into the monotony of always riding the same route or in the same area.
I last rode a 100 mile ride in 1997 when I was training for the cross state ultra endurance Cannonball bike ride. That ride traverses I-90 from Seattle to Spokane in one day and has a length of approximately 275 miles. The ride was shortlived thanks to a crash five minutes in but I at least had the comfort of knowing I was in the best shape of my life. Since then family and work obligations have pretty much eliminated the time needed to do a 100 mile ride.
This year I was determined to get a century in and to do it somewhere other than Kittitas County. My selected location was the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes in North Idaho. This trail is on an old railroad bed and is paved for the full 72 mile length of the trail. The trail runs from Plummer to Mullan. My plan was to ride from Plummer out 50 miles and turn back. I chose the route for several reasons: beautiful scenery, low traffic in October and little to no climbing. I didn't want to stress the metatarsal issue in my right foot by climbing a lot of hills and then having to cut the ride short.
Thursday, October 20 was the selected date and my 70 year old father was going to deliver me to the start point and also ride a portion of the trail. This is one of his favorite places to ride. We parked on the north end of Plummer and started out in the chilly 45 degree air. It was overcast and a stiff wind had picked up from the southeast. This would be great on the way out but would make for a tough ride back into the wind.
From Plummer there is approximately a six mile descent (2-3% grade) to Lake Coeur d'Alene where you ride next to the lake up to Harrison before cutting east across the panhandle of Idaho. My dad was enouraging me to leave him and ride on since I was going a longer distance and ride 4-5 miles per hour faster than him. I had made up my mind to ride with him to Harrison before taking off. That's just past mile 15.
At mile 14 my dad looked down to put his water bottle back in its cage, drifted off the trail and crashed in the gravel. I could tell he was hurt pretty badly and told him we were not going to get him back on his bike - which is what he wanted to try and do. We were able to get an ambulance to him and the short story is he had several fractures to the pelvis and saccrum.
My dad feels horrible about the accident and "ruining" my 100 mile ride. I feel blessed that I was there and able to help him. There are times when riding just isn't a priority and this was one of those times. I had to remind him that he's not the only person to do this. Just a year ago I had drifted into some gravel and crashed - well, more like fell over onto the road. Yes, it's embarassing. Yes, the bikes survive. Yes, the ego will forget about it - 10 yrs down the road. As the French might say, ces la vie.
Riding down the hill to Lake Coeur d'Alene
A view north on the lake
Looking southeast on the lake
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