Day 6, Spokane to Sandpoint Idaho. Feckin Awesome 76 miles

Best: Pie at lunch (more below on this)

Worst:  Stopping at Albeni falls dam and finding the falls are no more.

Most Unexpected:  The oldest and youngest riders rode together for most of the ride. I was one of them.  Guess which one.

Waking up and putting on the lycra is the hardest part of this trip.  I did just that and headed to breakfast at the Gonzaga food cafeteria and then headed out of Spokane.  We actually rode as a group, all 12 of us, as we left the City.  It gave me chills to see us all together.  Eventually outside of the City we hit a hill that Terry wanted to ride up to get pie and see a view that he had done yesterday, and 6 riders left the group.  3 riders turned around once they realized they were going to add 7 miles to the ride.  Here is where my pie strategy came into play.

Last night we had pie from the place at the top of the hill.  I knew that all of it had not been consumed and therefore the remainder small piece would be put out for lunch.  I figured if I could get to the lunch spot early, the pie would be waiting for me instead of having to ride 3.5 miles up the hill and 3.5 miles back.  With the three fastest riders going up the hill, I figures I could get to lunch at the front of the pack and Becka and I rode together into lunch (one is the oldest and one is the youngest). Sure enough the pie was waiting for me.  

I rode with Cathy and Paul Rogers today as well, and here is a picture below of Cathy on her electric orange bike.  Electric in both the color as well as the motor.

I asked Cathy how she would change her tire if she got a flat, which immediately jinxed her.  Shortly thereafter she flatted with a nail requiring major surgery to take the rear wheel off and replacing the tube. 

Right after lunch we entered Idaho and stopped for our obligatory picture.

Two years ago at the lunch stop we saw a rodeo parade but this year it is next week due to the extra week in June before the 4th of July.  On the positive side it was not raining and it was beautiful weather for the entre ride.

We rode in a group of 5, Kevin, Jenn, Becka, Lisa, and me.  If you notice the big riders were not a part of the group because they were still cathing up from adding the 7 miles.  Kenny, Terry, and Charles went up the hill and in addition to the extra mileage, Kenny got a flat to slow them down.  We rode at a great pace for taking in the beauty, and my neck is really sore from swiveling back and forth gawking at the scenery. 

We got into Sandpoint and are staying at the Sandpoint west athletic club and all of the services are open to us.  I took my first ever hydromassage on a hydromassage bed (not sure where else you would do it). You definately would not want to do the hydromassage on your front. 

We all went in to Sandpoint downtown, some walking, some shuttling and some riding.  I rode in with two others and we went to dinner at Spuds.  If you can guess what they specialize in, you win nothing.  I had the potato stuffed with salsa verde, sour cream, and chicken. Yes chicken.  I went ahead and had a berry cobbler for dessert.  We rode out to the lake and found the Statue of Liberty still looking good.  I tried climbing up to her head, but it was too tight a fit for me.  I am back at the grass area outside the club waiting for the sun to set if it ever does.  We are at the summer solstice as north as we will be for the trip.  I am going back up for a final hydromassage before bed and I hope I wake up to go to my tent.  Enjoy the pictures, the first one is of bugs mating in the forest, just a little different than you would expect after reading that sentence