I Did It!!!!

I did it... I just got back from my BikeIdaho trip, and it was awesome! 400 miles in the Idaho panhandle, riding rollers and hills and rail trails. I only started riding in March, and was somewhat apprehensive about this whole trip. My longest ride before this trip was 55 miles.
Day 1 was 90 miles, with a 5800 foot ***. elev. gain... I made it to the 2nd rest stop at 58 miles. My knee was hurting and clicking when stressed going uphill, so I decided to not push my luck on the first day.
Day 2 was 70 miles, with 3110 CEL. The elevation at mile 4 is 2530, at the 1st rest stop at mile 23 elev. was 4415. The next 1.5 miles consisted of an 8% grade to the top of Thompson Pass elev. 4852. From there it was a 9% downgrade!!!!! WOOHOO!!! A screaming downhill ride... The remainder of the day was gentle down or flat. I made it!!!!
Day 3 was an option day, so the girls rode to another small town nearby, and then rode the gondola up to Silver Mountain. The boys did a 54 mile loop which included a 3 mile 8% and 10% up grade after mile 35. NO THANKS. they had fun though.
Day 4 was 54 miles... flat along the Coeur d' Alene rail trail. Beautiful scenery, and wonderful riding... except for the headwind. I'll take hills aver a headwind anyday!
Day 5 we rode 42 miles... with a 3265 CEL. Rode highway 97 for awhile, traffic was not awful, but not great. Had a hard climb up an old road above the freeway, that turned into compact gravel for a 1 mile downhill.... scary on a road bike. Finished the ride along a beautiful path next to Lake Cd'A. It was a fun day!
Our last day was 61 miles back to Sandpoint.
I had such a sense of accomplishment when I finished... here I am at age 50, doing something like this that I never dreamed I would a year ago.... It was/is very hard to reenter into real life now....
Barb

Wohooooo!!! Way to go! Congrats... such an accomplishment

FN

Sounds awesome! That sounds like something I'd like to do someday.

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Originally Posted by EvilTwin

I did it... .
I had such a sense of accomplishment when I finished... here I am at age 50, doing something like this that I never dreamed I would a year ago.... It was/is very hard to reenter into real life now....
Barb

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Yeah, the astronauts don't call it re-entry for no reason!
Well done!

WOW! That is very impressive... especially considering you just started in MARCH!!!

Way to go! What huge accomplishment... be very proud!

Oh... and I will take hills over headwinds... any day as well. ;)

Wow!! What an accomplishment!! Congratulations - my hat goes off to you - that's quite a ride!!

Pat

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I am very impressed. Quite an achievment and a wonderful ride to remember forever.

These posts inspire me to ride and push myself to be the best rider I can be. I can only hope to be as fit as you are.

Again, Congratulations!! What a ride!

What a way to begin your 6th decade! Congrats on a rockin' accomplishment and here's to many more.

Very cool! It's neat to hear about your ride -- DH and I started riding in May this year and have been thinking that things like this would be great to do someday. Well, first it was me -- We should drive up north and ride that Coeur d'Alene trail, honey? WHY on earth would we pack the bikes up and drive for 12 hours to ride for one day? Well, dear, we haven't looked at much of Idaho in the ten years we've lived here, and it would be a way to see the country side. He thought about it for a while -- like two days later, he said that yeah, bike trips WOULD be cool, once we get into better shape. For me, it's going to be hill climbing -- I need LOTS of practice climbing hills!

Hearing how much you enjoyed the trip makes me want to do it even more!!!

Karen in Boise

Congratulations!!! You should be so very proud of yourself!!

Kano: The Trail of the Cd'A runs for 72 miles essentially from Mullan to Plummer. It was built by the railroad company to cover contaminated mine tailings. Because it was an old rail line, it is all railroad grade elevations... in other words, pretty flat. It runs through Wallace and Kellogg... both pretty little towns with lots of history, and some nice places to stay. There were bald eagles and moose that were spotted on the ride and lots of other scenery. I would highly recommend it for you and your DH...you'll have a great time!!!
Barb

Couer d'Alene trail -- asphalt or gravel? Thinking tires here....

Might make a lovely september trip -- leaves changing, cool weather....

Karen in Boise

Way to go!!! Sounds like you had a wonderful experience.
I love reading about all the different rides everyone takes. It sounds so wonderful compared to everyday life.

Congratulations! And WOW!! Just 2 minutes before I read your post, I read an email from my friend, John, who'd just returned from the same trip. He's an experienced cyclist and found that 9% grade a tough pull, himself. That was a smart move on Day 1. If you'd wrecked your knee, you'd have missed out on all the great scenery on the rest of the tour.

Sounds like the tour was well supported and the scenery was magnificent. What a great first long tour.

Did I mention that I think that's an awsome accomplishment?

Congrats! Sounds like you had a great time!

The Trail of the Cd'A is really nice, smooth asphalt. It's new (2003) so there aren't many tree root bumps yet. It's well marked and you could easily ride 3 abreast in most areas.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhh!

That sounds like a DELIGHTFUL trail! Gotta go!


(Oh, honey, never mind that hilly ride we were talking about earlier, how about we load up the car....)

Karen in Boise

I love reports of big personal goals like this. Congratulations!