Bike Paths and Highways

I was having technical difficulties getting my posts posted, but the blogger help forum actually helped me figure it out. Hurray for the kindness of strangers!

Including the ones who offered to take my picture (several different people, different times). This is on the Centennial Trail - a paved, off-road bike path - between Spokane and the Idaho border. The trail follows the Spokane River for most of that way (crossing over it now & then).


On the Idaho side it runs sort of close to I-90, but that's also next to a lot of trees so it's still pretty nice. Especially since some welder-artist decorated its bridges!

After about 35 miles of nice off-road paths - which also had bathrooms & water fountains every so often - I got to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and turned north. This is where the bike tires hit the US Highway 95, which goes through a lot of really pretty countryside... and is mostly nice and flat, even. Except it is, well, a highway. With shoulders most of the time and not that many logging trucks. It was a holiday, which helped.

It was the 4th of July, and I have to be honest: I was slightly nervous about spending that day in this part of the country: Coeur d'Alene happens to be the headquarters of the Aryan Nation. Not exactly my kind of people. I think that specific group might be defunct, but I read an article recently about the re-emergence of armed militia groups in the area - their locations pretty much mapping out as the route of my ride... which is very creepy. I feel safe enough to move through, but I know that a lot of the people I love might *not be* safe in these parts. It's very strange to be on vacation in the middle of this. (Well, so was being a tourist in Colombia in 1990...)

Despite knowing the nasty hidden side of things, I'm personally finding that people are super friendly, give me & my bike plenty of room on the road, and so far I'm having a great time.