Route From Spokane-Old Paluouse Highway-Valley Chapel Road

The last two weeks or so have brought me to a break in my long rides. Last weekend Julie, Will and I ran a half marathon. The weekend before we had a lot going on so no riding. The week before, however, I had a great 52 mile ride going out Old Palouse highway, along Valley Chapel Road, and back home. Here's the map:
http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=297573

I will post the photos from the ride soon!

I may be riding again this weekend, maybe out in Idaho somewhere or maybe this ride out in Cheney (
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/wa/spokane/574029288 ), so let me know if you would like to join.

Thanks for checking in.
Chris

MS 150

I have decided to ride in the MS 150 ride along the Trail of CDA this summer. Why, you ask? Well, for one, I like to ride my bike. Above is a pic of me riding with my darling wife Julie and my wonderful son, Will (you can' t really see Will but he's in all of the shots with the trailer).

The real reason I am riding is because I was inspired by my friend, Tanya Christie. Tanya has MS and rode in this event last summer. She's unable to ride in it this summer, so I decided to ride in her stead. She has generously offered to help me fund raise for the event and to enjoy the fruits of her VIP status resulting from her fundraising last year. I would love to have a riding parter either for one of my training rides or for the big event, so please let me know if you are interested. I am hoping to keep the torch going so that hopefully next year we'll start to assemble a team of riders. Each week or weekend, I will be trying to get in at least one ride of 10 miles or more, so if you want to join me, let me know! I more "tour" than "race" when I am in the saddle.

Tanya is the primary reason I am riding in this ride, but I am also riding in memory of my uncle, Bob Wright, who was afflicted with this disease until he passed away just recently. I am also riding in honor of my good friend Nancy Greenwood, who also has MS. Nancy got me interested in participating in MS events back in DC, where she heads "The Nancy Jean Team" which always has TONS of people involved in a 5 mile walk and cookout following, both of which are a just a lot of fun (best hot dogs in the world, it's certified!). Could we do something similar with this event? I dunno, but it would be fun and worth a thought.

So, the MS 150 comprises two days of riding 75 miles each. I am now in the process of getting my miles up so that I am ready for the ride in early September. I will likely do a long ride every weekend, if you ever want to tag along. I often bring Will, though I am going to try a 50 mile ride tomorrow, by myself.

Below is a picture from my last long ride, two weekends ago. Will and I rode from Spokane to CDA, ID, which is about 40 miles. Will slept most of the way, I did not. I was riding on my now-broken-in-honey-colored-Brooks B17 Special. Super comfy! I just got a black B17 standard to replace it (to match the bike and because the Special belongs to my Surley), but the new saddle is not broken in. I am worried that my butt is going to be very unhappy tomorrow morning on the stiff new saddle. We'll see!

Ok, I will try to post some more photos tomorrow.

Thanks for checking out the blog.

-Chris

Riding the Fish Lake Trail

Well, I finally took a ride down to the Fish Lake Trail, starting from the trailhead. Nice spot, very peaceful. It would be better if this trail were paved from Spokane to Pascoe. Anybody know if that's in the works? I know there is a whole section of trail along the Columbia Plateau trail, but is there any effort currently underway to connect it to the Fish Lake Trail and pave the whole route?

Note that I had to bring the mountain bike as not all sections are paved; some sections are crushed gravel/dirt, but some are loose gravel.

Later,

SB

Well, this is my first attempt at my own Blog. I figured if my 3 month old son, Elvis, can have a blog, so can I. I will attempt to focus this blog on bicycling in and around Spokane. I am not necessarily a bike nut, but I like to get out when I can. My primary biking interests are road biking on Saturdays, mountain biking on Sundays, commuting by bike during the work week and riding my new (new to me for 50 bucks) Electra scooter to the grocery store pretty much daily or whenever we need more Kokanee beer!

Let me know if you ride bikes in Spokane or elsewhere.

Later,
SB