I'll be taking Amtrak north next week for a bike ride on the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes in Idaho.
I started thinking about this when I began working at Northrop a few years ago. One of my co-workers was an avid bicyclist who went with a bicycling group to ride on this trail. It's a "rail-to-trail" path that follows the route of the old Northern Pacific Railroad line along Coeur d'Alene lake.
I'll ride the Coeur d'Alene trail, which is about 75 miles, and also some additional sections, from Spokane to the city of Coeur d'Alene, and from the end of the trail back to Spokane.
I was hoping to rent a bike in Spokane for this trip, but unfortunately Mr. Covid-19 wrecked that plan. Luckily Amtrak has instigated a new bike handling procedure. Instead of disassembling and boxing the bike for baggage, the baggage cars have been equipped with bike holders. So I'll be taking my folding bike on the Surfliner to LA, then on the Coast Starlight to Portland. Unfortunately, the Empire Builder from Portland is not yet equipped with the baggage car bike carriers. So I decided to rent a car to drive from Portland to Spokane. I'll be able to fold my bike so that it'll fit in the car trunk.
One of the things that's great about old railroad routes is that they don't have bad grades. For this trip I decided to ride from east to west; the bike path is generally downhill in this direction. I'm using a shuttle service, a fellow who will pick me up in the city of Coeur d'Alene and drive me (and my bike) to the east trailhead in Mullan, Idaho. He has a nice website: www.captain-lou.com.
The state of Idaho also has a very nice website about the bike trail: Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes.
Here is a photo of my bike set up with the panniers (saddlebags):
Rain will be pretty likely during the trip. I was able to fit a couple of garbage bags over the panniers, and I have a rain poncho. I've ridden around the block with this getup, and it seems like it'll keep some rain off if I'm lucky.
Here is the itinerary for the trip...
Begin trip June 15
Tuesday, June 15: Start the trip in Solana Beach. Catch the Surfliner to LA. In LA, connect with the Coast Starlight to go to Portland
Wednesday, June 16: Coast Starlight to Portland; I have a sleeper room for this. Lodge at the Residence Inn by Marriott Portland Downtown
Thursday, June 17 and Friday, June 18: Visit Portland.
Saturday, June 19: Drive a rental car down to visit Aunt Sue in Eugene for the day.
Sunday, June 20: Drive the rental car from Portland to Spokane. Lodge at the Hotel Ruby2.
Monday, June 21: Return rental car, and visit Spokane.
Tuesday, June 22: Bike ride to Coeur d’Alene - 35 miles. In Coeur d'Alene, lodge at the Staybridge Hotel. This ride follows a bike path called The Centennial Trail.
Spokane to Coeur d'Alene
Wednesday, June 23: Lou picks me up with my bike and drives me to Mullan, the east end of the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes. I ride to Kellogg, Id - 20 miles. Lodge at the Silver Mt Resort.
Thursday, June 24: Ride to Harrison, Id - 39 miles. Lodge at the Osprey Inn.
Friday, June 25: Stay at the Osprey Inn.
Saturday, June 26: Ride to the Coeur d'Alene Casino. I reach the west end of the trail at Plummer during this leg. The rest of the trip will be on roads.
Sunday, June 27: Ride back to the Hotel Ruby2 in Spokane, 33 miles. This is the end of the bike ride.
Back to Spokane
Monday, June 28: Pick up a rental car, drive back to Portland, and return the rental car. Stay at Residence Inn again.
Tuesday, June 29 and Wednesday, June 30: Catch the Coast Starlight to LA. In LA, Lodge at the Metro Plaza Hotel.
Thursday, July 1: Catch the Surfliner and Home!
Trip done July 1. I'll have done five days and about 150 miles of bike riding.
Sounds great, Paul! I'm looking forward to following your progress.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jeanne!
DeleteSounds like quite a journey! Have fun, stay safe, and don't forget to wear sunblock (even when it is cloudy, because the UV rays are still present!).
ReplyDeleteThanks Joy, I will.
ReplyDelete