Coeur d’Alene Bike Trip - Day 6

I visited Aunt Sue today. I got up early to drive down to her house in Eugene, where we talked for a bit and she told me she’s selling her house! We decided to drive out to the coast and try to fly a kite. On the way we went through one of the areas she’s thinking of moving to, Veneta, where I spotted this swell hot rod.

Wow!!! Aunt Sue Should Move Next Door To This House!

It was a bit too windy to try to fly the kite, so we stopped in Florence at Lovejoy’s Tea Room for a delicious lunch, then had a nice drive north along the coast on the 101. We stopped at a spot along the way where there are Pitcher Plants (Darlingtonia California) growing.

Darlingtonia California (Pitcher Plants) - They Eat Bugs!

We also stopped near Cape Perpetua and did a short hike.

Aunt Sue At Cape Perpetua

On the way back, we stopped for a delicious dinner of  ling cod and chips at the Luna Sea Fishhouse. It’s nice when you are with a local who knows all the best places! After getting back to her house, I bid Aunt Sue a sad goodbye and drove back to my hotel in Portland.

Coeur d’Alene Bike Trip - Day 5

I took it easy today, mostly wandering aimlessly around west downtown Portland. I stopped in a park where they had an undulating fence made of old railroad track from the 1800s which was really swell. 

I picked up my rental car. They had it parked on the top of the parking structure, where I was treated to a nice view of Mt Hood.

(I Zoomed In With The Camera)

The streets of Portland are full of intriguing folk. At one point when I was crossing a street, I had to hurry out of the way of about twenty people zooming around on electric unicycles. I also saw this interesting procession of young women and men. Perhaps a quinceanera?

Coeur d’Alene Bike Trip - Day 4

Though I hadn’t planned on it, I did a 48 mile bike ride today. I was hoping to do a Portland Trolley Tour, which my cousin recommends, but sadly they aren’t being run on weekdays yet. So I got up early to ride my bike for an hour or so. I started by crossing the river that runs through Portland (the Willamette) on the Steel Bridge, then went south on a path that goes along the river’s east side.

Lots Of Bridges In Portland 

After a bit, a sign indicated the start of the “Springwater Corridor”, which I continued on until it seemed to end in a really nice residential area. Luckily I asked a passing bicyclist if the corridor continued south, and she said it went many more miles. She recommended riding it to a town called Boring. It sounded doable, and anyway how could I pass up such an exciting destination! 😀

The ride to Boring was indeed pretty swell. It’s another rail-to-trail path, so no hills! Because of this, there was some old railroad infrastructure now and then.

Two Unused Passenger Cars On A Spur Near The Trail

The Bell Station

The Linnemman Station

There are spots on the path where Mt. Hood can be seen in the distance.

Mt Hood Is Barely Visible In The Distance, Above The Trail; You Have To Zoom In A Lot

In Boring, I ate at a nice little restaurant called Keeks Cafe, then headed back to Portland. There must be a small grade in the path because the return ride seemed easier.

Back at the hotel, I rested a bit, then walked to Powell’s Books and got a book called The Indian Clerk, about the mathematicians Hardy and Ramanajan. After that, I had a nice  dinner at a place near Powells called Jake’s Famous Crawfish, and after the meal I headed back to the hotel to call it a night.

Coeur dAlene Bike Trip - Day 2

Sleeping in the roomette last night was challenging. I decided to use the upper berth, and it was a bit rough getting up into it and down again. But overall it was fine, and I had a nice sleep. Using the sleeper cars on Amtrak is very much like going camping.

I got up at about 6 am. The attendant on our car is Shaun, and he’s really great. He’d mentioned we would be scheduled to pass Mt. Shasta between 6 and 7 in the morning, and indeed it was a treat to see while eating my breakfast in the diner. Nothing could be finer - Sorry Carolina! 😀 

Shasta From My Room…

…And From The Diner

The train was on schedule until we hit Klamath Falls, where a UP freight decided to start some local switching just as we arrived. Twenty minutes later we were allowed to continue, now twenty minutes behind schedule. The conductor said we’ll very likely be seeing this kind of thing again as we continue through Oregon. Thanks Union Pacific! Welcome to the topsy turvy world of rail  passenger service in the good ol’ US of A.

There were more wonderful views as we went through the Cascades. We were very fortunate to have good weather during this trip, with no fog or rain obscuring Shasta and the Cascades.

One Of The Lakes We Passed By…

… And One Of The Rivers We Went Over

We were able to make up time, so that we pulled into Portland only three minutes behind schedule.

Portland Union Station

I retrieved my bike from the baggage car and rode the very short distance to my hotel (Residence Inn). The hotel room was very nice.

Coeur d’Alene Bike Trip - Day 1

I started my bike trip this morning from Solans Beach. Laura drove me to the station, and I got on the Surfliner with my bike.

Solana Beach Station

A View From The Surfliner

On the Surfliner, the bike just goes into one of the coaches. In LA, I got on the Coast Starlight, for the rest of the trip to Portland. Amtrak has recently set up this train, and some other routes, with bike holders in the baggage cars, so that bikes no longer need to be disassembled and bixed up, which makes a huge difference.

I’m in a roomette in the Starlight, which has a pull-down bed at night. It’s compact but very nice.

My Roomette On The Starlight

My Bike Trip - The Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes

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.

Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes (from the website Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes)

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.

Bike Rides Up The 101

Since retirement, I’ve been trying to do a bike ride north on the 101 and back each week. Once in a while I’ll ride from home, but there is a horrible grade up Del Mar Heights from the 101. So usually I’ll take the bike in my car down to 101 at Del Mar Heights, or more usually at 25th St. in Del Mar. I ride north, usually to Leucadia, but sometimes farther to Oceanside. I’ll take a break, then head back south. The ride has grades at the various lagoons along the way, but they are not too bad. I often see some nice cars along the way, and other fun things.

A wonderful British racing green Big Healy

An old woody taking a ride to restoration

It was fun to see these fellows kite-surfing by Cardiff Beach

'62 Ford Galaxy

Chevy Nova

'53 Chevy Truck

'66 Corvette

Really nice to see in Del Mar for Christmas

Fun to see this young fellow setting up a Christmas tree on Cardiff Beach

A wonderful T-Bird

'67 Jeep Commando

Lincoln Continental Convertible

I'm crazy 'bout a Mercury, '49 Mercury,

If I had a Mercury I'd cruise it up and down the road.