Look Around

Sometimes the most interesting thing going on is away from the center of attention. I attended a friend's wedding this evening. This flower girl, her petal dropping duties completed, found a way to keep occupied while the ceremony continued.

Free Tour With Lunch

I decided to take up the city of Spokane's offer of a tour of the downtown bike loop and a free lunch to go with it. Thanks to the article in Tuesday's Review they had about 25 people show for the tour that day. Today, Stephen Fortunato of the Bicycle Advisory Board, led 11 riders on the tour.

Grant Wencel, Bicycle-Pedestrian Coordinator for Spokane, provided a map of the route and information on bike-related laws. While I've known about bikes being banned from downtown sidewalks I was not aware the fine for violators was $103. While Grant was telling us about this, as if on cue, a young lady rode down the sidewalk on the other side of the street. She wasn't wearing a helmet either. That's $52.


We fell in line behind Stephen and headed south on Howard and then turned right on 4th.


The westbound route on 4th is a little tricky. The bike path jinks to the left side of the lane because all the vehicle traffic has to turn right. (Yes, that is a ghost bike locked to the stop sign on the right.)


See that stop sign that's almost hidden by the Do Not Enter sign? It's on the left side of the island but the bike route angles to the right, across the street, and onto the sidewalk. Thus, it's easy to miss. And we did. We all blew right through it. So be careful there.


After taking Riverside, Lincoln, Main and Howard back to the start, we were treated to a hotdog, chips, and ice-cold soda courtesy of Downtown Spokane Partnership. Thank you.

Tomorrow at noon is the last tour. It takes all of 20 minutes. You get a free hotdog and a drink. Don't forget to wear a helmet.

Nailed It

I'm not sure who to credit for this but I found it on the Interwebs.

Stuff I Saw In Boise

The bees couldn't get enough of the lavender...
...accompanied by a few butterflies.
I prefer donuts that are more than okay.
Boise is an excellent city for bike travel, but I found this a little unnerving.
Fast-paced feeder.

Floatin' The River And Defyin' Death

Over the weekend, Chip, my brother-in-law, and his son, Zak, took me and Josh on a float down the South Fork of the Boise River.

Intrepid river floaters and back country campers:
Josh, me, Chip and Zak.

A view of the camp site from higher up in the canyon.

Chip, an avid fly fisherman, caught and released a number of awesome trout.

Josh had some fly fishing experience from high school and put it to good use.

Zak cookin' up fajitas for dinner.

Josh's face in the fire light.
Zak told us of a rock to jump off of on the second day and Josh and I decided to take him up on it. It's close to 30 feet high. Zak led me and Josh up the rock face and onto the ledge. Zak jumped first and didn't die. Josh, second in line, looked back up at me and said, "This is stupid."

"Famous last words," I laughed. Definitely tombstone worthy. Josh stepped off into oblivion and swam back to the raft. Since I'm so blind I needed to wear glasses to make the climb. I couldn't wear them on the jump and I had no other way of bringing them back down so I figured I'd just hold them in my hand. As I stepped out onto the ledge my heart was racing. The water looked a long, long way down. I removed my glasses and took a deep breath.

That's not enough air, I thought as I jumped. The ice cold water was just as shocking and invigorating as the jump was terrifying. I swam back to the raft and climbed in. It was one of those moments where I felt so alive.

Then I tried to put my glasses on.

During my moment of extreme fear I squeezed my prescription sunglasses really, really hard. I bent them back into shape as best as I could but they still sit a little cockeyed. Too funny.

My leap of terror.

This photo of Chip's jump gives a better idea of the scale.

Bad-Ass Boise Bogus Basin Bikeway

While visiting my brother-in-law in Boise I took a ride up Bogus Basin Road last Friday. It's a 16-mile climb out of the desert into high woodlands. You know it's a bad ass ride because part of the route is named after a cyclist named Armstrong. No, not the Tour guy, but the Olympics lady who also lives in Boise and used this climb for her Olympic training.

The lead off sign that informs you of the bad ass ride you're about to go on.

I kept the safety on for the first two miles. That gives you a chance to warm up before you enter the free fire zone.

Another clue for how bad you are for doing this ride. This is great for those who ride without some sort of electronic tracking device--unless they're on probation.

You know you've reached the top when you pass this sign and then run out of pavement at the ski lodge. If you're even more bad ass you're on a mountain bike and you continue on the trails.

A view of the route from the top. Sorry for the rotten Blackberry photos.

Another sign at the eight-mile mark on the way down to remind you how bad ass you are.

I recommend doing this ride early in the morning. If you wait until 1:00 pm and it's 97 degrees outside, then you'll probably run out of water three or four miles from the top. A white foamy crust forms in both corners of your mouth, your dessicated body wilts, and your addled mind starts fantasizing about hamburgers and ice cold colas. And if your brother-in-law doesn't tell you about the water fountain that's near the ski lodge, you'll have a dry coast back to town.