June 29, 2010: Sandpoint, ID to Libby, MT. 96 miles

What a gorgeous, hard, wonderful day! We knew we were going to be riding almost 100 miles today, so we started out early. Dianne left before 6:30, but I was moving quite slowly this morning, so it was almost 7:00 when I left the hotel in Sandpoint. We rode along Lake Pend Oureille for miles (shown in the photo above).

We both thought I would catch up to Dianne in 10 or 15 miles, but it didn't happen. I did not see Dianne until the state line into Montana, at the 33 mile point. We all stopped and took photos there, and went on our way. The sag vehicle was available to us at about every 20 miles, which was convenient and necessary. It was up to 80 degrees by about 10:00, and in the 90s before we were done.

I rode with CJ most of the day today. It was really nice to NOT be riding alone on such a long day. We had a great time--her best quote of the day was "this really does not suck". OK, so we got a little slap happy....

The country here is beyond beautiful. It was breathtaking! I said many times "I love this" as I just drank it all in. Mountains on both sides, pristine rivers and lakes, and light traffic most of the time. Imagine coasting down a 6% grade for a couple of miles just gawking at the scenery! That was me.

We did not stop for a real lunch, just grazed out of the sag wagon. I ate several sweet and salty bars, some leftover chicken, fruit.... We stopped at a little restaurant at about the 70 mile point, but did not order food. I had an iced tea and CJ had a pepsi and we rested in the shade and talked with Rich and Kiersten who were traveling in the opposite direction by motorcycle.

The photo above shows what my view was most of the day--the back end of CJ! It worked well-it seems that she is much better at pacing than I am.

Later on down the road we stopped at the parking lot for Kootenai Falls, but did not hike to the falls. Rich had told us at the restaurant that it was beautiful, but a half mile rocky hike, perhaps not so wise to do in bike cleats.... At the Falls parking lot we met Matt and Margaret, a young couple who just graduated from college in California and are riding their bikes home to New Hampshire! I hope we'll see them again--they are following nearly the same route as our tour.

I arrived at the hotel around 3:00. I am pretty well spent, but happy to have completed todays amazingly beautiful route! Dianne feels the same way; she got here about an hour after me and immediately drank a glass of wine! We can't seem to stop eating, but I guess that's part of the biking experience. We're leaving now to go to the park for free margaritas (for crossing the state line) and dinner. We may be too tired to play Scrabble tonight! We'll see how it is after we eat dinner....