Bike Rides

Any time the conversation turns to fabulous bike rides, Russell will get a glazed far-away look as he describes the Hiawatha Trail. Well, yesterday he got another run at it and fell in love all over again. I did not feel like I could handle the full 14m trip, even though it is down hill. And there is no way I am going back through the 2m tunnel that begins and ends the trip.  The remainder of the trip is fully worth it, however, as I have been hearing for the last 24 hours.

The trip is a rails-to-trails project that follows the original Hiawatha Train path. It crosses trestles that soar over the river below so that you are on eye level with some tree tops and looking down on most. There are a total of 7 tunnels, most of them short and only 1 monster. I uploaded some pics from previous trip in '09.

Today we both traveled parts of the Centennial Trail. This is a path that stretches 24m across the Idaho panhandle, mostly along I-90. It also winds through the small towns along the way. This morning we drove west to Post Falls to ride the last 5m from there to the Washington border. Actually, construction near the border stopped us a mile or so short of the goal but the return miles were just as pretty headed back east.

A short shopping trip, lunch (Huckleberry Shakes), and a drive back to Coeur d'Alene and we were good for a few more miles. We picked up the trail on Lake CDA for a beautiful ride along the shoreline. I gave out as the road began to rise fairly steeply(my assessment) into the hills east of town. We were not alone on this cool, overcast day. several groups of bikers, runners, kids, and families enjoyed the track. On the lake boaters, skiers, and a parasailer added to the scenery.


A good day all around. Look forward to more tomorrow.