Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Coeur d' Alene, Idaho to Kalispell, Montana
A scruffy looking bunch were grumbling around the bikes in the morning, coffee and Bailey's in hand and snacks from the Motel's breakfrast buffet. I think everyone, except maybe Garry, was regretting the excesses of last night. But hell, its nights like last night that make up the memories that we all have, or want to have.
A long way to go today, to Kalispel Montana, and the next day to Glacier National Park. Got to quit the drinking if we are going to go these distances every day. Eventually, we got away. Some of the exits from the Motel parking lot were a bit dramatic, and I got to watch as I was the last one to leave. I turned out the lights.
We were heading initially to Sandpoint Idaho, north along highway 95 (also called 200). Nice ride in the morning sun, heading north, Brent setting a strong pace and everyone keeping up so the heads must be clearing, I'm in the middle of the pack again and feeling good about the ride. Eventually, just south of Sandpoint, a very long low bridge across a lake. I just kept my head down, watched the road, and came through ok. I hate bridges, but at least this one was low. In Sandpoint a gas stop, the last we can count on for a while, all the way to Kalispell.
Then out of Sandpoint a right turn, east, onto 200, another lovely scenic ride to a tiny little place called Clark Fork. It seemed a last minute decision for Brent, as he abruptly braked and pulled left across the oncoming lane and into a small diner, I correctly guessed it was an early lunch.
Done with that, continued on highway 200 east to the Cabinet Gorge Reservoir just past the tiny town of Heron, and a left onto highway 56 heading north. This was a beautiful ride, stunning scenery, brilliant sun, and a deserted and winding road. We followed a small creek, alternately on our left or on our right depending on where the small bridges were located. The road seemed to go of forever, then Bull Lake on the left and then with a final finally, we picked up the junction with Highway 2. No stop for us yet, we turned right and went on about 10 kms and pulled left into the parking area of Kootenai Falls. There we took a long break and a bunch of pictures, and enjoyed ourselves on the bank of the Kootenai River.
Eventually, on the road again for a long but very pretty ride along this excellent twisty-turny road to Kalispell, Montana. The bike ran very well as we followed the fast-flowing Kootenai River on our left. There were many rapids, the water must have been rushing and roaring by but we couldn't hear with the helmets and the roaring of our own engines. No matter, it sure looked pretty in the bright sunshine and clear mountain air. The road on that last long run to Kalispell was interesting. After the Falls, we all got strung out along the road and fell into little groups. Shane and Brent scooted out front and flew ahead of all of us. Then Garry and I for some reason rolled the throttle on a bit more than normal and took off ahead of the rest, running for miles and miles at over 80 miles an hour. Not that it was much of a big deal, the speed limit on our road was 70 mph so we were just the normal 10% over, but it felt like we were flying. At one point a big semi-trailer truck got behind us, caught us easily and started to crowd in behind Garry. I watched the mirror a bit, then a hill ahead with a 'slow lane' to the right. I took the slow lane, Garry followed, and the truck flew by us up the hill and past. He must have been empty, because we didn't slow down. Other than that the way was clear and we just had a good fast time. Toward the end, when the signs showed Kalispell just ahead, I had a fine retroactive fright. OMFG, that whole way we were in wildlife territory, and if one had darted onto the road we would have been dead. Messily, noisily, ugly, dead. But the worst time of the day for the animals is dusk or first daylight and we did our trip in daylight. Still, ... what was I thinking ...
Actually, the rest of the group did run into a problem. Doug and Barry were riding together but not going as fast as Garry and I, so they did wind up holding back traffic a bit. They got a truck on their tail who was very upset and crowded them badly for miles, and Doug took the first opportunity he could find to pull off to the shoulder a bit and let him by. He saw a spot where the shoulder was wide, just ahead, put on his signal to pull right, and did so, with Barry behind him. Barry saw the problem before Doug did, the shoulder that appeared to be asphalt from a distance away was actually gravel, so Barry stayed at the edge of the road as the truck roared by and Doug, realizing his error just before he hit the gravel, braked hard. He figured that he was probably down to 40mph when he ran out of road and ran into gravel. The bike fishtailed and slowed quickly in the gravel, which was fairly deep, but when he was down to about 10mph, Doug figured, over he went skidding on his side for the last few feet. Barry was off his bike quickly to help his friend, and he shut off the bike and stood it up, then picked up Doug. By the sheerest luck, and Doug's leathers, both he and the bike were fine but just a bit scratched up. The bike started up OK, and the two were on the road again. Doug was shaken up but otherwise fine. It gave us something to talk about that night.
At last, Kalispell, a small town in Montana and the jump-off point for our assault on Glacie Park tomorrow. But tonight, beer was the first thing on the list and we found an excellent source of food, drink, and entertainment in Moose's. A real, sawdust-on-the-floor cowboy bar with a loud and enthusiastic crowd inside. We enjoyed ourselves hugely, and I was on top of the moon having ridden very fast, safely, and very comfortable with the high-speed and twisting road. I kept poking myself, mentally, saying that this is where over-confidence starts and a spill or worse will follow that. Just keep the edge, and fear will definitely hone an edge, so keep the fear handy.
After Moose's, we stumbled off to dinner. Shane discovered a lady, who joined us. Danno fell madly, desperately, droolingly in love - but she wanted Shane. Some you win, some you lose, sometimes you go home alone. Poor Danny, who was Danno's roommate, I'll bet he got an earful of complaints that night.
Lucky thing the restaurant was so close to the motel, we staggered to bed safely.
Here's the cast and crew of the ride ..
Squating at the front,
Shane Barry Danno
Standing at the back,
Garry Brent Dennis Danny Doug
