Ceour D' Alene, Idaho to Spokane, Washington

Today's route was 36 miles and the cue sheet was 2 pages long.  The good news is the route was all bike path or bike trail.  The bad news is there was lots of room for bonus miles.

This group of 24 women were anxious to get on the road this morning, but did take time to really enjoy the final riding day.  Everyone was in good spirits, and successfully completed the day.  Staff assumed SAG duties today so that all guests were able to ride, and took plenty of good-natured heat when the SAG wasn't where riders thought it was going to be.

Weather was just about perfect today with sunshine and a little breeze, that turned out to be a tail wind for most of the day.  Could it get any better?  Yes!  For the most part the route was downhill, only 800' of climb today.

The Centennial Trail is a paved trail from Spokane to Ceour D' Alene.  Pavement was, generally, in good condition.  There were other trail users today, even on Sunday; but everyone was courteous and there were no issues.

I rode with different groups and riders today, and sometimes alone.  Amongst all the turns, there was only one that caused an issue near the end of the day; but it was caught in short order and we were back on track for the final 7 miles to the motel where the ride started.

This group of riders is diverse.  For some, this is their first organized tour.  For others, they are tour veterans.  It's safe to say, the majority did not understand the amount of climbing that would be involved.  For some, the tour name, The International Selkirk Loop, led them to believe the route was "through" the mountains not "over" them.  For me, I understood and hoped I was capable of the kind of climbing with the grades that I thought we would see.  I'm sure I haven't previously experienced an average 11%, 13 mile climb before and probably didn't comprehend the significance before this ride.

There's been a variety of weather but generally perfect temperatures, while there has a been a little rain at times.  I still have yet to pull out the rain gear and actually use it!

My bike is already at the bike shop to be returned to Dubuque.  I leave tomorrow and return to work on Tuesday.  Tonight we have our final group meal, and will be treated to a sit down restaurant meal which we have only done once since we left.  Thank you for your emails and comments.  Hope you've also enjoyed the ride.