Day 63 – Sandpoint,ID to Ione,WA

Date: 30.06.2018

Altitude: 2280.2 ft (695 m)

Distance: 86.25 mi (138.80 km)

Total Altitude: 112634.7 ft (34331 m)

Total Distance: 4236.21 mi (6817.51 km)

I reached Washington, the last US state on my journey across the United States. Unfortunately there was no state sign on my route, I was a bit disappointed not getting a picture of the Washington state sign. I only had a really short stint in Idaho and without the rest day it would have been even shorter. Now of to the final days to the Pacific in Washington. Although I only have about a week until I reach the Pacific, the next days will not be easy, with one long climb each day. Still I'm looking forward to it, the scenery is supposed to be really beautiful.

Today's weather conditions were similar to the last few days, cloudy with some light rain. Because of the clouds it stayed quite cool. In the morning the temperature was only at around 48°F (9°C) and the temperature didn't surpass 65°F (18°C). I still enjoyed today's ride. The route was not really challenging, it stayed pretty much flat throughout the day and the wind was not an issue. The only challenge was the distance, today. The next couple day's will be a lot shorter, but with a lot more uphill. The scenery along the route was again fantastic. The route followed Pend Oreille River the whole day, after I left Sandpoint and Lake Pend Oreille. The route went for the most part on county roads, with the exception of a short stretch on US95, through forests along the river. The traffic on these roads varied quite a bit and here was no shoulder to cycle on but it didn't bother me too much. In areas with less traffic, I saw again so many deer by the side of the road and on the road. I even managed to get a picture, this time. All around a great day. I finished the day in Ione,WA and found a really nice Motel right by the river. I perhaps should have done my rest day here.

After I checked in, I joined a group of people sitting outside the Motel. They offered me some wine and we talked a bit. It turned out they are on a short one week bike trip themselves. They just started in Priest River, today. They are doing the trip with SAG support, so each day one of them will be driving the support car. It was a really fun group of people and I had a lot of fun talking to them.

Conclusion for the day:

My legs feel great again, after just one day of rest.

Day 62 – Rest day in Sandpoint,ID

Date: 29.06.2018

Altitude: 0 ft (0 m)

Distance: 0 mi (0 km)

Total Altitude: 110354.5 ft (33636 m)

Total Distance: 4149.96 mi (6678.71 km)

My fourth rest day and just as in Minneapolis and Niagara Falls, the weather was not really good with some rain during the day. But I didn't really care too much about that, since I just wanted to use the day to recharge my batteries and get a few things done. I used the day for some maintenance on my bike, for laundry and to get a hair cut in town. I really needed a haircut after two months on the road. Other than that I didn't really do anything and just relaxed a bit. So now I'm ready for the North Cascades.

Conclusion for the day:

I don't seem to have any luck with the weather on my rest days.

Day 61 – Libby,MT to Sandpoint,ID

Date: 28.06.2018

Altitude: 3175.9 ft (968 m)

Distance: 96.21 mi (154.83 km)

Total Altitude: 110354.5 ft (33636 m)

Total Distance: 4149.96 mi (6678.71 km)

Today I left Montana for good, after two weeks in Montana with a short stint in Canada in between. My time in Montana couldn't have been more diverse, from the really bad start where I had to cycle on the interstate to probably the highlight of my tour in Glacier National Park. I'm now in Idaho, the 15^th US state (+ two states in Canada) on my trip. I will only stay for a short time in Idaho. When I crossed into Idaho I not only entered a new state but also a new timezone, I'm now in the Pacific timezone. So now there are 9 hours time difference between myself and Germany.

After the weather was really nice the last couple of days, today it was less than perfect. Already in the morning there were dark clouds hanging in the sky, but I was still hopeful that it would stay dry. Unfortunately it didn't stay dry, it was raining a few times during the day. In addition to the rain, it was even more chilly than the last few days. Besides the weather, today's trip went again through some fantastic nature and led me from Libby,MT to Sandpoint,ID through some National Forests. I actually went further than I originally planed. I figured I take advantage of the extra hour, due to the time change. The route went almost constantly up and down through forests, along rivers and lakes. Using a variety of roads from small roads with no traffic to major highways with lots of traffic. There were also quite a few logging trucks on the road, today. Even with the traffic it was a really nice ride. When I arrived in Sandpoint, it was not easy to find a hotel that still had some vacancy's for a reasonable price, especially for two nights. I was quite surprised by that, but I guess lots of people are already on their summer vacation. I still found a place for two nights, so I can have my rest day tomorrow. This is going to be my fourth rest day on this trip. I decided yesterday, to do a rest day in Sandpoint, after I already made such good progress. This will give me the chance to recharge my batteries for the last few days to the Pacific. The last few days to the pacific will be quite challenging with a few longer

Today I had a stretch on my route, where I stopped quite a lot. In this short stretch, I met so many touring cyclists going east. I stopped at least four times to talk to them for a while. All in all I probably “lost” almost an hour on this short stretch. But this gave me the chance to talk to some really interesting people and hear about their trips. The first guy I met was standing by the side of the road and had some issue with his bike, so I stopped and offered some help. It turned out he had a flat, since he had only a really small bike pump that was not the best to get enough pressure into the tire, I lend him my bike pump. He started in Seattle and didn't follow the Northern Tier, he only had a few places he wanted to go to on his trip across the country and kind of found his route with Google Maps. An interesting approach to crossing the country. The second really interesting encounter I had was with an old couple from Scotland. They are doing the trip on a Tandem and started in Vancouver, but are in general following the Northern Tier. They didn't set themselves any goals for the trip or even for any given day and instead, so they told me, just went as far as there legs would allow them each day. They also told me, that I'm the first cyclist they met that is going west on the Northern Tier. Although I arrived about an hour later in Sandpoint, because I stopped so often, it was great to meet all these interesting people.

Conclusion for the day:

With July approaching it is getting harder to find places to stay at, I probably have to start booking hotels in advance.

Day 60 – Eureka,MT to Libby,MT

Date: 27.06.2018

Altitude: 3090.6 ft (942 m)

Distance: 71.61 mi (115.25 km)

Total Altitude: 107178.6 ft (32668 m)

Total Distance: 4053.75 mi (6523.88 km)

Another beautiful day in the northwest of Montana. After my trip through Montana didn't start out well, I really enjoyed the last couple of days in Montana. Today was no exception to that, although it was again quite chilly outside. But the sun was shining and the wind was not really a factor, today. After I cycled almost to the Canadian border yesterday, today's route did bring me back south again. Since my route went mainly south, I only made some minor westward progress. Nevertheless, if everything goes to plan, I will reach the Pacific in 9 days.

I started again around 8 this morning, even though today's route wasn't that hard. The distance I had to cover was pretty much average and there weren't any long and difficult climbs along the way. I just wanted to take it a bit slower and enjoy the scenery. Also my legs are starting to feel a bit tired, so that I didn't want to push too hard. For today's route the ACA Northern Tier Map offered two options, the main route followed MT 37 for the most part and the alternative avoided MT 37 and stayed on the other side of Lake Koocanusa. Originally I planed to use the alternate route, but MT 37 had only minimal traffic and a wide shoulder, so that I decided to stay on the main route. The main route offered some great views of the Lake. I don't know how the alternative route would have been, but the main route was already great. The route stayed in the Kootenai National Forest and went along Lake Koocanusa until Libby Dam and afterwards along the Kootenai River. The route along the lake/river was quite hilly, with lots of up and down but nothing really challenging. The views along the way in combination with the nice weather, made this an impressive ride. I hope the next days will be just as beautiful.

Conclusion for the day:

It's okay to sometimes deviate from the original plan.