Biking, Day 5: 7/21/2009

Day 5: Coeur D'Alene, ID to Thompson Falls, MT. No, scratch that, to Mullan, ID
Distance: 90 miles
Route: Take 1: Leave Coeur D'Alene via the Centennial Trail, go up Sunset Rd, go to Yellowstone Trail, link up with 97... I'll stop there. Made it 5 miles down Sunset until it turned into gravel. Continued for 3 miles, hit Yellowstone Trail. Yellowstone trail turned to gravel slash underconstruction/road closed. I asked some workmen how to get back to major roads. I returned to the Centennial Trail via a road that took me up then down a mountain. 25 miles into the day and I was nowhere. And Sage had caught up with me. We asked directions at the Centennial trail and were basically told that we could ride on I-90, but that was really the only paved road east. I curse Idaho for having only interstate and gravel roads. Take 2: Centennial trail back to Coeur D'Alene, I-90E for 20 miles to exit 34. At exit 34, I saw a sign for the Trail of Coeur D'Alenes. I had read about this and knew it ran for a total of 72 miles east. I decided to go for it.
Lodging: Lookout Motel, Mullan, ID, $24. Smoking room, no AC, worst hotel I have ever been at ever ever ever.

So, today was full of frustration. Coeur D'Alene is impossible to get out of via non-interstate roads. I discovered this through running into several shut down and gravel slash sand roads. My bike has little tires, this was no good. After fucking around Coeur D'Alene for 25 miles I finally decided to suck it up and get on the interstate.
I took I-90 20 miles to exit 34. It was up a mountain, down a mountain, up a mountain, then back down. Riding on an interstate is not something I recommend. Nor is it something I ever want to do again. There was plenty of room on the side of the highway, but it had lots of glass, debris, etc. And there is really no way to explain the sound of trucks coming behind you and passing you. The signs on the side of the road that warned of blown out brakes did not help.
Finally, I got to exit 34. I pulled off and saw a sign for the Trail of Coeur D'Alenes. Score! I decided to be a good person and wait for a while for Sage. I went to the gas station, got a snack and sat and waited. I met some cool hispanic guys who were traveling to Poison, MT. And the kids were so into my shoes and bike. I sat for like an hour. No sage. I decided to forge on.
I rode up the road where the arrow pointed me to the trail. I asked a road maintenance guy how far and he said 2 miles. I went through the hot tar he was putting on the road and went two miles and found the trail. As I rode up to the trail, I noticed my tire in the back was getting a little low. I got to the trailhead and filled my tire with air.
I started at mile marker 30 and wanted to go to Mullan which was at mile marker 72. I figured I wouldn't make it to Thompson Falls. My phone wasn't working and my directions that I had printed were pretty useless at this point. I rode for about 3 miles and my tire was flat again. I filled it up again. After another 3 miles it was flat. It was a slow leak, but it wasn't going to work.
I stopped and decided to change the tube. I have never changed a tube before. I took my panniers off, flipped my bike and took the wheel off. I used the tire levers, which I have never used before, to pry off the tire. I got out a spare tube and tried to figure out how to put it all back together. This is not as easy as it sounds. Getting the tire back on is like threading it, but it's too small for the wheel. It took me about 20 minutes to figure out how to do this. But I did it. I filled it with air. I forged on.
I rode along the trail with a few stops. I stopped in Kellogg, ID where I tried to steal internet from a hotel. I was successful until their internet went down. I wrote mom an email telling her I wasn't dead that didn't send, I used my GPS to map directions to a motel I looked up, but it didn't finish the directions. I did find a motel in mullan, which is the last stop in the trail. I figured I should go as far as it would take me.
After Kellogg, I went through Wallace, ID. An ADORABLE town. I thought about stopping and staying, but decided to continue to Mullan. Finally, I got to Mullan.
I noticed that my skin on my shoulder where I had burned pretty badly my first day on the road was blistering. Ew.
I checked the trail map and didn't see any continuation. I looked over and saw the motel that I had found when I had internet for 3.4 seconds. It was pretty shitty. A couple offered to take me back to Wallace, but I decided to just stay. I went up and asked if they had any rooms. Yes, one. It has two beds, no AC, and is a smoking room. Ok, fine, how much. He's let me have it for $24. well, a bargain at least.

The room was smelly and crappy, but whatever. I called my parents from a pay phone since my cell had no service. My dad encouraged me to go BACK to wallace because it's the only way to get up to Thompson falls, and Thompson falls is the only way to Missoula not on I-90. They checked hotels, but I decided just to stay.
I went out on my bike and found a little store. A little store with EVERYTHING. No, really. It was like a gas station shop, but it had bizarre things. Like, vast quantities of soup. Ice cream sandwiches in bulk. British candies. Lunchables.
I got a map of Mt, WY, and ID. All in one! It was all they had. I also got a lunchables for dinner. It had chips, cheez whiz, and salsa. And a newspaper.
After I got back to the motel I looked at the map. It didn't have the detail to map small roads from Mullan. So, plan as of now is to go BACK to Wallace, then to Thompson Falls. Then use the internet. Then figure out if I want to go all the way to Missoula or take a day.