Shake Down Trip 2020

 

 2020 Shakedown Trip:  Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes - Four Day Trip July 13 - July 17, 2020

  • Monday: Drove to the starting point of the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes in Plummer, ID.  Rails-to-trails route from Plummer to Mullan (~70 miles).  Pretty flat.  We started strong but malfunctions started soon after with Asher’s rear rack disconnecting and completely falling off the back of his bike.  Fixed it.  Asher then flagged me down and said his panniers were rubbing his tire.  It was actually a flat front tire and he had been rim riding on for about a mile.  We fixed the flat, it deflated, and then fixed it again.  We rode about a mile further and his bar bag disconnected and dropped off his bike.  Fixed it.  Stopped after the first ~15 miles in Harrison, swam, ate lunch and headed back on the trail for another 25 mile push to our first campsite.  Saw a moose in the distance which was supper cool.  But….about 10 miles from our campsite, Koen (9) was done.  I stayed back with him while the others headed to camp.  We ended up putting his panniers on other bikes so he could ride with no weight.  I did everything I could to make it fun and distract him as we ever sooo slowly worked our way down the trail, passing teriyaki beef jerky back and forth as we rode.  I was wishing for a tandem.  Finally, after many breaks, we made it to camp, ate dinner, swam, and bed.
     
  • Tuesday: Much shorter ride of 25 miles to campsite, in Wallace ID (really cool town), with the option to ride an additional 15 miles to the end of the trail and back.  Most opted for the shorter ride.  No malfunctions.  Camped in a RV park and ordered pizza for dinner.  Kids explored the creek and woods next to camp.  A few RV’rs approached us and asked about the trip, which reminded me so much of the TransAm.
  • Wednesday:  Approximately 30 miles to our planned destination.  We arrived pretty early and asked the kids if they wanted to push on back to Harrison (another 20 miles) where they could swim and we would hope to find a camp.  I was worried about Koen riding any further but he was all for it.  I kid you not, he led the charge as Eli (13) and I drafted and did our best to hang on to his wheel for 20 miles.  It was nuts.  The cadence he was holding with his skinny little chicken legs...  The rest of the group followed behind, stretching out several miles.  Five miles from Harrison I asked Koen if he wanted to stop for a break.  Nope.  We rode a 50 miles in pretty good time but quickly realized in Harrison that the RV park was full and City Hall denied our request to set up tents in the City Park.  Really?  Walking out of City Hall I noticed a catholic church across the street with an open door, so peeked my head in to see Kay working in the foyer.  Kay called the Priest, who lived 2 towns to the east, who gave the okay for us to camp in their front lawn with the keys to the church so we could use the bathrooms, kitchen, and eating area.  Kay also called Mark the maintenance guy who instructed her over the phone on how to turn off the water for the timed sprinkler system.  This was our best campsite.
     Thursday:  Last day with a 15 mile ride back to our starting point, with some climbing.
  • Friday/Saturday:  Played at Silverwood Park.

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