Crusty Cassette

I was in Boise for a few days for a conference and had a wonderful time. The bikers where everywhere. They have a nice bike path that follows the river and winds around downtown. We went to a little ice cream place in the Hyde Park district that would put Baskin and Robbins to shame. Truely homemade icecream that was to die for. Corrie made me do this, but I think this will be a nice way to communicate among club members... so give it a try. To make a note type in the little window at the top and hit the create a new message button. You won't see the window unless you're logged in.

Eight Crazy Ladies met at the Southway boat ramp Wednesday July 25 at 8:50 for a scheduled ride up the Spiral Hwy to the Sage Bakery. Sandie (T.M.O.A.C.L.) took off so early no one saw her leave! Just getting a big head start, or was she hurrying to be sure there would still be scones left at the bakery? Sheila, Julie, Carol and Helen (chasing after Sandie) took the 37-mile, very steep trip to Uniontown.

Three of the Crazy Ladies (Pat, Pam, and Leane), with a smaller appetites, wanted a shorter and flatter ride, so they left the hill climbing ladies at the base of the grade and went on downriver road, crossed the river and rode the bike paths into Asotin. In the park on the Clarkston side, the three crazy ladies found one walking crazy lady with a dog, Jeanne! Poor Jeanne had a flat (in her car!) and could not make it to the parking lot in time for the Crazy Lady departure…she knew no one would wait for her since the Crazy Ladies leave on time! Lacking a car, she decided to walk the dog instead.

Next week the Crazy Ladies are planning a ride to Cloverland at 8:50 to look at some pigmy goats. There will be several options to the ride, such as Asotin Creek, Snake River Road, etc for the ones who need a shorter ride or just do not care to look at some pigmy goats.

Remember that Joel is working hard to get all the Crazy Lady jerseys rounded up for the silk screener to print our new logo on and that there are T-shirts available at Idaho Impressions for purchase that can be run at the same time as the jerseys are printed.

23 Jun 03 80.1 miles 6:34 riding time from Mandan, SD to Hazen, SD

A pleasant bike path takes one out of Bizmark and Mandan and up the Missouri a few miles before “merging” onto the highway. I was feeling strong this morning, so I dropped David and Chris. David is usually fast in the mornings. We regrouped at Washburn where Chris wanted to see another L-C Interpretive Center, and we all wanted to see the replica of Fort Mandan (where Lewis & Clark spent the winter before heading up to the Oregon Territory). David decided on a motel there though we hand only about 40 miles in. Chris and I rode on to the planned stop in Hazen.

The tour book had the info wrong on the “RV park”; it’s just that and doesn’t take tenters, but the manager admires cyclists and took us in.

Most annoyingly, we were stopped by a young deputy today. I’m not sure why. He first questioned whether we had mirrors. It was hard not to be sarcastic, since he couldn’t look at our eyes without seeing the mirrors. Then he told us to ride to the side of the road, which, of course we were. When I’m home I’ll probably spend the time to get hold of the sheriff and the SD State Bicycle Coordinator to make my complaints since the stop seemed to have no purpose except to communicate the young man’s personal prejudice against cycling.

24 Jun 03 61.9 miles 5:38 riding time from Hazen, SD to Killdeer, SD

Just outside of “Dodge”, a woman stopped us, gave us a brochure on the S. Side of the Missouri attractions, invited us to stay in her tipi for free outside her motel. We wanted to cycle on to Killdeer, so we stopped, saw the tipi, had a good lunch and rode on to Killdeer. Rain returned as we left Dodge. We got back to the main highway just in time to watch David load his bike onto a passing pickup.

Light, cold rain hit us the rest of the way into Killdeer. We were wet, and it was still raining, so we got a motel. Rain stopped by 6:00 p.m. though.

25 Jun 03 58.8 miles 6:02 riding time from Killdeer, SD to Watford City, SD

Roads were hilly coming out of Killdeer west. We had a few sprinkles hit us, and David was in another pickup- riding all the way to Williston SD this time. No real rain fell, and we didn’t even get out jackets out. We went into “Grassy Butte” for a brief lunch. Some guy bought this business a few months ago and has about $100 of inventory which left us with an inadequate lunch. However, he’s very friendly and would stage mountain bikes riding the Madahae Trail- about 100 miles between N. Teddy Roosevelt Federal Park and the South Unit.

Lots of talk around here about this trail. We stopped at the North Unit but with strong winds from the Northwest, we didn’t want to ride the 28 miles in and straight back out. We stayed in the White Buffalo RV Park. They let us stay in the office building and use their washing machine which we appreciated.

26 Jun 03 Watford City to Williston, SD I haven’t done my daily log yet, so mileage and time aren’t recorded! Chris & I enjoyed the ride though these NW winds are tough! We keep crossing and recrossing the time-zone line here in ND and are losing sight of what time it really is! Lots of North Dakotans ignore the time zone they’re in and use the one they want! I suppose you could accuse me of doing that, but I’ve not found anyone else who will use Mountain Time with me! We’ve set up “camp” at the city park. The library is on the edge of the park! We found David, who will rejoin us tomorrow.

Happy Cycling for Fun, Fitness, and Transportation!

Steve

Steve anticipates being in Lewiston a couple of days arriving on or about the 19th. He'll let me know for sure later. How about having a potluck dinner for the three of them? Any takers to house Chris or Dave? I'm sure Steve would like to put his affairs in order while he is here. Linda and I won't be back until late Sunday the 20th.

Steve suggests they may be coming in from Winchester. We might ride out to meet them at CuldeSac too.

Be sure to read Steve's latest blog below or read them all at Steve's Tour.

July 6th, Nikki Riddle called for a "bike and brew" ride for Sunday, July 6th. The ride will start at Barleyhoppers parking lot (Red Lion) at 6pm. We'll ride up Lindsay creek and check our options for a return, possibly doing the entire reverse Lewiston Loop of 25 miles. The brew comes afterward. Feel free to join us whether you wish to brew or not.

July 4th Debbi called for a Tour de Lentil tune up on the 4th of July. Starting at Dismores parking lot in Pullman at 9am, we'd otherwise follow the Tour de Lentil route through the Palouse to Colfax and on to the town of Palouse and back to Dismores.

So what do these guys have to do with cycling?

They have a lot to do with cycling in Nez Perce county and it has an affect on you if you bicycle in that county. That guy in the middle is Jerry Black of the road department.

Thanks to Steve, I'm the club's representative to this Interjurisdictional Transportation Working Group. I'm pleased to report that our input has been actively sought and is listened to. That is not the same thing as saying that we'll see a bunch of new bike paths happening right away. However, it does put us on the table with the other considerations--such things as average annual daily vehicle traffic on the routes we ride. Very interesting:

For example: did you know tht an average of 1010 vehicles per day travel from Barr Rd. to Waha Rd.? That sounds about right to me.

How about Lapwai Rd from Main Street to Lindsay creek? 5398 aadt.

Compare those with the Old Spiral Hwy. 90 aadt.

The city of Lewiston is also part of this working group. Apparently the city has plans for pathways we haven't heard of. I'll be getting more information for you soon. Also, I understand Lynn Moss of the city is willing to work with us on broken glass issues. He just needs specific locations. We'll get him that information.

Significantly, there is much discussion of a bicycle route along Tammany.