Day 7 (Thursday 10-27-2011): Colton, WA to Kooskia, ID

Lewiston, ID

Not too many pictures today, but I did get some awesome footage from one of the great elevations that I rode (two descents and one ascent). I got up around 6:30 and was on the road shortly before 7 (it was still a bit dark, but I didn't need my headlight on to see). I headed out onto 195 for a handful of miles before turning onto I-95. I was only on this for a mile or so until I turned off onto Old Spiral Highway which led down into Lewiston, ID, a fairly large city of around 30,000 residents. At the top was a magnificent scenic overlook of the city thousands of feet below and miles away.


The road was built in the early 1900s when cars were in their infancy but it's been kept in good condition even after I-95 was built which provides a 'smoother', higher volume and faster descent into the city. The fact that everyone was taking I-95 was good for me – no cars passed me at all on the way down, and only one car passed me going up until I reached the last mile or so where some businesses were located. In total it was around 1960 feet of descending in about seven and a half miles (http://ridewithgps.com/routes/797410). The turns were banked so braking was unnecessary for most of them and on a bike without paniers and a trip or two down it for experience you could easily fly down the whole thing without hitting your brakes once. It easily has taken the spot as my favorite descent to date.

Once in town, I stopped in for breakfast at a McDonalds and spent a while checking email and sorting and uploading some photos. With only around a 68 mile ride left to get to Kooskia, Idaho where my Warmshowers host was located, I figured leaving around 11 should get me there close to dusk and that's when I finally left the McDonalds.

Shortly after leaving Lewiston I ran into a retired couple out for a ride and ended up riding and chatting with them for a good half hour or so. Along the way, the guy was giving me advice on a better route to take than my planned, shortest point-A-to-point-B route that I mapped out on Google. He mentioned that they would have a lot of dirt roads which I was ready for. I decided to follow his directions... These directions led to memorable climb of the day number two. I turned left past the Thunderbird tobacco shop onto Culdesac Road that went through the small town of Culdesac. Then it started climbing. A lot. Close to 1900 feet in 5 miles (of course I forgot to turn my Garmin back on for this section!). http://ridewithgps.com/routes/796919 That's an average grade of 7% and there were kickers of 13%. Turns out once I turned into the town, a small fork in the road actually passed back over I-95 and climbed a similar road called Winchester Grade that led into the town of Winchester which was the route that he wanted me to go. Going up I-95 would have gotten me to the same elevation, but it would have been a bit more boring, more gradual, and more heavily trafficked. I didn't really add too many additional miles by going this route versus the one that I mapped out (or the one that the guy explained to me) – no more than 8 or so. Who knows if the additional road miles were faster than any dirt and gravel roads that I might have ended up climbing.

Mountain bike worthy descent...

Finally, descent number three came at night when I was riding by headlight the last 20 miles or so to Kooskia. As I have done numerous times already, I passed a sign saying 'Primitive Road'. No biggie right? The same hard packed gravel and dirt roads that I've ridden miles upon miles already. Sort of, for the first few miles. Then came a five mile descent on what I would not even call a road that should have a name (it was called Tram Road). It was more of a fire road or access road and had giant fist sized and larger rocks everywhere along the two rutted tire tracks. Off to the one side was a steep drop-off that my 700 lumen headlight could not even reach the bottom of. Looking off in the distance I could see some town lights of what I assumed to be Kooksia and they looked quite a bit below me. I dared not swipe my Garmin over to the display that had elevation and grade data on it, but looking at it now I descended 1600 feet over the course of four miles down into to town.

Bomb salt and pepper shakers!

I arrived at the house (the owner doesn't live there and is nice enough and trusting to open it for use by touring cyclists!), found the keys, and let myself in. It was definitely a post-War house furnished like one. It reminded me very much of both my grandparents' places actually. I took a warm shower, had some popcorn, typed up some blog posts, and got a good rest in a comfy bed.