MS Ride 2014 – The Bike Spoke of a Moose

Friday, September 12th

Rode up to Wallace on Friday afternoon with Jill (a neighbor who was doing the MS Ride) and Shawn (her husband). We set up camp and then went to Kellogg to pick up the registration materials for the ride. In each envelope was a bandana that had a message and was signed by a person with MS. We went back to Wallace, walked around downtown for a bit, had dinner, and then got ready for bed. I slept in a tent alongside the creek that runs right by the Wallace RV Park. Part way through the night I woke up and thought it was raining due to the sound. I went back to sleep after realizing that the sound was only the creek.

Saturday, September 13th

I woke up feeling pretty good. Ate a peanut butter and pear butter sandwich for breakfast. I got dressed and wrote the names of all the people that I would be riding for on my calf (Tammy, Brandt, Mike, Michelle, Chris, Susie, Samantha). I was able to finish eating and warmed up in Jill and Shawn’s trailer before heading to Kellogg for the start of the MS Ride.

I got on the bike and rode down to Kellogg, arriving just in time to gather with the other riders that were waiting at the start. At 9:00 we started out on the trail towards Cataldo, where the first rest stop would be. I stopped after we got out of Kellogg to give assistance to one of the riders who was having problems with her cycling cleats. I got back on the bike and it ended up being a pretty nice little ride to Cataldo where I stopped to get some food and water.

Riding along the Trail of the Coeur d’Alene’s got me thinking about the wildlife that I would be seeing. Up ahead a small group of riders had stopped on the trail. As I got closer to them I noticed a bull moose alongside the trail tugging on the branches of an Aspen tree. We stood and waited for him to finish his meal. As I was going to try and get a picture with my IPod a guy on mountain bike caught up with us and he charged right toward the moose. The moose got spooked and headed on down the trail with the mountain biker following. We all decided to follow the moose and biker down the trail. We must have gone ¼ to ½ miles before the moose found a spot to get off of the trail. In another mile I spooked a whitetail deer that was down among the brush. Arrived at the Medimont Trailhead rest stop and got more water and food.

I saw only one Woolly Bear caterpillar as I made my way from the Medimont Trailhead to Harrison. I stopped in Harrison at the MS Ride rest stop and topped the water bottles off and headed towards Plummer. About 4 miles out of Harrison, I stopped to loan my pump to a guy who needed to pump up his tire. He got his tire pumped up and I was off again. 6 miles later I heard a ping from the rear wheel and started to feel the rim rub against the brake pads. I stopped to assess the damage and decided that it was best to turn around and ride back to Harrison. I opened up the brakes so the rim wouldn’t be constantly rubbing. Once I made it to Harrison I stopped at the little trailer that one of the volunteer bike shops had setup. The mechanic took out the broken spoke and straightened it out the best that he could so that I could ride it some more for the weekend. I wandered over to the rest stop to get lunch and then headed towards the Medimont Trailhead rest stop.

I was planning on riding all the way to Cataldo to get a ride with the Sag Wagon, but by the time I got to the Medimont Trailhead I was pretty tired. I think I got worn out fighting the brakes rubbing the rim. I waited at the Medimont Trailhead for the Sag Wagon to take me to Kellogg.
I did finish the day with 83 miles and about 4.75 hours of riding time.

I decided that sleeping in the school gym would be better than by the creek, so I went with Shawn to the RV Park to get my stuff before the dinner and program. After all of the festivities we took my stuff over to the school and I got ready for a good night of sleep. I got the tent put back in the little pack that it came in and arranged all of my stuff so that it would be easy getting ready in the morning.

Sunday, September 14th

One of the volunteers that was staying at the school let me put my stuff in her car so that I did not have to carry it to the starting line. I went up to have breakfast and then waited around for the start of the ride. I would not be riding very far or very long since the bike was having issues.

I ended up riding to Wallace and going to mass. After mass was done I headed back down the trail to Kellogg, stopping only to get lunch at the park in Osburn. It was a short day on the bike but I was glad that I was still able to do some miles.