Summary of biking in 2022

 Wow! Where to start on this post. It has been an interesting year that is for sure.

January and February were pretty relaxed only a few trainer rides and mostly got outside for rides. Not very long rides but great to be on the bike in the outdoors. 

March was pretty much the same but one thing happened that changed to course of my riding. The connection between the seat tube and top tube cracked. I had been wondering what that sound was and I was so glad the the seat post was long enough that it held things together. After this the Snake became the go to riding bike until I got a frame from a friend to build up.

April through May brought warmer weather and Rachel riding to work. This is always a good time since it means less driving around in the morning and afternoon. 

June was an interesting month for riding. I rode to and from the St. Mary's School picnic that is held at Klemgard Park near Pullman. Overall a 50+ mile ride on field, gravel and regular roads. The day after that I rode 32 miles from Plummer, ID to Tekoa, WA and back on the Palouse to Cascades Rail Trail. It was a very fun and sloppy mess of a ride.

July was spent exploring more of the Weiser River Trail, Bear Basin near McCall, and other roads around McCall. The Snake sure got a very good workout during a lot of these rides.

August was spent finishing up the build for the new bike. It was very fun to build it and I learned a lot about how they are put together. The new bike was then put to the test in the TT and Road Races at the Senior Games in the middle of August. I rode the Snake in the first TT since it was a shorter distance. Also purchased a smart trainer near the end of August and had to try it out. What a difference it was for riding inside.

September was spent just doing a bit of riding around home. Rachel, Wendy, and I did get to do the MS Ride this year. On the first day Wendy did the 25 mile route, Rachel did the 50 mile route, and I did the 100+ mile route. The next day Wendy and Rachel drove to Couer d'Alene to go shopping while I rode from Kellogg to Plummer to meet them.

October was spent riding around home, taking Max the Orange cat out for rides, and getting ready for the Cyclocross season. Max is a ginger kitten that we adopted and he has taken a liking to riding in a bike trailer for kids in his cat carrier. It is so fun to see how he is just watching where we are going. He also gets out of the carrier to go for short walks on the leash for a break from riding.

November is cyclocross month and there was only two races that I participated in this year. I did not race at the race we held in Potlatch but I did participate in the two other ones. Was a fun time doing both the Cat 4/5 and Masters races this year. Did some virtual riding using the Garmin and then decided to sign up for Zwift. Half my riding miles for November ended up being on the trainer. I was able to do longer rides then the outdoors would allow and the refrigerator is close by.

December was a major indoor riding fest. Decided to try out the racing that Zwift has to offer and ended up doing 13 different races. I ended up doing the Festive 500 between the 24th and 31st of December. This entails doing 500KM or 310 miles of riding in eight days. Two of the rides I did were part of the Zwift Fondo series.

Here are some stats for the year:

• 4960 miles ridden with an average of 13.6 miles ridden a day.
• 355 hours spent riding.
• 845 total rides.
• 227756 calories burnt.
• 877 miles ridden on the trainer.
• 73 miles ridden with Max the orange cat. #maxorangecat Instagram

Not as many miles as I had hoped for but all of them were enjoyable especially the ones spent with Max. Him and I are going to get out for more rides in the coming year since we got a pet trailer for Christmas.

MS Ride gone virtual again

Went to McCall, ID for my Virtual MS Ride this year. This is where I started doing my MS Rides back in 2008. Ended with 50 miles of riding on some of the roads that we used back then for both days of the ride. The weather was nice with a pretty strong wind.

North Valley Rail Trail

Corner of Nisula Rd. and Heinrich Ln.
COWS!

Payette Lake near North Beach.

Payette Lake near North Beach another view.

One of the many stumps left over in the sand
of Little Payette Lake.

Just a sign of the times.

Just a road bike on the trails of Ponderosa Park.

The second day of my virtual MS Ride took me on a nice single track trail south of McCall called the North Valley Rail Trail. The clouds were very threatening but no rain happened until after the 10 mile ride was complete.

Dark clouds but no rain.

North Valley Rail Trail again.

Deer at the end of the ride.

Thanks to all that donated. Hopefully next year we will be riding again on the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes.

Bike MS Cycle the Silver Valley 2021

The Cycle the Silver Valley 2021 MS Ride has been cancelled due to a rise in cases of COVID cases in Kootenai County. Wendy, Rachel, and I will be doing our own little ride between Moscow and Pullman like we did last year. I would like to thank all that donated to this years event and hopefully next year we will be able to ride on the Trail of the Couer d'Alenes to raise money and awareness for the fight against MS.

We will still be receiving donations until sometime in October for this year. If anyone still wishes to contribute please click here.

Bill, Wendy, and Rachel

BikeMS Inside Out

This years MS Ride would not be like the rides of the past. Due to social distancing we would not be riding on the Trail of the Couer d'Alenes or staying in Kellogg like we have in the past. This time we would be staying close to home and doing our own style of ride. 

Ready to head out.

The ride took place on the 26th of September. Rachel, Wendy, Michelle (friend of Rachel's), several ducks, and I headed to the Chipman Trail to ride to Pullman and back to Moscow. The weather was nice and cool and there was quite a bit of sunshine. We all had enough water and snacks to get us there and back.

Usually at the normal MS Rides there are rest stops every 15 or so miles but we decided to stop sooner and more times along the way. 

We are really looking forward to next years ride when we can be together with all the other BikeMS riders. 

Made it to Pullman!

MS Ride 2019

Late as usual in getting this up.

First Day

It was a great ride this year. Wendy and Rachel both rode and they enjoyed it. Rachel was not feeling well but she was able to ride to Cataldo with Wendy on the first day. I rode with them for a little ways and then took off since I was riding to Harrison and back. It was a cool morning but it warmed up as the day went along. There were a few Herons and fuzzy caterpillars along the way.

Made it to Harrison just before lunchtime and found that there was a car show going on. Ate lunch in the park while listening to a band. Did not get a chance to go check out any of the cars that were there. After eating I got back on the trail to head to Kellogg. Ended up seeing a moose lying in the brush alongside the trail.

Wendy and Rachel met me when I got back to Kellogg and we put the bikes away. Rachel took a nap and Wendy and I soaked in the hot tub for a bit.

Being silly at the rest stop in Wallace

Second Day

We all had a nice leisurely ride to Wallace and back.

Summary of the ride

It was an enjoyable time and Wendy and Rachel want to do it again. Rachel is even thinking about doing the 50 mile option. We really want to thank everyone that donated to the MS Society.

Wendy along the trail heading to Wallace

Rachel along the trail heading to Wallace

Spring MS Ride Training

Wendy and Rachel getting some miles on.

It has been a pretty good Spring so far. Getting in a bit of riding with Wendy and Rachel. Went for separate rides to Pullman with them this last weekend and they did really good. They are going to crush the first day of the MS Ride in September. We have setup a team called the "Little MS's and MR" for the ride and a donation can be made to a one of us individually or to the team. Here is the link to the team page.

Wendy and Rachel are both riding for Mike and Faith. I will be riding for them along with my usual list of people.

Year in Review - 2018

January – On the first of January I rode from Locomotive Park in Lewsiton using the levee to Hells Gate Park and then back over the Southway Bridge into Clarkston. 

February through April was spent doing the usual riding back and forth to work with bits of longer rides mixed in here and there.

In March, Rachel and I went to Reno to watch the Idaho women play in the Big Sky Basketball Tournament. We got out and explored a little bit of Reno during the off days.

May started out with longer rides back and forth to work. There was also some fun kid’s clinic time at the city bike course. Two interesting rides happened during this month: The Ronde Von Palouse road race outside Spangle, WA, and a ride to Troy via Foothill road over Moscow Mountain.

Got to ride up to Schweitzer Mountain Ski Resort in June. It was a little rainy but I got to see a lot of mountain bikers riding down the trails alongside the main road. I even rode to the eye doctor to get my eyes checked. Had to wear the cheap old sunglass inserts on the way back to work after getting the eyes dilated during the appointment.

July was a fun month for riding and watching others ride. Wendy and I went to Nampa the first part of the month and I rode from Council to Cambridge via the Weiser Trail. The trail is just a packed dirt and gravel rail trail with gates every so often. The reason for the trip to Nampa was to compete in the Chrono Kristin Armstrong Time Trial, my first ever sanctioned time trial. I finished the 14+ mile course in under my goal of 45 minutes. The next day was spent in downtown Boise watching the ASWB Twilight Criterium. It was awesome watching all of the different levels of racers race. The following Saturday was spent riding the Fondo on the Palouse which was a 100+ mile ride on roads and trails near Moscow and surrounding towns. It was a good way to see different areas of the Palouse with some other cyclists. July was the month that Wendy and Rachel really started riding their bikes around the area. Rachel had gotten her bike several years ago and it just stayed in the garage all the time. We got Wendy a bike at a school auction and it gave Rachel the incentive to start riding her bike again.

In August I rode the Snake with a trailer to the recycling center quite a few times over two days to get rid of yard waste. Went to Wenatchee, WA and was able to ride several times on the trails that are there, once with Wendy. We even had another four days of kid’s cycling clinics spread out over four weeks.

September was the month of cyclocross practice, the MS Ride on the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, and the first cyclocross race of the season. The city bike course became the site of many a practice even when there was not any other rider around. I think it really helped me this year spending a bit of time riding the course plus putting in some miles on single track trails with the cross bike. The MS Ride went really well and I was able to go for a couple of short rides with Wendy on the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes. The last weekend of September was spent in Sandpoint competing at Crosstober Fest. It was a fun time and I finished mid pack both days.

Sundays in October where mostly spent racing cyclocross in different places. I did get out and ride with Wendy and Rachel. I also got in a couple of good rides in McCall with a ride in Ponderosa Park and another one around Payette Lake.

The first part of November saw the last of the cyclocross races for the season. I finished 11th in the series and will move up to Cat 4 in 2019.

December was spent mostly riding back and forth to work. I also borrowed a trainer to get more miles in for the winter.

In 2019 I am looking forward to: Ronda Von Palouse, Just for the Hill of It climb at Whitebird, Chrono Kristin Armstrong TT, Fondo on the Palouse, MS Ride, cyclocross season, and more riding with Wendy and Rachel. One thing that I am excited about in the coming year is that Wendy and Rachel will be riding in the MS Ride this September with me.