Fall 2025 Trip Report - Spokane-British Columbia-Whitefish
Denis
My fall 2025 tour covered 660 miles with 30,000 feet of climbing. Before settling on this route I was unsure where to ride this fall. I really enjoy riding in the west because of the scenic views and the straightforward routes. However, in my 25 years of bicycle touring I’ve covered a lot of the western routes and it has become increasingly difficult to find new routes to satisfy my wanderlust. Fortunately, I stumbled on to Kelly Iniquez’s British Columbia 2019 report at https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/bc2019/route-map/. I quickly realized that I could do a similar route starting in Spokane and ending in Whitefish, two places that would allow me to use Amtrak to get to and from my tour with my bicycle - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49882133.
A more detailed trip report along with photos and daily ride stats will eventually be available on my website at CyclingAway.com.
As I turned 78 on this tour, I have been increasingly forced to acknowledge the ravages of time and reduce my typical day from 70-80 miles to 40-50 miles due to a slower bicycle…
This year I also had to deal with a less than perfect left knee. Last fall I had a issue with my left knee that just happened out of the blue on a rest day. After some significant pain riding the next day the issue went away and I guessed it must have been a fluke. However, I had the same issue twice back in May. At that time I consulted with my niece who is a physical therapist specializing in knee issues (https://betterknees.com/). My niece recommended some therapy (most of her consulting is actually working with clients remotely). That seemed to help and get me in position where I could handle this tour. That turned out to be the case but I was careful to not overdue it and I iced my knee every day, even including the two days I camped.
I left home in Naperville, IL, on Sunday, August 31, and rode 35 miles to Chicago Union Station where I took the Amtrak Empire Builder to Spokane, WA, arriving at 2:44 am. Fortunately, I had a reservation at the nearby Best Western motel. The lobby was locked when I got to the motel but an attendant was on the lookout, having been alerted that I would be a late arrival, and let me in.
The Best Western had a great breakfast and I was up early to take advantage of it. Then I checked out late and killed time at a nearby coffee shop waiting for my sister, Judy, to show up. My sister has a son, Dan, and daughter, Krissy, in the Spokane area. We had pizza with Dan and his wife, Stephanie, and then we drove north 15 miles to Colbert, where Krissy and her family lived. Had I ridden from downtown Spokane to Newport, my first destination, I would have ridden within a mile or two of Krissy’s home. Instead, we spent the night at Krissy’s home.
In the morning, Krissy’s husband, Matt, showed up bleary eyed after a 48 hour shift at his fire station. So I was very lucky to get to see my sister, my niece, and my nephew and my niece’s family while I was in the Spokane area.
Riding to Newport, WA
Judy, Krissy, and Matt bid me farewell as I rode north around 8 am. This turned out to be ideal. My original route to Newport was 50 miles but starting from Colbert made it a nice 35 mile warmup to the start of this tour. I had side roads planned most of the way to Newport but almost immediately there was a road closure that forced me back on to US2 for a few miles and then I was able to pick up the side roads again. These roads were very nice riding through the area with almost no traffic and tree coverage that provided shade. Shade was important because the high temperature was projected to hit 100F for the next couple of days.
Riding to Ione, WA
It was a nice ride to Ione from Newport. The Le Clerc Road followed the east side of the Pend Oreille River all the way until a mile from Ione and then crossed over the river into the town. Ione was a small town of 428 but it had a motel, grocery store, and a couple of eating places. It also had a laundromat connected to the motel so it was convenient to do my first laundry of the trip.
Riding to Salmo, BC
Originally, I had planned to take the road to Sullivan Lake but there was a big climb leaving town so I opted to stay on Hwy 31 all the way to the border, 23 miles. It was a good choice with a nice road and good scenery. At Metaline Falls there was a nice view of the river looking north but no falls are visible from the town itself.
Leaving town, there was a big 2 mile, 500 foot climb where I had to stop a couple of times to catch my breath. The road was so steep that I had to turn sideways to get started again. A little while later I was “greeted” by two dogs who raced out to meet me on the road, one on each side of the bike so I was boxed in. I yelled “go home”, “bad dog” over and over. They would drop back a little and then they would race forward again. This repeated 3-4 times before they gave up.
Then just north I started getting smoke from a wild fire that had just recently started 15-20 miles west, just south of Northport and was expanding. I didn’t notice that it was affecting me but when I got to the border crossing I noticed my voice was raspy when answering the border guard questions.
Salmo, BC, was another small town with a large hotel, Salmo Hotel, where I stayed. All the rooms were on the second floor so I had to carry my bags and bicycle up a fair number of steps to get to my room. This was a nice hotel with a restaurant but the Wi-Fi was flaky. Initially, I couldn’t get connected and then an hour or so later the Wi-Fi mysteriously connected. This turned out to be a problem because I needed Internet access for my phone. My Tracfone supposedly didn’t work in Canada so I had a Google Voice number that did work as long as I had Internet access. Even so, the Wi-Fi needed to be strong or a voice connection would cut out and make talking and listening difficult. Normally, I would have made a reservation for the next night in Nelson but I didn’t because of the flaky Wi-Fi. I assumed, wrongly as it turned out, that there were a number of motels in Nelson and it would be easy to ride into town and find a place to stay. I also learned later that, since I had Internet calling set up on my Tracfone, that it also worked as long as I had Internet access.
Riding to Nelson, BC
It was 24 miles to Nelson, an easy ride. I intended to ride The Great Northern Rail Trail which went all the way to Nelson. However, as soon as I got on the trail I realized it was too rough, particularly for a loaded bicycle. Fortunately, I only had to ride about a quarter of a mile when a side road took me back to the main road which had good pavement and a good shoulder.
I arrived in Nelson in late morning and was dismayed to learn that I had arrived on the Saturday of a car show. The main downtown street, Baker Street, was closed off for about 4 or 5 blocks for the car displays and the folks checking them out. I couldn’t ride in the street so I pushed my bike up the hill a short ways until I found a coffee shop, The Dominion Café. I ordered coffee and some food and pulled out my Chromebook to start checking for places to stay. There was a Best Western Plus at the south end of Baker Street where I came in. When I checked them they had one room left at a pretty inflated price, $255, no doubt influenced by the car show. I quickly decided to grab it rather than spend time checking around and risk someone else grabbing this last room. However, I couldn’t get into the room until 4 pm but they had a storage room where I could store my bike until my room became available.
So, I made my way back to the motel, checked in, and put my bike in storage. That allowed me to walk along Baker Street and see the cars, and more importantly, the folks who were out enjoying a good time in good weather. I ended up back at the motel around 2 pm and waited in the lobby until my room was ready. I didn’t have to wait long and was able to check into my room. Later, I walked to a grocery store and picked up some food for dinner and breakfast. I had hoped the Best Western would included breakfast. They had an adjoining restaurant but they only offered a coupon for a special rate for a selection of 3 breakfasts, not a free breakfast.
Riding to Kaslo, BC
In the morning, I ate breakfast in my room and set out early to Balfour and then Kaslo. In short order I crossed the Kootenay River and looked back. Due to the smoke, I could barely see Nelson which was disappointing. The smoke hid much of the scenery as I rode along the Kootenay River to Balfour and then along Kootenay Lake to Kaslo.
At Balfour, there was a mandatory stop for the Old World Bakery which was strategically located at the junction for the ferry across Kootenay Lake. Leaving Balfour, there was a 2.5 mile climb that was powered by my almond croissant from the bakery. The day’s ride was 43 miles with almost 3,000 feet of climbing, much of it up and down but the last half had most of the climbing. I was surprised that my knee handled this very well, getting only a little sore near Kaslo.
When I had checked for motels in Kaslo, the first couple of options were booked and I had worried I wouldn’t find anything. Actually, there was a motel in Kaslo but Google Maps showed some ridiculous $800 price, which I later wondered if it was an error. However, I found the Sunny Bluffs Chalets a little more than a half mile outside of downtown and got 2 nights there. My chalet was pretty nice but there were 12 steps to get up to my room. The proprietor didn’t want me to keep my bike in my room but I eventually convinced her I would be very careful not to scratch anything. Then when I tried to pay using the proprietor’s handheld terminal it wouldn’t take my credit card. For some reason the proprietor thought I needed a pin number but I assured her I had never had or used a pin with my credit card. Eventually, we gave up and decided to try again later.
When I walked to downtown, it was rather uncomfortable for my knee and I decided I wouldn’t walk anymore, just use my bike. I had a sandwich downtown and paid with my credit card. When I went back to the office later to try payment again, I noted I had just paid with my credit card without a pin. However, I realized that I had my Fidelity Cash Management card which was basically a debit card. That worked for payment but, surprisingly, there was no prompt for my pin for this card.
In the morning I rode downtown to the Hazey Daze coffee shop for breakfast. Unfortunately, there were only a couple of small tables inside so it wasn’t a place to hang out. I ordered a bagel breakfast sandwich but was surprised they didn’t have regular coffee, just a coffee machine to make espresso, lattes, etc. The attendant told me an Americano would be the closest to regular coffee so I ordered that. By that time, a table had freed up so I was able to eat inside.
Afterwards, I walked up the street to Teresa’s coffee shop again. A review described this shop as the community living room. When I walked in there were about 8 older guys arranged in a circle discussing whatever. I almost couldn’t get a coffee but there were some chairs and tables outside. It was warm enough at that point to drink my coffee leisurely and people watch.
After enough people watching I stopped at the grocery store and picked up a few things including a bag of ice for icing my knee. The chalet proprietor gave me some ice yesterday but it wasn’t going to be enough and they didn’t have a regular ice machine. So I thought it best to get my own ice and not have to beg for more ice from the proprietor.
In the afternoon, I worked on my biggest issue – how to get from Revelstoke to Golden without riding. I decided it might not be a good idea to ride this stretch since there wasn’t anything other than a campground along the way where I could take care of my knee if I needed to. I would have loved to do a one-way car rental but there was no drop off in Golden. That meant I had to take the Rider Express bus which would have been fine except the website said I would have to pack my bike in a bike box which wasn’t really feasible. I checked with several bike shops in Revelstoke to see if any of them had an inexpensive bike bag with no luck. However, someone suggested that wrapping the bike up might be OK. I sent an email to Rider Express asking them if I removed my pedals and turned my handlebars sideways and wrapped the bike in a tarpaulin would be OK. I got a reply that that would work. One of the bike shops suggested I could get a tarpaulin at the Home Hardware store so that became my plan.
Riding to New Denver, BC
It was 30 miles to New Denver and another 30 miles to Nakusp. I could have done that in one day but decided I would make it two easy days. Plus I like seeing these small towns where you can ride a few blocks down the main street and see all the resources the town has to offer.
The first 20 miles were a gradual uphill followed by mostly 10 miles downhill, a pleasant cycling day. The road followed the Kaslo River and it was soothing to hear the rushing waters when the road was close to the river. I stayed at the Valhalla Inn with the only restaurant in town. The motel was also close to a convenience store and a grocery store so it was well located.
Riding to Nakusp, BC
It was another 30 mile ride to Nakusp, initially following along Slocan Lake and then later the smaller Summit Lake and then the even smaller Box Lake. Unfortunately, I learned too late that there was a rest stop at Summit Lake, shortly after I had just pulled off at a side road for a break.
Rolling into town, I rode 5 blocks along Broadway St, past a couple of coffee shops and then the Lodge at Arrow Lakes at the other end where I stayed. This was a good location with a coffee shop and grocery store across from the lodge. I got a breakfast sandwich at the coffee shop and then checked in at the lodge at 12:30, thinking I would have to wait to get into my room but I was able to move right in. Unfortunately, the nice room didn’t have a fridge or a microwave. I had to go to the front desk a couple of times to get ice. Later, I ate at the restaurant in the lodge because it was convenient.
Riding to Halycon, BC
It was 65 miles and 4,600 feet of climbing to Revelstoke so I opted to do a short ride to Halycon, the only place to stay between Nakusp and Revelstoke. Since I was only riding 23 miles to Halycon, I was in no hurry to leave. I walked to the bistro down the street for breakfast but the place was packed and with no place to sit unless I wanted to sit outside. So I walked back to the lodge and asked about the coffee shop across the street that supposedly opened at 8 am but was closed. I grabbed my camera to get a photo of the Upper Arrow Lake that wasn’t too badly marred by the smoke. Then I walked back to the bistro and some table space had cleared up and I had a bagel breakfast sandwich.
The route followed along the east side of the Upper Arrow Lake with some scenic views but still with some smoke. When I got to the turnoff to the Halycon-Heights RV Campground, I was staring at a steep climb to get to the campground. If I had paid a little more attention I would have noticed the HEIGHTS part of the campground name and not been so surprised. I had to push my bike part of the way to get to the check-in hut and waited there for the proprietor to show up.
The water in the campground was not potable but I was able to buy a 4 liter water jug and a bag of ice. The proprietor loaned me a cooler for this and had the maintenance guy deliver it to my campsite an hour or so later.
I had a nice campsite and was able to set up my tent without a problem, unlike last year when I discovered the elastic in my shock corded tent poles were toast. This year I replaced the elastic a few weeks before leaving so I knew it was good.
There were good views of the lake from the heights of the campground. This reminded me that even though motels are more convenient than camping, motels don’t provide the kind of views that I was seeing here. Since this is bear country, the proprietor brought her van by later in the evening and parked it at my campsite overnight so I could put my food in the van.
Riding to Revelstoke, BC
The ride to Revelstoke required a ferry crossing just 8 miles up the road. The ferry ran every hour on the half hour. I wanted to be sure to catch the 8:30 ferry but the 8 miles were a 4 mile, 700 feet climb and a 4 mile descent so it was hard to predict how long it would take to get to the ferry on a loaded bicycle. I figured if I left at 7 am I would be able to safely make the 8:30 ferry. However, I woke up around 5 am and packed up. I left at 6:20 am and thought there might be a chance I could make the 7:30 ferry.
After the 4-mile climb it was 7:20 which gave me 10 minutes for the 4-mile descent to the ferry. I was sure I was going to just miss the ferry but when I rounded the last curve the ferry was still there. I rolled my bike on to the ferry and the ferry started the crossing, a fortuitous timing.
Most of the way to Revelstoke was through forest so there wasn’t much to see other than trees. However, as I neared Revelstoke there were some nice views of the lake.
After I crossed the Columbia River on the bridge pedestrian path, I immediately headed downtown to the Home Hardware store. I wanted to get my tarpaulin for my bike for tomorrow’s bus ride today so I wouldn’t have to take care of that tomorrow even though I had plenty of time tomorrow since the bus schedule a 4:25 pm pickup. After picking up my tarp, I rode back to the Trans Canada highway where I stayed at a Ramada Inn just up the road about a quarter mile from the Shell station where the bus pickup was.
In the morning I ate breakfast at the Ramada Inn which was included with the room and it was a very good breakfast. After that I killed time until I checked out near the 11 am checkout time. Then I rode downtown again and bought a second tarp, being somewhat paranoid about getting the bike on the bus. I figured a second tarp would be even more convincing that the tarp wrapping would be more than sufficient protection.
Then I rode back to the Shell station for the bus pickup and killed time at the attached Tim Horton’s. At 2:45 I started the packing process, removing my pedals, turning the handlebars sideways, and wrapping the bike in my two tarps and securing them with gorilla tape. I also emptied one of my front panniers and distributed its contents among my 2 rear panniers and my duffel bag and fitted the empty pannier in my duffel bag as well. This got me down to 3 checked bags and one carryon, saving $40 that a 4th checked bag would have cost.
The bus was on schedule and getting my bicycle on the bus was a non-event, a relief after my paranoia that the bus driver would decide the bike had to be in a box no matter what the bus company said about wrapping the bike in a tarp. The bus arrived in Golden right around its scheduled 7:15 pm time which included an hour due to the change from Pacific to Mountain time.
This would have been the most scenic section of the bike tour but it just wasn’t the same whizzing by on a bus. I was also dismayed to see the width of the shoulder on the Trans Canada highway. I thought the TransCan would be like our Interstates that have very generous shoulders. From what I could see from the bus view point the shoulder was only about 3 feet wide and at times there was no shoulder. This seemed inadequate if not dangerous for a busy highway with high speeds. Worse, much of the time on the shoulder would have been spent on a 20-mile climb and the slow speed of climbing makes it harder to balance the bike and ride in a straight line. So the effective shoulder was narrower than the actual width. I think the climbing might have been very stressful if not dangerous.
Anyway, it was easy to unpack the bike at the Golden bus stop. There was a convenience store as part of this ESSO station at the bus stop where I was able to get a bite to eat. Then my Ponderosa Motor Inn was just a short distance away. I had requested a first floor room when I made my reservation but someone had given that room away. The attendant had actually handle my reservation so he gave me the keys to another room on the first floor that he said he kept in reserve for cases like this.
Riding to Brisco, BC
The next logical destination was Radium Hot Spring but it was 65 miles with 3,000 feet of climbing, a bit more than I wanted to take on. So I settled on riding to Brisco which was 46 miles and 2,000 feet of climbing where I stayed at Addison’s Bungalows just south of Brisco.
The route passed through the Columbia Valley, following the Columbia River through marsh land. It was a scenic ride and the best day of riding at that point. There were a lot of nice views and they were only marginally impacted by a little smoke.
A few miles north of Brisco there was a convenience store with a deli. I stopped but didn’t find anything interesting but there were 3 cyclists on a day ride from Invermere. We chatted while they ate their deli sandwiches outside at a table. It was nice chatting with fellow cyclists and getting some info about the surrounding area.
When I continued riding it was only a few miles to Brisco where there was a convenience store. I picked up a few things for dinner and breakfast and then rode on to the turnoff to Addison’s Bungalows. Check-in was easy but not so easy to find my bungalow. The proprietor tried to explain that I might want to use the road with less incline to get to the top of the hill to get to my bungalow. This was a case there they needed a simple map like most campgrounds and some motels use to highlight the route to my place of stay. Not having a map made finding my bungalow harder than it should have been.
The bungalow itself was fine although the bathroom was rather small and taking a shower was cramped. After cleaning up I walked down the hill to the office to get ice for my knee, not realizing there was already ice in an ice tray in the bungalow fridge.
Riding to Invermere, BC
It was disappointing to wake up and find no one there to sing happy birthday to me as I turned 78, so I sang happy birthday to myself.
It was not a great riding day as it was overcast and misting but I never needed my rain clothes. It was 16 miles to Radium Hot Springs where the riding deteriorated. There was construction as I rode past the junction of 93/95 but that wasn’t a problem for me since I was able to ride just inside the traffic cones in the construction area. After the construction the shoulder varied between good and messed up and there was a lot more traffic. However, it was only 10 miles to Invermere so I didn’t have to suffer long.
Near Invermere I took the Althalmer Road to head into Invermere on the west side of Windermere Lake. I stayed at the Canterbury Inn which was well located just a block from the main street. I spent time hunting for a coffee shop but I didn’t find one until I checked in and the proprietor pointed out the Stolen Church coffee shop which was practically across the street from the motel but not readily noticeable because the entrance was on a side street even though it had a main street address. It was obviously a popular place with lots folks in attendance including cyclists and motorcyclists.
Riding to Skookumchuck, BC
I had originally planned to ride to Canal Flats but the lone motel was booked and the RV park with Glamping Tents wasn’t available. However, Skookumchuck was a reasonable 50 miles down the road. It had two motels but no other resources. One was booked and the other one didn’t answer when I called. However, its website had a form to request a reservation. I wasn’t thrilled with that but within 10-15 minutes I got an email reply to my request and had a reservation.
It was 15 miles along the west side of Windermere Lake until the road rejoined Hwy 93 near Fairmont Springs. I rode this section in 2012 when the road was a somewhat decrepit asphalt road with pot holes. Now this road had nice pavement but this time I had the option of riding the Markin-MacPhail Westside Legacy Trail. This was a paved trail but the first half was not an easy ride on a loaded bicycle. There were some short, steep climbs and some tight turns that would have been fine on an unloaded bike. The good pavement of the parallel road looked inviting but it had no shoulder which could have been dicey on a foggy day. After 8 miles, the trail crossed over to the other side of the road and it was good riding the rest of the way.
The trail ended at the junction with Hwy 93. Then there was a 3-mile climb that led to a Columbia Lake viewpoint. At the start of the climb there was a Columbia Street that I recalled I had taken in 2012 to bypass this climb but I didn’t recall where it went so I continued on the road. The reward for this climb was the Columbia Lake View Point with a nice view of the lake.
Canal Flats is billed as the start of the Columbia River since it is the Columbia Lake that feeds the Columbia River. The Columbia River heads north past Golden and then does a big U turn and runs through Revelstoke and south to Castlegar.
I stayed in Skookumchuck in 2012 when there was a little store across the street from my motel. Now there was nothing except these 2 motels. I waited at the office of the motel to get signed in. The guy who showed up anticipated that I wanted a campsite but I told him I had a motel reservation. It didn’t seem like he had a reservation under my name but I got a decent room and bought a bag of ice for my knee.
Riding to Cranbrook, BC
When I left at 7:30 in the morning it was cool and overcast. It was also foggy but I didn’t realize how foggy it was until I had already checked out of the motel and hit the road. I thought I should probably have waited a bit but the fog didn’t lift until almost 10 am. Fortunately, the road had a good shoulder and my rear blinkie warned motorists that I was on the prowl.
It was only 33 miles to Cranbrook so I got there early. I had 2 nights reserved at a Ramada Inn on the east end of town. I figured a rest day would be good and then I had 3 more riding days to Whitefish.
The big issue was where to stay when I left Cranbrook. It was 73 miles and almost 3,000 feet of climbing to Eureka, MT, the next town along the way. This was a little too much for one day so I looked for a place to stay about halfway. There were several RV parks around that point but none of them responded to my queries about camping. Then I stumbled on to the Kikomun Creek Provincial Park that was along the way but I hadn’t noticed it. That’s because I didn’t realize my route took the Jaffray Baynes Lake road but I was looking along the Crows Nest Highway. This road went right by the Kikomun Park where I could camp. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make a reservation because reservations could only be made by 8 pm two days before and I was past that deadline. Worse, I would be passing through on a Friday when there was a potential that the campground could fill up on a nice weekend. So it would be first come, first served for campsites when I showed up.
Riding to Kikomun Creek Provincial Park, BC
It was an easy 40 mile ride to the park but a stressful one since I had no idea whether campsites could be gone when I showed up. So I rode as fast as I could and got there a little before noon. I envisioned a line of vehicles waiting to get a campsite. Instead, there was no ranger at the check-in station so I rode to the Ponderosa Campground which was another 2 miles. Turns out the campground never filled up and I was able to get a decent campsite with shade. All of the campsites along Lake Koocanusa were already occupied. Most of the campsites were in the open but shade was a priority for me. Had I reserved a campsite in advance I would have had no idea what was a good campsite for me – it’s hard to see shade on a campground map.
Later, I had to ride the 2 miles back to the park entrance to pay the $35 camping fee. I also bought a bag of ice for $5. The water in the campground was not potable but the park didn’t sell water. Except they did, in the form of ice. I used some to ice my knee and saved the rest as water when it melted. I also asked the ranger about protecting my food from animals. I was thinking I might have to hang my food but she showed me a neat solution. The campground had waste containers with a bear proof lid on top. There was also a lid in the back so the garbage collector could remove the trash bag. That was a place with space where I could store my food bag.
Riding to Eureka, MT
In the morning I rode the 2 miles back to the park entrance and then picked up the Jaffray Baynes Lake Road again. It was 20 miles to the border and then 8 miles to Eureka.
The Jaffray Baynes Lake Road was a good cycling road. It ended at a junction with Hwy 93 that took me the rest of the way to the border at Roosville, BC. Eight miles from the border there was a convenience store where I conveniently spent the last $16 and change of my Canadian money. As I approached the guard station I was surprised to see a sign that said it was 13 to Eureka. After I crossed the border there was a sign that said 8. I was perplexed until I realized that 13K was 8 miles.
There were about a half dozen vehicles in line at the guard station when I arrived. It didn’t take long before I was talking to the guard. He asked me where I was from and I said the Chicago area and then mentioned Naperville. Turns out the guard had worked at a company in Lisle which is the neighboring town just east of Naperville so he knew exactly where that was. We had a little conversation since we had both worked in telecommunications.
When I rode on there was virtually no shoulder on Hwy 93 but also very little traffic. I had a motel reservation at the Ksanka Inn, just north of town. Check-in was at the adjoining convenience store which also conveniently had a Subway. The room was okay except that the Wi-Fi kept bouncing up and down.
Later, I had a panic attack. I thought I had made a reservation at the Duck Inn Lodge in Whitefish but I couldn’t recall seeing a confirmation. I thought I made the reservation through booking.com but they showed no reservation for me. I also checked my credit card charges and there was no charge. Apparently, I didn’t make the final click on booking.com to complete the reservation. Fortunately, I was able to visit the lodge’s website and had a choice of 2 very similar rooms. They both had a king bed, a fireplace, and a hot tub, none of which I needed or would have paid for if I had a choice. The room also was a “corner office” room with two windows at the corner.
Riding to Whitefish, MT
It was 55 miles to Whitefish which would turn out to narrowly be my longest ride but it was also pretty flat. It started out with a good shoulder which gradually got narrower until it was only 6-9 inches wide. The big news was the weather forecast was for rain much of the day starting around 9 am. There was some early sun and some good views and then the clouds moved in. However, the only rain was in the form of spitting and I never needed my rain gear, meaning I never used my rain gear the entire trip. The only other questionable day only had misting.
Interestingly, I never recalled any incidents on the trip with motorists except for this day. Maybe this was just an anomaly or maybe it was because Canadian motorist are more respectful. I had 4 incidents, all on this day. In the first case, I was riding on the shoulder of a right turn lane when a pickup came up behind to make a right turn lane. The driver could have sped up a bit or slowed down just slightly to accommodate my presence. Instead, he maintained a constant speed as if he could care less about me. He turned right in front of me which was rude and uncalled for.
Then, the minimal shoulder was cracked and the white line itself was pock marked. So whenever there was no oncoming traffic I rode just inside the white line. Apparently, it was asking too much for a few motorists to edge out slightly as they passed me with the other lane completely empty. They did edge out but felt the need to announce the inconvenience by honking their horn.
Then, six miles before town there was a 4-mile construction zone. The asphalt in this section was terrible so it was obvious why it was under construction. However, only abut a half mile of it was torn up at this point but this half mile was, at most, only marginally worse then the other 3.5 miles. Fortunately, it was a Sunday with less traffic and no work underway so it wasn’t that bad making my way through the actual construction.
Hwy 93 - 2nd street - headed east into town and then did a right turn to head south. At that junction, the Amtrak station was only a couple blocks north. So I rode by to see what the station was like. My Amtrak train was scheduled for a 7:26 am departure so I wanted to be sure I was familiar with the station area. As it turned out, all I had to do was ride a few blocks east of the station and take Columbia Ave south for a mile to the Duck Inn Lodge. I would have liked to stay in a motel downtown but that would have been very expensive. When I checked Google Maps, I saw listings for $300 and up. The Duck Inn Lodge was reasonably priced by comparison so it won my dollars.
At the Duck Inn I discovered the lodge was a virtual lodge. I had to sign in online and then was given a code to get in my room but I couldn’t get in until 4 pm. When I was able to get in my room I discovered it was on the first floor and at the end of the hall. It was a very nice room with a king bed, fireplace, and hot tub. The only thing missing was a microwave. However, breakfast was included with the room and there was a microwave there.
A breakfast that included homemade waffles as well as oatmeal and coffee was available at 7 am and I was ready. It was a good breakfast but, unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to take advantage of it the next morning because I needed to be at the Amtrak station for the 7:26 am departure.
Later, I rode downtown and hung out at the Folklore Coffee shop. I was able to lock my bike outside and keep my eye on it from my table inside. One of the nice things about the Coros Dura solar GPS computer is that every ride gets uploaded to the RideWithGPS.com website. Then there is a calendar function that will download all rides in CSV format. Using that feature I had a spreadsheet of my ride stats for the tour in just a couple of minutes. The only thing I had to do was format the columns the way I wanted the number to look.
The GPS computer also kept stats on battery usage including how much solar gain added to the battery. This had to be pulled out of the GPS computer manually. However, the computer only had limited history so by the time I extracted this data the first 5 days were “history”. The interesting thing was the solar gain didn’t contribute that much. That’s because solar gain only works when the sun shines on the computer. For a number of days I was riding amongst tall trees that were close to the road. So the sun didn’t shine on the device until late morning and I was usually done riding by noon or early afternoon. There were also some overcast days. Nevertheless, this computer’s battery life really shined. I only charged it once during the trip. The battery never got lower than 35% and I never worried about running out of battery.
Amtrak to Chicago, IL
The Amtrak station opened at 6:00 am for the 7:26 departure. I rode the mile to the station from the lodge in the dark with my headlight on, surprising a deer in the street along the way who literally showed the deer in the headlight look, and was there shortly after the waiting room opened. I was the second person there. I got a ticket for my bike and then waited for the train which was about 10 minutes late. I handed my unloaded bike to the baggage car attendant and was on my way.
The train arrived at Chicago Union Station at 4:30 pm the next day, 15 minutes early. I would have liked to ride home from the station but there was only about 2 hours of daylight left and I needed at least 3 hours of daylight. So I had to put my bike on the commuter train to Naperville.
There were 3 trains leaving around 5 pm to Naperville. One was an express train that went directly to Naperville and took about 30 minutes. Another stopped at every station along the way and took about an hour. A third train made about 10 stops and took about 45 minutes. The express train was the most desirable but it was also the most packed since commuters were anxious to get on it. I just happened by the track when the express train was almost ready to leave. So I checked out the first car which allowed bikes and the conductor was waving folks on, saying there were only 8 seconds left. I thought he would wave me off but he waved me on but the question was where I would put my bike. Normally, the bike goes in the location where a handicap person’s scooter is parked. However, there were folks already occupying seats there. That’s when the conductor told me to just put the bike in the car’s restroom. The restroom is big enough to accommodate a handicap scooter so it was big enough for my bicycle.
So I just barely made the express train and got off in Naperville at 5:30 pm. From there it was a little less than 2 miles to my home.
Summary
It was a good trip but somewhat marred by the smoke during the first half. It was a bonus that I got to see my sister, nephew, and niece in Spokane. I was able to manage my knee by both icing it daily and keeping the daily mileage manageable. The longest ride was 55 miles and the most climbing was 2,900 feet. It helped that I didn’t ride the section from Revelstoke to Golden which would have added another 90 miles and 7,300 feet of climbing although that would been spread over two days. The towns – Newport, Ione, Salmo, Nelson, Kaslo, New Denver, Nakusp, Revelstoke, Golden, Invermere, Skookumchuck, Cranbrook, Eureka, Whitefish – were nicely spaced and I enjoyed visiting them. If the Heather Mountain Lodge between Revelstoke and Golden had been open, I would have ridden that section. However, it might have been a good thing that I avoided that stretch. When queried whether this section was safe to ride, perplexity.ai replied:
“Riding a bicycle between Revelstoke and Golden on the Trans-Canada Highway is generally possible but comes with significant safety considerations. The highway section through the Rockies, including between Revelstoke and Golden, is known to be busy and heavily used by large trucks, with often narrow or inconsistent shoulder widths. Cyclists may experience stress due to traffic noise, wind turbulence from trucks, and sometimes limited or uneven shoulder space. Some cyclists choose to ride this section at night when traffic is lighter for safety reasons.”
The Coros Dura Solar GPS computer turned out to be a very useful addition to my touring setup. My daily routes were very straightforward with the exception of the route between Colbert and Newport and the navigation support of the Dura wasn’t needed. However, it was still generally helpful to be able to see I was always on route and how far it was to the next turn. The Dura also showed hill climbs that was helpful. It was nice to know how challenging the hills were – the Dura color coded the climb sections as yellow/orange/red based on the grade – and showed the progress along the climb. Battery capacity was exceptional, requiring only a single charge during the trip. This despite the fact that the solar charging didn’t help much because the sun didn’t shine on the device that much. Then it was really useful to be able to use the device at the end of the trip to create a CSV file of the daily ride stats