SpokeFest Spokane

I was skeptical about SpokeFest last year and almost didn't do it because it was only 21 miles. It's possible to ride it in one hour or less. But I decided to do it anyway as it was the first year, and doing bike rides is the sort of thing I do here at bicycle log. It turned out to be pretty darn good and I was impressed. HERE are the pictures I took last year which was the first year of SpokeFest. Anyway it's a ride to take your time on and not race. I don't think that's the intention, and if you do go as fast as possible it will be over too quickly and I really don't see the point in that.

I decided to stick around and ride in SpokeFest again this year. It's going to be perfect weather for it. Sunny and warm for this time of year. Last year I used my single speed bike. That was ok until I got to Doomsday Hill. I had to fly up it like Marco Pantani to keep the bike going in my one gear. I wasn't trying to show off, I just didn't have any options. Go fast up the hill to keep the crank going around or walk. I did it ok without walking but it was a little radical. So this year I'm going to ride my vintage Gitane Team and I'll have 10 gears to choose from. 5 chainrings on the back wheel and 2 on the crank. Now they call bikes 10 speeds when they have 10 gears on the back wheel, but there are actually 20 gear combinations on them if they have 2 chainrings on the crank. You knew that!

I've been wanting to ride the Gitane in a group ride, but I don't want to ride it all day so this is a good event for it. It seems like overkill to ride my regular road bike. Here's a pic of my baby. Old baby I guess I should say...

My vacation relaxation only took a couple of days to wear off. I guess that's the way it goes. I rode over 80 miles in Glacier Park. I made an attempt on the Going To The Sun Road but there was road construction about half way up and they had the pavement torn up for two miles. So I turned around when the pavement ended. No way could I ride my skinny tires on the dirt. It's too dangerous up there. Tuesday a motorcycle went off of the road and the guy fell to his death. But I did ride up and down Lake McDonald and up to the road work. It was really nice if not really cold early each morning. It would be in the low 40s F in the mornings and up to 90 degrees F in the afternoon. Who knows what it was C !?.. 32 I guess..