Cassandra: (Sat June 23) We woke up again this morning in a very wet tent (at the state park outside of Spokane) and drove to Spokane proper for some internet and a look at the weather forecast for the day. We didn’t want to be biking in the rain, of course. No matter where we looked, the forecast was the same: thunderstorms. It looked like we did, however, have a window of opportunity for riding in Spokane. The thunderstorms weren’t predicted to come in until 3:00 pm, so we headed to Green Bluff, an area that had been recommended to us by Dennis. Green Bluff is a farming cooperative located to the north of the city. Each farm in the area has a store with its produce, and sometimes they let people pick the produce themselves. We really wanted to check it out. Dennis said Green Bluff had been his refuge when he lived in Spokane during third year of medical school.

It took about 40 minutes for us to make it up to Green Bluff, thanks again to crazy directions from Google Maps. But finally we did make it to our first farm. The sky was looking gray, but we chanced it and unloaded the bikes. We had a map of the area and all of the farms, so we set out with that in my stem pack.

Most of the 12-mile route we did was paved, but probably a mile and a half of it was not, which was interesting for me on a road bike. Loose gravel and road bikes really don’t go together well. Lisa was fine, as she was on a mountain bike.

Despite occasionally almost falling off my bike due to the aforementioned road conditions, most of our ride today was great. Actually, I would go so far as to say it was awesome. We biked from farm to farm, stopping at the open ones to tour their country stores and check out their wares. In some we sampled food, like the candy shop we found nestled in the basement of a big Green Bluff country home. The owner’s husband was manning the counter, and because there weren’t many customers (because of the inclement weather), he told us all about how the candy store had been his wife’s big dream and how they had the recipe for the famous peanut brittle that had been served at the also famous Davenport Hotel many years ago. It was a fascinating story. At another farm/winery we did a wine tasting, which was a lot of fun.

We made it through the entire ride without a singe drop of rain, which was amazing. And we had really chosen our route well without knowing it ... due to the direction we started the loop in, we went down many hills but only had to climb one big one. Talk about getting lucky!

After our ride we drove south to Moscow, Idaho, looking for some sun. Hopefully tomorrow we can bike the Palouse!

We are several days into our trip now, and my body is doing great. I haven’t really been sore at all. I finally feel like I am on the right bike. What’s more, I am getting a real crash course in using my new bike. Today, I discovered that when going down hill it is a lot easier to use the alternate set of brakes that are on the handlebars. I don’t have to lean forward to the hood and it is a lot more comfortable for my hands.

I am learning my bike, but I am also learning how much I truly like biking. Doing so many training rides for the STP was wearing down my enjoyment of biking, because it was all about time and speed, but by taking a step back and getting new scenery and making biking fun again, I am really falling more in love with biking. Maybe after the STP I will get a rack and some panniers put on my bike so I can do more bike touring!