Monday, September 7, 2009

Cycling Schweitzer


Liza and Maddie: Scatologists


We took a little North Idaho trip this weekend. On Saturday, we went to Silverwood and did that. It's your basic amusement park: lots of lines. It's really changed since I went there about 20 years ago, when it was just a few little old-timey shops on "Main Street" and a ride on a steam engine.


Liza thought this sign was funny.

On Sunday, we went up to Schweitzer and hung out. We hiked (forced march) a couple miles straight up the mountain. Maddie found the last stand of huckleberries on a side trail.



There are about 20 huckleberries in that bottle.

After the hike, I had about an hour to ride around. I was too cheap to buy a pass to the top of the mountain (via the lift), and since I had my cyclocross bike it didn't really make much sense to downhill it anyway. And, after slogging around Silverwood the previous day, I needed a good climb. So, I found a dirt road and started climbing. I climbed for 40 minutes, then came down some really easy and swoopy single track.

There were downhill mountbikers everywhere. I get the ski lift thing now. The downhill bikes are huge turds and do one thing well: go down hill. Even watching these poor guys attempt to ride the bike to the lift was painful. But watching them ride down was great. We saw a kid casually ride his downhill bike down two flights of stairs to the parking lot below.

I could see renting a downhill bike and doing the chairlift thing for a day. But if I only had one day, I think I'd rather climb to the top and find interesting roads down on my cyclocross bike.

10 comments:

FBC Spokane said...

Lisa is right. That sign IS funny. Do I have to bring an RV to get the 'full hook up'?

Anonymous said...

I've had a full hook up in the woods and we didn't any RV. So no, you don't have to bring an RV.

Anonymous said...

Hey, I've got access to a RV.

bleckb said...

This is something I've been wanting to do, ride up Schweitzer and then down on my mountain bike, but not the cyclocross bike. We saw people on the Route of the Hiawatha on touring bikes and even with somewhat wide tires, I could tell it wasn't all that fun for them.

Not said...

I've ridden the Route of the Hiawatha both directions on a rigid bike with 38mm tires at 70 PSI. It's not bad at all.

I wouldn't want suspension there, but 50mm tires might make the ride smoother.

- Ventura

Unknown said...

I really enjoyed this blog. Readers should also take a look at www.enthoosed.com which is a social networking site that has a section for biking.

Anonymous said...

So that is what you call it - scatologists - I am one of them too.
northernbliss

barkod makinesi said...

i agree with FBC spokane
lisa is right

Adam Dabrowski said...

Couple years ago I was in Świętokrzyskie Mountain on my bike and it was really great. You can enjoy yourself in active way, It's great fun and you know you do something good. And this andrenalin when you ride down on youf bike :)

Tea said...

Great photos. Very pretty places to hike and bike. We aren't so much scat-ologists but we love to look for animal tracks and once found something that looked like a mountain lion track. Very cool. Nature is truly relaxing and amazing, isn't it? That's why I love outdoor sports. Jogging and hiking are my favorite. I don't understand how someone could choose to use a treadmill if they could be outside.

Congratulations on being a blog of note. I just started a blog this month and was glad to stumble onto yours. If you'd like a chuckle take a peek.