Today’s Mileage: 246 miles
Total Trip Mileage so far: 3212 miles
I am listening to: Classic Rock: Steppenwolf, Bonnie Raitt, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Arlo Guthrie, and Janis Joplin
Today I am wandering off the general plan a bit to drop down to Spokane and meet up with a friend whom I have never met in person. Jim Conner was a member of the ISDE Club Team we sponsored for the event in Greece but since I did not go to the event myself and Jim lives near Seattle, we have never met in person. I had meant to visit with Jim in Seattle (with the other team riders I have not met) but he was to be on vacation near Spokane. So it just so happened that I was passing near enough to divert down to meet him. We met at a delightful little restaurant in Spokane called Clover. Jim is a friend of the owner so as you might expect there was an extremely yummy meal involved. Truly a great evening and square checked. Hopefully it will not be the last time we get together.
The ride down from Kalispell was as usual for this area, both scenic and windy at times. I went a little out of the way to get in some good roads but I was reminded by the appearance of a deer crossing the road that you have to be vigilant at all times for wildlife.
One unhappy event of the day was my bike getting knocked over at a gas station. Amazingly I was able to pick it right up (completely loaded) using the backwards walk technique. What a good method – kudos to the person who figured it out. No real damage, all those sliders I installed did their job and the only thing actually hurt was my mirror – I had grabbed for the bike and got the mirror instead. The stalk was bent in the threads section so I did not try to straighten it as I have snapped off a few like that. I called the KTM dealer in Spokane to see if he had one and he said he thought he did – I made arrangements to go there the next day.
Since Spokane is a pretty good sized city, I decided it would be a good place to take a rest day. I will sleep late, go get the mirror, and hopefully find a massage therapist to work out some kinks in my various parts. Wednesday I will work my way north back to the really good roads that have been recommended to me.
Tom, Jim, and my KTM
