Scotts Bluff National Monument

Scotts Bluff NM is very easy to access by truck. If you're driving through Scottsbluff NE in either direction on US 26, just exit onto S. Beltline/SR 20 and follow it to 21st. street. There you will find the WTT Truckstop and you'll be minutes away from the park. 

Riding south on 21st street, it will turn into Five Rocks Rd. Then turn right onto Country Club Rd and at the end of that you'll find a nice bike path to your right, running around the perimeter of the park with great views of the rocks. 

Turning left you'll enter the park and wind your way toward the main entrance and the Summit Dr. Bicycles are only permitted on that road when the gates are closed to cars. Before 9 AM and after 5 PM. I arrived too late to ride all the way to the top, but did manage to get about 1/3 of the way up, promising the ranger I'd be off the road by 9. 

It's worth riding the 6-8% grade to see what's on the other side of the rocks. More rocks. 

Near the gate and to the west, you'll see Mitchell Pass and the Oregon Trail. Paved to ease your viewing. 

You'll need to buy a park pass, good for seven days. $3 if you arrive by bicycle, $5 if by internal combustion engine. 

Retuning to the truck, I saw another bike path running alongside the north bank of the North Platte River. This is where the Mormons travelled, creating the Mormon Trail. 

If you have the time, it's a great excuse  to get out of the truck for a few hours. 

North Idaho Centennial Trail

I recently discovered the NICT while heading east along I-90, crossing the WA/ID state line. For about a mile at that point, the trail is clearly visible running along the eastbound lanes of the interstate. I wasn't planing on stopping at Post Falls until I saw the trail, but since there are two truck stops right at exit 2, I had no excuse to not nvestigate further. 

 I found a mostly paved and dedicated cycling/walking trail that stretches about 23 miles from the state line, joining trails in Washington State, to Higgens Point @ Lake Couer D'Alene. Equally spectacular to the quality of this path and the scenery along it, is the ease of accessibility for truck drivers. 

If you were to walk or ride directly south from the Love's, crossing under the overpass, the trail is on your right between the gas station and the fence at the off ramp for exit 2. This portion of the trail will take you toward Washongton where you can stay to the left and end up at Liberty Lake or go right and head into the Spokane Valley. 

Trailhead at Liberty Lake, looking NE

On a second trip through the area, I headed east, once finding the trail between the Sleep Inn and some shops, kitty corner from the westbound portion of the trail. I rode this portion about 8 miles all the way to the POE/ Rest Area where it continues toward Lake Couer D'Alene. It's possible to park the truck at the rest area and pick up the trail running along the back of it. 

Trail marker at the rest area. 

Along the Spokane River looking SE. 

At this point I'd burned enough daylight and needed to hammer out a few miles in the truck. 

Cold weather cycling and warm (er) feet

By the time I arrived at my customer and pulled the tarps off the load, there was about 1 hour of daylight left and the -16C felt like -25C with the wind chill factored in. Just enough time to go for a little spin and perfect conditions to test out my new MEC shoe covers and DeFeet Woolie Boolie socks. Until today, I had just been wearing thick, woolen, work socks and my cycling shoes when the temperature dropped.  This made the shoes fit very tight and my feet froze after about half an hour due to the ventilated shoe allowing the wind to penetrate. 

I'm happy to find that the new combination works very well. The socks provide equall warmth to the previous thicker socks I had used and the shoe covers, though their primary purpose is to keep feet dry, did a great job of blocking the wind completely. I returned to the truck after about an hour and, when I pulled the shoe covers off, was quite surprised to find that the condensation had frozen to the inside of the cover. My feet felt cool once I stopped pedaling but I still had feeling in my toes.  I probably should be wearing other shoes at this temperature, but now that I've made the switch to clipless pedals, I find it hard to go back to regular shoes.