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News Rides Saturday Ride: Valley Chapel
News Rides Saturday Ride: Valley Chapel
| Saturday Ride: Valley Chapel |
| Saturday, 30 June 2007 | |
 What June days were made for Ride leader Rick was a bit worried about numbers at first, since most of the group was out of town, entertaining visitors, or involved in one of Spokane's premier summertime events, the downtown B-Ball extravaganza, Hoopfest. But while the turnout was low, the ride – measured as a ride, versus our Mother’s Day wine tour – was probably the best one this year. Roll call: Rick, Brian, Brian’s new girlfriend Crystal, and a new face we’d been corresponding with but hadn’t met yet named Mark (not to be confused with Marc, or Minion Mark…we’ll have to sort this out later). Meetup: The group rendezvoused at the Rocket on Cedar for a little pre-ride coffee, pastries and (for Mark) a fruit bowl. BTW, Mark arrived in grand style, a touch after 10:00, and astride the nicest Lambretta we’ve ever seen in person – a Li 150 Series III – the one with the slimline engine cowls, our favorite. Mark’s new in Spokane, having moved here from Cincinnati this spring. He’s also a former member of the Ten Year Late Scooter Club, and apparently a patron of some mighty fine Lambretta restoration services back in Richmond, Virginia. His bike had only recently arrived via the mover’s truck. The ride, Part One: Rick wasn’t sure about whether folks would be prepped for an actual picnic, so the plan was for a ride south, with a halfway stop in Rockford – a cute Palouse farm town about 20 miles south of Spokane and featuring a café and park. The best scooter access to Rockford is via Hangman Creek Road the famously scenic Valley Chapel route, where simply passing the namesake chapel takes you there. But since none except Rick had ever taken the right turn to Spangle, the group decided to follow that path. Following Kentucky Trails Road, particularly at the height of early summer’s wheat crop, is a drop-dead gorgeous ride, and one made even better by a stop at Spangle’s famous Harvester Café. We’d never been there for lunch before, and figured the breakfast menu was the Harvester’s main forte, but were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food and good service received. The ride, Part Two: The rest of the ride featured a bit of quality improvisation too, following Cheney-Spangle to Curtis Road – skipping downtown Cheney in favor of some more farm country, vernal wetlands and that cute, small-scale railroad place at the intersection of Curtis and Anderson. The whole way, we’d noticed the fact that not a single car had come up behind us to pass – even with the fact that Rick had set a leisurely 45-mph pace most of the way. Of course, as soon as one wonders about it, stuff appears. A single car – the only one of the day – pulled up near the Curtis turnoff, and amazingly, courteously, passed on by. Weird, but the kind of weird we love and hereby make note of, symbolizing a fantastic Saturday ride. If you missed it, you missed a great one.  |
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