And with the new year, my 31 Days of January Biking challenge must begin…

Riding every day in January while living in the inland Northwest is likely to present a few challenges including cold temperatures, snow and ice on the roads and bluebird days with fresh mountain powder call me to the ski slopes.

Rather than celebrating New Year’s Eve with her via Skype, Janet and I decided to meet between Portland and Spokane to start 2013 together. Since I’m dog sitting, we needed a dog-friendly establishment with a reasonable drive for each of us.

Boardman, Oregon is a 3 hour drive for each of us but the hotel we found had nothing available. The next choice was in Kennewick, Washington…the Clover Island Inn, dog-friendly and available!

With Sabrina and Gertie in the car and my Trek 520 commuter on the roof, we head south to meet Janet at the hotel. We arrived just after dark as Janet returned from a bit of grocery shopping for snacks and bubbly drinks for midnight. It seems there is a large new years party tonight with an average age around 70 at the hotel which we decided to avoid. After an early dinner at a local surf and turf restaurant, we settle in early to mark the start of 2013.

Since we stayed right on the mighty Columbia River, riding along the Sacagawea Heritage Trail was an easy choice. Not wanting to leave the dogs for too long, we limited ourselves to a 17 mile out and back along a nearly empty bike path. A breezy 30 degree day with Janet was a perfect way to start the new years riding out.

Cruising along the Columbia River in Kennewick, WA

Tomorrow will start with the drive back to Spokane and then work in the afternoon. Next weekend I’ll be back in Oregon visiting and helping Janet and the Linfield College ENV 398 class finish preparations to head out into the wonderful central Oregon Cascades for a couple weeks of backcountry camping fun…and just a bit jealous I won’t be teaching it this time.

;-{

JS