The Spokane River flows near the Centennial Trail in Spokane County on a recent fall day. The gentle terrain of this section of the route lends itself to a wide variety of recreation like bicycling and walking. The Elaine's Schwinn Suburban bicycle can be seen on the right side of the picture.

A couple weeks later, I texted my friend. Would she be up for lunch at Twigs Bistro and Martini Bar at the Spokane Valley Mall? She was, ready to be part of an experiment where I saw if I had enough stamina to bicycle from Coeur d'Alene to Spokane Valley and back on my vintage Schwinn Suburban 10-speed.

The distance was roughly 50 miles. I was thinking it would be fun to bicycle my age, something a lot of cyclists do to celebrate their birthdays. If my plan was too ambitious, my friend would bail me out.

As it turned out, everything worked in my favor. It was a sunny, not-too-hot, not-too-cold day with almost no wind on primarily flat terrain. I started on the North Idaho Centennial Trail near the Riverstone Park in Coeur d'Alene.

Much of my trip paralleled Interstate 90. The views of the Spokane River and the surrounding mountains were gorgeous, but almost all of the nature noises were lost in the din of the nearby cars and trucks racing by.

On the way to Twigs, I missed a less-than-well marked turn where the trail goes underneath Interstate 90 near the Idaho-Washington border and rode into Liberty Lake on the Liberty Lake Stateline Trail. That mistake was easy enough to fix. Without consulting a map, I crossed the freeway on a bicycle bridge and headed a short distance toward the Spokane River to rejoin the Centennial Trail.

That was where I found my favorite section of that day's journey, between the Harvard Road and Sullivan Road trailheads. The freeway noise receded. The smell of pine perfumed the air as birds flitted in the branches above me. I saw two paddlers carefully navigating their way through the shallow, swift water in kayaks and an angler trying his luck.

I got off my bike and walked it down one of the many informal footpaths that lead to the river, leaving it for a short time, so I could dip my feet in the water.

Just like my earlier visit to the trail, I wanted more, more time to linger on the sunny boulders near the river, perhaps with a book, or the chance to go farther and see what other sections of the trail could reveal.

If my good luck holds, I will be back. I'm hooked.

What to bring if you go: Water to stay hydrated, a windbreaker for a sudden change in the weather, a cell phone to help navigate and summon help in an emergency.