Day 10 -- On the road again . . .

June 30, 2004

ROUTE: Boise, ID to Mountain Home, ID                
DISTANCE:  51 miles                  
WINDS: Mild headwind

WEATHER: Perfect--sunny but not too warm...severe thunder close by after we all got in safely...I like it like that.              
TERRAIN: Couple of gentle climbs and then rolling to flat          
TOTAL CLIMBING: 1400 feet give or take...gentle climb out of town and 10 miles down the interstate...then down to town last 20.

RIDE OVERVIEW: Today's ride was probably the easiest we've had so far.  Despite a tremendous thunderstorm, lightning, hail, and flooding last night in Boise, we had beautiful sunny skies at ride start this morning and milder temperatures (85) than we've had the last few days.  Since the route was a mere 51 miles, we decided to load the luggage later than normal (7:00) and eat breakfast before loading.  We have to take every opportunity to leave late when we can since we have a couple of long mileage days this week.  I know I've been raving about the terrain, the weather, and the tailwinds, but again today we were blessed with almost perfect conditions.  We had a mild headwind as we rode about 30 miles of Interstate into Mountain Home, but nevertheless, everyone was in by noon.

As we left Boise, we picked up a bike path (right) and rode adjacent to a game reserve and the Boise River, which made the departure very enjoyable before getting on the interstate.  I think everyone enjoyed our stay in Boise...it's a "bike friendly" town with cyclists everywhere...They also have one of the best bike shops I've seen since we've left the east coast...Georges.

As I said before, we rode on the interstate a bit today.  This usually means that we'll have more flat tires than normal...today was no exception.  Maybe a bit late, but since everyone got in early today, I held a flat tire clinic to help educate the riders as to the different types of flats, how to avoid them, and how to change them if they happened to not heed the second topic.  We had a good turnout for the clinic and after we finished the riders awarded me with a "Sponge Bob" jersey and talking toy (a smack and yak).  As I said the other day when they zip tied a small Sponge Bob character to my bike, I think I'm being type cast.  All the riders also signed a card with thanks for everything so far...they referred to the fact that I've said several times that leading them is like "herding cats" so they addressed the card to the "Cat Drive Leader" and signed it "From your herd of cats."  Good bunch.

After the clinic we had Route Rap which is fast turning into Root Wrap. James gave us another of his "Plant Sessions" and showed us some cheat grass so prevalent in the area and explained how its seeds can cause problems and even death for cattle. He then produced a large tumbleweed. After telling Ian (a tender 16) to close his ears, James explained that "it was good to spread your seed across the land"--good for tumbleweeds, that is. Tumbleweeds break off and tumble about to release their seeds.

Everyone got in by noon practically so they will have plenty of time to rest for tomorrow which is a long day into Twin Falls.  Depending on the winds, it should be a nice "almost century" before our really short days coming up.  I'm looking forward to riding in this wonderful weather...hope our luck holds out.  Before the clinic, everybody was lying by the pool enjoying the Idaho sunshine and turning as brown as an Idaho spud.  How much longer can this pattern last...however long it is, we'll milk it to the end I'm sure.     Mike

SUSAN'S BIKE SHORTS: 

• I've got a roommate--Carrie-Ann Keys, from FL. She rode the Astoria to Boise leg last year but then suffered a muscle injury so is back to finish what she started.
• After a great breakfast at the motel (make-your-own-waffles that you can fill or cover with blueberries or strawberries, French toast, scrambled eggs and bacon or sausage, yogurt, cereal, oatmeal with a choice of raisins or brown sugar [I had both], several juices, coffee or tea, etc.), we riders hit the road (yes, I rode today). The bike trail we rode to the interstate was along the Boise River for the most part, and at one point the trail, the Boise River, and the New York Canal nearly ran parallel with each other.  Need to find out more about the New York Canal. Stay tuned.
• We had a smooth, clean shoulder on the interstate until shortly after a rest area, at which time it turned to rough chip and seal and was littered with the ubiquitous pieces of wire and tire bits. I stopped to help Eugene with a flat that turned into a two-tube, two-CO2 cartridge, two-pump affair. Larry stopped a little later and loaned Eugene his pump. Just as we were seating the tire for the second time, Mark arrived in Red and finished the job. All this for one little circle of air!
• A little farther down the road I came upon Patricia, Rory, Carrie-Ann, and Larry all working on getting Patricia's rear flat fixed. They said they didn't need any help, so I pedaled on. Then, less than a mile from the motel, I came upon Robert and Dan fixing a flat. So close yet so far away. . . They had it under control, and didn't need my help.
• We're at a lovely Best Western with a pool with waterfall and some very interesting plantings, one of which is an evergreen that looks exactly like the bottle-brush type fakes they sell for Christmas trees. I'll have to ask Chris Boehmer, a new rider who is a landscape architect and may know what species it is...oh, oh, I bet Jim could tell me what it is; even if it is fake.

HEARD ON THE ROAD TODAY:
"Can we ride this distance every day?"
  

DUH! OF THE DAY:  I guess I (Mike) gets the duh today . . . I guess more of an "Ah ha" moment...and it was really yesterday.  The key to my room kept going bad. It would open the door, then the next time I tried to get into the room, it wouldn't work.  I went to the desk each time to get the credit card type key rescanned. This happened about 5 times during the day.  Finally, the desk clerk thought to ask, "Have you been walking by any magnets or electrical appliances?"  I thought for a minute and couldn't think of anything I'd come in contact with that would have caused my key to zero out.  . . .Ah Ha!!!  In my right pocket was a computer magnet I'd bought for Karen's bike and had forgotten to give to her. I'd been putting the key in the same pocket. BIG DUH!!!!  But that wasn't quite as bad as Barbara this evening.  Her key wouldn't work so she went back to the desk to have hers rescanned only to discover the reason it wouldn't work was it was the key from last night's motel. GREAT BIG DUH on that one.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY:

Judith on a "Hello Kitty" (the tires are even treaded with cat faces) and Andrew on a "Rat Fink" at Georges Bike Shop in Boise.

Dave R. ("New Dave") trying out a trike at Georges Bike Shop in Boise

Dan seemed to be interested in hearing about Bill's trunk design,
but in reality he was trying to figure out how to stow away and
let Bill do the pedaling...Bill has so much stuff in there already,
 he probably wouldn't notice.

Always the good student, Josh was most attentive as he
received some sage advice from Jim, our resident botanist.

The leader smiles!

Karen  smiles a crafty one. She thinks I should put this sign on the van
so the riders would know when I'm taking their photo...I think
it's better when they don't know.