Day 11 -- Beautiful ride in the country

July 1, 2004

ROUTE:  Mt Home to Twin Falls ID            

DISTANCE:  97 miles                  
WINDS:  Light and variable all day until the last rider, Bill G., got caught in a micro burst wind just outside of town...30 MPH +.

WEATHER:  Cool at the start (56 degrees) and a warm 85 by ride's end. Thunder late in the day.
TERRAIN:  A couple of mesa climbs but mostly rolling.                  
TOTAL CLIMBING:  3745 feet

RIDE OVERVIEW:  OK...I'll not bore you with another "It's a beautiful day in the neighbor-hood" paragraph, but suffice it to say IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD!!!!  NA NA NA NA NA!!!!  Whatever we are doing to appease the weather gods, we need to keep doing it, because every day it just keeps getting better and better.  Today the temperatures stayed in the upper 70s until afternoon, the winds were light and behind us for most of the day, the scenery was phenomenal, the roads great, the sun shining...I just don't know what else to ask for...WE'LL TAKE IT!!!!  When I asked the group how they liked Idaho so far, I received a resounding GREAT!!!  That about says it all. 

It was sure nice to get in so early yesterday.  Everyone was feeling pretty good at the start today, and it turned out to be a relatively easy day out in the Idaho countryside.  I spent the day in the van playing mechanic and taking photos...took over 200 on one camera alone.  Everywhere I looked I saw another "better" shot than I'd just taken. To say the scenery is beautiful out here is a huge understatement.  I would have taken more had I not been so busy fixing broken wheels and flat tires.  Russ had Ian's rear wheel rebuilt in Boise because it was breaking spokes faster than we could fix them, but Russ had the broken spoke today.  Dan also broke another rear spoke, which brings his count to 2 also.  I made quick work of those fixes so they lost little time while on the road.  Also had a few flats (Lynn alone suffered three!) which slowed down a couple of riders, but after the clinic last night the riders are ready for anything that comes along in the way of flats.

Every time I come through this area I'm in awe of how fertile it is.  I always try to envision how it must have been riding across this country in a wagon pulled by a team of oxen before irrigation made the countryside green.  It must have been an awesome task walking behind a dusty wagon and trying to avoid the natives, trying to stay alive, and trying to keep the livestock from wandering off.  If you've never seen this area, the climate is really dry--only 9 inches of rain a year--and if you don't irrigate the soil, the only thing that will grow is sagebrush.  Idaho's motto is, "Just Add Water" and this area is a true testament to what you can do with a little water.  Along the Snake River plain you'll find some of the most fertile agricultural areas anywhere, but only a few feet from where they apply the water, you'll find only dirt and sage.  The contrast is remarkable...it's either green or brown.  Then imagine walking over 20 miles of parched desert only to find your way blocked by a deep canyon with perpendicular walls on both sides but with the water you so desperately need at the bottom.  We rode through such an area today.  Some beautiful canyons have taken over 3 million years to develop (below), and they'll still be here long after we are gone.

This area is also well known for its dairy farming.  Twin Falls was settled 98 years ago by a man named Ira Perine.  He came here from Pennsylvania to take up mining.  After a bit, he found it to be too difficult, so he bought some dairy cows.  About that same time, a group of people moved into the area and set up a tent motel along the area near Shoshone Falls.  So, according to the info provided to us by the chamber of commerce, Twin Falls was settled by a dairy farmer and a bunch of tourists...and it's still like that today.

It was a pretty good hike to tonight's dinner at a Western Sizzler.  Luckily, there was a Pizza Hut about half way so everyone could get a snack on their way down.  I worked off my meal on the walk back...now I'm hungry again.  Time for a Dairy Queen blizzard.  Tomorrow's a really short day, only 38 miles, so everyone should be able to have a riding rest day.  I hope so, we've got some long days coming up.  Hope you have a great evening...see you again tomorrow.  Mike
.

SUSAN'S BIKE SHORTS: 

 Came through field after irrigated field of potatoes and grain today on the way to the first SAG stop. I stopped and took some pix of the riders as they pedaled past the ABB van (right). Most were looking for me in the van and did not even notice that I was standing on the other side of the road. The first rider in this photo, for instance, is giving the "I'm fine" signal to an empty van.

*   The Box took the first SAG stop in the town of Glenn Ferry. The gnats in the area were plentiful and tenacious, hanging in small clouds about one's head.

*   After checking in at SS#1, I worked my way up the line. Shortly after clearing the lead riders, I came to Bliss and the intersection of Old Hwy 30. Here I was treated to quite a sight: three European, gypsy-style caravans (below left) pulled by teams of four mules. One was pulling another wagon with a chicken coop on it and bales of hay for the mules. I took a few pix and then went into the CS to see what was happening. Found four grizzled, bearded, long haired men and two women. When I asked where they were going, they exchanged a "Here we go again" look and replied laconically, "Home."  Hey, I wasn't about to be deterred. Eventually after a bit of prying, I found out that one couple was going to Burley and the other four really were on their way home to Montana. Said they made about 30 miles a day and had been on the road for three months.

*   Today was a day of shifty gas stations. At one point, we were to turn at a Pennzoil station that had metamorphosed into a Sunoco. SS#2 was to be at a Texaco station on the outskirts of Hagerman, but it had become a Shell station. Nonetheless, I set up SS#2 on a nice grassy area beside the station, shaded by two old locust trees in which some western kingbirds frolicked all afternoon. I hadn't even sliced the apples and oranges when in rolled "Re-Pete" and Richard, the two frontrunners on this leg.  Said they'd felt like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid all morning as they outran the paceline behind them, repeatedly looking back and asking themselves, "Who are those guys?"  [Above, Pete and Richard relax in the shade while I finish setting up the SS.]

*   Gabe sat for awhile giving Patricia a chance to lay down some more miles and told me of his laundry mix-up in Boise. Seemed he'd thought that doing laundry would waste too much time, so sent his and Patricia's laundry out. It came back with a $90 price tag. Seemed that the establishment misunderstood and dry cleaned all of the clothes, right down to the underwear and socks. Told Gabe that they did not do laundry, but he showed them where he had circled "laundry" on their order form. Gabe was so nice about it that eventually they cut him a break and made him pay only $40!

*  Sagged a rider in not 10 miles out of Twin Falls. He'd not fueled well and the heat was getting to him. We stopped at the Subway on Golf Course Road and found a good sized group of ABB's slurping down iced lattes and scarfing up Subway fare--Subway owner Loren among them. We stopped again at the first overlook (which reminded me of Butch & Sundance when they jumped from the cliff). The vista here is fantastic. The earth just opens up in a wide crack with the Snake River running through it. 

*  Many stopped at the bridge into Twin Falls--which sits so high over the gorge that people parachute from it--and today was no exception. Mark took a remarkable video of it with his digital, but held the camera sideways. We couldn't figure out how to right the parachutists or I would have included it here. Well, here's Mark's great shot of John and Melodie (left) instead.

HEARD ON THE ROAD:

• "How can all those cows stand around in that pen...it smells so bad I sure wouldn't want to stand there."
• "Gee, we just lost the high ground. I think we're in a hole. Does this mean we'll be climbing tomorrow?"
• "These gnats are gnasty!"
• "I got irrigated once and it felt pretty nice." [In regard to the windblown water from the potato field sprinklers]

Two more of Andrew's witty limericks:

Barbara Munk

Barbara married a Munk.
Whoever would have thunk?
I'd never guess
She was a monkess,
The lady has way too much spunk.

James

When James is out of the dorm,
He frolics about in the corn.
This teacher will talk
About all with a stalk.
His expertise is in plant porn.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY:

Aww, Mom, he's so cute. Can I take him home? Please, 
pretty please? Promise I'll feed him and take him for walks.
Barbara said she had room in the Box!

Brontosaur skeleton in an Idaho field?

Laid back Larry seeing the world from a different
perspective...between his knees? Think I'd get a stiff neck!

Team Estrogen wearing their new team jerseys. They challenge
Team Clydesdales to get with the program and
identify themselves with a team jersey, too!

Jesse's got his own personal bike stand.

Adrian and Jesse taking time out to put in their crops.

Mike's record for changing a tire is 48 seconds?  This guy said
he scoffs at 48 seconds!  Real men wield real tire irons not
some flimsy little things made of old milk cartons!

Mule caravan on the move. No, the bicycle in the foreground was
not in an accident. Mark flung it down so that he could take this picture.