Day 12 -- Scavenger hunt

July 2, 2004

ROUTE: Twin Falls to Burley ID
DISTANCE:  38 grueling miles
WINDS: Light tailwinds wasted on a short day...but we'll take 'em.
WEATHER: Absolutely perfect.
TERRAIN: easy
TOTAL CLIMBING: What?  We had climbing?  1400 feet

RIDE OVERVIEW:  Yawn...we slept in this morning and didn't load luggage until 8:30, but even though it was a laid back morning, it was still hectic for the staff.  Maybe it was because we were out of our normal routine...don't know.  But the riders seemed to take it in stride and looked forward to an easy, laid back 39 miles to our destination in Burley.  The temperatures were mild and the skies were sunny.  We had a wind to our backs...what could be sweeter...A SCAVENGER HUNT!!!!! 

Our route today followed the Snake River Canyon for about 9 miles. Then we broke away and followed I-84 on frontage roads.  It was quite a lonely route except for the sound of interstate traffic and the pulsating sounds of the watering systems that were virtually everywhere.  There wasn't much climbing today either unless riders opted to ride down to the Snake River, so all-in-all it was a pretty restful day on the bike.  Most everyone got in early and got a good rest before a tough day tomorrow.

Before potatoes in Idaho, there was gold!  Many took a side trip to the Twin Falls area which was a beautiful descent into the Snake River Gorge where, in 1869, gold was found below the falls.  As you can imagine, the word of gold led to an influx of miners (you wouldn't think hordes of people would flock to this area if someone yelled, "Potatoes!"), but it didn't take long for the mining to fizzle out (potatoes won out in the end).  After the bust of gold mining by 1870, the mining camps turned to agriculture which is still the main activity today.  Lake Bonneville, the bigger ancestor of the Great Salt Lake, flooded this area 15,000 years ago and formed the two cataracts that spill onto the rocks below.  The power dam at Twin Falls supplies enough power to provide electricity to 31,900 homes...oh, the power of water.

In the afternoon, I gave a drive train clinic (The care and Feeding of Your Drive Train).  After dinner, Jim's gave his botany lesson (on cattails) and we judged the Scavenger Hunt.

Teams lined up and showed us their collected items...Karen kept score.  Some of the teams were very ingenious, particularly Team Old & Lonesome (Bill G. and Diane) when Bill fanned his belt instead of coming up with a piece of fanbelt.  And he pinned Diane's collar to the wall when it came time to show a clothespin (See Photos of the Day for Bill's version of a clothespin). The Scavenger Hunt was won by Team Boucher (Sandy & Dave, left) who came out one point ahead of the next competitors. Everyone had all the items except Team Old Guys plus Mary Jo who said they left most of the stuff in their room, but the tie was broken by "bonus points" that were awarded by our panel of impartial judges for creativity.

After all the frivolity, we now have to think about riding again.  Tomorrow we ride to Blackfoot...110 miles.  It looks like a good day and hopefully we'll have tailwinds.  Tune in to see what happens tomorrow.  It promises to be another adventure    Mike

SUSAN'S BIKE SHORTS: 

• Great leisurely breakfast at the motel. I even got to work the crossword puzzle, something I've not had time for since we drove Box and Red from NH to OR in June.
• A fun, relaxing day today. I rode the short 38-mile route with Pam. We detoured to Shoshone Falls and then again to Twin Falls. After that we were primarily on a frontage road with very little traffic so rode side by side, chatted, and looked diligently for the items on the scavenger list. While I am staff and disqualified from playing ["this contest is not open to ABB staff, their heirs, assigns, kinfolk, spouses, partners, offspring, ancestors, forebears, friends, acquaintances, primate progenitors, or any of the aforementioned persons/apes expressly or inexplicably related to staff persons, co-signors, designees, executors, or kissin' kin"], I helped Pam find the items on her list, including a popsicle stick and clothespin. (We saw laundry hanging on a line and asked the woman who lived there if we could have a clothespin. She willingly obliged. Then, viola! on the way out of her driveway we found several popsicle sticks.)
• Later we made a pit stop at a Sinclair station where Pam bought a postcard with a picture of the Idaho state bird (a mountain bluebird) on it and also bought herself a headband sporting red-white-blue Fourth of July pinwheels on springs. The CS was decorated with all sorts of Fourth stuff, but the most interesting was not for sale.
• After the rocking SAG stop at mile 18-something (Cov had the radio hammering out music), Pam--tired of flatting--installed a flat-free tire on her bike. Then we really got serious about finding something unusual along the road. Came upon an old dilapidated prairie schoolhouse, and it yielded up a treasure trove of unusual items. Pam chose a spigot and I chose a mousetrap. 

More of Andrew's limericks. The man is fast. I cannot keep up with him:

Cov

We use a truck they call Budget,
But even so they don't begrudge it.
It's oft driven by Cov
Whom we all do love
That makes it a plus as I judge it.

 Ted

The rider we all know as Ted

Does not want his skin to be red.

His face is so white

It's a terrible sight;

Relax, it's just zinc. He's not dead.

Bob
When Bob the thin leads, it's too fast,
My energy sinks to half mast.
I gasp and I wheeze
"More slowly, Bob, please"
Let's face it, I'm coming in last!

  Mike2

And then there's a racer named Mike,

He'll pass you like Lance past a trike.

So don't even try

To hang with this guy,

He's truly the King Kong of bike!

  

HEARD ON THE ROAD TODAY: 

• "Turn right here left."    
• "You want some cheese to go with that whine?"  

PHOTOS OF THE DAY:

Dar places a strong right right on the kisser of an imaginary competitor who contested his previous 
day's 30 mph average. Kapow! Take that you dastard!

Staff has been complaining about keeping track of riders,
so Bill allowed us to tether a balloon to his helmet
so that we could track him remotely.

Today we passed the farm of Fred Frickle the first family farmer who found fame and fortune for finally finding the formula for fresh fruity flavored fodder for his flocks.  Fred's father, Frank, failed fame when he faced funding flaws from famous former fodder farmers...fact or fiction? 
Future facts forthcoming.

Always at the ready, Blacksmith Mike makes a cleat adjustment to Carrie-Ann's shoes.

How'd they do that?

Big game botanist, Jim, with his dressed out "kill" 
strapped to his top tube.

Mike holds off the hordes as they try to storm
the dining room before the food is ready.

Team Clydesdale tried to influence the judges by singing their rendition of the Budweiser song after finding a Budweiser Clydesdale bottle cap as part of the Scavenger Hunt

Mike in the Sponge Bob jersey the riders and staff gave him, trying his hand at mowing the highway
shoulder. What skill! He, just raised the blade before cutting off those mailboxes!

Bill won extra credit for his originality when he demonstrated his version of a clothespin.