Day 13 -- Another Long Day...but a good one!

July 3, 2004

ROUTE: Burley to Blackfoot, ID                  
DISTANCE:  111 miles                  
WINDS: Headwinds in a.m.; tailwinds in afternoon

WEATHER: A near perfect as they make it; sunny, breezy and comfortable; didn't get much out of the low 80s all day           
TERRAIN: Rolling to flat           
TOTAL CLIMBING: 4,497 feet

MIKE'S RIDE OVERVIEW: One thing I've learned out here...you can't believe the weather people all the time.  We were supposed to have tailwinds all day today but you couldn't prove it by us.  The morning departure found winds in our face but other than that, the route and company were great.

The first 50 miles of our route were in a very desolate part of Idaho (photo below the snake on right).  We were away from the fertile fields and mostly in sage grazing land, which was all open range where we had to deal with several "cattle guards" the rails they put across the road to keep the cattle within a section of range.  We had cattle crossing our route in several places today, and at one point, we had a minor stampede across the road right in front of Susan and the white van.  Even if we didn't see the cattle on the road, we could tell they were there by what they leftbehind.  The picture left was one of the deposits that we had to avoid...there were many of these on the road today.  If we didn't detour around these droppings, our water bottles got a nice coating that created a unique flavor to enhance our Gatorade.

Aside from the cattle, there was no end to the critters along our route today, I even saw a couple of snakes (right) in "pre-squashed condition" lying  on the road sunning. In fact, Louis ran over the tail of a gopher snake, which quickly put it in a defensive, striking position. When Dave stopped to try to shoo it off the road, it bit him on the hand. A harmless bite to be sure. Susan also reported seeing an immature golden eagle feeding on a jackrabbit at roadside.

The second half of today's route was more populated and took us into some small towns...really small, but at least some civilization.  There wasn't much climbing except for a few hills around the 45 mile point.  Until then and after that, it was relatively flat but the mild headwinds and rough road surface in spots made it a little tougher than it should have been. The last 50 miles were on a road that could best be described as mind numbing.  It just went on and on and on with not much to see as far as variety, but it had a shoulder and, thankfully, the wind shifted and we had a tailwind.  We also got to ride on I-86 for about 8 miles near the middle of the day.  It was the best shoulder I've ever ridden on...smooth concrete without a rumble strip, and it was the cleanest I'd ever seen too.

Register rock, now behind fencing so that it cannot be damaged with modern graffiti; and some of the original graffiti; see aerial photo of its location in Photos of the Day

One interesting landmark we came across today was Register Rock at about the 42-mile point on our route.  It's a big rock on which early pioneers carved their names to record their passing along the Snake River in the mid 1860s.  One individual on his way to Portland, Oregon, scratched a head of an Indian on the stone in 1866 when he was 7 years old.  As an adult, he became a sculptor and returned to the rock to check on his work and sign it again in 1906.  It really was an interesting landmark, and I tried to imagine what it was like in 1865 when settlers braved the elements, but found time to record their presence for all time.  It was probably an easy place to find as all they had to do was follow I-86 to exit 28 and they were right there.

I was riding Float today so I talked to Re-Pete and Adrian (right) and asked them to ride paceline to Blackfoot.  We pushed the pace most of the day while sharing the workload in the headwinds.  We picked up Richard at the second SAG and beat feet all the way to town.  I think we were all about ready to get in as our tanks were getting empty by 1:00.  We were trying to get into Blackfoot before eating lunch and we'd have made it too if Re-Pete hadn't had 2 blowouts within about 2 miles just outside of town.  I really enjoyed the company and it was the first time in a long time I've been able to ride with the "A team."

After getting in, we were all looking forward to a great feast to be catered to the motel...we were to eat outside, but mother nature had a different idea.  Just as the time neared to put out the food, the skies opened up and dumped tons of water and high winds blew everything that wasn't tied down somewhere else.  What to do?  Plan B!!!!  The catering folks didn't miss a beat and set up the feed line in the lobby of the motel and everyone went to their rooms to eat...several groups ate together in a room...party!!!  Hopefully, breakfast will be on schedule outside if the weather holds.

Tomorrow we have a short day...whew, we need it.  It's sleep in and leave late...see you then.

SUSAN'S BIKE SHORTS: 
*   Not much to report today. I drove White and provided SAG STOPS #1 & #3.  Barbara provided SS#2 from Box. I started out with two riders in the van. One was going to to ride 20 miles of the start in the van to reduce her ride length. The other was feeling under the weather. We got to SAG #1 before the place had opened. No bathrooms/no service. We also arrived simultaneously with the first riders (we'd been confused by a stop sign that was not on the cue sheet and were looking for a Sinclair gas station). Like yesterday and the day before, the Sinclair Station that was supposed to be was no more. All that remained was one mangled pump and a small ramshackle CS. Also a fireworks stand.

*   Shortly after the first SS, a rider signaled that he needed help, so I stopped. He felt undernourished and decided to sag the rest of the route. We three got to Barb's SS#2 just as Mike, Richard, "Re-Pete," and Adrian were heading out in their lightning paceline. We hung around the SAG
a bit to give more riders a chance to get on the road ahead of us and then ran them down about 11 miles out. Two other groups formed pacelines today to make the miles fly by faster: Bill B., Ron, Pete, Gary C., & Bob, who called themselves The Hammer (Bill) and His Four Nails; and The Three Docs (Rudy, Chas. & Gerard) plus Team Estrogen (Julie, Liisa, and Lynn), plus Larry.

* Learned that the large half-buried sod-roofed houses we saw along the way were spud cellars and that the fields of white flowered potatoes were whites, while the fields of purple flowered potatoes were russets. Yesterday I saw seven or eight open beehives sheltered under roofed structures along the fields. These were supplied undoubtedly by migratory beekeepers to help the farmers pollinate their crops. By the time I decided to take a picture, I'd seen the last one, I guess, because there were no more on our route.

• HEARD ON THE ROAD TODAY: 
• "Yep, whenever you bring up chaffing . . .it's a sore subject." 
• "I have to eat all the time or I'd disappear."
  "Not me. If I ate all the time I'd become much more visible."
• "I feel chesty and croaky." [Rider with an upper respiratory infection.]

PHOTOS OF THE DAY:

Our motto on the road is, "Never pass up a Port a Potty." 
But this one is a little hard to access as Karen tries
to use the facilities.  At least there's no line.

I guess they don't have too many targets out here to practice
their shooting skills so they have to use anything they can find.

..

An interesting sign on the interstate...the inmates
were selected as "Outstanding Group of the Year." 
Must be a tough county.

Today, Jesse celebrated his 29th birthday . . . complete
with cake and a napkin with good wishes from everyone.

 An aerial view from the Internet of the pavilion with Register rock in it. Gives you an idea of the kind of country we were riding through

Dar and Mary Jo enjoy the lonely wide open spaces of the departure route.