Staffing Across America North for ABB 2004: Day 8 -- Nice cruise into our second state and a rest day in Boise...yea!

June 28, 2004

ROUTE: Ontario, OR to Boise, ID
DISTANCE: 62 miles
WINDS: Light tailwind

WEATHER: Overcast at the outset but sunny and clear after the midpoint SAG stop TERRAIN: Rolling to flat
TOTAL CLIMBING: 2,739

RIDE OVERVIEW: Overall a good day...several people got in some bonus miles trying to unravel the navigation out of town, but after getting into the country, the route was a low pressure, enjoyable trek through the Idaho countryside. I was riding with Mark the sweep until the first SAG where I picked up Karen to ride to the motel. We spent the afternoon coming up with a tongue twister caption for a photo I want to take...you'll see it in a later page. Suffice it to say, we laughed most of the way into town. Speaking of laughing...as we were cruising along making up funny stories about the animals along the side of the road, we saw a horse just fall over...honest, it just did an "Artie Johnson" and keeled over. It really caught my eye and I was a bit concerned but it seemed to be just rolling on the ground scratching his back in the dust. He rolled over several times with his feet straight up in the air finally lying motionless for about 30 seconds...had I just witnessed a horse heart attack? I looked around for a farm house to advise the owner that he had a dead horse when it popped back to its feet and shook off the dust and started grazing again...odd behavior, but he seemed OK. I've never seen such behavior...I wonder if it had a seizure? Whatever, it was intriguing to watch.

One of the favorite stops on this day is Hyde Park just outside downtown Boise. Almost everyone stopped in this little esoteric spot in the road for lunch and a little people watching. Most everyone was early since it was a short, relatively easy day so they had to keep entertained until the rooms were ready at the motel...this was the place. Above Team Estrogen (Julie, Liisa, and Lynn) enjoyed each other's company and the local cuisine.

We spent the afternoon getting the trucks unloaded and the departing people's bikes delivered to the local bike shop for shipment and get ready for rap. Tomorrow we rest or at least do something different...the staff will be busy getting the new riders introduced and all their bikes tuned. We also have to service the trucks and prepare for the next leg. We will depart without 6 of our family who were only planning to ride to Boise: Tom Wellman, Wayne Harvey, Donald Jenkins, David Odell, John Saul, and Gary Hayler. We'll miss them as they were part of our family, but we'll welcome 7 new riders: Larry Swartz, Carrie Anne Keys, Christopher Stephens, Chris Bohmer, David Reilly, John and Melody Stanley. I'll get them into the Meet The Riders section as soon as I can. Wednesday we head deeper into Idaho...hope you'll join us...see you then. Mike

SUSAN’S BIKE SHORTS:

Rolled the bike out this a.m. to find that I had the mysterious "motel flat." This is a paranormal occurrence. It's been rumored that sometime between midnight and 3 a.m. wiry little air-eating gremlins slip into one's room and suck all the air from one's tires. No one knows how to stop these gremlins. Duct tape at the door bottom does not deter them. Nor do incantations or exhortations.
I drove the SAG wagon today. Since I was not riding, I simply racked the bike on the van. Mark helped me fix the flat in Boise. Again had to box my breakfast for take-out and book it to catch the front runners. Gary Hayler was racing to Boise to catch a 2 o'clock flight, and pulled seven or eight high-speed riders with him. Nonetheless, he was the first to reach the SAG stop, where he signed in, filled his water bottles, applied sunscreen, and was off again in a flash. He had a 15 minute lead on those riders who had left the gate with him,
Riders passed through wonderful smelling mint fields shortly after leaving Ontario. Mark picked a baggie full of leaves and put a few into his water bottles. This was a good thing. All became instant imitators.
Since it was a short day, we set up only one SAG stop midway between Ontario and Boise. It was in a large, clean Shell station/CS (the first we've seen with regular gas under $2) at an intersection, but the space the owner told me we could use was hidden from the riders until they were just opposite it. I grabbed the spray paint to guide them in, but found it was without a nozzle, so made a hasty sign, attached it to an orange water cooler, and placed it strategically before the turn. Nobody saw it. Several sailed past. Each time this happened, we all hollered until we got the riders' attention. When I was tearing down the SAG stop, I needed something from the glove compartment and there found a brand new can of paint. . .with nozzle. Dang!
Liisa was miffed that I had not placed my usual flowers on the SAG table. When I told her that there were no wildflowers in the immediate area, she told me that if I really cared about the riders (sniff) I could have gathered some from the neighboring yards. Uh-huh.
Diane sagged in with me from the SAG stop, and when we got to Hyde Park, we parked and went to Richard's for lunch. We were joined by Ted and Evelyn and later by Josh, who was in Red today. Though the cyclists overwhelmed the kitchen, the wait staff were pretty quick in getting us some delicious food. I had a whiskey marinated turkey breast sandwich with Tillamook smoked cheddar, marinated red onions, and apricot aioli on focaccia with creamy tomato basil soup--this the first lunch I've found time for since the tour start. Just what is aioli anyway?
We're in a lovely Courtyard by Marriott, and tomorrow should prove to be a fun day. Here are four more of Andrew’s lively limericks:

Karen Bauer
Karen is lanky and lean,
For biking she’s really quite keen,
But if you ride in her race
You’ll get dust in your face
On the bike she’s an Amazon queen.

Mike Munk
Our leader claims he’s a Munk.
Frankly I think it’s all bunk.
For I’ve heard it said
Barbara sleeps in his bed,
And the ladies all think he’s a hunk.

Jeffrey Frankel
Jeff oft rides with Robaire
His pate is shiny and bare,
But his manner is affable
And his jokes quite laughable,
Two things more important than hair.

Robert Dushane
If you’re ever down on your luck,
Robert will give you a buck.
He’s a generous sort
I’m glad to report,
But his politics really do suck.

HEARD ON THE ROAD TODAY:

"I ride to eat and eat to ride."
"What a great short day, plenty of sunshine coming my way!"
"Rest day tomorrow. Yippee!"
"Sign me up for a massage."
"I still have California air in my tires...the air's thicker there so it doesn't leak out overnight. But when it does, you can see it."

DUH! OF THE DAY: At route rap when we announced we were going to have a 4th of July bike decorating contest, someone said: "When's the contest and what's the theme!?" THEN WE HAD AN AH HA MOMENT: "Oh...never mind."

PHOTOS OF THE DAY:

Somehow, Evelyn doesn't understand the conceptof "Bi" cycle...it would ride better with TWO wheels.

This morning I found a Sponge Bob character zip tied to my frame and they even put directional arrows
on the road for "Sponge Bob." I've been labeled . . . just can't take yourself too seriously out here.
My staff will see to that.