Day 75: Riggins to Council

July 24, 2006

In some ways, today was a typical day for me-start ahead of the pack and finish dead last! If nothing else, it brought home to me some of the differences between solo and group touring. When I travel alone, there's no need for me to hurry to my overnight stop. When I was planning this trip, I always thought I'd be in camp by early afternoon and have the time to read or do whatever with plenty of time for chores. But what I've found is that I'm happier and less tired if I take my time during the day. If I get to camp early, I just feel like I should keep on going instead of resting. And there's really not that much to do in some of these places, so I got into a routine of talking to people more during the day and whatever.

Group touring is a little different. They have to be in camp at a certain time, and whoever is on cooking duty has to be there long before that. Somebody (usually Alvin) has to ride sweep to make sure everyone gets there. I'm sure if I had someone following me, I'd ride faster or with fewer long breaks. Anyway. . .

Early morning wake up call--trying to beat the heat

The Germans and I decided to wake up really early and get some miles done before the 100+ degree heat. Sleeping outside on the deck made it a little easier to get moving in the morning-no tent to take down and yesterday I'd bought stuff for an easy breakfast. Almost everything but the sleeping bag was packed, so I left soon after there was enough light to ride by.

Just outside of Riggins, I saw a baby deer in the ditch and stopped for a picture but was soon sorry I'd seen it at all because it was paralyzed and couldn't stand up. Probably hit by a car. At least it was in shock (I think) and seemed calm. Poor baby. Even though I was on two wheels instead of four, I felt complicit in his suffering.

Baby deer...I felt bad after I realized that this baby was sitting still because it was hurt...probably hit by a car :(

these guys adopted a bunch of highway sections around their compound

Let's just stay, I didn't stop here for a visit...

About 12 miles into the day, I stopped at a little store for a snack (after bypassing the 'Yahweh 666' club) and ended up staying there until a number of the AC group caught up with me. I left there with Toni, Wil, and Helen at a slower pace but happy for the company. We had re-entered a more wooded area, so the shade was nice, as was a great roadside waterfall.

Wil decided to ride faster, Helen slower, and Tim caught up with Toni. I thought he was just being companionable and riding with her, but ends up that he really wasn't feeling well and was pacing off her so he'd get somewhere. Tim's usually at the head of the group, but he must have really been hurting. By the time Helen, Toni, and Tim found a shady spot for an early lunch by some horses, Alvin had caught our little group. I was planning lunch up the road in New Meadows, so Alvin and I rode on, passing the 45th parallel on the way.

Tim pacing off Toni--he didn't feel so good today.

Helen on the road--and an upside down, behind the back shot by yours truly!

Self portrait on the road...hey, that's me!

New Meadows brought a nice convenience store, but I didn't see anything I wanted for lunch there and decided to head to a nearby Subway, but not before finding I had a flat from running over a giant staple. Oops. I'd been pretty lucky on flats and the weather was cooler than the day before (not that that was too hard to achieve), so it didn't bum me out. A whole bunch of the group had already left New Meadows by the time I got my tube patched and everything reloaded, but I still had Subway waiting for me. I'm telling you, this was among the best Subways I'd ever had-air conditioning and great music made it very hard to leave, but as I was heading out with a cookie for the road, Richard came in. I think Tim and Richard were the only ones behind me at this point. The patch seemed to be holding well, so I took off.

Oops...that definitely caused a flat, but only the second of the trip

But so much for that patch. A mile or so up the road, everything started getting squishy, so I pulled over to unload the bike again and change the tube entirely. Tim came slugging up the hill and didn't notice me until I hollered at him. He rested a few minutes and waited for me before moving on. He was really not feeling well, so I stayed with him. I'd never seen him go so slow. Just after crossing the Weiser River, I saw a little restaurant that wasn't marked on my map. I thought Tim might need a rest again, but he said he'd just slog on. I wanted a cold drink, so I went in and found wonderfully friendly people who brought me an entire pitcher of water with my Italian soda (Ha...you can totally tell I'm not in Kentucky anymore!).

Mmmm...water. This little place knew bikers. I ordered a drink and they brought a whole pitcher of water with it!

Richard must have gone by at some point, because I passed him having a second lunch after that. I think Richard likes to be alone sometimes. He's a stronger rider than he lets on and likes to do things his way, so I just waved and went on my way until interrupted by a phone call on a great downhill, so I stopped and got passed by Richard. Maybe we were trying to see who was the slowest of the day. But he went charging off, so I moseyed the rest of the way into Council, stopping to find that I was too late to use the computer at the historical center and eventually finding my way to the group camp where Alvin was being bombarded by things his group needed to have done.

I've seen my name on lots of things, but Llama Joy?!? I dunno about that one...

The most serious was that Wil's bike had basically exploded at some point during the day as his chain (closely followed by his derailleur) went into his wheel, seriously bending his derailleur hanger, dismantling the derailleur itself, and making a few of his spokes look like twizzlers. Radko and Ron had already started fixing it when Alvin got there, but I honestly didn't know how they were going to get that mess back together again. Apparently Alvin took off to find someone to straighten the hanger. By the time I got back from a shower and snack at the nearby gas station (expensive, but worth it), Alvin was performing some miracle of physics on Wil's bike. If it would have been me, I'd have turned his bike into a single speed, but Alvin somehow reassembled the derailleur and was able to get Wil three speeds for the next two days before the next bike shop.

Wil's bike exploded on the road today--lots of important parts wrapped around spokes. Radko, Richard, and Ron were working on it when I got to camp. I don't know how he did it, but Alvin got the stripped out derailluer hanger to hang on for two more days...and I'm sure my lucky penny helped, too.

There was definitely a bit of tension in camp that night-Alvin's frustration at the mechanical problems induced by repeated cross-shifting (Wil is legally blind and can't always see what gear he's in), some people being dissatisfied with a food situation that evening, some people upset they had to pay for showers, other people tired of the people who were tired of everyone else, etc., so I went and hung out with the Germans for a while, walked around town a bit, got some gas station nachos for dinner, and went to bed without even putting up the tent. I like my tyvek bivy!

Today's ride: 67 miles (108 km)
Total: 3,819 miles (6,146 km)

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