July 17, 2024
To Challis, ID
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I'm letting you in on my touring secret - bing cherries! They are what turned my day around today. I was out the door an hour late. It was cold in Stanley this morning! 55 degrees when I left at 8 AM. I had to zip my shirt all the way up and tuck my sleeves into my gloves. Riding in the shade was not appreciated this morning. Riding in general was not appreciated. My legs didn't hurt when I got up, but I didn't have any zip either. I was still mentally pouting about not getting a day off. Even the slightest uphill made me downshift WAY down. My legs were going through the motions, sans power.
The first 20 miles of my ride were through outstanding country - I'm running out of superlatives - insert several of them here. At mile 20 I stopped at a roadside potty, then pulled out the last few of the cherries. I have to give them the credit, because I don't know what else happened. Finally my quads loosened up and small inclines ceased to feel difficult. I started looking around with interest rather than in an obligatory manner.
Yes! This is a great last day - cruising downhill along the Salmon river. What a wonderful last day. It was purely by accident that our first day and last day were both 57 miles of downhill. If you'd like to experience the same, ride a counter clockwise route starting in Challis!
Once I ate the cherries, the miles ticked off satisfactorily. Highway 21 the past couple of days and Highway 75 today have been recommendable bicycling routes. Highway 75 ended at 93. I took a left and had a two mile climb into town. I was really, really dreading this climb, and last night had asked Jacinto if he would sprint past me into town, get the van, and come back and pick me up. He looked at me as if I were joking, but I totally wasn't. In the light of day, I had to laugh at myself. What RWGPS showed as a giant climb at the end of the day was a couple of clicks on the shifter after eating cherries.
You know what I've quietly been thinking for days? I have only had one flat the entire trip - that was a front flat back in Pinnacle that I discovered in the room in the morning. If you have to have a flat, that's the way to have one. Remember the beginning of the trip when I was practicing and practicing changing the rear Rohloff wheel? I never had to do that this tour. Whew. But, I was prepared! I have Gatorskin tires on this bike. They seem to be very popular, and I'm joining the crowd. We've ridden through glass and reread tire wires for days on end. Jacinto has been pumping up his rear tire each morning, for about two weeks. He uses the ever popular Marathon Plus tires.
As I pulled up to the motel, I could see my van parked around the side. It didn't go the way of the restaurant employee's Crosstrek yesterday!
Linda and I chatted about the tour, the fire, and how nice it is to sleep in your own bed with your own pillow. I walked my bike to the back of the property to the same room we had before. The door was cracked? The room hadn't been cleaned yet. Well. I went over and started the van. It did start. I drove to the office. Look at me. Linda moved me to a different room. When I got out of the van, I saw that I'd walked through the weeds and tracked a bunch onto the floor mat. I'm glad I cleaned them right up, because I picked out six goatheads! I'm extra happy I moved the van around. If I'd walked the bike over there, I might not be advertising flat free status. Just to make sure, when I walked the bike to the new room, I wiped the tires off. I have to give a plug here for my two legged kickstand that elevates one end of the bike off of the ground. This style of kickstand is extra steady. I've never had my bike fall over. I can also tilt my bike fore and aft to wipe the tires, clean the chain, etc. I teased Jacinto for several years about his heavy kickstand. Now I'm a believer.
I've showered and eaten my snack. I've got this all written up. I can see Jacinto is about a mile from town. Komoot had told him he should average 17.7 mph today on this downhill. I suspect Jacinto is taking that as a personal challenge. I'm not expecting to see many photos from him.
This has been a very good trip. We agreed last night that we would rank it in third place. #1 goes to Spain and Portugal last year. #2 was the border to border trip in 2020. This trip was a sleeper. It wasn't on our radar as someplace we wanted to go. It was a place holder trip that got expanded in size when Jacinto decided against shoulder surgery. Then, it ended up being a charmer of a route. Who knew!
I'll come back later and add his commentary and photos.
Later - Jacinto had a good ride in. He did not make the 17.7 mph predicted average. He saw a rafting group stranded, with it's raft on top of a rock in the middle of the river. The group was on the shore and the leader (presumably) was with the raft, trying to get it unloaded.
We agreed traffic was ideal today. I saw one lonely logging truck. He saw none. I saw many dump trucks full of dirt, headed my direction. He saw none. It was warm (85) and windy just as Jacinto arrived. We loaded the bikes in spitting rain.
We ate dinner at the neighboring Village Inn restaurant. It was lack luster. Jacinto said his grilled chicken had no flavor at all. They had huckleberry pie on the menu. I was going to order some, but changed my mind after we had the main dish.
We are planning a semi early depart in the morning. I will drive while Jacinto drinks coffee and wakes up. It's a ten hour drive home. Tomorrow we will sleep in our own bed. I'm not going to look at the mail until the next day! Jacinto has five nights at home until he goes to Mexico to visit his brothers. I've been debating going to Tucson, because who doesn't love Tucson? Perhaps even I don't love Tucson in July.
It has been a memorable tour for the right reasons. Thank you for following along.
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https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/62308/browse_photos
----->Bill
4 months ago
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4 months ago
4 months ago
Today's ride: 58 miles (93 km)
Total: 1,631 miles (2,625 km)
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And a big thanks for introducing me to the Salted Nut Roll!
4 months ago
2 weeks ago