July 19, 2021
Day 68 - Riggins, ID to Cambridge, ID
1 lb dirt to 1g round-up
In order to leave early, we woke up at 5. After some initial packing and food eating, we discovered that Mary had a flat.we changed it and left around 630. Jeremy made it to the riggins motel yesterday too and he was outside packing. He left just after us. This morning was really painful so I had to stop early at a rest area to get some relief. We had a long 35 mile climb to new meadows and were happy to not have done it yesterday in the heat. We were passed by tons of logging trucks and several were pretty angry about cyclists even being on the shoulder. We crested the hill at new meadows glad to get off the road for a few minutes
There wasn't much in town, but we hung out at the gas station. Anton decided to peel off from the group here so he could ride hwy 55 to Boise, since it looked like a better ride. He is going to catch a plane back to Atlanta, but it was great to meet him. He was a good addition to the group, so we will miss him.
We carried on down 95 for a few more miles before we found a bike path. The bike path is marked on the map, but not suggested because its all gravel. We were excited to get off the road, so we took it. It was awesome for the first 25 miles or so. We rode downhill on pretty good condition gravel crossing streams and following the weiser river. Alot of times I was just coasting at 16mph.
About 4 miles outside of council the roads got really rough, do Mary and I got off and rode 95 into town where we met Mark and Alex at the grocery store. We planned on staying at Mundo hot springs near Cambridge and had to get food here. Our destination was another 25 miles away, so we didn't buy too much. Although Mark did buy a bottle of wine. We got back onto the trail and it was pretty rough the test of the way. It was 2 miles shorter than the road, but I'm not sure it was worth it. My head was hurting by the end and I thought my brain might be permanently damaged. We arrived at the mondo hot springs exit and made it to the hostel pretty quick. The hot spring was closed because it was 135*, but we went over to the hostel and hosed off outside before even showering. We were covered in dust and probably pesticides.
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The bike path was so dusty and they had gone around spraying the whole thing to kill the plants trying to grow. I'm not sure if that is the usual gravel path method, but it seems pretty risky for riders since it's so dusty. I also hosed off the bike and buckets. I had never seen it so dirty, even after that skalkaho gravel pass. After all that, we showered, made dinner, washed clothes, and relaxed. I think 50 miles of gravel was pretty tiring.
I think we started the ride around 630 and finished close to 430. It was pretty hot towards the end, but most of the day was overcast and kept the heat down. Thankfully it wasn't nearly as hot as yesterday. I don't think we will wake up at 5 tomorrow, and I'm hoping for a shorter day.
Also, today was the first day in 3 days that we haven seen our crazy stalker lady. Maybe she is flowing Anton now...
Mileage:82
Altitude gain:3k
Today's ride: 82 miles (132 km)
Total: 3,525 miles (5,673 km)
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