June 15, 2022
Riding in Your Own Private Idaho
Up at sunrise - which is standard when I'm camping.
There's nothing better than early morning riding.
The light is delicious and the air is sweet.
Stopped at the TA Truckstop for a sausage biscuit.
Biggest truckstop I've ever seen.
The cashier though I was a homeless person -
well, because I look like one.
Another small stretch of I-84 - I'm so over I-84.
Riding on the shoulder, broken glass and tire shreds.
Generally, it's safe on the shoulder with traffic whizzing by -
But it does wake you up when a wind turbine blade zooms overhead.
Finally back on a back road.
Irrigated fields of green in flatlands, brown desert hills above.
Twelve miles of empty bliss, then twelve miles with traffic.
Why can't I have 24 miles of nonstop bliss?
Payette is a lovely little town between the Snake and Payette rivers.
Stopped at the library to catch up on the journal.
1,824,548 little kids were there for reading hour.
The noise was deafening - the librarians are saints.
Albertson's grocery shopping and lunch in the park.
Alas! Then it was out on Highway 52.
Idaho highways are notoriously bad for cycling.
Very few have shoulders and the roadbeds date from the 1950s.
So, they usually have embankments with a 10-foot drop-off on the edge.
Plus traffic going well over the 55 mph speed limit.
It is riding with one eye looking ahead and one eye on the mirror.
Finally got to Bluff Road - more miles - but totally empty.
Also bucking a headwind that's beginning to make me grumpy.
Water getting low, nothing serious, but have to conserve.
How many more miles to the next store?
Do three miles. Chug of water. Do three more.
When I finally got to the store, an hour later than expected.
I had a 44 oz. lemonade and stretched out in the shade behind the store.
Made a few phone calls as I waited until evening to get back on Hwy 52.
A woman drove by and asked if I was o.k..
She said her little girl had seen me and was worried.
How sweet!
After and hour and a half, it was back out on the road.
And, yes, it was now largely empty and the wind had let up.
The ride up to and along the reservoir was a piece of cake.
(Even for a cyclist not as young as he used to be.)
I camped at a wildlife refuge just above the reservoir -
just off Main Street in Montour which is no more.
The reservoir put the town in the flood plain.
So, it was razed and the people relocated.
A silent spot for a weary rider.
Today's ride: 70 miles (113 km)
Total: 538 miles (866 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 9 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 4 |
I'm enjoying following along.
I hope you have lots of quiet back roads and perfect weather in the next weeks.
Jeff
2 years ago
Not sure where you will be between June 27-July1, but I'm planning on cycling from the north side of Yellowstone (as close as I can get considering the flooding) up to Great Falls. I decided to take your advice and head a bit more east for my multiyear cross country route and eventually will ride through Glacier in the early morning at some point in the upcoming years (and not go through Missoula). Anyway, if you're in the vicinity maybe we'll meet.
Todd
2 years ago
I'll be close to Buffalo by the end of June.
I hope you have a great trip!
John
2 years ago
2 years ago