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DAY 10
Tailwind . . . yeeeeehaw!

ROUTE: Boise to Mountain Home, ID DISTANCE:  51 miles WINDS: Kicking tailwind
WEATHER: Clear, mild, and gorgeous. . . blue skies dotted with puffy clouds TERRAIN: Gradual climb for first 20 miles then rolling TOTAL CLIMBING: 1,400 feet give or take

RIDE OVERVIEW: After a great breakfast at the motel (make-your-own-waffles that you can fill or cover with blueberries or strawberries, French toast, scrambled eggs and bacon or sausage, yogurt, cereal, oatmeal with a choice of raisins or brown sugar, several juices, coffee or tea, etc.), riders hit the road. I was SAG today. Josh was Sweep, Karen rode Float, and Mike was in Silver, the Mechanics van..

Today's ride was possibly the easiest we've had so far.  We had beautiful sunny skies at ride start this morning and mild temperatures--low 80s.  Since the route was a mere 51 miles, we decided to load the luggage later than normal (8:00 am) thus leaving riders an hour and a half for a leisurely breakfast before loading. We have to take every opportunity to leave late when we can, since we have a couple of long-mileage days this week. 

Today we were blessed with almost perfect conditions.  Riders had a honking tailwind, skies were clear, the bike trail out of Boise was picturesque (at one point the trail, the Boise River, and the New York Canal nearly ran parallel with each other), the Interstate shoulder was wide, and the climbs gentle. Who could ask for anything more? Riders rode the bike trail (above right) out of Boise and then rode about 30 miles of Interstate into Mountain Home.

Because Boise has so much to offer, our cyclists were reluctant to leave it this morning, despite ideal conditions and a short route. Boise became the capitol of the new state of Idaho in 1890. Today it remains the largest city in Idaho, so there is much to see and do in the City, not the least of which was more cycling, though along the scenic and tranquil 20 miles of Boise River Greenbelt trails.

Nonetheless, leave they did . . . most of the riders, that is. There's a story here:  Mike McG had been talking to Jill about changing out her wide touring-type tires for some lighter, narrower road tires. When he got to Boise, he took action, and bought Jill a set of narrow Armadillos. These were installed later that evening. But . . . Jill got no farther than the exit to the hotel parking lot this morning when suddenly her tire blew with a report that could probably be heard back in Astoria. The blast even blew the tire off the rim (saving Mike considerable time). Turned out that the larger tube was pinched between the rim and the tire bead. . . so Mike M replaced both tubes, and Jill sailed off to enjoy a super smooth ride on her new tires and with a tailwind to boot.

As riders left Boise, they picked up the bike path quickly and then rode adjacent to a game reserve and the Boise River, which made the departure very enjoyable before getting on the Interstate.  The Interstate shoulder doesn't get much traffic as demonstrated in the photo of Chips, left, riding the grassy pavement joints. It is legal to ride the Interstate in the West when there is no other way to reach one's destination.

I think everyone enjoyed our stay in Boise . . . The Courtyard by Marriott is a very gracious hotel, Boise is a "bike friendly" town with cyclists everywhere, and a great bike shop, Georges, is only a block from the hotel. There is also a choice of eating places nearby the motel. Some riders, however, opted for a more distant restaurant, so the hotel arranged for a trolley for a dozen or so of the riders who took it to Epi's, a Basque restaurant, where they had some ethnic food and a great experience.

What's a Basque restaurant doing in Boise? Well, Boise--which BTW is named from the river on which it is located, the latter named by the French Rivière Boisé, meaning"woody river"--saw an influx of Basques from Spain in the 1930s, a migration that has had a big impact on Boise's culture. Interestingly, today Boise has the largest concentration of Basques per capita outside the Pyrenees Mountains. It also has a fine Basque Museum and Cultural Center.

But, back to the ride. As I said before, we rode on the Interstate quite a bit today. This usually means that we'll have more flat tires than normal, and today was no exception. Mike M had his hands full from start to finish. Craig had a flat, and in the three miles Mike had to cover to get to Craig, he encountered and fixed four other flats
--most caused by the tiny wires found in radial tire debris. Before the SAG Stop, Theresa rolled over a large chunk of wood, and though she didn't fall, she irreparably dented her rim--actually flattened about a foot of it (right). Mike fixed her up with one of his wheels. Then Sonia was having problems, so Mike fixed her up with the other of his wheels. Bob reported having three flats on this short day. After I set up the SAG Stop--placing Mary's husband's flower arrangement on the SAG table and also the delicious oatmeal cookies sent by one of Chips' friends--I decided to inspect my bicycle while waiting for the first rider. Good thing I did. Voilá!  I found two pieces of wire in the front tire. I had to remove them with pliers. Don't think they punctured the tube as the tire is still solid.

Riders arrived at the motel with gigantic smiles plastered on their faces, despite the plethora of flats. After riders got in and got something to eat--Carol, Val, and Jill invited me to eat lunch at AJ's with them--Mike conducted a "Care and Feeding of your Drive Train" clinic in the hotel's hospitality room. He is an engaging and entertaining teacher, so riders came away with some good tips and information.

Everyone got in by noon so they will have plenty of time to rest for tomorrow which is a long day into Twin Falls.  Depending on the winds, it should be a nice "almost century" before our really short days coming up.  I'm riding Float tomorrow and looking forward to riding with a tailwind, so hope our luck (and my toe) holds out. 

P.S. Hello to those of you in the Optimist Club of Northwest Denver and in the Arapaho Community College Fitness Center/Pool who are following Cliff's cross country adventures. Cliff had a terrific tailwind day today, and he didn't get lost once, seeing as it was pretty much a straight line between hotels. We're still assigning him a daily "pathfinder," though. Glad you're following the journey on the web site.

P.P.S. Last night Len and Paul Burman conducted a fundraiser for Partners in Health at the Lucky 13 restaurant in Hyde Park. They are raising funds to support Dr. Paul Farmer, a physician from Boston who is practically single-handedly helping those in Haiti live better, healthier lives. Dr. Farmer makes house calls, some involving many hours of travel, digs wells, and runs 6 different clinics. So far Len and Paul have raised $94,000 toward their goal of $100,000. A write-up of their fundraiser appeared in a Boise weekly newspaper. If you would like to contribute to their fundraising efforts, go to their website, http://www.ride4haiti.org. to find out how.

HEARD ON THE ROAD TODAY: 

bullet"What a day! This could almost count as a second rest day."
bullet"This day was a gift!"
bullet"Can we have days like this everyday?"
bullet"I think Karen has a pulse rate that's lower at 30 mph than mine is while watching TV bowling."
bullet"I ride 500 miles a week and haven't missed a day since the Ford administration."

DUH! OF THE DAY:  Goes to all those who bought out George's Armadillo tires yesterday and then stored them in the Mechanic's van while having flat after flat today. Mike says he couldn't use them because he didn't have any wheels to put them on--he'd given his wheels to riders.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
 

Paul lobbied hard for this when checking in on Tuesday. The pretty young thing behind the desk was won over. . .

 

Keith and Fred decided to sit on something
other than a bicycle saddle for a spell.
 

Fred held this smile for a long time. He was
afraid to walk out of the truck stop and back to the
SAG Stop for fear of being prosecuted.

 

Ahh. . . the ambiance, the perfectly ripened bananas, the
pallet-cleansing apple slices, the aromatic bouquet emanating from the flower arrangement . . . All describe my SAG table to which Mary and Lisa gave a 5-star rating. Let's see
Josh beat that tomorrow, eh?
 

If Dave is going to take up cyclocross, I'm thinking he needs to get a more appropriate bike.

 


Would you bite the hand that feeds you? "Eag" my little
handlebar eagle would if he isn't offered something to his liking. In this case he went for Mike's finger instead of the lowly "parrot food" peanuts Mike offered at the SAG Stop . . . which was set
up in a truck stop as you can see .