Day 9
June 9, 2005
One state down, nine to go!
That’s right, today we crossed the Snake River into Idaho. We got up early, had some French toast at Anne’s restaurant, said goodbye to Robbie, our little friend from the night before, and headed for Potato-Land USA. Today was great because we hit a couple of milestones; it was awful because we hit a couple of huge climbs on the way.
Right out of Richland we had a 5.5 mile climb up to a 3,200 foot pass to tackle. It wasn’t fun. The ride down was fun; I almost hit 40 mph. I was at 39.5 when I flew by the warning sign cautioning vehicles to take the turn at 30 mph. I figured it was better to make the turn than to make the 40, so I hit the brakes and lived to tell about it. As fun as the trip down was, it was hardly worth the climb up. As we regrouped at the bottom, a truck pulled up and asked if we needed directions. We said no, and they offered us a huge sticky bun. Being one to never turn down free food, I thankfully took it although I was only able to eat a third of it before giving the rest to the cows.
We had a nice ride of about 20 miles to the spot that would become our celebration of crossing into Idaho and the mountain time zone. Would you believe they didn’t have a “Welcome to Idaho” sign for us? I couldn’t believe it. Good thing we took a few pictures with the first Idaho sign we saw, otherwise we might not have had anything with which to commemorate the event. We hit a pretty bad headwind as we traced the Snake River back to the Idaho line, but we made it. And when we did get to Idaho, we had a nice little winding climb up to the top of the Brown Lee dam waiting for us. Welcome to Idaho… At least it was a pretty climb.
We had lunch at the Gateway diner, our first meal in Idaho. While there I asked one of the kids working there what the ride over to Cambridge, our next lay over, was like. We knew there was a pretty big hill on the way, I just wanted another idea of how big. Today was also the first full day with the sun. It beat on us the whole day, pretty draining, by the time we got to the Gateway for lunch we were pretty tired.
The kid, probably 15, told us it was pretty bad…6% grade, 22 miles… He was very matter of fact-like about it, very convincing, very disheartening. Chaz, usually the workhorse getting things rolling, was saying he wouldn’t mind just hanging out at the restaurant and playing cards while watching the first game of the finals – sounded good to me. With the kids description and Chaz’s lack of enthusiasm, I really began to dread the climb up and over into Cambridge. Luckily, this would become a great lesson mental steadfastness.
That kid must think it's funny to lie to weary cyclists. It was rough, but it wasn’t the terrifying nightmare he made it out to be. It kinda made me mad that I let myself get so psyched out about it. We made it; success was mine/ours.
When I pulled into town, I saw the guys’ bikes outside of the Cambridge Assembly of God church. I went in and found them chatting with the pastor and his wife. They were very friendly and were happy to tell us about the area, the church, and themselves. They were also very interested in our trip as well. They gave us great recommendations on lodging and food, and wished us well on our travels. As we were pulling out of the parking lot, the pastor’s wife came out and told us to go to “The Gobbler,” the nicer of the two restaurants in Cambridge, and the meal would be taken care of, they’d pick up the tab. Very nice of them! We couldn’t believe it. And the meal was great. Thanks again to the Cambridge Assembly of God for making our night and filling us up, literally, with their warmth and generosity.
Tonight we’re camping out at a motel with RV and camping facilities. It’s pretty nice, we’re able to get some much needed laundry done along with nice hot showers. The only bad thing is this one quick little mosquito I’ve been trying to kill as I’ve typed this out while I wait for the laundry to dry in the laundry hut. I hate mosquitoes.
Today: 71.12 Total: 551.94
One state down, nine to go!
That’s right, today we crossed the Snake River into Idaho. We got up early, had some French toast at Anne’s restaurant, said goodbye to Robbie, our little friend from the night before, and headed for Potato-Land USA. Today was great because we hit a couple of milestones; it was awful because we hit a couple of huge climbs on the way.
Right out of Richland we had a 5.5 mile climb up to a 3,200 foot pass to tackle. It wasn’t fun. The ride down was fun; I almost hit 40 mph. I was at 39.5 when I flew by the warning sign cautioning vehicles to take the turn at 30 mph. I figured it was better to make the turn than to make the 40, so I hit the brakes and lived to tell about it. As fun as the trip down was, it was hardly worth the climb up. As we regrouped at the bottom, a truck pulled up and asked if we needed directions. We said no, and they offered us a huge sticky bun. Being one to never turn down free food, I thankfully took it although I was only able to eat a third of it before giving the rest to the cows.
We had a nice ride of about 20 miles to the spot that would become our celebration of crossing into Idaho and the mountain time zone. Would you believe they didn’t have a “Welcome to Idaho” sign for us? I couldn’t believe it. Good thing we took a few pictures with the first Idaho sign we saw, otherwise we might not have had anything with which to commemorate the event. We hit a pretty bad headwind as we traced the Snake River back to the Idaho line, but we made it. And when we did get to Idaho, we had a nice little winding climb up to the top of the Brown Lee dam waiting for us. Welcome to Idaho… At least it was a pretty climb.
We had lunch at the Gateway diner, our first meal in Idaho. While there I asked one of the kids working there what the ride over to Cambridge, our next lay over, was like. We knew there was a pretty big hill on the way, I just wanted another idea of how big. Today was also the first full day with the sun. It beat on us the whole day, pretty draining, by the time we got to the Gateway for lunch we were pretty tired.
The kid, probably 15, told us it was pretty bad…6% grade, 22 miles… He was very matter of fact-like about it, very convincing, very disheartening. Chaz, usually the workhorse getting things rolling, was saying he wouldn’t mind just hanging out at the restaurant and playing cards while watching the first game of the finals – sounded good to me. With the kids description and Chaz’s lack of enthusiasm, I really began to dread the climb up and over into Cambridge. Luckily, this would become a great lesson mental steadfastness.
That kid must think it's funny to lie to weary cyclists. It was rough, but it wasn’t the terrifying nightmare he made it out to be. It kinda made me mad that I let myself get so psyched out about it. We made it; success was mine/ours.
When I pulled into town, I saw the guys’ bikes outside of the Cambridge Assembly of God church. I went in and found them chatting with the pastor and his wife. They were very friendly and were happy to tell us about the area, the church, and themselves. They were also very interested in our trip as well. They gave us great recommendations on lodging and food, and wished us well on our travels. As we were pulling out of the parking lot, the pastor’s wife came out and told us to go to “The Gobbler,” the nicer of the two restaurants in Cambridge, and the meal would be taken care of, they’d pick up the tab. Very nice of them! We couldn’t believe it. And the meal was great. Thanks again to the Cambridge Assembly of God for making our night and filling us up, literally, with their warmth and generosity.
Tonight we’re camping out at a motel with RV and camping facilities. It’s pretty nice, we’re able to get some much needed laundry done along with nice hot showers. The only bad thing is this one quick little mosquito I’ve been trying to kill as I’ve typed this out while I wait for the laundry to dry in the laundry hut. I hate mosquitoes.
Today: 71.12 Total: 551.94
posted by SuperByron3000 at 6/11/2005
1 Comments:
Todays photos are GORGEOUS!!!
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