Larry's log:
What a great day! It was chilly at our 6 am parking lot breakfast, probably in the 40s. It warmed to about 80 in the afternoon. There was a NW wind of 10-15 mph (tailwind) most of the day. The wind was chilly and the sun was warm. The scenery to the Idaho border (36 miles) was much the same as the end of yesterday's ride, varying between scrub and farms, with foothills a few miles to either side of us. The last town we passed through was Adrian, population 150. At the border, we snapped lots of pictures at the Idaho sign. The first rest stop was also set up there, right next to a convenience store. The lady that runs it came out and asked what was going on. She didn't seem to mind that we had set up there, and seemed quite interested in what we were doing. The first ten or 20 miles into Idaho were different. There was an increasing amount of farmland (maybe those Famous Potatoes that are advertised on the license plates!). It was heavily irrigated. In fact, you could see some of the streams of water from one or two miles away. The homes along the route seemed poor at worst, and modest at best. There were lots of mobile homes, many with boarded up windows, but a window AC unit, indicating that they probably had inhabitants. Then, a little farther down you'd see a modest house. I had the feeling that maybe the mobiles were the farm workers and the houses were the farm owners. Near Marsing, about 15 miles over the border was some USDA housing. I guess this is housing that was built specifically for migrant farm workers. It was pretty small stuff. There were also some quaint things. One that I remember was a fence with two of its posts "dressed" as a man and a woman. One was holding a sign that said, "Howdy." The other had a sign that said, "Folks." Shortly after that, we got onto Idaho Route 78. This has to be one of the best roads I have ever ridden on. First, we had a decent tail wind. Next, the road was smooth. Finally, we rode over rolling hills and there were good views of surrounding foothills and mountains. One peak still had a little snow on it. Snow must be pretty common here in the winter. There were signs on the road that they only plow from 6 am to 6 pm, so drive at your own risk. We were at about 2000 to 3000 feet. About ten miles before lunch, we passed through the small town of Murphy. It had a courthouse, post office and general store. However, I didn't see any sign of many residents. But there was an Adopt a Highway sign that said the stretch was maintained by the Murphy Heights homeowners. Murphy was so small, I must have blinked as we went by Murphy Heights. All I could figure was that maybe it was those two mobile homes off the road at the top of the climb out of Murphy. Lunch was 92 miles into the ride at a roadside park. They were emptying the public latrine at that time. I don't mention that because of lunch. In fact, you couldn't even tell that's what they were doing, except for the sound of a motor running. But, the tour folks offered the guy lunch when he was done. He declined, saying that he doesn't eat lunch on days that he has cleaning duty. Yes, this is meat and potatoes country. I'm not sure if we saw any potatoes growing, but there were sure a lot of cows. About 20 miles past lunch was a large feedlot. There was a climb right by it, so it was rather difficult to hold you breath as you went by. After that, there were about 25 miles more to the motel. We had to make some turns, so the headwind turned into a side wind. Mountain Home is home to an air force base. On the way in, I saw four F15 fighter jets taking off. They sure can climb and disappear quickly. They also bank nicely at about 60 degrees when they turn. Pretty impressive. It was another all you can eat place tonight. There is a truckstop across the road with a buffet. It wasn't bad either. They had a really good selection, much of it non-greasy! Tomorrow looks to be a similar day as far as winds and terrain. But, it will be warming up again to 90 or 95. Looks like we may hit some scattered rain Saturday or Sunday, per the Weather Channel (the most popular channel on this ride, next to ESPN's Tour de France coverage). We'll see.
-- Larry Schwartz
Everyday seems to get better and better as the tour continues!! A little chilly in the morning but I dressed for the weather. We did find out this morning that we have lost 2 riders. One cyclist from Florida left due to an Achille heal injury. And the 2nd rider broke his hip right outside the motel last evening. He was trying to get across the road and managed to get his wheel caught in a groove. Poor guy had surgery late last night and they put 4 pins in. Today's first rest stop was at the Idaho border. It was PAC Tour photo day so we were all dressed in our "Oregon Trail" jerseys. We also took the required photo at the border sign. Unfortunately, the wind seemed to pick up as soon as we crossed in to Idaho, and it was mostly a crosswind. But that did not matter to us since we are used to wind. As Larry mentioned, this is definitely farm country. Plenty of cows around!! The roads we were on were quiet and we enjoyed being away from the interstate. The route map had indicated that we would have only 2000 feet of climbing today. But by lunch time, we knew that we would have much more than that. Especially since our altimiter indicated 2760 feet by lunch time. Lunch today was fabulous. Seeing as though we are in cattle country, barbequed burgers were in order. But of course, they had a veggie burger ready for me. We continued climbing briefly after lunch, but with a nice cool tailwind behind us for another 20 miles. Then the real challenge began! We turned north towards Mountain Home and right into the headwind. It was strong and there was no wind block to be found. We continued to ride strong through it all, trying to focus on the end and not on our aches and pains. Just as we were approaching the motel, we biked over a screw and punctured the front tire. After a few curses, we quickly fixed the tire and finished up the day with 138 miles of riding and 3900 feet of climbing. The motel has a whirlpool spa and swimming pool and we all took advantage of it. Boy did that feel good. After a quick shower, we headed over for dinner to the buffet restaurant. Boy did that taste good!!! Breakfast tomorrow will be at 6 am and we will leave by 630 am. No rest for the weary!!! And they thought the Tour de France was tough! At least they get a rest day. Honestly, the only person on the trip that is getting any decent sleep is 3 year old Henry. I have yet to see the little tyke away in his bike seat!! Tomorrow's ride will be 139 miles and it is suppose to be 2000 feet of climbing. Somehow, I have my doubts that the climbing estimate is accurate. We shall see. Hey, at least there is no rain in the forecast and the wind is supposed to be Northwest.
Judith Jolly (and Daniel Schaaf)