Larry's log:
This was looking like a day that we could see some rain. The Weather Channel showed a 30% chance in the afternoon. However, when we awoke, there were lots of clouds and it was windy. As the sun rose, the clouds dissapated somewhat, although the sun was blocked most of the day by broken clouds. The wind was forecast to be out of the south and we were headed, east, then south, then east. We rode on the interstate for several miles and then took a rural road. The rural road was through open range. We saw a pretty good herd of cattle crossing the road. In fact, I had to stop riding to let them go. And, man, could they moo!The triple also got there about the same time, and the three year old seemed to be enjoying the "funny animals." What was supposed to be a cross wind, ended up being a tailwind for this stretch, so we reached our first rest stop at 31 miles, about 20 minutes ahead of its scheduled "opening." So, we waited there. After the rest stop, we were mostly on frontage road again, or the "old road" that was there prior to the interstate. I remember seeing an old, gutted building that was now mostly consumed by trees. It looks like it was probably a gas station on the old road during the 20s or 30s. There are a lot of tiny bugs out here. On stretches of several miles you would just get pounded by them. You couldn't ride with your mouth open unless you want to get a mouthful. You see cars with their fronts loaded with smooshed bugs. There are also mosquitoes, as we found at the first rest stop. At 75 miles, we rode in Pocatello. This appeared to be a fairly industrialized area.The first thing we passed was FMC's phosphorous plant. There were several other plants after it. A pack of us did ride past two bicycle cops, who were tending to business in a parking lot. They were kind enough to wave, though. Lunch was in a city park in this city. Outside Pocatello, I noticed a drive-in movie theater. Hopefully, they show some blockbuster flicks, because their season must be short. I only stayed at lunch for about 15 minutes. It was looking like rain in several directions. There were mountains probably ten miles away and the clouds seemed to be around them. We weren't going to be travelling over them, but still, I wanted to try and get in before it. There was nice scenery. Mountains were visible the entire day. The landscape was greener and some of the mountains had trees on them. They were not exactly tree covered, but they were there. Some of the mountains had well defined ridges in them, along with the brown and green. There was one that looked more like a painting against the sky than something real. The next 15 miles or so were south, into that wind. It was a southerly wind here.Then we headed to US 30 East, which is also a road we've spent a lot of time on. At about mile 120, we passed by Lava Hot Springs. This looked like a fun place!There was a huge swimming pool with a high dive. There was a river through town that people were tubing on. And there seemed to be a number of motels and restaurants. There are hot springs in the town that Indians used to use, according to the roadside sign. A nice resort! But if we were staying there, tomorrow would be close to 200 miles! So, it was on to Soda Springs. There was about a five mile climb from here to the top of Fish Creek Summit. We've been steadily gaining altitude on this trip. The Summit was at a little over 6000 feet. Judith said that according to the tandem's altimeter, it was a 1300 foot climb. So, the base was about 4700 feet. And I think we were at close to 4000 feet when we left Burley. In the 40 miles from lunch to here, it had appeared that I was keeping the rain behind me. Behind me and to the north it was very dark. But directly above me had only been broken clouds and even some clear sky. This is snow country in the winter. I noticed orange sticks, several feet high, along the edge of the road.I guess they use these to mark the edge of the road when it snows. Now with about 14 miles to Soda Springs, it was time to race the storm. It was very dark to my left (to the north). The storm didn't really seem to be moving, but it did seem like some darker clouds were forming closer to me. Two faster riders blasted by me and prodded me on to beat the storm. No sooner did they say that when I noticed an increase in the wind (fortunately, mostly a tailwind), a chillier wind, and smelled rain. And there was nowhere to take shelter on this road. I rode as fast as I could (low 20s--hey I was tired!) and after about five miles figured I had the storm beat. The clouds overhead were broken enough that nothing was going to happen in the next 15 minutes. I made it to the motel, and was right. About 45 minutes after I got in, it did rain here for about ten or 15 minutes. And then half an hour later, the sun was out. Our tour leader said 15 of the riders made it in before the rain. Soda Springs is home to effervescent springs. There is also copper and phosphorous mining in the area. We can really fill up a motel. We're spread out at two of them. This one is full (the No Vacancy sign is on), but there are only two vehicles in our parking lot--two of the support vehicles! Anyone thinking of staying here must think this is a happening place, with all of the rooms full, and all of the guests out partying! Why else would there be no cars? Hey, it IS Saturday night!Actually, there is one non-cycling guest staying here, too. He said no motels in this town have air conditioning (including ours). That indicates the summers here are probably pretty mild. Tonight was another laundry night. The conversation at the laundromat was pretty interesting. Basically, the discussion between the two women was that if you are not Mormon, you're discriminated against. The younger woman claimed that prejudice is present in the local schools. She said the troublemakers are always assumed to be the non-Mormons. She is part Phillipino and claimed she has been called a lot of names. She said her sister was married to a black man and called "every name in the book." She's here because her husband brought them here from California to be near his parents. She invited us to her house for dinner, probably desparate for contact with the outside world. However, we respectfully declined. This is a town that is ready for Y2K. The local hardware store's marquis said they had generators available for the big event.
-- Larry Schwartz
What a day!! Thankfully, we started off the day with a nice easy pace and enjoyed the tailwind and scenery. We had some good conversations with fellow riders as well. Flat number 6 of the trip occurred at mile 56, 2 miles prior to the 2nd rest stop. There we discovered that one of the spare tubes was faulty. At the 2nd rest stop, we decided to change the front tire since we weren't sure where the puncture site was. This flat tire put us at the back of the group, with only Daniel's roommate Aron (who had had 2 flats that day) behind us. The scenery to Pocatello was great but the roads were awful and our butts were taking a beating. We took a very quick lunch stop in Pocatello and then decided that we would continue and try to out bike the nasty weather. We managed to stay ahead of the weather for most of the next section of the ride, with only a small dose of rain and hail at mile 107. We took a quick break at the last sag stop and then continued our journey. Unfortunately, we had about 30 miles to go and we still had 1300 feet of climbing. We hung on and made it to the top of Fish Creek Summit before the nasty weather did. At the top, I quickly put on the Gortex jacket that was loaned to me and we decended down the 2 mile hill, hanging on to the bike for dear life in the crosswinds. Fortunately by the time we reached the bottom, we had a great tailwind to push us. I turned around and saw that the nasty weather was catching up to us. So I gobbled down the rest of my spare food and used all my energy to bike as fast as I could. But it wasn't fast enough, and the hail began coming down. There was nothing along the highway to provide shelter for us, so we hung on for dear life and continued to pedal as fast as we could. We passed several cyclists along the way, who looked like they were enjoying themselves as much as we were!! The trucks and cars were splashing us and some were honking. I don't know what those who were honking were thinking. It's not as though we wanted to be out there and believe me, there was no place to go!! We made it back to the motel, cold and wet. I saw a room door open and Larry's bike inside. So I quickly ran in, tore my soaking wet clothes off and had a hot shower. I was in the shower for about 15 minutes, until my feet unthawed and I felt human again!! Laundry night was an experience. The owner of the place also owns the gun shop next door and he was outside the door with a shotgun when we arrived. The conversation was interesting and the Philapino lady invited us for dinner. I think she was just thrilled to have some new people to talk to. Dinner again at Subway, and dessert of ice cream from the local market. Tomorrow will be another challenge. 159 miles and 4500 feet of climbing.
Judith Jolly (and Daniel Schaaf)