After yesterday's ride, I brought my bike to a shaded area of the courtyard. The grass was so cool and soft, I kicked off the shoes and socks and gave my bike the full Spa Treatment. Afterwards, I joined our little Yoga group also outside, and spent about an hour doing some stretching, and breathing exercises. It was so relaxing that one of our group remained on her back sleeping in the shady grass with warm gentle winds blowing through. As we slowly rose to get to dinner, she did come around, mildly embarrassed.
Today's ride to Pocatello was an 85 Miler. We rode a bit on Interstate 86 and with a slight direction change to the Northeast that brought us to Pocatello by 12:30. Without pushing hard, we maintained an average 16.6 mph for the day. Pretty good over the course of a riding day for me. Opposite of the other day when we were fighting tough headwinds. Today, it was almost all tailwinds giving us a gentle boost forward. Skies were clear and sunny with temps quite forgiving - upper 80's maybe hitting low 90's by the time we pulled into hotel. Our little band of rollers seem to be just north of a line of severely hot weather. My legs and wrists are turning copper from all the sun despite multiple applications of SPF 70 throughout the day.
Remembering we're not in the most beautiful part of the state - unless you have a thing for irrigation sprinklers - pictures of the scrub landscape would be redundant from previous posts. Below are a couple of oddities that caught my eye today.
One sad note to report. One of our riders decided to fly home Thursday. He caught a bad bout of insomnia and despite taking a day off the road, he just didn't feel confident riding so exhausted and decided to see his doctor to figure out what the issue is. He may re-join the tour when it hits New York. Otherwise, most everyone else is hanging in there. Maybe a few blisters and saddle sores, a cold coming on, but everyone is digging deep and finding the determination to forge ahead.
Me? Oh, yeah, my seat is sore. You betcha. Icing it after a ride and keeping it dry at night seems to help it from getting worse. And plenty of Butt'r in the undercarriage before riding and re-applying during the day helps, too. What have we done so far? Around 900 miles? That's just crazy.
Phone booth?
Similar relic
You can pick up "Goat Heads"- small thorns that puncture tires if you drive in grass along shoulders.
Darren picked up several today. Team effort to get him on his way.
This is one of the Register Rocks. Folks traveling the Oregon Trail would chisel their names and dates on prominent rocks so that followers would know who made it that far and conversely...
You can still see names and dates on the rock today. Imagining the journey the pioneers took in covered wagons hauling family, water, provisions, and what not through the arid, rocky and somewhat hostile Native American teritory is remarkable This is now part of a shady park off a highway bypass.
Odd. Why would one raise Elk?
Due to fantastic conditions today we arrived long before our rooms were ready. Even after skipping down the hill to grab a Subway sub and drink, we still had to cool our jets in our cycling gear for another hour. Sitting under shady pines reviewing todays trip and getting to know more riders, it could be worse. L-R Angie (tanden rider from KY), Matt (MD), Mike (Angie's Husband and lead on Tandem), Karen (Back to camera, ABB Tour guide from Oregon), and Harry (Pleasantville, NY).
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