To be clear, today’s inconveniences were all minor — the kind of thing that is expected on any given day on a bicycle ride. But they didn’t all have to happen today on the shortest ride of the trip so far!
First there was the bridge that was out in the first few miles of the ride. The detour was about a mile of a jarring and dusty gravel road, with a few large trucks passing by for good measure.
To add insult to injury, the bridge repair was complete, they just haven’t reopened the road yet. As I rejoined the road, a vehicle came across the bridge, and drove around the “road closed” sign and proceeded along its way. I easily could have done the same, had I only known.
Then Toni, who was driving the interstate that ran parallel to my route, was unable to exit where we had planned to rendezvous. I told her that was fine, I could just meet her at the next town another 10 miles down the road (at least we had good cell coverage all day).
Then I promptly suffered a flat tire. I replaced the flat rear tire in no time, and glanced at my front tire and noticed that it was too soft to ride on. I had no more spares, so I re-inflated it and hoped for the best. That worked well enough, but I had to stop three times to reinflate the tire before I met Toni 10 miles later.
Then, just before I met up with Toni, I encountered this:
Having learned my lesson earlier in the day, I forged ahead. I had to grind through about a quarter mile of gravel at the construction site, but then was able to walk up to the road bed at the bridge, which was old but ridable, and rode on.
The next stop was the town of Bliss.
I briefly entertained the hope that I had indeed entered bliss and my inconveniences for the day were over, but then two unleashed dogs ran out to greet me. They probably were friendly enough, but nevertheless were intent on complaining that I was on their territory, and gave chase. They quickly gave up the chase though, as I accelerated away from them.
In Bliss I was able to change my leaky tire and get another spare, and then descended down to the Snake River for about five miles right along the river. Earlier in the day, I had ridden the benches above the river.
But now I descended down towards the river, which was passing through whitewater narrows at the time.
Down along the river, there were houses that looked larger and better appointed than I expected out in the wilds of the Snake River. I suspect they were vacation homes for nearby Twin Falls or Boise residents. There was also this old truck abandoned off the road with its oversize bolder load.
I also encountered today’s barn. They are few and far between here in Idaho, and I’m making do with whatever I can find at this point!
We arrived at our nicely shaded RV campsite — with internet connections!— about 2:00.
The technical stuff:
41.4 miles
1,826 feet of climbing
Average speed 13.1 miles per hour (gravel roads will do that to you)
Weather: Bright sunshine all day. Around 60 at the start and mid to high 80s to end. Light winds were not really a factor after brief headwinds early on.
You can see the entire route to date here.