Howdy, now git!

It seems hard to recount all the things, places, and people met along the way when only updating this thing once a week, but here goes...A couple days after our last posting we lost half of our cycle team, Sarah's aunt Patty and Phil, who rode the first 600 miles of our journey with us. Especially good to have them along as a cycle tour is something Phil has always wanted to do, but has never had or taken the opportunity...so after a brief stay in Baker City, in a hotel room that left a lot to be desired, we also said our goodbyes to Oregon. Oregon was so much more than we both expected. The most cycle friendly state imaginable with its huge shoulders, super curtious drivers, and friendly and encouraging people. If there's a hypothesis to be formed about Oregonians by the type of debris found along their roads it's that they're hard workin' sons ah bitches that drink a lot of cheap beer and eat more bananas than a Guatemalan kid (due to thousands of gloves, billions of Keystone Light beer cans, and a banana peel around every corner). Oregon you treated us well! After a shout of accomplishment we peddled on into Idaho.

 

Shortly thereafter we plummeted down a couple thousand feet in elevation to follow the Snake then Weiser rivers through what's known as "Hells Canyon". I guess we caught it on a cool day as it wasn't the "thirty miles of absolute bicycle hell" the lady spoke of on our lunch break. In contrast it was one of the more beautiful stretches of our ride thusfar.

 

We found ourselves atop the 2,200' climb up out of Hells Canyon late in the day and tired, so 7am the next morning found us shooting downhill to the best breakfast and coffee imaginable at Bucky's Cafe in Cambridge.

 

Soon after pushing off from Cambridge we left State Road 71 for US 95, which was then our route the next two days. The whole stretch was very beautiful; first following the Weiser river, next the Little Salmon, then the Salmon. 

 

The US 95 being the main transportation highway running North and South in Idaho had us sharing the road with a lot of traffic in certain areas, of which the logging trucks being the gnarliest. To compliment the situation we had an almost contant headwind urging us to turn around and ride the other way, however, we prevailed! The pics below are from a little ten mile side trail we took to get off the busy 95 for a bit, rough in spots but a welcomed break from the traffic.

 

After a nice rest stop at Zims hot spring, a rather interesting place out in the middle of nowhere run by a rather eccentric old fella, we ended our day in Riggins, a little fishing and rafting town along the Salmon river.

 

 

After having dinner with Pierre, a cyclist riding our same route, however, in the opposite direction we pushed off the next morning with the second biggest climb of the trip thusfar on the horizon. The "famous White Bird hill" as a couple of the locals refered to it. 2,500' of elevation gain back and forth switch backing up a mountain. 

 

 

After slowly crawling to the top we cruised some fast downhill miles into the town of Grangeville, had a huge Mexican dinner, and threw out our tent for the night in the park. The final two days of this stretch we spent slowly climbing up out of a valley, first alongside the Clearwater river then the Lochsa. The final day we had a steep little climb, the last in Idaho, up over Lolo Pass. Montana!

 

A quick downhill led us to Lolo Hot Springs, which seemed like a good idea...until a kid vomited in the pool forcing everyone to evacuate so the clean up crew could handle business ( the clean up crew being a one man operation which involves first dumping in some chlorine then chain smoking a pack of cigarettes at the picnic table). Nevertheless post hot springs adventure had us cruising 40 miles, all downhill, into Missoula, Montana.  We're planning to hang around, be lazy, and check out the town today and possibly tomorrow as it's been seven days in a row of 50-65 mile days and we could use a rest. Idaho was great, with some pretty rugged landscape, and a first experience for the both of us. Now on into Montana!