Day 16 Mountain Home to Gooding

Distance Biked Today:  63.9 miles

Time Spent Biking:  4:41

Avg Speed:  13.6 mph

Max speed: 35.1 mph

Total Distance Biked: 807 miles

Today was a good day. A couple dozen of us took some wrong turns but we got here in good time. I'll post my photos online in the next couple of days, but otherwise I'm not going to write much here.

Highlight for the day: skipping dinner at camp and going to a local pizza place by myself. I enjoyed both the solitude and the great pizza. But I ate to much.

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Day 15 Boise to Mountain Home

Distance Biked Today:  56.9 miles

Time Spent Biking: 3:22  

Avg Speed:  17 mph <- What a good average!

Max speed: 36.3 mph

Total Distance Biked:  miles

Saturday was a drag for me. I got really sore so it got harder and harder to bike. So, I was dreading today. I had changed the position of my bike seat on Friday so I think that caused the soreness. So I changed it back today, making today tons better. In fact today was great and seemed easy. It was fairly flat, if not downhill just a little most of the way. However today is going to be the easiest and shortest day this week as we crescendo up to a long day Saturday ending in a ridiculously long climb.

Also we had a strong tailwind that bumped my speed of a lot. I think that I had the highest average speed yet. This is encouraging. However don't think that because today was easy that means that it wasn't work. Everyday has very challenging parts and every pedal stroke still takes effort.

It was a good day to focus on getting to Mountain Home and going fast. The scenery was just desert and dull. There were no towns and only an occasional house. I'm looking forward to forests and trees.

When we turned onto Desert Wind Road we weren't surprised at the name. However Ocean View? Someone has an interesting sense of humor.

Day 14 Resting in Boise

First, I'd like to thank two other cycling bloggers who I have gotten ideas for this blog and motivation to chronicle my journey this way. First, Rob Thomson at 14degrees.org and also Marcus at cyclingwithoutborders.org

Today was a great day! We got to sleep in and most importantly we didn't have to take down camp. Even though it doesn't take to long, I am beginning to dread taking my tent down each day.

The celebration service today was in a park along the river. What an awesome place to have a service out in the open. There we sang and heard from several local groups that are working to end poverty in the Boise area. This was encouraging to hear. Also, the theme for the devotional for our tour is the fruits of the spirit. Since it is the start of the third week we are on Peace. Then we had hamburgers and hot dogs provided by the local church.

After the service several of us went down to the river. Here we went swimming and diving in the frigid water. In the hot weather there were many people tubing down the quick current in the river. Over the course of an hour we saw over several hundred people go by. We jumped off a tall concrete piller into the water. Several of us would jump at just the right spot by tubers just to get them wet.

It's interesting to notice how dry everything is and then the life and green that is brought to life by water. Irrigation is essential for keeping crops alive. This water comes at a premium, so much so that a local official drives around to each farm and gives them there allotted water each day. I'm interested in information if anyone knows how this works.

I also did laundry today. It took 40 minutes to get to the laundromat and back. Since it is so dry here I dried it on my tent. How come I can't do my laundry this quick at home?

Also, thanks to everyone who has been commenting on here and encouraging me. It means a lot to me. I'd love to respond to you individuals but as it is I barely have enough time to blog. Plus, Its important to me to spend time exploring the local area.

 

 

Notice above how everyone is highly utilizing the shade. Even though it was 6 at night, the sun was still very strong so we all are leaping between shade trying to stay in its dark coolness.

Above is dinner at camp.

Last night (Saturday), I volunteered at a local group who provides housing, shelter, meals, recovery programs and support for homeless individuals. They ended up have enough people so for the night ended up being more beneficial for us.

Remember you can still participate by making a donation here.

Also check out more of my photos here.

Day 13 Ontario to Boise

Distance Biked Today:  68.3 miles

Time Spent Biking:   4:39

Avg Speed:   14.6 mph

Max speed:  39.2 mph

Total Distance Biked:  miles

Right away this morning we crossed into Idaho. Another state that I haven't been to before.

Today was a tough day. I switched my seat around at the end of the day yesterday and it ended up being in a worse spot. But I didn't realize this until the end of the day, causing me very sore legs. I was anxious to get to camp.

Ontario has crazy street names! The first turn of the day was unto 4th Street We passed three fourth streets leading to lots of confused bikers! To add to that the cross street names also were numbers.

Towards the end I had two flats on my back tire. There are thorns here called Goat Heads that have caused many flats. I changed it quickly, however I was so anxious to get it changed that I forgot to look for what caused it. So this caused the second flat, but this time I didn't forget to check for the thorn. So I'm at a total of three flats.

Today was another hot dry day. I don't even feel the sweat on my face anymore, because it just evaporates immediately. However at the end of the day my face is covered is salt and dry skin.

Also below is a time lapse video of setting up camp during the first week. If you look closely you see me working on my bike about half way through in the bottom left corner.

Setting up camping at Sunnyside Christian High School - Time Lapse from Dave Teitsma on Vimeo.

Below is a video of my safety group starting at Golden Garden Park on the first day. It's not the best but this moment was symbolic of the start of the tour!

starting the trip from Dave Teitsma on Vimeo.

Also, last Wednesday I had mentioned that I got four stitches. What happened was that I was done riding for the day, but I was going to ride into town and explore. However there was a car behind us so I was going to ride on the sidewalk, however there was a little lip on the sidewalk so I fell when I hit it. Somehow when I fell I scratched my eyebrow and it bleed like mad. Before I knew it there was blood everywhere. So I grabbed my handkerchief and then the camp nurse came and we went to the ER so I could get a couple stitches. It wasn't a bad fall and didn't hurt, but somehow I got a really bad cut.

Day 12 Huntington to Ontario

Distance Biked Today:  35.02 miles

Time Spent Biking:  2:06

Avg Speed:  16.5 mph

Max speed: 44.8 mph

Total Distance Biked: 605 miles

Today was the shortest day yet. My sweep team is on duty again, so after feeling around camp last night we need to bring up the back of all the riders and make sure everyone gets into camp safely. Also, since it was a short day we all slept in an hour, which everyone welcomed.

It was nice to take it slow and focus on taking some creative pictures.

After the first hill of the day, we went down where I went 45 mph. I believe this is a new record for me.

The food was great. Dutch meatballs with real mashed potatoes and green bean casserole. I ate too much!

I also took advantage of the dark dining room in the school and slept on the floor. It was nice to be able to sleep and not have to setup or take down my tent.

Oddly, the local school liked to advertise in their display case that they cheated for a whole season!

Day 11 Baker City to Huntington

Distance Biked Today:  47.82 miles

Time Spent Biking:  2:44

Avg Speed:  17.4 mph

Max speed: 41.3 mph

Total Distance Biked: 560 miles

Today was a fun day as we coasted downhill and were pushed by a strong tailwind. The day started with a 500 foot climb, but after that we went down 2000 feet over the next 35 miles.

Part of the route was on the highway again. However now the shoulder was not as clean as before. It hard lots of dangerous things for tires like parts of tires with steel bands and lots of glass. Also two section were reduced to one lane. For the first section we could stay out of the lane and on the other side of construction barrels. However the second section was a bridge that was dismantled and was down to one lane forcing us to travel very close to the trucks. I just paid attention and kept moving. Several people were strongly distraught at this and were really glad to be through it.

After the highway some people ahead of us had found a river with a irrigation ditch by it. We soaked our legs in the brisk water, which felt great on our legs. It has been so hot and dry that cooling off in the water helps to bring water back to our parched skin. Its interesting to watch everyone relax. We all stay out of the sun as much as possible to try to stay cool. Shade is definitely at a premium.

Along the way were cow catcher (grates in the road that prevent cows from walking across) which aren't well suited for bikes.

As we arrived there was a sign on the outskirts of Huntington welcoming us! The town was really small but several of the shops (there were only a total of 5 or so)had signs advertising what we're doing in store windows.

Also, the money from us for renting the school was going to go to the basketball team. So the coach had his players help us setup camp. Thanks!

It was very windy also. Several tents blew away. But several cyclists took it upon themselves to be on patrol watching for tents about to blow away while many of us decided to go to the bar.

Dave Meyer's birthday was today so we went before dinner to the dinner and had pie. I had marrienberry (not sure on the spelling, but its a local berry). It tasted amazing and was huge!

By the way, Huntington is the catfish capital of Oregon!

Day 10 La Grande to Baker City

Distance Biked Today:  50.9 miles

Time Spent Biking:  3:16

Avg Speed:  15.4 mph

Max speed: 34.4 mph

Total Distance Biked: 512 miles

I woke up today not wanting too bike. The last few days were tiring and took a lot of determination. Once I got on the road though knowing that it was a shorter day, my attitude was more positive. I had decided the night before to bike by myself so that I could more easily go at my own pace and stop more frequently.

After the first twenty miles I decided to stop for coffee. I don't really drink coffee but I thought it would be a great way to slow down and enjoy the town I was passing through. It was relaxing to sit, look and take in all the sights.

I made a point of the next three cities to stop and do a little sight seeing, or to just slow down at least. In Haines, I went to the local museum which had many pieces that had so many stories of where they had been and what they were used for.

I made it into town just after noon. So I took the time to go to Safeway, and to a local hamburger place to have a burger.

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Also check out more of my photos here.