Day 11 - Sprinklers R Idaho

Day – 11 Mountain Home ID to Twin Falls ID 6/28/07

"Sprinklers R Idaho

Ride Stats:

Distance 100 Miles

Time: 5:36 hours

Max Speed: 33.5 mph

Average Spd: 17.8 mph

Weather:

Severe clear and hot. The day started at 60 degrees and reached near 100 by noon when we finished. As we walked around Twin Falls in the afternoon to shop at Target we were glad the ride was over. HOT!

Incidents and Rider Report:

The daily grind of this adventure is starting to take its toll on equipment and riders. John Huber took a spill today while following me around a corner. He was trying to go by the Mike Munk rule of square corners (no lazy left turns that run you into oncoming traffic risks). However, he cut it a little too square and went down right behind me. At first I thought something big had fallen off my bike since my name badge and lipstick fell off earlier. I also had my rear seat bag break off and my rear wheel skewer come loose earlier in the day. Fortunately John was not going too fast. His major injury was to his ego and a bruised rear. He finished the ride strong.

Mike Heitz, big Mike our Six-Foot, 12 inch, 300lb rider literally pulled spokes through his rims. See photos below. I’ve not seen a rim damaged like this before. Double click on his wheel and look close. He was a little disappointed that they wouldn’t let him drive back to Boise to get a new wheel and didn’t have a replacement wheel so he could “ride every inch” of the ride like he and his wife Janette had planned. So Mike is out for two days until his local shop can ship a wheel ahead to him.

The tri-motor did the last 25 miles or so in the high heat of the day.

Daco, the Holland phenomenon who loves to ride out of the saddle (see my earlier report) literally broke his saddle off his bike while riding. I didn’t witness it, but it apparently threw him right off the rear of the bike but he was uninjured as well. Amazing.

Today we learned about goatheads. Mike Munk had mentioned them earlier in our orientation and told us to watch out for them. I thought that maybe he meant something like dead goat skulls littered along the side of the highway. But today we learned what they really are. Goatheads are mini little balls of thistle-like thorns that love to dig their way into bicycle tires. After John Hubert’s accident he got to find out first hand when Aloise Gaigl pulled two of them off John’s tires and they immediately went flat. Not a great equipment day for John. However, he’s still smiling and having a good time.

How I Feel (1-10) : 9

Today was even better than yesterday. A decent night’s sleep. I woke up befor. e Mr. Sunshine Simpson today by 5 minutes. Felt well rested and energized. Finished the ride with some spring left in my step. Still just a little hoarse, but almost 100% of my voice back.

Stuff happens:

Today I started out with an International Five-Some. A Canadian (Steve Bennett), A German… Aloise Gaigl. A Hollander…Gerard Berendse and two Americans, me and John Hubert. We start out dead last again and work together for the first sixty miles pretty well at a nice clip. The group doesn’t like to stop or slow down much so my photos were on the move.

With two pilots in the group we were not flawless in the navigation of our route. We missed one turn. Our self inflicted detour took us through a section of road being freshly asphalted. This results in about an inch of goo all over the tires that takes a while to get off. After going three miles out of our way we catch the other riders but have worked our way to the middle of the pack or so. As we meet up with Rich again I decide to ride the last 15 with him and we have a nice time.

This is an early morning shot of me and my shadow. Sunrise is my favorite time to ride. The long shadows have always reminded me of peaceful, serene times of day. Here is one of me never before captured on camera.

All throughout the ride through very rural Idaho we see constant sprinkling of everything. It doesn’t rain much here yet they seem to have an abundance of water from the Snake River that is pumped over every farm field. The farms all seem very prosperous.

One of the real highlights of the day is the gorge we’ve been following that the Snake River has cut out of the Idaho landscape. You can’t believe how deep and scenic this gorge is. We stop and take a few photos at various spots. But we spend a fair amount of time hanging around the Perrine Memorial Bridge. It spans over the Snake River Canyon marks the northern entrance to Twin Falls, Idaho which is how we arrived in Twin Falls. At 1500 feet in length, it is the longest span bridge in the United States' west. The bridge stands 486 feet above the Snake River. Near it is the launch ramp for Evil K’nevil’s famous skyrocket cycle attempt on the Wild World of Sports. We also witnessed three B.A.S.E. jumpers leap of the bridge, open sport parachutes and land safely below. The views from the bridge and the ridges around it were breath taking.

All in all a great day and everyone is in pretty good spirits.

Tomorrow a wimpy 38 miler followed by a bigger ride as we continue our journey east.