My lovely wife Cindy shows up at the Triple A Rated Roadway Inn, Ontario OR after great choreography with Pam Smith. We celebrate with Orange Juice at our 6:00 am breakfast prior to our ride into Boise, ID.
Ride Stats
Distance: 62.56 miles
Riding Time: 4:33 hours
Speed Max: 29.8 mph
Average Spd: 13.7 mph
Fall Out Report:
Allison the med student with her dad is back (seat issues), Mike the Gator with the Achilles tendon injury is back, Kelly and Jennifer of the tri-motor are still out, Marilyn who did zero training and has the hybrid mountain bike continues to get her mileage in. Marilyn walks up the hills and goes at her own pace, but does most of the ride every day. She apparently got a few lifts from the sag wagon on the mountain days.
How I’m Feeling (1-10): The previous days really took something out of me. I've had trouble sleeping and a really dry throat, loosing my voice. On the one to ten scale I'm about a 5.5 today.
Ride Tidbits and Stuff:
Spending seven days away from the love of your life doesn’t really sound like that big of a deal when I write it out. However, Cindy has been a part of any major “fun” I have had for the past 30 years and it really is odd to not have her with me to share in the excitement and euphoria that some of these days have created. As a result, having her with me today is extra special. She and Pam Smith are both going to do the entire ride today.
Pam and Mike were so kind, they arranged a very nice rental bicycle from their local bike shop in Sun Valley Idaho and drove it down to meet us. As you may recall, Mike and Pam joined me in
Here we are crossing the state line into Idaho. We also changed time zones today. I don't think I've ever done that by bicycle before.
Somehow the four of us get a little behind the power curve. We have to load last, the bikes have to be inspected and we are in no hurry. Eventually we take off and I realize we are the very last to leave. You know this because you are being followed by one of the tour guides known as the “sweep”. The sweep person is kind of like a broom, they “sweep” you along, make sure the ride team knows where the end of the group is and that all are present and accounted for. Riding sweep is not a position I have had before and it is a little uncomfortable being watched over. Kind of like the secret service is following you. That is reassuring and uncomfortable all at the same time.
The sweep person for the day is Debbie. I don’t know a lot about her yet and she hangs back a ways, but keeps up with us and keeps an eye on us. I think extra hard today about following all of Mike Munk’s safety rules in order to keep our group in the good graces of the leader. Some of the veteran riders like Mike Hites told me that Mike Munk has kicked people off the ride, literally sent them home, for violating his safety guidelines. I don’t want that to be me! Some of his rules are things all of you bikers out there do regularly.
We eventually loose our sweep position to Mark Mendleson who gets sidelined by a flat tire.
This is a photo of Max Mendelson, computer science major at Penn State, doing the ride with his dad. Behind him is an incredible array of cows being fed or something. Double click on the image (or any image) to blow the picture up and see more detail.
The day was generally flat. We had a very pleasant ride, but for the final 10 miles on Rt. 30 with heavy tractor-trailer traffic. It was very nice to have Cindy with me. I think her presence has nursed me back to a higher energy level!
More later, have to get to bed!
2 comments:
Where has Anto been the last few days?
I had a great time riding with Pam and Mike and my hubby. Ralph is doing great but I am trying to get used to the beard....Boise is really a happening town. Great dining and sites to see!
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