Week 2 Arlington to Powell
May 8 – Umatilla
We reached tiny Arlington early in the day yesterday and were disappointed to see the sign on the door saying that the wifi was down and the parts were being ordered.
We had a leisurely afternoon and survived our microwave Chinese dinner.
This morning we headed out a little later than usual and immediately climbed a steep hill to get back on to I-84. My legs don’t like to do that first thing in the morning. They like to ease into a routine and warm up a bit. At least we had a tailwind, which helped me achieve a decent pace. We made excellent time into Boardman and since the day was sunny, we attached the helmet cam. I haven’t looked at the video yet to see if it came out ok, but will do that later this evening.
I mentioned before that I-84 is very bicyclist friendly. Part of that is because the majority of trucks pull over into the passing lane. The shoulder is quite wide and we usually stay far to the right.
Shortly after Boardman, the tailwind hit me directly in the face. My
initial enthusiasm for a quick ride waned rather quickly. I feel the wind in my quads. For some odd reason, hill climbing doesn’t usually make my quads ache, but riding in the wind does.
We turned off onto Route 730 shortly after Boardman. What a nice road that was. The shoulder is wide and in good condition. It puts Route 30 to shame.
We have definitely been together so long that we seem to have parallel thoughts and that has nothing to do with Robert being a math teacher. Looking over into the Washington side, we both remarked how it reminded us of New Zealand. Then we thought of the long straight road in Baja as we turned onto 730. I suspect that when we approach Lolo Pass, I, at least, will think that we are in hell.
The grass doesn’t look greener over on Route 14 in Washington. From what we can see, we took the better route. Ours seems less rolling and we can see plenty of semis over there. We do have enough inclines, but figure that they aren’t as steep as they are over on 14. I had read several accounts of riding on 14 on Crazy Guy on a Bike, which helped me make a decision about which route to take.
We are now in Umatilla for our last night in Oregon. We cross the bridge into Washington tomorrow and head to Kennewick. Fortunately, the bridge has a bike/pedestrian lane. Depending on how much psychological friction that bridge causes, I may choose to be a pedestrian. That bridge is part of I-82 and Route 395, so it’s back on the Interstate again.
We got a call today about our house that we have for sale in Vischer Ferry, NY. The gentleman is a professional photographer and enjoyed taking photos of dilapidated houses and had taken photos of this house several years ago. He returned to take some more photos and couldn’t find the house after driving through the village many times. Finally, he realized that the house had been renovated. The house has definitely been transformed from a near-dead duckling to a beautiful swan.
Robert cleaned the bikes yesterday because they were absolutely filthy and didn’t look like new bikes at all. After removing the many layers of grime, he discovered that we both have exactly the same scratch in the exact same place on our bikes. We can’t figure out how they got there, but it’s a real drag that the bikes are already
flawed.
I am adding some photos to earlier posts. I also cheated by cutting and pasting the accent from Word for Ms. Meunier’s name. See how I got around it this time?
May 9 – Kennewick
Umatilla to Kennewick – 36 miles
We Reserve The Right…
to refuse service to anyone. The past few days, we have seen this sign in the motels and restaurants. I was a bit worried that I might be on that list of unserviceable people. I really haven’t seen such signs before and have no clue how they decide whether to serve somebody or not. Was my helmet on crooked or were my gloves ugly? It would have been nice if they had some guidelines posted. The truck stop restaurant in Umatilla had this sign prominently displayed above the cook’s window. They also served freedom fries although there were photos of French cafes hung on the walls of this place. I forgot to see if the breakfast menu had freedom toast or freedom pressed coffee or freedom vanilla ice cream. Bet they aren’t laughing anymore about the French not being stupid enough to get involved in Iraq.
We stayed in a Motel 6-style hotel last night, but with NYC prices. It seems that they are building an ethanol factory in Umatilla, so the construction workers are taking all the rooms, so the motels can charge whatever they want. We heard the creaking floors above us last night, but weren’t expecting to hear them at 4:30 in the morning. So much for sleeping in.
We didn’t start out really early, but if we had known how hot it would be, we would have been on the road at least an hour earlier. We had no clue that we would reach 1600 feet from the 100 or so feet that we started out from. Guess that it was good practice for Lolo.
Guess that they have a different idea of what evergreen means.
Our average speed was only 8.6 mph until we started descending into Kennewick. That nice decent back down to 500 ft increased our average speed to 10mph, which is what we expect to do.
The directions into town and to our hotel were obviously for somebody traveling by auto. The road was rather busy with no shoulder and had we researched the bike maps, we would have found a better route, but we stupidly assumed that the directions were appropriate for cyclists. We finally reached our hotel, The Clover Island Inn and are now limin’ on the island.
The marquee says that “It’s an island thing. ” Who ever expected an island in Kennewick Washington? Definitely not me. Clover Island is manmade, but we have an outstanding view of the cable bridge, officially the Ed Hendler bridge.
The cable bridge at night
It looks like a Calatrava designed bridge to me or at least an imitation Calatrava, but I haven’t been able to find out yet who designed it. That is mostly due to that fact that once again, we have no wireless service. The wifi worked perfectly fine when we arrived, but when we came back from our outing, it was kaput. It really makes me think of dammit Willamette.
Our outings consisted of a visit to the Benton County Historical Museum to find out about Kennewick Man. Seems that some boy was trying to avoid paying to watch the hydroplane races on the Columbia and went to watch them in an unofficial spot. He stumbled upon a skull, but didn’t report his finding until after the races. His discovery is Kennewick man who is supposedly 9200 years old. Guess he qualifies for AARP membership. The museum has bones that they bought on eBay to represent the discovery. The actual bones are locked up in Seattle at the Burke Museum and there is lots of controversy surrounding this find. Watch for a future podcast with more details.
After leaving this museum, we headed to the Sacajawea State Park and yes, that is the current spelling and pronunciation of the name.
The park is obviously a big secret as although we rode our bikes down the unmarked and difficult to follow Sacajawea Heritage Trail, we didn’t see one single sign directing us to the park. This supposed Heritage Trail is poorly signed and runs through the port of Pasco passing many warehouses. The trail is marked on a bicycling map with a blue line, which means absolutely nothing to anybody not familiar with the area. We did eventually find the park and the Interpretation Center, which was housed in a WPA building. The display was well done and it focus on Sacajawea was a nice change from the usual Lewis and Clark stuff, not that those exhibits aren’t interesting.
After the museum we returned to the Clover Island Inn hoping to update the blog and check email.
They have a new system and say that it doesn’t work all the time. They did say that the router gets reset at 4am, so maybe we will have better luck then. In the meantime, I will go to the lobby and see if I can get this working. We won’t have any internet tomorrow. I made a choice to stay at a motel with a non-smoking room without internet rather than staying at a place with wifi, but in a smoking room. Yuck.
The Clover Island Inn sits directly on the Columbia and we have a great view of two bridges and are close to the bike path. This is another place that we wish we could stay in for a few days, but know that such things are impossible. Our shorter day today gave us a bit of time to enjoy the space and we are really appreciating it because we have low expectations for our rooms tomorrow. Hope that we are wrong, but how good can a place be that doesn’t have a website or wifi? We heard that there is a festival in Dayton, our destination for tomorrow, but nothing is listed on the website in their events calendar. Hearing about this supposed rodeo is the reason that we called ahead to make reservations, which we rarely do. Since it will be an almost 70-mile ride tomorrow, we don’t want to arrive and find that there is no room at the inn.
Back to today. Since we couldn’t get online, we walked over to a Mexican restaurant about a mile away. We need to get some exercise. The food was good and the regular margaritas came in huge glasses, but that didn’t stop us from walking over to the Ice Harbor Brewery to try some local beer. We walked back to the hotel and were disappointed that we missed photographing the sunset. At least, we got to enjoy it.
The crosswalks here in Kennewick are quite entertaining. When you press the button to cross, a guy repeatedly says “Wait”. Then when it is time to cross, his voice becomes frenetic as he tells you which street to cross and then starts counting down the seconds to get across before the light changes. Better be in good shape.
The Blue Bridge from our room.
May10 – Kennewick to Dayton
Today’s ride from Tri-Cities to Dayton(not the Ohio one) 61 miles
average speed 11mph
I am skipping a day because I couldn’t get online yesterday, but wrote the blog in Word and will upload that when I can connect with my laptop.
We had an exciting time in Kennewick yesterday. We had a horrendous climb – 1600 ft- out of Umatilla. We hadn’t expected that at all. It was so nice to reach the Clover Island Inn, where we spent the night and had plenty of room to spread out in our suite and enjoy the view of the Columbia, which was right outside our window. In the evening we had a spectacular view of the bridge and I got some photos, which I hope to upload sometime soon.
We found an interesting combination medical supply house and expresso drive-through. Today, it was the combination storage unit place and espresso window.
About those snakes… We crossed the Snake River early this morning and had seen the confluence of it and the Columbia when we visited the Sacajawea State Park yesterday.
Our route took us through the Pasco port, which was rather odd, but it kept us off Route 12.
We crossed the Snake and then turned onto Hwy 124. At first there was no shoulder and enough traffic to be annoying, but this may have been simply people going to their jobs. A few miles later, the shoulders improved and the traffic decreased, but the headwind did not. As this would be our longest day, the thought of a headwind all day didn’t seem too appealing, but the wind doesn’t really care what we think.
The terrain before Prescott
The road became a quite pleasant bike ride in spite of the headwind, but it was also quite desolate. We wouldn’t reach any significant anything until 40 miles into the ride. Robert claims that he saw a lot of snakes in the road, some dead and others slithering across the road. I didn’t see one single snake, but did photograph two dead coyotes laying in the ditch.
This was the the type of riding that creates a hypnotic state for me and probably the reason why I didn’t see the snakes, but I did smell cilantro and bergamot along the way.
We climbed many hills and saw vast expanses of, well, vastness. Nearer to the Tri-Cities, we passed the Snake River Vineyards, but saw no place for tastings, not that any place would be offering samples before 8 am, but I would have been up for it. In fact, the Arkel panniers have a nice spot for tent poles, but right now, we are carrying a bottle of wine from the Yakima Valley that was given to us last night. After we tried the margaritas last night at the Mexican restaurant and then tried the local brew at the Ice Harbor Brewery, we decided not to crack open the wine last night.
After 40 miles, we finally reached the town of Prescott and pulled out the bagels that we carried for a snack. We met an interesting gentleman who asked us to watch his eye. He hit himself on the head and his right eye moved toward his nose. He then explained that he was hit on his motorcycle by a drunk driver. He wasn’t wearing a helmet because he was young and thought that he was invincible. They told him that he shouldn’t have survived and he spent months in the hospital. He pulled up on a bicycle and was wearing a helmet. His bicycle is his only form of transportation now. He told us that he learned lots of jokes and entertained us with some pretty bad ones from his repertoire. He was proud that he won some medals in the Special Olympics in track and in slalom. He described the next section of the road as flat and he was correct.
We saw some very high mountains beyond the hills that we were crossing. Can’t imagine what those could be with their bits of snow here and there.
Somebody told us a story about a cyclist from Portland who supposedly didn’t realize that the Rockies were in the way on his route to Boston. We only have a few more days before we head up Lolo Pass. I suspect that it will be more like Slowlo Pass for me, but it doesn’t really matter how I get up it or how long it takes as long as I make it over.
A dilipidated barn
After Prescott and our chat with the local, we only had 8 miles to reach Waitsburg, where we ate lunch at Carmen’s Deli. We tried the library in search of internet, but that library is only open on Monday and Thursday and it is Friday. We split a reuben and both noticed our aching thighs, something that seems to happen when we ride in a headwind. After Waitsburg, we only had 9 more miles to reach our final destination for the day – Dayton. We had heard about some big festival going on, but saw nothing on their community website. It seems that the festival is happening in Walla Walla, so it is good that we hadn’t planned on going that route as all the hotels would be full. I made a reservation here at the beautiful Dayton Motel.
I think that our room is one section of a single-wide, but it will do. It is pretty basic, but does have a coffee maker,which I wouldn’t trust; a microwave and a refrigerator. It’s about a half-mile walk from downtown, which seems thriving and offers lots of dining options considering that it is only a few blocks long. We tried the library here, but just as we approached, we saw them locking the doors. They close at 2 on Friday. I thought that the Round Lake Library was limited, but at least it is open several days per week.
On the way to the library, we spotted an internet cafe, where we are now. We got some iced coffees and I went for the most fattening one, made with half-and-half and with whipped cream on the top. I maybe burned the 1000 calories that it has in it, but probably not.
Tomorrow, the plan is to take Route 126 rather than Route 12. We will pass by a large wind farm and I will request that the turn the blades in a more favorable direction so that we can have a tailwind. This headwind stuff is getting really old. The route is also shorter and carries less traffic than Route 12, which is basically the only east-west route through these parts.
Internet availability the next few days is questionable. Thanks for all the comments and keep coming back. I will be uploading photos to some of the earlier postings.
May 11 – Dayton to Pataha
Dayton to Pataha – 40 miles
Average Speed – 11 mph
We got an early start this morning hoping for that tailwind that the Weather Channel predicted. We took a quick shot of the hotel and headed out.
It turned out that the tailwind was in our face the entire morning. Once again, the day started with a climb. I thought that my legs were just stiff and then I checked the altimeter and noticed that we had been climbing. Right before the crest of the hill, we could see a windfarm.
We were rewarded with a nice 6% downhill, which lasted for three miles. I used to let it rip going down hills, but I think that what used to be a thrill for me has turned into possible terror. Maybe it’s old age, but I wouldn’t go faster than 32 mph. At least the fast downhill helped increase the rather low average speed that resulted from the climbing.
We had 40 miles of nothingness and no shade. There was a restroom in the middle of nowhere at the junction of vastness and aridness. I wanted to eat half a bagel, but didn’t find the prospect of eating next to the pits too enticing, although there was a bit of shade.
This stop was only 12 miles from Pomeroy, the first town of the day, which was smaller than Dayton. We saw a sign for free iced tea and thought it would be a good spot for lunch. The dining area at the back of the store was set up with fine china and place holders. None of the names on the placards were ours. The entire dining area had been reserved for high tea. At least we got our glass of berry iced tea and asked where else we might be able to find a place to have lunch. The owners recommended the Sage Brush Grill, which was just right outside of town. Just after we sat down, we saw a guy pulling a BOB pass by. He came into the restaurant and sat down and we asked him join us. Tom was from South Dakota and doing the Lewis and Clark cycling route in sections. He had started yesterday in Lewiston and had already climbed up over Alpowa Summit earlier this morning. He told us that we would have an easier time of it going in our direction. Tom had planned to cycle today to Dayton, where we stayed last night. It was 40 miles away and considering that it was already 80 degrees and that he had that 6% uphill grade to conquer, we were really impressed that he would even attempt such long mileage on his first day out. Thunderstorms are forecast for the day and it seems to be clouding up and looking nasty right now. We sure hope that Tom made it there without too much pain or decided to stop at the RV park that was along the way, although that was four miles off the highway.
I was bad and ordered a milkshake, which I haven’t had for ages. I figured that since I had cranked up that hill today that I could indulge in such decadence.
We said our goodbyes and headed to our lodging in Pataha, just a few miles down the road from Pomeroy. This is where we reached our lodging for the night, the Pataha Flour Mill, which has several houses set up hostel-style. We are the only people staying in the house tonight.
Jon is the person who runs this interesting place and I will be putting up a podcast soon that describes what he has done with this fascinating property.
Luckily, this place has laundry facilities and a full kitchen. Best of all, there is internet access. We were fortunate to run into Bob, a computer guru, who just happened to run WinDoc for us. This computer boots up so slowly, but we have gotten used to waiting forever. It will be interesting to see how quickly it shuts down and starts up in the future.
We will be eating dinner here tonight, which will be an interesting experience. Meals here are done on a donation basis, which supports this project.
May 12 – Pataha to Clarkston
Pataha to Clarkston – 29 miles
Average speed – 11mph
We had such a great time yesterday after we arrived in Pomeroy. First, we got that nice, refreshing glass of iced tea, then we met Tom who was biking to Astoria and then we met some great people at the Pataha Flour Mill, where we spent the night.
Bob asked us to tell him if our computer booted up quicker today and it surely did. At least we didn’t have as many errors on it as somebody else whose name we won’t mention. We were able to
use the mill office to get online, which was much appreciated.
Jon and his family run the mill as part of their non-profit Bread for Life Ministry. This is not a fire and brimstone type organization at all. In fact, Jon wants guests to feel at ease here. They offer meals on a donation basis and bottle the tasty Millhouse salad dressing ( I don’t think that there is any connection with the Simpson’s and the name). Carla, a volunteer comes in early and bakes the hearty bread and rolls that are served. The history of the mill is fascinating and a podcast will follow.
Jon acquired three houses right behind the mill, which can be used for retreats or for touring bicyclists. The houses are set up in hostel style, but we were the only guests the night that we stayed there.
Our home for the night
We enjoyed dinner, which is served on Saturday nights, with the Pomeroy mayor and the president of the Chamber of Commerce who just happen to be married to each other. We got a good overview of Pomeroy and its many events. It’s exciting to see a community work so hard to draw in tourists. Pomeroy is literally the only town in Garfield County. That means that there is plenty of wilderness to explore. The Tucannon River flows nearby and the Blue Mountains are just a short drive away as well.
The Mill would make a perfect base for exploration – if you have a car. The back roads are steep and some are gravel, so only the very adventurous cyclist would considering doing this on two wheels. Next time, we will return with a car, so that we can explore some of the more remote areas.
It was difficult to leave Mill this morning as we had such a wonderful time there. There were a few thunderstorms last night and we had cool Astoria-like weather with a strong crosswind, which is somewhat better than a headwind.
We knew that we had to reach Alpowa Summit today and started climbing seriously about four miles outside of Pataha. We reached the summit and took the requisite photos and then started the long descent.
We thought about Tom who approached the summit from the long and difficult direction and was still considering doing another long and steep ascent later in the day. We had a steep five-mile descent, which was hard on my hands. At least the road and shoulder was in decent condition.
Once the road leveled out, wouldn’t you know, the headwind started up again.
It was a long and tedious 10 miles into Clarkston.
Lewis, Clark and the Corps played the back nine here.
I did spot a Mexican restaurant on they way in with a sign that said, “Celebrate dia de las madres”. We walked back over there for lunch, which was rather bland. We returned to the hotel and noticing the flag blowing toward the west, I thought that I would get a photo. But, when I went outside, the wind had done a 180 and was now blowing to the east. I sure hope it stays that way tomorrow as we have a long day to Orofino, Idaho.
May 13 – Clarkston to Orofino
Clarkston to Orofino – 46 miles
Average Speed – 10 mph
Last night we stayed at the Quality Inn right on the river in Clarkston.
Tom and some other people along the way recommended this hotel especially because it has a cooked-to-order breakfast. It also had wi-fi, which we will very likely be without after today. We were impressed by the helpfulness of the people at the desk who found us a place to store our bikes while we waited from our room to be ready. We had made better time than we had expected so arrived too early for check in
We got up very early today so that we could be at breakfast at 6 when they opened. The service was rather slow, so we didn’t get on the road until after 7.
The “light” wind isn’t so light when it is in your face, but we got distracted from it by the gorgeous, green scenery complete with shade, along the way. What a concept. We followed the Clearwater River for most of the day and around every bend another photo op appeared. The sudden transformation from the barren landscape of Washington to this lush green wilderness amazed us.
Even though the scenery drew our attention away from the endless headwind, it did nothing to relieve the stress on our quads, which are making themselves known to us right now.
We had heard horror stories about riding on Route 12. Adventure Cycling recommends cycling over the steep and desolate Winchester Grade. Well, I had heard too many accounts of what an arduous task that was and thought that it would be worth taking a chance on Route 12. That turned out to be a very wise move. Although the conditions are less than ideal, the riding was not as bad as we had expected. There were sections with narrow shoulders and the surface of the shoulders was far from smooth, but the road was no worse than Route 30 from Astoria. In fact, there was a lot more traffic out of Astoria than between Clarkston and Orofino. We found most of the trucks courteous as well. The other side of 12 is a bit different. Sometimes there is no shoulder at all and the white line is right next to the guardrail or the concrete barriers set up at the edge of the road.
We stopped at the Canoe Camp that Lewis and Clark had visited, which was right after the sign welcoming us to Orofino.
Don’t take that sign too seriously because Orofino itself is still a few miles beyond this sign. Shortly after this sign we climbed the first and only real hill of the day.
Dam!
We eventually reached the White Pine Motel and had lunch at Krystal Cafe, right downtown and then headed to the IGA, which is about 10 blocks from where we are staying.
We did get a non-smoking room, which we had worried about. The motel is clean and spacious, complete with a microwave and fridge, which seem to be common in all the motels we have stayed in. We even have rags for cleaning messy things, like guns, as they suggest. Wish we had these when our bicycles were so filthy.
Here are some fun facts about Idaho, The Gem State:
State Tree – White Pine
State Insect – Monarch Butterfly
State Dance – Square Dance
Sate Horse – Appaloosa
Don’t think that I have ever lived in a state that had a state horse or state dance. Better think of moving somewhere more exciting.
Tomorrow, we head to Lowell.
May 14 – Orofino to Lowell
Orofino to Lowell – 56
Average speed – 11
Our stay at the White Pine was comfortable and now that we are without internet again, we really appreciated having that amenity. We microwaved some pot pies for dinner and had some fruit for dessert. We went to bed early so that we could get up at 5 and be on the road by 6 so that we could beat some of the wind and heat predicted for the day.
Once again the wind was in our faces from the start. Nothing new about that.
The traffic was light, but just after we passed Greer, we lost the shoulder, which had been adequate up until this point. That meant that we had to straddle the white line, which wasn’t that simple because sometime the white line was below the grade of the road. That increased the potential for disaster. Although there were still enough logging trucks and other semis, they gave us a wide berth and were courteous in general. I thought again about the recommended route over the Winchester Grade and was pleased that we decided against such a challenging route.
I couldn’t get moving this morning. It took all of my effort to get into some sort of pedaling rhythm. We stopped at the grocery store in Kamiah and picked up some bagels, cream cheese and peanut butter for future snacks. We knew that there wouldn’t be much until we reached Missoula. After we stocked up and shared a Paley’s energy bar, we pedaled on to Kooskia, which is not on the highway. At the turnoff to Kooskia, there is a nice park with benches. I got out the pillow and laid down for a quick rest. The day had been difficult enough even though we had only covered about 30 miles.
It was still early enough in the day and since we didn’t have to be to our hotel until 6, we had some time to spare and stretching out on the bench seemed a good way to pass a few minutes.
At the park, there was a nice board listing all the stops along the route. We decided that we would stop at the espresso place that was supposedly at mile 84. It appeared at mile 81, so we continued on. We pulled over later and each had half a bagel, mine with cream cheese and Robert’s with peanut butter. It seemed that we ate a lot today – a bowl of cereal for breakfast, a banana for a snack, a power bar, half a bagel and then half a chicken sandwich in Syringa, which is only seven miles from Lowell. That rest and sandwich helped me make it to Lowell.
When we pulled into the Wilderness Inn at Lowell, we spotted two fully-loaded touring bikes. We chatted with Al and Margie who live in Missoula and were doing a loop tour. They had already cycled 66 miles for the day, but since it was mostly downhill and they had a tailwind, they were hoping to get 30 or 40 additional miles in. They remarked about how surprised they were that they were getting tailwinds. The forecast for tomorrow predicts winds from the west. Do we believe that? We have 66 uphill miles to complete. We will get on the road early again and will have until 8pm to get the mileage in.
After how stiff I felt today, I am concerned that tomorrow will be another difficult day;
I thought that it was supposed to get easier. I am certainly not looking forward to Lolo Pass, but if we do make it to our intended destination tomorrow, we will only have about 25 miles to do on the Lolo Pass day.
May 15 – Lowell to Powell
Lowell to Powell – 65 miles (more than a metric century)
Average speed- 10
Last night we ate at the restaurant right next to the Wilderness Lodge and found the food to be more than adequate. We both tried the Aztec soup and split a sandwich, which is customary for us. I tried the Huckleberry Ale, that is brewed in Couer d’Alene and has a nice touch of huckleberry added to it.
We had walked over to the Three Rivers Resort in search of internet, but only found a group of people hanging out in the bar, which was not open for business. The person said that we could have gotten wifi outside, but the group there was not too welcoming. We met Big Wave or Big Water Dave at a gas station a few days ago. He told us that Three Rivers was a great place. Seems odd that such a place would only be open on weekends. The clerk at our place turned down several potential guests and referred them to the Three Rivers. One told her that he had stopped there and they told him that they were closed. I guess that the main tourist season doesn’t start here until after Memorial Day and rafting is popular on the weekends. We had made a reservation in advance since the Wilderness Inn only has six rooms.
We went to bed very early so that we could roll out of bed at 5. Neither of us is a morning person, but we wanted to be sure that we made it to Powell by dark. It really shouldn’t have been a problem, but we wanted to give ourselves extra time. The morning was brisk to say the least. For once, we didn’t start out climbing right away.
Riding along Route 12 takes considerable concentration. Not only is traffic a concern, but the closeness of the edge of the road to precipitous drop-offs is also a factor. Just one moment of inattention and it would be entirely possible to find yourself in the river and it would really hurt getting down there. Not that I think about such things.
The agitated river provided the background music for the day. Whiffs of pine, some fragrant plant and something that smelled like rosemary where thrown in for good measure.
Although I have an altimeter on my computer, it is hardly accurate. The instructions that came with it mention in almost every paragraph that many things affect it and contribute to its inaccuracy. Although this computer was recommended by other cyclists, I am not pleased with the altimeter, which is the reason that I spent more money on this computer than I usually would. In fact, I had already purchased a new computer and then saw that this one was on sale, from its usual price of over $100. I just assumed that it would be reasonably accurate. No matter what the altimeter says, we gain elevation. We might gain the same amount over a much shorter distance tomorrow. Now, that’s a scary thought. I am definitely not looking forward to climbing Lolo Pass.
One of the highlights of the day, besides that tailwind that was once again in our faces, was getting behind the brooming operation. This has nothing to do with curling. There were several trucks, one sweeping, another putting down some de-icing solution (do they know something that we don’t?) and the truck with the sign warning us of the brooming activities ahead.
The brooming dust blew behind the trucks (odd thing to happen considering our tailwind hahahahaha) and blinded us and gave us instant dermabrasion.
We pulled off up the road a short distance and took refuge in the woods when the broomers came again. We had a snack and left and pedaled a few miles and there they were. The Broomers!!!!! Fortunately, they pulled off the road for a break or lunch and we passed by them and didn’t run into them the rest of the day.
The heat became intense since we were riding around noon. The last 10 miles of the day were tough and I really wished for that predicted tailwind. We pulled into the Lochsa Lodge, only thing besides the ranger station in these parts.
The desk clerk said that it looked as if we had been taking our lives in our hands today from the way we were dressed. We are no fashionistas, and certainly didn’t realize that the fashion police patrolled these parts. The clerk said that last year the road was especially bad and that there were many accidents. He claimed that it was because of SWIFT trucking, which the guy back in Prescott had made a few jokes about. He said that due to all the accidents that SWIFT had caused, their insurance company forbade them to travel on Route 12 anymore. That’s good news for cyclists and motorists on this route as well. We found most of the semis and drivers today to give us wide berth. Had they not, we may have had the opportunity to take a swim in the Lochsa as there is nowhere to go in many areas if somebody forces you to the right.
We had lunch at the lodge and tried to hook up to the internet. I am sure that the lodge’s website said that they had wi-fi in the restaurant and after knowing that the place in Lowell had wi-fi, I didn’t doubt it. It turns out that it’s possible to use the internet if you have a local dial-up number. Ummmmm… bet there are tons of local numbers for here. I would be hard-pressed to even figure out how to set up a dial-up connection anyway.
Tonight we are in a small log cabin with bathrooms in a central bath house.
My shower had four or five trickles of water coming from the head, so I had to be a bit of a contortionist to get wet. I told Robert about how bad the shower was. He took a shower later and said that it was the best shower that he had ever had. It seems that the shower for the men is in fine working order. Guess somebody knows that they probably smell more than women and need the stronger pressure.
Our room has a woodstove and is stocked with logs for the night so that we can have some heat. If it gets as cool as it has been, we will definitely appreciate having a fire. Maintaining the fire during the night is entirely another matter.
Dinner tonight will be at the lodge. There are no other options here. We are a captive audience; it wasn’t all bad being held captive here. We talked to Brian who studied at a culinary institute in Manhattan. He just started here three weeks ago and really enjoys being here. No wonder the food is so good. Our evening meal was just as tasty as our lunch was. We asked Brian about the impending Lolo Pass and especially if the road had a shoulder. Unfortunately, it will be pretty much the same as it has been.
Brian said that the lodge receives many bikers (motorcyclists) and rafters. The atmosphere here is certainly more pleasant, friendly and welcoming than we experienced at that other place in Lowell. The main lodge was rebuilt in 2002 after a chimney fire. Something about a building constructed of logs gives it a warm and welcoming feel.
Tonight is our last night in Idaho. Montana is just over the pass and is in a different time zone. That will make it seem like it took us even longer to get to our intended destination: Lolo Hot Springs. It isn’t that far from here, but we figure that after conquering the pass, we might need to soothe our muscles and take it easy the rest of the day.
