Catching Up - Mon. August 3, Boise, Idaho

I went back and added a shot of Sahalie Falls which was near Belknap Hot Springs in OR. How much complaining can you do when you're seeing sights like this?

Boise? How'd we end up in Boise? Well...
Read below on the days since my last post. The heat has continued to be relentless and has deflated us substantially. We paid a real price for giving into our optimism and adrenaline on day one and riding the 61 miles straight up over the freshly laid blacktop. And have sagged since. When we finally reached Belknap Hot Springs (posts below) we decided that we needed to regroup if we are possibly going to be in Missoula by August 13th. So we back tracked, rented an SUV and drove us diagonally down across OR to Boise to leap frog forward and get a running start towards Missoula. Fall back to move forward kind of thing. So, we're in Boise and are all set for tomorrow when we are going to ride 70 miles north on route 55 to the town of Cascade. It's still 100 degrees but finally about to break. Tomorrow and another 2 to 3 good days after that will put us back on the official route to MT thru Lolo Pass. Which will be it's own story. Stay posted, I may not have a connection again for awhile but will update as soon as possible.
Neat story: last night driving over, there was a huge electrical storm and sections of rain all the way over. Heat lightning lighting up the entire sky, cloud to cloud lightning (which I've never seen) and your standard western sky to ground bolt that stands your arm hair on end. Awesome stuff, our own persoanl fireworks for hours.
Another neat side story: as we were camping at Belknap Springs on Sat morning trying to figure out our options, a big white van rolled into the campgrounds with a bike on top and multi-bike rack. As he turned in I noticed the Adventure Cycling logo on the door and it turned out to be a guided and supported transam group traveling west with 11 riders. What a coincidence? Interesting, very mixed group. All more our age, a couple even in their 70s (!). Also mixed response at this point, three days from their end. A couple have had the time of their life and a couple were much more than ready to be done. A lot of bike comparison and envy went on amongst us all and they told us many harrowing stories about traffic, trucks, RVs and dogs. Has us thinking twice about some parts of the mapped route. All were very encouraging about our challenges with the heat and recounted their own struggles to get started 76 days ago in VA. Some good advice from the official guides about some equipment we have with us that we might want to send home for weight lose. We were really glad to have run into them and we both feel better for it as we go forward.

Friday, July 31, Nimrod to Belknap
First mechanical failure – I notice mounting my front panniers this morning that two nuts have vibrated off the mounting. I’m able to steal a nut from elsewhere to get by but will have to fix this properly when I can. Today will be a short ride but will start to bring us to Santiam Pass thru the mountains so we’ll get our first real view of what’s to come. The first day’s ride and the relentless heat have taken its toll and I’m concerned about climbing through the passes ahead. We are making this trip to have an adventure and ride as much of the country as we can, but not to kill ourselves. Our plan all along was to ride ourselves into shape but this upcoming segment – the high desert of OR – may not be the best place to do so. After Belknap things get very sketchy for a long chunk in terms of support. So we’ll take a good look at what we’re headed into and then organize from there.
Fairly easy ride thru Finn Rock, Blue River and to McKenzie Bridge. We pass a solo rider headed west pulling a trailer and then another sole rider, a young man with serious blonde dreds who looks like he’s been on the road for quite a while. No stopping to talk but friendly greetings across the road. Steady pull up river, not steep but steady and it takes a toll. Another mechanical failure from the heavy vibrations on the pavement – one of Judy’s pedals has shaken itself apart. Of the four screws that hold the cage on the pedal core only one is left. I back track searching the road and get amazingly lucky, find one and borrowing one from her other pedal am able to get her back together. Something else to fix properly when I can. (Note to self – check over the bikes and retighten anything and everything.)
At McKenzie Bridge we stopped at a general store and ran into two young men headed west. They’re part of a loose group that includes the rider with the trailer we saw earlier and a girl who joined them shortly. They started out in VA. They were doing Sisters to Eugene today, about 80 miles including a pass but they are at the end of three months on the road and look like civil war re-enactors between beard growth and zero body fat. Youts. Great kids to talk to, they’re near the end of their journey. Both said the MT thru ID section was the most beautiful of the entire trip. We’ll see.
A sad sight in McKenzie Bridge is a hitchhiker who is very badly wasted, drunk before noon, out here in the middle of nowhere in the scorching sun. Dangerous situation but the folks in the general store have an eye on him, so we’ll hope for him from there.
The last segment after McKenzie Bridge is only five miles but once again it’s gotten close to 100 degree, the road is out in the full sun and we stop after about 3 miles at a ranger station and information center just for a break. Reached Belknap Springs campgrounds/resort after putting in 25 miles. Two pools here but both fed by the hot springs. Must be great in the winter but not so great right now. Tent sites are also pretty yucky, but that’s seems to be a regular problem with so much “camping” being RV oriented. The showers, etc are good though and they do have a snack bar where we’re able to get some good burgers. We’re both somewhat discouraged by the heat and the challenge of the ride at this point and thinking hard about some way to make things more bearable and the trip more doable. We’re going to take a rest day here and explore options tomorrow.

Thursday, 7/30, leaving Eugene, targeting Belknap Springs
We were too whipped to get the early start we had hoped for but it was very pleasant leaving Eugene. Bike paths for a good part of the way and then a beautiful ride along McKenzie View Drive to skirt around Springfield. We saw a deer and her two fawns and later an osprey nest (very close) with young. We stopped at a grocery store in Walterville to get something cold and eat some left over subs. We ran into a father and son from the Buffalo, NY area headed west. Both riding recumbents, Dad with a trailer. They have been on the road since sometime in April and ridden +5000 miles (!) most of it along the Adventure Cycle routes. They were both looking pretty road weary and were within about two weeks of finishing up but having an awesome time. Riding was quite pleasant again and very scenic, we’re following the McKenzie River. The McKenzie is clearly a big tourist site for the Eugene area with a little kayaking and a lot of rafting going on. Once again the temp began climbing rapidly and although we had no steep climbs we were pulling steadily uphill along the river. Traffic heavy but a pretty good shoulder everywhere. Once again, as the afternoon drew on, the heat took its toll and we regrouped. Called ahead and pushed off the arrangements at Belknap and found a cottage along the river somewhere near Nimrod. Stopped in Vida at a general store and loaded up with sandwiches and drinks. We had noticed the air getting very hazy or smoky and all the talk in the store was about a forest fire somewhere around Bend (80 miles away). The rest of the ride was beautiful, steady pull up river and we ended up riding 49 miles. The cottage turns out to be perfect with a small deck hanging out over the river and we sat and watched ducks, ospreys and fishermen. There is a big thing going on in this area of the river with wooden dories and aluminum facsimiles thereof. Pretty neat. Great evening.
Michael