Some days surprise you. This was one of them.

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Idaho has the longest stretches of barren (i.e., beautiful, undeveloped) land on my route. Today, to get from one motel to the next, I needed to ride 88 miles, give or take. I puzzled over this section many times as I was planning the trip. 88 miles? Really? No other option? None. Frankly, I was dreading this leg.

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To make things worse, yesterday was a moderately long ride (70 miles), and toward the end of the day, that mysterious pain (the ache I had in Granite Falls MN) on the lateral side of my left knee returned. I tried the same cure once off the bike: flex the lower leg as far back as it will go a few times. Same result: a tactile (and maybe audible?) click, and the pain went away. But would it return tomorrow?

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Forecast was for warms (low 80s), sunny weather, with 10 to 20 mph winds from the SW, a dreaded headwind. It matched the previous day’s prediction, and I hoped it would be identical in the sense that the wind only began to pick up after noon. Maybe if I started early, I could get a lot of distance in before battling a headwind.

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I got up at 4:30, ate breakfast in my room, and was on the road just before 6:00, as soon as it was light enough for me to be visible to other vehicles. Leaving town, I took an image of this sign bragging about Arco’s place in the history of the Friendly Atom.

The road out of town was beautiful, but chilly, as the sun rose behind me. My hands were very cold, and I looked forward to the temperature rising. The first 20 miles of the trip were a moderate climb, and I welcomed its warming effect.  (That’s my shadow on the road.)

The road crested at Craters of the Moon National Monument. As a former geology major, I loved the science behind the landscape, plus it was just plain beautiful. The sign at the visitor’s center twice uses “peculiar” to describe the area, and I have to agree. It’s a very special place.  These lava flows and pyroclastics are truly recent, just 2,000 to 15,000 years old.  They formed while native Americans lived in the region.

From Craters of the Moon, the road descended 20 miles, the sunlight was golden, the pavement smooth, and the views wonderful. It was fantastic cycling, and suddenly the day’s ride was half over.
I arrived in the town of Carey, and had a great surprise. One of the churches was holding a fundraising breakfast on their front lawn, and I noticed a bike with panniers parked nearby. I had to stop, even at the risk of the wind starting to pick up. There I met David, who is between undergrad and master’s, and is doing a bunch of fun stuff in the year between the two programs (cycling cross country, living in northern Italy among others). I also talked to Mike and his wife, two locals.  Thanks Mike for taking the picture!

That’s David on the left and Mike on the right in the image below.

Back on the road, I kept crossing Silver Creek. It had beautiful, luxuriant, submerged aquatic plants (I hope they’re not invasives). It had a certain Monet at Giverny look to it.

The water was clear and fast flowing. I was getting warm, and at one crossing I couldn’t resist a dip, even at the risk of the headwind developing.  (A little hard to see, but the foreground is actually 4 feet deep water, it’s that clear.)

The next 20 miles were beautiful. Road and weather conditions were good, as was the scenery, and I covered ground quickly.

But all good things must end. At around 70 miles, the road began to climb gradually, and the headwind started to pick up. So the final 20 miles were hard, but I could hardly complain. Today’s final mileage was just over 90, and I’ll add one or two going to dinner. New record.