Day 14 Mountain Home to Gooding SeatoSea08

Len and Joan waiting up ahead while I take my pictures.

Ridge in the background to the right is one we biked over to get to Gooding. Note the irrigation again in the fields.

Day 14 Mountain Home to Gooding SeatoSea08 63 miles
Time in saddle 4 hours 57 minutes, arrived at 1 PM. Hank arrived at 2 PM. Hank is biking stronger and faster according to others and they are impressed with how well he is doing. I hope he can continue to get stronger so that the long days ahead will not be too overwhelming.

Last night as we were finishing up supper we heard the sprinklers starting up in the area we were all sitting and the serving tables were all set up. People were scrambling everywhere to get out of the line of fire. You never saw people move so fast. I was quite funny as no one was upset or hurt. One of our support staff just enjoyed this so much that she rain through the sprinklers, jumped in the puddles and was having the time of her life. She said she needed a shower anyway and this was one way to cool off. A picture could not do the scene justice.

Later at the peleton a group of cyclists presented Len with a set of child’s training wheels on his bike. They said they wanted him to have a safe ride as he had fallen twice off his bike.

Today we woke up to cloudy skys and 60 degree temperature. The weather forecast is that it would be in the 90’s in Gooding with winds coming from different directions. Hank, Joan, Len Reimersma and I headed out before 7 AM. There was a slight headwind to start but Joan, Len and I managed to get into a good peleton that pulled us along at 15-16 miles per hour for the first ten miles. Hank does not feel comfortable riding like this so falls back very quickly. I do wish he could find people he would feel comfortable with as it helps so much and my average speed increases by 2-3 miles per hour when I do.

The scenery today was more enjoyable as we saw lots of fields being irrigated. We past fields of swiss chard, corn, potatoes and hay. We biked along portions of the Snake River. At one point I saw something huge jump out of the river. The body part out of the water appeared to be at least 5 feet long and 1 foot thick. It made a huge splash. Other people cycling with me only saw the splash. They knew something had jumped, but thought I was a little crazy when I described it to them. It was not until we stopped in a coffee shop in Glenns Ferry that the locals said it probably was a sturgeon that is know to grow at least 16 feet in this part of the Snake River. They are protected. One local told us of the time he and his brother were fishing and caught a sturgeon that was longer than their boat that was 14 feet. It took them four and half hours to reel the fish in. Amazing.

Fields being irrigated in the early morning.

I hope to get some pictures uploaded so you can see the scenery. Unfortunately I did not get a shot of the big fish jumping out of the water.

Parts of the road was very rough, it was like they had just laid new black pavement and we had lots of lose gravel. We decided to pedal as fast as we could to get off this part of the road as it was getting very hot.

Marti had caught up to us and pulled me to the next town of Bliss where lots of cyclists descended on two country stores that had lots of cold drinks, ice and water plus the store was air-conditioned. This stop was 14 miles from Gooding so it help refresh us for the last push into Gooding. The last 14 miles was fairly flat so we could cruise at 16-17 miles per hour in a group peleton of 10 people until we hit an up hill climb that slowed lots of people down. The peleton feel apart as some people could go up the hill faster than others and because we were so close to the end of the ride, people decided to keep pushing rather than waiting up for the slower riders.

Tonight’s camp has some trees, so we have lots of shade, which everyone tries to get as quickly as possible when they get into camp. The shade does shift, so those who had shade, lose it, and those who were sitting in the sum now have shade.

Today a number of young people decided to take a diversion off the tour and go to the highest Sand Dunes in North America just south of Mountain Home. A comment from one of the cyclists who went was this was the highest and largest sand box he had ever played in. For the people who went it was great. It was a 20 mile detour that lots of young people opted not to take as this week is still quite busy with the miles we need to bike.

Some people coming into camp are very tired and have had a rough ride. Several people are not feeling well and are having trouble eating due to upset stomachs. Bill Drache said even energy drinks did not taste good and he struggled all day. I am finding out that a number of people are lactose intolerant. Some energy drinks have a milk base, which they are unaware of and they discover this when they are riding. Dale Mowry and Bill have both experienced this and it seriously impairs their ability to pedal. People are commenting on the heat and are feeling very tired. Many will be going to bed early.

Tomorrow night when Hank and I arrive in Burley, we will be on sweep. this means will be helping get supper ready, serve it, and clean up tomorrow night. On Thrusday morning we get up early to get breakfast and lunch ready, help clean up the camp site and pack up the trucks. We will be part of the last cyclists leaving camp on Thursday morning to ensuring all cyclists get into camp. Although I do hope Hank and one other cyclists can get away earlier as they are slower and it would not be good for the sweep team to keep waiting for them. We will see what Thrusday brings. Depending on the time, I might not be able to update this blog.

Continue to pray for us and cause as we do not want to lose sight of our primary task and that is to raise awareness. It is very easy to just focus on ourselves and each days ride and forget what this is all about. Pray that this tour causes radical change in people and our church communities to walk the talk and to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.

Till the next time,
Hank and Claire