We crossed the Snake River into Idaho and rode for 5 miles on a bike path along the river before starting a gradual climb from 750' to 2000' through hilly country with enough grass to support cattle and horses. A quick descent to 1200' was followed by more long but easy climbing.
32 miles into the ride we reached the little Nez Perce Indian town of Culdesac, where we had planned to stop for lunch and a rest, but the store/cafe was out of business. We filled our water bottles from a hose at an unmanned utility office, ate a couple of granola bars each, and headed up the hill toward our destination of Winchester. We climbed from 1700' to 3800' over five miles, but we quickly felt the lack of calories in our fuel tanks. It was slow going. We took many rest stops, and catching our breath was easy enough, but our legs were tired and short stops didn't help them much. It was a warm, sunny day, and twice on the climb I finished a water bottle, but was able to beg water from ranch houses. The road finally levelled out and we rode the last 7 miles to Winchester at 4200'. We found a room at a little lodge, the only surviving accommodation in a dying town of 300, and after a shower and some rest we walked two blocks to a saloon for a cool drink. Although it was Saturday night, we were the only ones there; the saloon's owner died last year, and the bartender is worried about the bar's future. Refreshed, we moved next door to a small restaurant which served us a surprisingly good basic steak dinner. Only 44 miles on the day, but 4300' of climbing. Bedtime was early, and we slept like stones.
No comments:
Post a Comment