Biking with Bill

A SUNDAY RIDE

We pulled out of Blackfoot at 8:15 am this morning. It was a late start due to the short distance of today's ride. We immediately crossed over the Snake River, the first of several crossings today. It was a beautiful Sunday morning--clear and bright. We were headed for our destination; Idaho Falls.... for brunch.

Team RTC was together today for the entire ride--all 7 of for the first time, now that Dale(AZ) has arrived. Everyone had a good night's rest after yesterday's century, and we are happy about today's "shortest ride ever", knowing what is ahead of us in the next few days.

A Sunday ride in the countryside is a nice tune-up for tomorrow's "Blockbuster Day"; a climb day in the Tetons and into Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Dan (CA) was busy filming for the DVD he has promised to make for all of us at the conclusion of the cross country trip. He has already chronicled several of our long distance tours with outstanding DVD's.

We had mostly smooth roads and quiet country lanes through Idaho farmland and horse ranches. Later on in the ride we had a long scenic stretch along the Snake River. We caught our first glimpse of the Tetons this morning. It was the ridge behind the ridge in front of us. Tomorrow we encounter those ledgendary mountains.

We rode rode our bikes into Idaho Falls on Rt 26 East looking for a brunch spot. We found it at Smitty's FamilyDiner....along with half the population of the town. We saw a "Backroads" van with 10 bicycles on top parked in town. They are "the other touring company" probably headed for the Tetons as well. Needless to say , we are not staying in the same hotel.

The scenic falls in the Snake River in Idaho Falls are right across the road from our Red Lion Inn. I took a photo of the falls with the Mormon Temple in the background.

We have a mechanics clinic at 4:00 pm this afternoon to help us improve our bicycle maintenance practices. I still have a lot to learn about properly maintaining a bicycle.

Tomorrow on the road to Jackson, WY we will find out a great deal about our conditioning and climbing abilities. There is some anxiety in the group as we look ahead.

Enjoying some time off on our last day in Idaho,

Bill

By the way: For those of you who may be wondering about the results of the Scavenger Hunt...the results are in. Team RTC was runner-up in a very close contest. We all had some fun and a lot of laughs.