Day 47: Locus hot springs/Powell – Sities
Woke up at 6. I was glad I had another hour to sleep so I rolled over in my sleeping bag and suddenly my alarm went off. I was confused as I just checked my phone. I must have set the wrong alarm. I turned it off and saw that it was 7. Did I just fall asleep for another hour? I was the weirdest time jump that I had experienced. I couldn’t hear anyone else so I laid in my tent trying to hold on to the warmth. I could see on my rain fly it was heavy with dew. Or maybe it has rained. I called out if anyone was going to boil water. Mark said yes so I knew I had a bit of time to get ready. I grabbed my clothes and shoved them into my sleeping bag to warm them up. While they were cooking I gathered up my sleeping pad and random items to pack up. Getting out of my tent was difficult as the grass was soaked.

I was surprised the dew fell so hard. I tried to sponge it off with my towel but it was so wet my towel couldn’t handle the moisture. Michelle was going to carry our gear for the day so I gave up and packed up my tent. I would set it up tonight to let it dry out. By now Evan and Jolee had a fire going so I huddled it and immediately felt warmer. We took our time getting ready. Every few minutes we would come back to the fire and stand for a few minutes. Finally we piled back into the car and drove back to Powell. I was still tired so I kept dozing off. It was all too soon we were back with our bikes. Evan needed coffee so Mark and Jolee went into the lodge for coffee and breakfast. I was fine with just a cliff bar so I hit the road. Today’s ride was all downhill. Should be an easy 92.5 miles. At mile 11 I was hot so I pulled over on a scenic overlook to take off my base layer. Right when I was about to take off again, a cyclist we had met yesterday (not part of the ACA tour) rode up and stopped next to me. We said hello. I had seen him yesterday but I didn’t get to talk to him. He asked where my gear was and I said my friend who lives in the area offered to carry it for the day. He proceeded to be quite rude to me so I just said I should get back on the road. However he wouldn’t stop making comments about me not having gear so I simply said ‘to each his own, hope you have a great ride’ before speeding off. His comments followed me for the next 10 miles or so before I could shake them off. What did it matter to him that I wasn’t carrying my stuff for one day? Today’s ride probably would have been easier with gear as you could get more momentum being heavier. Of all the people I have met on the trail – cyclists and locals, the locals have been far nicer. 

The terrain was absolutely beautiful. 100 foot trees stood on either side of the road. The Snake River paralleled the road to the left. Occasionally I could get a blast of icy wind from the water. As the day went on I relished these blasts as the sun turned hot. Eventually the terrain started looking like a time loop. The road whined and with each turn everything looked the same. It felt like I was biking on a treadmill with a picture in front of me. The map said no services for 66 miles so for 66 miles I biked into the same view over and over. Finally I made it into Stites Idaho. Brent had raced ahead to stay with his family for an extra day. I had no service to see where he was. I went over to the nearest store intending to borrow their phone. Before I could get off my bike a car pulled up and asked if I was park of Team America. It turned out to be Brent’s mom on the way to the store. She pointed me in the direction of the house. I found it easily and was introduced to Brent’s family. They were having an annual get together of sorts. Michelle turned up shortly so I got to shower and change clothes while waiting for everyone else. There was a ton of food and I felt bad for not being able to contribute anything. I took it upon myself to tie the table clothes down so they wouldn’t blow away. After a while the rest of the crew turned up. We got roped into playing a yard game. I can’t remember the name of it but it was similar to corn hole. The partners were random so I was paired with one of Brent’s cousins. I was terrible and we lost our first game. Luckily we got another shot and I scored all the points for my team. My partner wasn’t that enthusiastic and I suspect he was forced into playing. We lost again but it was a close game. It was really nice to talk and relax with Brent’s family! They were so nice to let us join them for their reunion party. We don’t know where Ellen is. I didn’t see her today and she won’t answer her phone. Hopefully we will meet up tomorrow!

I can’t believe I only have 9 days left!