49: Riggins Idaho – Cambridge Idaho

I woke this morning with a mouthful of sand. Actually it wasn’t just in my mouth, I was covered in sand. My hair, my eyes, my sleeping bag, everything. It’s not just me either, everyone is covered in sand. Feeling gross I packed up and headed back to the route. Soon the map said to turn off the road but the road had a sign that said it was closed. There were some ACA members ahead and I decided to follow them. Looking closer at the map later the route regrouped with the road so I didn’t end up off route too much. Scenery was excellent as usual and despite being dirty and sandy I was in high spirits. However something was wrong. I was soon felt like I was peddling twice as hard for what the terrain looked like. I checked my elevation map and was confused to discover that the steepness wasn’t that much. Thinking I was just tired I pressed on but the slowness of my progress started to get frustrating. I soon found out why. Mark and Jolee came up behind me and informed me I had a flat tire. My luck had run out and it was the first one I got all summer. I decided against changing the tube and just pumped up the tire. (Actually Mark did since his tire pump was faster)

That was a little better and I finally felt like I was making process. At one point I passed the 45th parallel: Halfway between equator and North Pole. I thought that was pretty cool. About 3 miles from New Meadows I ran into Monica (who I really enjoyed talking with). She informed me that my back tire was once again flat. Since it wasn’t riding on the rim I decided to wait to change it in town. I was glad I bought the spare tube in Lander ( I think it was Lander?). While changing it I had no less than 3 people offer to help me. It was really nice but unnecessary as I know how to change a bike tire. I don’t remember leaving New Meadows and getting into Council but I stopped and said goodbye to the ACA group, Monica and Ellen at a laundry mat. It was still early in the day so everyone else decided to bike another 22 miles into Cambridge. It was pretty easy going although slightly put off when someone passing by gave me the finger. In Cambridge we joined the much crowed grand opening of a restaurant called CJ’s. We were told of a place where we could shower for 2 dollars. Although I normally would pass paying money for a shower but I was still grimy with sand from earlier. Our home for the night was the Cambridge City Park. I guess the ACA members got bored in Council because they showed up at the park not too long after. It looked like tent city again. The sunset was spectacular with the mountains in the background.