Day 17, Brownlee Dam to Cambridge, ID

Miles – 40

Ave Riding Speed – 3-20 mph

Hours Start to Finish – 6.0

Weather – Partly Sunny 68

We slept great last night, except for the occasional screeching owl throughout the night. The side vents were open on our tent so we could catch the cool breeze throughout the night and we were lights out by 8:30pm. About 7:30am we figured it was time to rise and shine. I threw on my sandals and brushed my teeth during my walk to the restrooms. Upon my return Kim was up and pulling our bags from the tent and headed to the restroom to change into her biking clothes. I had saved time by wearing all of mine to bed, so I was ready to go. After folding up our gear, packing and loading our bike we had our typical PBnJ, chips and protein bar and washed it down with our supplements and water.

We pulled out of the McCormick Park campground at 9am and hooked back up to Hwy 71 for a steep climb up past the top of the Brownlee Dam. We noticed no a trickle was visible over the spillways and hoped that the water was passing below the dam through a turbine system. Once we reached the top, the reservoir was full as we continued for another 5 miles along the banks of the reservoir then headed south inland for todays climb of 2,200 feet 8-mile climb.

About 3 miles up we stopped at the Gateway convenience store for a hot cup of coffee, Gatorade and beef jerky. We sat down and had a great conversation with Alan. A good man who told you exactly what he was thinking. He’s a retired Airforce Vet and spent a lot of his life in North Dakota before heading to Idaho where he’s been retired and enjoying the fishing. He was helping out at the store for the day while the owners were heading to a memorial service. Kim gave Alan the lowdown on our journey and handed him our card. He said he’d have his wife get on line and check it out. Upon departing and shaking his hand I told him our conversation was going to get us up the hill today. It did. We rode about half of the 6 miles to the top with the feeling of fresh legs.

We pulled into Cambridge about 3pm (4pm now with the time change). We went straight to the gas station for a potty break. There was a couple standing near their sport bike motorcycle and I asked where are they heading. Kim walked out of the store and we started a conversation with Ron and Debbie.  They were heading to Baker City, OR and basically doing a trip similar to ours, seeing the sites and meeting people. We philosophized about stepping out of the box and our comfort zones and how the results are freeing. We wished them well and scooted down the road to the only motel in town, the Frontier Motel.

Upon pulling up the red “No vacancy” light was on in the window. I stepped in to see if someone had canceled or if there was another place in town. She said I could try the restaurant down the street that has a couple rooms maybe. Then a light bulb went off and she said we could camp behind the motel for $10 and use the bathroom and shower if they don’t have a spare room down the street. We’re doing just that, camping behind the motel. The bonus is they have coin operated washers and dryers! I’m in the laundry room right now pulling together today’s blog.

We met 3 more racers doing the TransAmerica today as we had an Awesome Burger and salad at the only open restaurant down the street in Cambridge. The guys were stopping for a quick bite before moving on. We learned that there are 43 racers total, 6 had dropped out and they all started at the same time.

I asked the restaurant owners, he was doing the table service and his holstered wife was doing the cooking, if they were open for breakfast and the said yep, around 6:30 or 7am. We’ll be stopping by.

Expecting a little rain in the early, early morning hours and then a clear 80’s day before the heat in the 90’s for the foreseeable future.