Day 20, New Meadows to White Bird, ID

Miles – 64

Ave Riding Speed – 3-27 mph

Hours Start to Finish – 6.0

Weather – Sunny 90

My cellphone alarm went off at 5:45am so we could get an early start. Kim heard it, woke me up, went potty and crawled back in bed. We rolled out of bed at 6:15am and switched on the 2-cupper coffee pot and jumped in the shower to wake up. After showering I stepped outside to gauge the temperature for what to wear. We decided it was a shorts day and started off with long sleeve shirts. First the sunscreen. I’ll admit that I have never been a fan of it. Not that I don’t feel the need for the protection and happy that my mom, or my wife, make me wear it. I just do not like the process of putting it on. Well, today I did and probably better off for it. Just a like burn on the top of my legs.

We scooted away from the motel on the north side of town at 7:20am, and that was the direction we were heading, north on Hwy 95 for the day. I continue to be amazed at the scenery, and towns. It’s never what we picture in our minds. The entire day we pedaled through the canyons, between the side hills and next to the river. It was beautiful. Not a single opening to vast prairie land for 64 miles. Only twists and turn through tree covered canyons and gentle flows between prairie grass hillsides.  We hugged the Little Salmon River for the first 33 miles and then 31 miles alongside the Salmon River. The whitewater rafters we saw going our direction on the Salmon River seemed to be having a good day.

For most of the ride we did have a paved shoulder about as wide as a bike lane. Traffic was building throughout the day and about 3 miles out of White Bird we hopped on Old Hwy 95, which rolls right through town. Those logging trucks, and even more, those Rolling Turds (see the movie “RV”), are even scarier, as they for some reason are afraid to nudge over and cross that center yellow line when there is no oncoming traffic insight.

In this part of the country, we’ve seen many roadside signs about huckleberries, from pie, jam, ice cream, cocktails muffins, etc. Being from Minnesota, and not worldly I’ve been told a few times, we were drawn into what looked like a pie shop advertising everything huckleberry. Kim went in while I held her bike to see if we couldn’t buy some huckleberries. Wouldn’t you know they are not in season, but the owner of the store grabbed a couple frozen ones for Kim to taste. Kim came out and I said I wanted to check this place out also. We needed to buy something huckleberry. We settled on something we could snack on now and not have to carry, huckleberry licorice. Delightful it was. The owner, of what turned out to be more a general mercantile store of more that 45 years, said the huckleberry only grows wild above 4,000 feet and the plant can not be transplanted. We learned today that huckleberry is not just the name of a cartoon, Huckleberry Hound, and they actually do exist. That was for the more mature generation.

When we arrived in town we checked into our cash-only motel. It’s newly renovated and the owner gave us a bigger room for the same price so we put our bikes inside. After dropping our gear, we walked a block, halfway through town, and had a burger/French dip, fries and side salads with waters at the WIldside Steakhouse and Saloon. The renovated place had the original bar from over 100 years ago and the food was awesome. On the way back to our motel we walked on the main street to the General Store for Fig Newton cookies, microwave popcorn for a snack later and protein drinks for breakfast. The lady at the counter said we’re going to miss out on the big rodeo, parade and town celebration this weekend and tried to talk us into staying. Sounds like a good time!

Kim admitted that today was the best day of riding we’ve had so far. I’d agree. We got an early start, the sun was shining, we had a few of those 300 hundred feet climbs, but overall, we dropped about 1,000 feet over the 64 miles and never had to do the walk. But as we know with any elevation drop in this part of the country, we will have to pay the piper later. Tomorrow is later. We’re resting up for a short mileage day that will start with an elevation climb of 2,600 feet over about 10 miles. Digging deep to get psyched and we’ve got all day to do it, and then it’s another downhill from there.