Location: - Riggins ID Miles = 83 Ave MPH = 12.8 Cum. Miles = 779, Ascent 2800 ft Decent 3500 ft

Saturday July 26th

Quote of the Day: "I want to meet that county commissioner".

 This is Bob and Leslie our hosts in Cambridge. We so appreciated the dinner we shared with them as we tooled in rather late at about 8pm. Bob has transitioned into a new career as an English teacher in this town of  a population of 330. He transitioned out of aviation manufacturing so we compared notes. Bob mentioned that he had some great teachers that made a difference for him as he was growing up and this was his way to give back. It must have been a significant change for them as they lived in the San Francisco bay area for 10 years. Leslie travels to Boise (100 miles one way) to work 2 days in a doctors office.

It is very nice to live in this area as most of the land in this valley is owned by 4 ranching/farming families that have not sold out to the agricultural conglomerates.

The shed that Bob just finished made from reclaimed barn lumber:

Leslie makes these bracelets. Cyclists will recognize the purple elements as parts of bicycle spokes:

Sandrine and I realize we need to step up our game as Warm Shower guests. This is a water color that one of Bob and Leslies' guest presented them with after enjoying their hospitality:

As we rolled out of Cambridge this was a sign along the way. Perhaps poor grammar accompanies this mind-set:):)    Bob you have your work cut out for you.

Corral along the way:

This is a power drive unit for the long line of irrigation we see. Pipes come into the red disc from both side to join the many other sections together. The water pressure drives the gear reduction unit to allow the whole assembly to creep across the landscape.



This is the town center of Council ID:

Hornets nest being raffled off for charity:

View along the way to New Meadows ID:

We had a climb of "3.2 Freebirds" out of council. I love this new unit of measure - I am sure it is going to take over the biking world. It is so simple - you just time the ascent and then  divide by 14.37.  It allows a great deal of expression regarding the misery index of a climb. It considers both favorable and unfavorable aspects of wind, road smoothness, heat in addition to degree of the grade, etc.   3.2 Freebirds just sounds so much better and expressive than  46 minutes.

There was a 30 mile stretch of road that had been grooved in preparation for resurfacing. This was a very discouraging portion of our trek to Riggins. The vibration created comes up through the bike and affects every point of contact to the bike - the butt, the feet and especially the hands and wrists that go numb even more quickly than normally.

Yes we would like to have a word with the county commissioner. It seems the contract was let to the groover who has gotten on it with a passion, but they forgot the paving contract.

After New Meadows the road became smooth again and the views were dynamite - wide valley and slight downhill:

This is the Little Salmon river that we followed the entire trip into Riggins:

The propping up of this gigantic boulder with these thin telephone pole length wooden shafts I believe to be an example of Idaho sense of humor. There is no way they will stop this thing from crashing on the highway when it decides it is time to move.

Entering into Riggins:

Our hosts Curtis and Stef suggested we go to the Summer Heat Festival about a mile walk from their house.

It was an cool experience to see all the locals of this town of approximately 100 "full-timers" mixing with the 500 or so repeat tourists that come to town in the summer:

This cover band was very good but just like every other cover band we have asked they couldn't play Freebird.  They said it was "too cliche" in their opinion and yet they played Sweet Home Alabama. I lost all respect at that point:):)

Perhaps Steve Carolus could explain how he is managing to moonlight as the drummer for the High Street Band out of Boise Idaho?????:):):)

This seems to located in the wrong town:

Backyard visitor:

Walkway down to the Little Salmon river right off of the back of Curtis and Stef's house:

Little Salmon river:

Stef has talked to us about a rest day tomorrow before we tackle the very challenging White Bird climb. We will see what the morning brings:

The Usual Disclaimer: 

  
And finally please remember the cause -   soldiersbestfriend.org  I will go into this in more detail and perhaps some level of haranguing later on, but for now here is the link .... and an additional link for donation   SoldiersBestFriend - Donate Please :):)  As you donate please enter my name in the appropriate spot so the folks at SBF can tally the results to encourage me and let me know WE are getting something done TOGETHER. Oh and I would be a lot more comfortable if you use the "honorarium" option vs the "memoriam" option - you'll understand when you click on the link:):).     I will be inserting this call-to-action in all of my blogs so I hope you don't mind.