In 2002, just after I retired, I drove to Denver, picked up my friend Skip and the two of us drove to Idaho Falls
to pick up my new Clackacraft drift boat. From there we spent the next week or so drifting the Snake River, fly fishing for cutthroat and rainbow trout. So arriving in town today was quite familiar, in fact, we are even staying in the same hotel that Skip and I stayed in.Today we rode our bikes through the little bit of remaining flat farm land we have in Idaho. The ride in was quick and easy and altogether unremarkable, given what we've been doing for the last few days- more of the same, with one exception. As several people remarked today, the mountains are looming. All through the morning, the mountains were visible way off in the distance. But today was all about taking 'er easy and getting ready for tomorrow.
Most of us arrived in Idaho Falls by noon and learned that our rooms wouldn't be ready until 3:00PM. So it was a slow, relaxed lunch, (that's big Ralph Antolino- a hammer from Columbus, OH in the picture below doing a pretty passable pirate immitation)
a short tour along the bike path by the falls, and then to rap (where we discuss the next day's route).
Tomorrow we depart Idaho and begin our assault on The Cowboy State, better known as Wyoming.
At rap tonight, Mike Munk (or Chip, as some of us call him), talked in somewhat subdued tones about the ride tomorrow. His greatest caution was not about the climb, but about the descent. It will be a real test of our bike handling skills, with grades around 10% for several miles. Check in tomorrow and I'll report on it.
The picture below is of a very cool tree fort
that we passed on the ride into Idaho Falls this morning. The fort must have been thirty feet up in a tree with an immense ladder leading up to it. Check the 6'3" rider in the lower left hand corner to get a perspective.. Somebody's got a really cool dad, for sure.
