For a day of riding that appeared by map as if it was going to be somewhat uneventful, we had so many little fun moments to remember and share. We also left Utah today which is a state that will mostly be remembered fondly with the exception of our couple of crashes a few days ago. Max, now becoming our trusty van driver, was back at it again in livening the spirits at all of our rest stops and today was a memorable day on the road for the team moments that it brought about.
Ride Overview
Mileage: 78.7 miles
Elevation: +2,536 ft. / -1,564 ft.
Points of Interest: Idaho State Border, Napoleon Dynamite House, The Most Perfect Patch of Grass, Oregon Trail, Soda Springs Geyser
Tales of the Trail
Before the cranks even got turning or the wheels even started rolling, we began our morning with a game of what I can only describe as beer pong but replace the cups of beer with people and the ping pong ball with grapes. Two teams were competing against each other to see who could catch the grapes thrown by Max or Parker in the least number of tries. It came down to the wire with two overtime rounds that eventually revealed the winning team after two throws and catches in a row by Max and Nishk. Lauren and Parker couldn’t quite connect on the last try. This was a game Maaike pulled out of her back pocket and we had many laughs and so much fun before getting on our bikes.
The road to the first rest stop was exactly what we had left yesterday afternoon, so it felt familiar and familiarly busy. We had one concrete mixer stop near us at a light and say we should be careful out here. Although this stretch was just the same road, we did have an exciting event around mile 19: the Idaho border! It just so happened that both teams were going at a very similar pace today, so everyone who was on the road was able to meet at the sign and take a picture. Then, we saw a horse statue just down the road and you know we had to stop to get more pictures there too. The mountains to our East were beautiful and by the time we made it to the first rest stop, we were already pretty happy with our accomplishment on the day in making it to a new state.
Between the first and second rest stop, there was another landmark that we were able go past and Lauren, who was riding in the van at the time, was able to really get in character to show it:
The Napoleon Dynamite house! It actually was a great detour to have because going to the house got us off some of the main roads and even made the distance shorter compared to if we had stayed on the highway. Cole and Ren found a little bakery stand that they seriously considered buying sourdough from but just couldn’t figure out how they were going to carry one of the massive loaves for well over 10 miles before they would reach the next rest stop. Instead they got a picture:
At this point, the riding part of the day got quite a bit harder with some climbing and descending along the route. When there is a lot less wind blowing past from your own speed, those climbs can feel really hot. Unfortunately, when this tougher riding and heat was culminating, we were also quite a ways from any town, so the rest stop was along the side of the road. We kept this one quick in hopes that we would find the next rest stop more relaxing and just to keep ourselves moving and moving air in our faces. Our plan did not let us down!
Yes, there are many more things I could talk about on the ride to Niter, Idaho like the road conditions, or the continuing beautiful mountains and fields that surrounded us, or the temperature continuing to rise, or the conversations we had along the way, but we need to get to this rest stop in writing much more quickly than we did while riding. We found the absolute perfect patch of grass to lay down and rest in! There were mountains in the distance, a convenience store just across the road, and a giant tree to give us shade. The whole team spent almost a full hour here just resting, napping, and eating the good food we still have in the van. I probably sound crazy writing this, but nothing will be able to describe the feeling and happiness we all had just sitting here and admiring what was around us.
As if things couldn’t get any better, we started off our last stretch with a fantastic tailwind that helped us knock off the first 11 miles as if we weren’t even pushing the pedals. When we turned East towards our destination in Soda Springs, we then started to join some of the historical path of the Oregon Trail. There was a park just coming into town that had some of the original tracks and impressions still remaining from the 1840s because of how many people were traveling this route. That is incredible they still exist today.
At the stayover in Soda Springs we were greeted warmly and with a donated dinner. We found inside that there was a news clipping from last year’s team who stayed at the same Presbyterian Church and it was fun to read about some of the members that we came to know during our training through the semesters back at school. A couple of us even went out in the evening to see the Soda Springs Geyser which was pretty neat and maybe an introduction to what we might see as we get into Yellowstone National Park a few days from now. We are getting closer to the exciting natural wonders ahead on our journey and when we make it to Jackson, Wyoming tomorrow, we will be right on that edge. Today was a fun day for the team and we’re looking forward to what’s next on the road. See you tomorrow!
