Day 56: A Blessing in Disguise -- Under Deep, DEEP Cover

Kamiah, ID to Winchester, ID

Stats!
Miles biked today: 45.6
Total miles biked on trip so far: 2016.1 (woop, woop!)
Max speed: 33.5 mph
# of granola bars eaten between breakfast and lunch: 12
Net elevation gain: over 3000 ft.
# of feet climbed, gross: um.... maybe 7000? a LOT, anyway
# of map corrections we will suggest to ACA: 3 VERY IMPORTANT ONES

We started off today feeling pretty good. My bike was all fixed up, and we got on the road at a reasonable hour, on a sunny day.

The Lolo Pass climb had given us confidence in the Rockies and we felt like we could tackle our next climb pretty easily. Boy, were we ever wrong.

I'd say today was the hardest day of the trip so far. Dean thinks it was Day 6. I think Day 6 was a harder ride, but it was only 20 miles. We couldn't stop today after 20 miles, oh no. Either way, today was really miserable.

First of all, the climb was longer and steeper than Lolo pass. Lolo was 8 miles and steep, but bikeable. Today (Big Butte, haha) was 11 miles, and so steep we had to walk probably at least a mile of it, if not more. It really wore us out.

As we climbed, I got really dizzy. I had to stop and sit down a few times. I'm not sure if it was the altitude or hunger or what, but I got dizzy a lot today. Luckily, on our way out of Kamiah today, we bought some granola bars and gatorade to have as emergency food, since we had run out a few days ago. I think they helped with the dizziness.

They also came in really handy because we were insanely hungry! We hadn't anticipated that the climb would be as hard as it was, and we had just planned to have lunch at the next town, 27 miles into our ride. But after our 11 mile climb, we were already more than ready for lunch (and, it was lunchtime! our slow climb took quite a bit of time). So at the top of the mountain, we finished the gatorade and had a couple of granola bars, ready for the long, slow descent into Ferdinand (the lunch town).



Well, after about 0.6 miles worth of downhill, the next portion of the ride was rollercoaster hills. It was just one steep hill after another. Even when we got a break and had a less steep hill, we were so tired that it felt just as bad. But the elevation map we had didn't show any of this! I couldn't believe all the tough hills they omitted. It was a real struggle, and we had to stop for several breaks, and walk a few more of the hills. And, of course, eat a few more granola bars for energy.

As we approached Ferdinand, I was so tired that I said to Dean, "Let's just stay here tonight." He agreed. We had originally planned to go to Winchester, but we were so exhausted that it seemed like an impossibility to go the extra 16 miles to get there. Just a mile out of Ferdinand, we saw a billboard for both a B&B and a restaurant in town, the very ones that our map mentioned. But when we got into town, we learned that they'd been closed 6 months. Nooooooooooooo!

We talked to some locals who were outside working in the yard, to ask if there was anywhere nearby to eat, or even a grocery store. The response was, "8 miles down the road!" Noooooooooo! Clearly schadenfreude isn't confined to North Dakota. But at least they refilled our water bottles -- we'd run out a few miles earlier, and it seemed we'd have to go to Craigmont if we wanted anything to eat, and we'd have to go to Winchester, after all, for a place to sleep.

Thankfully, the ride to Craigmont was slightly less steep. It was still hilly, and we were still exhausted (and now our spirits were broken, too), but we made it to the Prairie Cafe somehow.

There, we ate everything. We ate so much that the waitress kept trying to bring us the check, and we kept trying to order more. We had sodas and appetizers and sandwiches and fries and a whole pitcher of water and malted milkshakes. As we rolled out of town, our stomachs were hurting. But think of it this way: we rode 36 very difficult miles and it took us OVER six hours. We were eating an average of 95 calories an hour, and burning about 1000 calories an hour. We were rightfully hungry. Though we did overdo it a bit.

However, the mega meal we ate gave us the energy we needed to power the last 8 miles to Winchester. We are here, we are clean, we have a place to stay, and all is right with the world. At least this corner of the world.

Despite the difficulty of the day, I still marvelled at the beauty around us. Also, we learned that goldenrod STINKS. It smells terrible. Or whatever those fields of yellow flowers were. They smelled awful, and there were a lot of them. Pretty, though.

The blessing in disguise was breaking the spoke yesterday, and breaking it when I did. Three miles in was no big deal to turn back. We were riding with no food at all on us yesterday, not knowing that our planned lunch stop was no more, and not knowing how tough the ride would be. If we'd made it 10 miles, we probably would have pushed on to Winchester, rather than turning back, and with a broken spoke and out-of-true wheel, the ride would have been much harder and we wouldn't have had anything to sustain us. So I am grateful that I broke the spoke early in yesterday's ride.

The wheel held up great today, and all we need is for it to get us to Lewiston tomorrow. I hope it can! In Lewiston, we'll take a rest day to get the new wheel and also just to rest. We need it after today!