Day 11 Mountain Home-Twin Falls

Miles:  96.49              Terrain: Flat, downhill, uphill, windy
Depart:   6:30 AM      Arrive:  3:29 PM
Riding time: 7:19:56
Average Riding Speed: 13.2

           Today’s Garmin Download  and Map (for cycling data junkies!) 

Today's Ride

Today’s 96-mile ride was really two separate rides.  The first 60-miles, to the second sag stop, was relatively easy with the roads being primarily flat or downhill and the winds being tailwinds.  Although my cold meant I felt like the tank was partially empty, I made better time for the first 60 miles than I have on any other ride thus far on this tour.  We followed the Snake River, I-84, and the Union Pacific Railroad’s mainline that runs between Salt Lake City and Portland, OR. This area was primarily agricultural and very small towns.

Two miles after the second sag stop we turned to climb a hill and soon found ourselves riding into the wind.  And this basically didn’t change for the next 25 miles.  To make it worse, the roads were straight (straight into the wind) and the chip seal surface made the riding more difficult.  For many of the riders (myself included) maintaining a speed in excess of 10 mph was pretty challenging, if not impossible.  On top of this, the temperatures were near 100 degrees. 

Almost everyone said that because of the headwind on the last section of the ride, it was the toughest day yet on this tour. 

When we arrived in Twin Falls we were treated to a high view of the gorge outside of town.  This is the area where in the 1970's, stuntman Evil Kneivel made his failed attempt to jump the gorge in his rocket powered motorcycle.

Tomorrow is a short ride (38 miles) to Burley, Idaho.  On the way many of us may do a 15-mile diversion to Shoshone Falls.  These falls, known as the Niagara Falls of the West, look spectacular in the pictures we’ve seen.  What everyone does probably will depend a lot on whether the ugly headwinds make a return appearance.