Day 14 Pocatello-Idaho Falls

Today's Ride

After 11 hours of sleep last night I debated this morning about what to do.  My bronchitis felt better, but I still wasn’t sure what to do. 

It turned out to be the easiest ride of tour so far…66 basically flat miles through Idaho farm country between Pocatello and Idaho Falls.  Add to that a stiff TAILWIND and it was exceptionally fast.  Unfortunately I didn’t get to enjoy it from the seat of my bike.  After having breakfast I knew that it probably didn’t make sense.  I decided to ride the van, but by bike was in the trailer and I had my bike clothes, shoes, etc. in the van so that at the sag stop midday through I’d have the option to get on the bike for the second half.  With the toughest segment of the ride coming up tomorrow, the climb up Teton Pass, I knew what made the most sense was to stay in the van and give myself another 18 hours of recovery before getting back on the bike.  It killed me to watch everyone rolling by, but it was really interesting to see ABB’s on-the-road operation from inside.

With three vans, there is a lot of coordination and adaptation based what is happening.  Communication between drivers keeps tabs on where the front and back riders are.  One van goes to a point about 10 miles out and parks by the side of the road to be there with water in case one of the riders needs more when reaching that point.  On this day there was an extra wrinkle…a location about 18 miles out where in past years there has always been a problem with dogs.  As the first rider headed past the van at 10 miles, a second van went ahead to be at the dog location. However, a pack of several dogs at a house before the 18 mile location kept the second van there to try and put itself between the dogs and the riders on the road.  The third van, the one with the mechanic, had a delayed departure from the origin hotel doing repairs on a few riders bicycles.  When it got out and knew where the trailing riders were, it moved ahead to replace the van at 10 miles, allowing the van there to go ahead to the 18 mile dog location to hold those dogs at bay.  Since the first van had to set up the first sag stop at the 31 mile mark (the only sag stop on today’s ride), the mechanic’s van then moved forward to replace the first van and keep the dogs at bay until the final rider had passed.  While the first van operated the sag stop where riders can get water and snacks, the other two vans hop scotched ahead to operate water stops every 10 miles.  It was very clear that ABB’s many years of operating bicycle tours has developed a very polished logistical model to cover the needs of its cyclists as they make their way along the road.

When I got to the hotel with the first van to arrive, I got into my room and was able to take a long nap.  I’m feeling much better tonight and am pretty sure that I will be able to get back on my bike tomorrow for the 91-mile stage to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and the climb up Teton Pass.