Day 17 Dubois to Riverton

Yesterday's blog was entered mostly today since internet access was very intermittent at the motel in Dubois. As far as my continuous record of the road, I took pictures all day long today, making sure to keep the camera running from beginning to end. When I went to get them out, they were all gone once again. I will try again tomorrow, but if the same result occurs, I will end that phase of the project, and focus more on other aspects of the ride, including riding itself.

We had another early breakfast, this time at a small restaurant just down the street from the motel. There were apparently only two waitresses out on the floor, an two cooks, but with the able help of ABBike staffer Andy as host, they managed to serve all 60 or so of us in reasonable time, without losing their cool. Kudos to the staff at the Cowboy Cafe!

This was a mostly downhill day, much like the ride from Baker City to Ontario, Oregon. I rode the first part with a geologist's eye, spotting many excellent examples of bedding of rock strata. I took lots of pix for use in the classroom.




I rode to the first SAG either alone, or with Kent, who also shared my fascination with the geology textbook laid open before us. At the second SAG, about 54 miles into the ride, I left slightly before Kent, and rode alone for the remainder of the route. I passed the National Weather Service facility with a large Doppler Radar installation.



At one point, I noticed that my average speed was around 20 mph, and began to attempt to make this speed stick for the rest of the route. A couple of long slopes threatened my goal, and the stoplights in town just about ruined everything, but in the end, I prevailed with an average speed of 20.0 mph for almost 80 miles while riding. This is my fastest average ever, and I will proudly take it even with all the downhill stretches. I will certainly not attempt this tomorrow. We have our longest day facing us, and it will not be subdued easily.

Here are some random pix, showing daily life.

Ilkka and Jim (staffer) unloading the truck, affectionately known as "Box"


Some pasta Stu cooked up for dinner.