Day 13. June 29

Day 13.  June 29.   Burley to Pocatello, ID

Today was a little longer day - about 86 miles, but with only about 1200 feet of climb. That almost feels flat. With longer mileage, of course, that means an earlier start time. So breakfast was at 5:30, loading at 6:30 and we were on the road by 6:45. The forecast called for a HOT day, almost record temperatures, but the sky was pretty overcast and looked like we could get rain. Of course all my rain gear was packed away, stowed on the truck. About 10 of us took off at the same time, including what I'll call the "big dogs." These are the ones who usually get in first. Right out of the parking lot, they were forming their pace line so I thought I'd jump on and see how far I could go. There was a bit of a headwind (why do the winds always seem to be blowing in the opposite direction from where you want to go?) so they settled into a pace of 19 to 21 mph. I was able to hang on and they began to rotate, the lead rider pulling off to the side and letting the other riders move ahead. The lead rider takes his place at the end of the line when the last rider passes. And the first rider pulled in behind me, surprised to see an unexpected bike. Every mile or so, the leader rider would drop back and you move one rider closer to the front. And then it was my turn to lead! We were still going between 19 and 21 mph. I was able to take my turn, maybe not a full mile, but close, without losing speed. I went to the side and took my place at the rear, not sure how long I could really keep going with them, but still,with plenty of leg for at least a while. After a about 12 miles from the start, the others I had started with were not in sight, so I decided to drop back and ride with them, even though I could have gone further. I told the others it was like going to fantasy bike camp, riding with the big dogs. At supper tonight one of them invited me to join me again, down the road. I'll give that another shot one of these days.

Anyway, the first 45 to 50 miles were into a pretty good wind. We finally stopped for lunch just before noon in American Falls. Our timing was perfect, as there was a girls' basketball tournament going on and two teams with parents stopped in just as we sat down to enjoy our Subway sandwich.
Back on the road, the clouds began to break up and the sun began to heat things up. The last 30 miles or so were pretty hot - into the mid 90s. One of the riders later said his computer has a thermometer and it registered over 100 degrees. The weather reports won't show that, but it gets pretty hot on the bike, with the hat reflected off the black road surface. Some it's critical to,stay hydrated and cool. To help in this effort, we stopped for water, and once for an ice cream bar-all to make sure we’re staying healthy.

Today we rode through a lot of open cattle range. At one point we watched a herd cross the road. I had to sing a version of "Home on the Range."

Just outside Pocatello, ID

Coming into Pocatello, we saw a huge hill where they were mining or digging something. We came to learn that it was owned by Simplot and they were digging for fertilizer - phosphane, I was told.
A lot of the town people don't like them as they raise a lot of environmental concerns and Idaho is very big into outdoor sports and nature.
The J. R. Simplot Company, was founded in 1929 by 20-year-old J. R. Simplot  in south central Idaho. The business expanded due to high war profitsserving the military dehydrated onions and potatoes during World War II.  Simplot made billions from the commercialization of frozen French fries. By the early 1970s it was the primary supplier of french fries to McDonalds. By 2005, it supplied more than half of all french fries for McD's!
Pocatello is also home of On semiconductors. You wouldn't thin of Idaho as into semiconductors, but the other day coming out of Boise we passed Micron Technologies.

Register Rock, signed by many on the Oregon Trail

Much of this information was related to me by Lis, the director of marketing at our hotel. She is first generation American, her parents immigrating from Denmark. Most of her family still lives in Denmark. She loves her job here and she easily engages with people. She has 2 kids and 6 grand kids, all living in California. She related that she has tried to teach her kids to not be materialistic. She said she was successful with her daughter, but not as well with her son. Lis is very happy with life, with little she would change.   As we were talking, we learned that both of our fathers were born on Christmas Day.

Tomorrow just a 65 mile ride. Nice!  Monday will be one of the roughest, perhaps the worst of the whole trip. To be discussed later.

Be well.

Don