Lewiston, ID Hell's Gate State Park

Hell's Gate State Park, Lewiston, ID -- Monday, June 21
Wow! We rode 79 miles today and climbed to our highest elevation yet, 2875'. Although the sun did not shine today and rain feel near us, we someone managed to avoid riding in the rain. Rain finally did find us when we began setting up our tents and while preparing our dinner. Fortunately, it was not heavy and did little to alter our plans.

We had a tremendous start to our day. Not only did we get an early start (8:00 AM) relative to the normal rising hour of young adults, but we were aided by strong tail winds during the first 35 miles of our hilly climbing ride. Several times this morning I felt as if there were a hand on my back helping push me through the hills. The winds we so strong you could see the waves rising from the hills (mountain sides) of wheat. The wind was never our enemy, although it did toy as a cross wind for nearly 12 miles.

Throughout the past several days we've been challenged with long climbs.
Yesterday we came across a section named Nine Mile Hill. Although not named, today we had a stretch where we climbed constantly for over 20 miles. It culminated with a steep 2 mile stretch which was precluded by a truck pull-off site to put on tire chains for winter driving. When we reached the top of this section (2875'), Andrea collapsed from exhaustion in the grass of a mountaintop rest stop with Alex not far behind. On the other hand, 'The Old Guy' (me) had no problem recovering from the ascent.

For all of us this was our longest hill climb to date. This was quickly followed by our longest descent to date (13 miles) leaving us six miles short of Clarkston along the Snake River. The background for the ride was beautiful.

As a note, riding downtown while remaining under control is hard work.
Although it would be tempting to scream down the mountain sides with speeds in excess of 40 mph, the reality is that it would be a good way to significantly injure oneself. An 1 1/4 wide tire does not provide a lot of road contact. Our descents have been well controlled with constant braking at a speed which at best averages 15 mph.

One of the interesting things that I've noted on this ride is that biking companions put there head to the sleeping bag around 9:00 PM. I always thought that these colleges kids were night owls. Unfortunately, early to bed does not mean early to rise. On the other hand, I seem to come awake at the first sounds of the birds singing in the morning.
Lastly, we have now left Washington and will now spend the next several days traversing Idaho. We've heard that Idaho will be challenging. Based upon the terrain maps that we have, we will experience the challenge right out of the gate (did you catch the pun?) as our route appears to be filled with some killer climbs. This has all of us a little nervous despite the success that we have had to date.