White Bird to Lowell

Day 18. 80 miles. Riding for free food and beer.

We made it to the motorcycle party after riding 80 miles and up a steep-ass 10 mile climb. Everyone warned us how awful White Bird Hill would be, but we still kicked ass to make it here. And why its called a hill, I have no idea, its more like a mountain. I started to feel like we would never make it, but we rolled in at 9 to hear, "Hey, the girls are here!" Apparently everyone at this party was expecting us, so I felt like a celebrity.

We stopped in the town of White Bird for breakfast. The only option was a cowboy breakfast with the folks from last nights rodeo, so I sucked it up and ate the sausage gravy-smothered biscuits and pretended it wasn't sausage. I have to say, it was awesome, but I filled my sausage quota for a few years now. I had sausage burps all the way up the "hill." The people of White Bird, however, are some of the friendliest I've met so far; very welcoming and generally interested in our ride.

Idaho is absolutely beautiful, but I hope to never pedal down 95 again. It's loud, full of traffic and semi's. The old route 95 was a welcome break from traffic and we rode 2 abreast the whole way up to chat. Once we were on 12, someone passed us in the other direction, honked and gave us the finger for no reason at all. And that is when I wished him the most painful, gut-wrenching case of diarrhea while on a first date with a girl he likes. I don't know why cyclists are not liked in certain places, we bother nobody.

After a gigantic lunch in a cafe that included 2 desserts, we finished the 50 miles and my legs protested every little uphill roller. Around the 70 mile mark, I needed to distract myself from the discomfort of being in the saddle for so many hours. We played picnic and talked about other verbal memory type games to pass time. If I didn't have a ride partner right now, I think I would have went insane.

McKinley and I both discussed the prospects of veggie burgers at the picnic, and realized that being in a very carnivorous part of the US, we'd have to suck it up and eat burgers. And eat burgers is what we did, 2 greasy cheese burgers each, layered with gobs of mayo and ketchup. And a mound of macaroni and potato salad. And corn on the cob. When I picked up my plate, it felt like 2 lbs of food. I ate like I've never eaten before, I was starving.

What a day. I don't soon feel like riding 80 miles with lots of climbing involved, but the pain was worth the reward. Now if I can only shower some time soon...