Idaholy cow

Greetings from Lewiston, Idaho! We rode a record- breaking-so-far 69.45 miles to get here, and we're feeling quite proud of ourselves. :)

Today's ride was memorable for its big hills and its kind people! We started the morning in Dayton, WA (pop. 1500 or so). The owner of the Country Cupboard, where we had breakfast, was super-excited when she saw our bikes. She came over to chat with us, and then told our story to the other patrons in the cafe. By the time we left, two little girls were waving to us from the window, and another couple wished us well as we rode off. It made me feel like some sort of minor celebrity, which was pretty fun.

We surmounted one 500-ft hill outside Dayton, and thoroughly enjoyed the zooming downhill that followed. Doug enjoyed stopping alongside a field to eat some fresh peas! Then we had a long stretch of fairly isolated riding through flat and slightly uphill farm-lined roads. After 35 miles, we reached Pomeroy (pop. 1500), where we stopped for a second lunch around 3:45. A sign at the edge of town told us we were entering the "friendly city of Pomeroy." The Pomeronians did not disappoint! Not only did at least half a dozen people in the sandwich shop come chat with us, but a kind old man named Don invited us to come to his house to swim in his pool, have wine and cheese with him and his wife, and spend the night! We were really tempted by his offer, especially since we knew it was another 30+ miles to Lewiston with a big hill in the way. But we were feeling energized and in good spirits after our lunch, so we decided to go for it.

It worked out great! We rode the 12 miles from Pomeroy to Alpowa Summit (2785 feet), and we were really happy because it was a slow and steady climb instead of the dreaded up-and-down rolling hills that we hit coming out of Walla Walla. We've discovered that climbing hills is not bad as long as it's a steady climb without a killer grade. Today's climbs were winners on both counts. Nice, manageable grade (think: spending most of the time in the gear or two before granny gear), and no intermediate downhills to weaken our spirits. When we reached Alpowa Summit, we had a fantastic ride downdowndowndowndown! It's the real-life equivalent of a roller coaster. We did the first 5 miles really fast (like 30 mph!), then another good chunk at 23 mph, and another long stretch at about 16-18 mph. Thankfully, there was not a lot of traffic on the road. At the bottom of the mega-downhill, we sidled up alongside the Snake River, which we'll ride along for the next several days through Idaho on Hwy 12.

We made it to the Econo Lodge at 8:30pm, got hot showers, then walked down the street to devour a big salad and a pizza. Eating after such a long day is SO satisfying! Every bite tastes so good.

Tomorrow we start riding through Idaho toward Missoula, MT. This section is a route that Doug has ridden before, and of which he has fond memories, so I'm excited to finally get to see it!

P.S. These photos are from the past two days, and include scenes from several towns we rode through. (The "Hot Poop" store is from Walla Walla--Sister, that one's for you. ;P)