What A Difference A Day Makes!

I come to you with good news, readers!  Mom, Dad and I have made it to Twin Falls, ID and have just enjoyed our first rest day.  It was ah-mah-zing.  After our day of defeat and disappointment on Monday, I was nervous for the conditions that we would face on Tuesday.  However, I was pleasantly surprised when I woke up and the wind was NOT against us!  It wasn't at our back, but I wasn't going to get greedy.  We backtracked in the morning and got started right away to make up for lost time!  We started to get a bit of a tail wind and it felt incredible!  We were enjoying the ride and I celebrated by eating 10 chicken nuggets from Burger King at 9 in the morning.  NBD.  I was feeling GREAT.  Thus, a diva picture was taken.

I'ma a diva.  I'ma I'ma a diva.

The day went very smoothly and Dad and I were happy to be on our bikes again.  It was the first time in awhile that I actually enjoyed myself while on the bike.  We had optimal weather conditions all day.  It wasn't too hot, we had  a little bit of a tail wind, and the terrain wasn't too rough.  Of course, there were some uphill climbs (there doesn't seem to be a day that goes by without them), but overall it was a wonderful day of riding.  The interesting thing about Tuesday was that we seemed to be attracting the attention of various law enforcement officers.  We were actually eating lunch in the van pulled over on the shoulder of the highway when the Elko County Sheriff vehicle showed up.  Of course, Dad says "Oh great...he's going to ask us to move.  Oh great.  This is JUST great...Oh man..." while Mom and I say "Calm down, Dad.  Just relax".  And whaddaya know...we were right.  The man simply wanted to know about our trip because he had seen us cycling a few miles behind and was an avid cyclist himself!  It was nice to meet someone who didn't think we were completely crazy for riding 1600 km across the country.  I said to him "Well it's nice that you came over to talk to us.  You seem to be the only person who doesn't think we're totally weird or out of our minds.  Then again, you are carrying a gun..." He laughed.  We laughed.  It was a wonderful moment.  Then of course, we got a picture with him (we ARE travelling with my mother, remember) and carried on our way.

Myself, Jeremy, and Dad

Later on that day, Mom was approached by three highway patrol men who were making sure that she was ok and that the van hadn't broken down.  She said it was actually nice to have someone to talk to (she spends most of the days in the car reading while we ride) and usually made remarks to us about how great these "men in uniform" would be for Ingrid and Kristen (my two eldest sisters who are currently single, gentlemen!).  We went 142 km and were exhausted by the end of the day. Here's a few pictures from our adventures!

Almost to the top of the Summit!

And there we are!  You can tell Dad's excited because we know we're about to go downhill...

We had pushed ourselves on Tuesday to reduce the distance we had to cycle to Twin Falls on Wednesday.
We had about 80 km to cycle to Twin Falls on Wednesday so I was excited because it was going to be a relatively easy day in my  mind.  I've learned to NEVER think that because I am always disappointed.  The day started off wonderfully.  We had a beautiful tail wind and life was great.  We were very excited to make it to Jackpot, NV and finally cross the border into Idaho!

At this point, we had lost Mom.  Apparently she was waiting for us in a parking lot and we missed her so...we just kept going.  It wasn't until we had cycled for another hour and a half that we called her and realized that she was still waiting for us in Jackpot, NV.  It wasn't a big deal because the wind was at our back and we were making great time, but I needed her because I had been badly burnt by the sun on my calf and could no longer cycle unless I reapplied some sunscreen.  I've never had a problem with the sun.  I have only been sunburnt once in my life, but this trip has been a bit of a different story.  I am badly burnt on my back, my shoulders, and my calves.  My ankles are also quite red but they have not reached the state of pain yet, so I'm happy.  When Mom came, we had found comfort under a tree where there was lots of shade (side note: so nice to be in Idaho where they actually HAVE trees in comparison with the desert of Nevada!) and waited for Mom to arrive.  I thought putting on some sunscreen would do the trick, but alas, my calf was just too burnt to ride without some protection.  So...I pulled an ol' red barn con and used Dad's bandana as a makeshift shield from the sun.  And it worked like a charm!  


When the sun started coming at me from the west, my OTHER leg started to burn, but other than that, I was pretty comfortable.  The only thing was the wind turned against us (surprise, surprise) so the last 20 km of the day were quite hard.  We actually went through the city of Twin Falls so that we could get started on the highway on Friday which took awhile as Idaho drivers don't seem to be very inclined to give cyclists any room on the road.  One of the highlights of riding through the city was the stunning gorge that lies just on the edge of town.  It was absolutely stunning!  We even saw some people parachute jumping off of the bridge which was a sight I had never seen.  As I was watching them crawl over the edge about to jump, I just thought "Thank goodness all I have to do is ride my bike and NOT that!"

Crazy People!!

We went 106 km and it ended up being a very tiring day.  I was VERY excited for our first rest day!  Mostly because Mom and I were going to be making a trip to Target which...basically means that my life gets 100x better.  It's like the smell of the store just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, I don't know what it is!  I especially like buying clothes while on a bike trip because I can't wear any of them until I am done and that gives me something extra special to look forward to. :)  The lowlight of our rest day was Mom accidentally threw an article of Dad's cycling clothing into the dumpster (I don't know how you "accidentally throw" that, but whatever) and recruited me to dig it out.  Awesome.  Of course she was taking pictures the whole time.  Anyway, that was about the only thing that wasn't wonderful about my day spent in Twin Falls!  We have a tough week ahead of us as we make our way to Missoula (shout out to all my friends there-I want to see you!).  We are hoping to be there in 6 riding days so...that would be on Wednesday.  If we make it there on time, we will take a rest day on Thursday which will be great because as much time as I've spent in MT, I have never spent more than an afternoon in Missoula so I'm excited for that.  Of course, Dad reminds me that we have a lot of work to do before we get there (Thanks, Dad I was unaware of that), but it's nice to have something to work towards.  We are off to Applebees now for dinner (YAY!) so I'm going to sign off.  Thanks for reading everyone!  Hope you are all loving life!  The parents and I are sending you all love, hugs, and smiles from Idaho!
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