Cottonwood to Lewiston, ID - 14 July 2009

Aah, clear skies, comfortable temperature, Duff left Cottonwood at 7:30 a.m. and made it to Craigmont without much difficulty. He had about 3 miles with lots of construction. Riding the Winchester Grade, he had little pedaling because of the downhill grade, but he also had no shoulder, and had to often pull over onto a rumble strip for several miles; a little jarring, but he still has his teeth. Duff met up with four riders from Lewiston-Clarkston affiliate: Two men named Bill, Sam, and Rich. Jasmine drove the "blocker-truck", warning "caution - bikers ahead, Duff Bikes for Habitat". The group rode 12 miles over the Clearwater River into Lewiston, arriving about 3:45 p.m. Riding over the bridge, the KLEW camera crew intercepted them, and took pictures of group riding in, as well as the "blocker-truck" and sign. At the ReStore, KLEW conducted a nice interview about the purpose of the ride, information about the ReStore and the volunteers that came out to ride with him. Duff also was interviewed by telephone by the Lewiston Tribune, and was told the report would be in the 15 Jul 09 edition. Red Lion generously supplied Duff with a beautiful room. Once cleaned up, Rich Goodwin, the Executive Director, took Duff and our daughter, Jennifer (who had driven down from Coeur d'Alene) to dinner at the Roosters in Clarkston. Jennifer departed toward home after dinner, taking gear that Duff no longer needed. Today, Duff rode 56 miles, with ending temperature at 90 degrees. Goal tomorrow is taking on the Lewiston Hill, meet folks from the Moscow-Pullman affiliate, and complete the ride with them into Moscow.

"Riding for Habitat
by Stephanie Smith
Originally printed at http://www.klewtv.com/news/50805672.html
LEWISTON - It's a long bike ride from the Idaho-Utah border to the Canadian border.
Mount Vernon, Washington's Jim Duffield is doing it all for Habitat for Humanity. Tuesday he rode into Lewiston.
"Somebody asked me was it fun, and I said that's not a word I would use. It's been an adventure and it's obviously been a challenge and it's been rewarding to keep my schedule," said Duffield. "I'm right on schedule where I want to be and I'll finish up a week from tomorrow."
His ride started on June 25, but this isn't the first time Duffield has done something like this to raise awareness for the organization.
"Three years ago I walked across Washington state for Habitat for the same reason, to talk to people about Habitat," said Duffield. "This year I wanted to do it here in Idaho. I grew up in Coeur d'Alene so I always think of Idaho as home and I've always wanted to see Idaho at a little slower pace."
He's rode over 800 miles so far and has 240 to go. He will head to Moscow Wednesday.
Tuesday's ride ended at the Lewiston Habitat Store, one of several he's visited during his travels.
"The Habitat Store is a win win on a whole bunch of levels. If people donate stuff they get a tax write off if they want it, the store uses the product to sell back to the public at about 50 cents on the dollar and then they use that money to build houses for people. And it also keeps stuff out of the landfills, which is important too," said Duffield.
Several employees of the Lewiston Habitat Store road with Duffield from Cottonwood to Lewiston Tuesday."