Massacre Rock State Park to Burley -2 July 09

This is really for 2 Jul, not just a mis-entry. Duff rode about 49 miles on the interstate for the first time, and much of the time was good except for one bridge, where there wasn't a shoulder. He changed his routing from the interstate and took some back roads, heading for Burley. Linda (wife) met him a few miles out of town. Max was getting tired of the ride, and had been biting at the screen enclosing his wagon. When Linda caught up to Duff, Max became a car passenger. Within minutes, he was fast asleep. Duff & family stayed on the edge of town in the East Park Motel; the folks were very nice, and the room was clean & comfortable. Duff was exhausted and shortly after eating, took a shower and quickly fell asleep.

Duff's after comments: Linda did a good job reporting. The piece about the bridge with no shoulder was scary. I had to watch oncoming traffic and wave it to the left lane to have enough time to get across the short bridge. After taking a thirst break and a short nap on an RV lawn, I started down the on ramp to complete the I-84 portion to Rupert before turning toward Burley. As I got to the bottom of the ramp, I could see the bridge over the Snake River was more of the same "no shoulder", so I turned around and tried some back roads to Burley. Riding on the interstate in Idaho is legal, but not without some problems such as the bridges, and lots of debris from blown truck tires.

Pocatello to Massacre Rock - 2 Jul 09

Today was a short ride, only 36 miles. Duff & Max stayed at Massacre Rock State Park, and rented a cabin. He's not so tired tonight, and the cabin is comfortable. Duff's after comments: The ride from Pocatello to American Falls was into the wind, and rain threatened. I rode the I-86 freeway for the first time, and it was OK. Then, I experienced my first flat tire, this one on the trailer. I got out my repair kit and broke down the tire and tube, but could not find a leak. I put it all back together and pumped it up, and pressed on. About a half-hour later, I had another flat on the same tire, so I put in a new tube. This seemed to solve my problem. I was hot and thirsty, so I stopped off in American Falls, and when I passed a Les Schwab tire center, I asked them to check the tube for a leak. Sure enough, they found it and repaired it, and would not accept payment. I'm always satisfied with the service I receive at Les Schwab.

After driving through American Falls, I stopped at a convenience store to get something cold to drink. In trying to get my bike and trailer on the sidewalk in the shade, I caused the bike to fall on its left side. I bent the left brake handle, but otherwise the bike was OK. Driving out of AF, I decided to just use the freeway to make things easier, and I'm really glad I did. It was all downhill and fast to Massacre Rocks at exit 28. Of course, I did have to ride uphill to the visitor center, but once I was in my cabin, Max and I did not go far. It took a while for the A/C to cool off the room, but I slept pretty well

Idaho Falls to Pocatello

Had difficulty getting onto the Internet, so this blog is starting a bit late, like 1Jul to 4 July late. Duff rode 50 miles today; he started at 8 a.m. and had a slight downhill ride with a tail wind at least to Blackfoot. The weather started out cool, and skies were a bit overcast. Then..., the clouds cleared and the wind (or breeze) stopped all together with the temperature climbing to 90 degrees. Cindy Hill, the outgoing Board President for Gateway Habitat for Humanity rode the last 10 miles with Duff into the ReStore, taking back roads and avoiding traffic. About 25-30 volunteers were at the ReStore, as well as media, which resulted in 2 T.V. interviews and one for the Idaho State Journal. If you would like to see the interview, check out Idahostatejournal.com on 1 July. Max enjoyed himself, greeting folks, and trying to make friends with the ReStore resident cat. After the interview, Cindy took Duff & Max to her home, where they met the new incoming Board President, Nile Spear and his wife, Mary Ann, and Cindy's friend, Mike Rowe. (In fact, Mike and Duff found out they are fraternity brothers from U. of Idaho.) After a nice meal, and visiting, Mike took Max & Duff back to his home for the night. In the morning, Mike had the paper, so Duff was able to see what the interview said. He was satisfied that the bike ride might be helpful in advertising the ReStore.

Ririe to Idaho Falls

This time it is actually Duff doing the reporting. I started out from the Mountain River Ranch RV Park right at 8 AM, and the weather was great--clear skies, relatively cool temperature, and once I turned west I had a nice morning tail wind. I covered the 20 miles in a fairly leisurely pace, and got to the Candlewood Suites building just before 11 AM. Along the way, the traffic in town was probably the scariest part of the ride so far. There just was not much room to get over to the side, and some drivers were not too good about granting me room. The last half-mile, I chose to get off and walk the bike on the sidewalk.

Let me tell you about a really nice place to stay in Idaho Falls, and I'm sure I'll have the same thing to say after my stay in Meridian on the 7th. Candlewood Suites has been partnering with Habitat for Humanity since 1996, and we are the major non-profit they support. They have taken wonderful care of Max and me, and have made us feel so welcome. Before I went off to meet the Idaho Falls director at the ReStore this afternoon at 2, the staff all gathered around the bike and we got a group photo together. Again, I can not say enough good things about Candlewood Suites, and I would gladly stay with them anytime in the future.

The meeting at 2 PM did not work out, so it looked like I would spend the day in my room just relaxing--what a wonderful notion! I was enjoying eating a giant sub sandwich while watching Band of Brothers on TV when Melody Burns invited me to join her for dinner out. Melody is my point of contact here in IF, and is the Executive Director of the local affiliate and the Director of the Idaho State Support Office. She found us a place where Max could come along, and it was a novel experience. The restaurant, The Celler, was very nice to us, and offered some really interesting items on the menu. Since Max could not be in the restaurant, then set up an outside table for us on the lawn beneath the trees, which made for a very nice dining setting. I anchored Max to my chair leg and he was pretty good. Much like a little kid who gets too tired and begins to "ping". I fed him ice cubes for a while, and then the server brought him some steak marinaded in balsamic vinegar and oil, and it was all chopped finely. Max ate well. He is now asleep at my feet while I'm typing this in the Candlewood office.

What started out as an easy, relatively slow day developed into a very full day. The conversation with Melody about Habitat stuff was very interesting, and on the way to the Candlewood, she showed me other buildings they are considering as they outgrow their ReStore location. Plus I got to see Snake River Landing and the massive sculpture in the roundabout. If you are this way any time soon, be sure to see both. Also, the Snake River is at a very high level, and is pretty spectacular when you realize how much lower it normally is.

Tomorrow we are off to Pocatello to work with the affiliate there. I plan to start about 7:30 AM since it is a full 50 mile day. According to the map and my limited experience with US 91, it should be mostly level and slightly downhill, but I'm learning to not be so sure.



Idaho Falls Habitat for Humanity Web Site:

"Reason to Ride for Idaho
He's off on another adventure to benefit Habitat for Humanity. This time he will be biking from Bear Lake all across Idaho over the next month South to North. Who is he you ask? May we present, Mr. Jim Duffield a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity.

Visit the following link for his story: www.goskagit.com/home/article/recreation_mount_vernon_cyclist_has_a_reason_to_ride/.

Look for him riding in from Swan Valley with Max his companion and mascot dachshund on Monday, June 29th about 2 p.m. If you would like to ride in with Mr. Duffield showing your support of Habitat for Humanity, give him a ring on his cell phone at 360-420-6079."

Irwin to Ririe

28 Jun - Okay, so the calculations for distance were a bit off - instead of 28 miles, Duff & Max went 36. They had to go through a heavy construction area, so while cars were parked, awaiting their turn to proceed on one lane, Duff walked the bike and Max along the shoulder to the front of the line. He talked with folks in line as he walked past them, and passed out a few of his cards. The construction workers were very generous with cold bottles of water to make up what Max and Duff had already used. Instead of the expected 5 hours of biking/walking, it took Duff 8 hours, but they made it to Ririe, and are camping out in a pretty RV campground. Duff's feet are sore, his leg is feeling better, and he is still tired, and hungry. Duff talked the RV campground manager into picking up a pizza, was too tired & sore to walk another 2 miles to retrieve food, and he didn't feel like eating dehydrated rations. They are now about 20 miles away from Idaho Falls, so Duff will start early to get to the hotel to shower before going to the ReStore and another interview.

Alpine to Irwin, Idaho

27 June 09 - About four years ago, Duff thought about walking the state of Idaho, so now he can honestly say that he's biked and hiked Idaho. The good news is that today's ride is shorter, only 23 miles, and a rustic cabin awaits them. Too tired to get started from Alpine early, Duff & Max set out about noon. His feet ache, and he's still tired, but okay. Sleep and shower can do wonders. The road is another day of walking and riding, and with all the rain, the mosquitoes are out in force again. People have been very generous. On one of the hills (of walking), several people even stopped their cars to ask is he needed help, thinking that maybe his bike had malfunctioned. And, most drivers are pulling out to go around him, as the shoulders of the road are not very wide or in good quality. Max has been a real "trooper", playing with his toys, or sleeping, or just spread out in his trailer (probably wondering when is this going to end). This day was very hot, and Duff spritzed Max down with water, wetted a towel down for him to sleep on during the ride. Duff had brought along a small basting syringe to give Max water, because Max wouldn't drink out of a bowl. Today, he found out that he'll drink from the water bottles, like a hose, and of course, any dirty mud hole, or ditch. The "guys" arrived in Irwin about 5 p.m. Duff really had wanted to ride more in the morning when it was cooler, so tomorrow he'll start out about 8 a.m. Though he was looking forward to a cabin, the owner didn't want animals inside, so he gave Duff a discount, and allowed him to pitch a tent on a grassy area behind one of the cabins, and still have access to a shower and latrine. Duff's feet are still sore, he's exhausted, and has strained his right calf muscle. Thankfully, tomorrow's right is also in the 28 mile range.

Henry to Alpine

26 June 09 - Still exhausted, but eager now to get to Alpine (a motel room awaited them), Duff & Max started out for another day of steep hills both ascending and descending. Max experienced new things, but then at 8 months old, most anything can be new, right? He met his first cows, and started barking. The barking only brought more cows to check out what the noise was. They saw marmots, and other little high desert creatures. Horses checked out the two of them going by and decided to run along the fence line with them for a while. Thankfully, after the Wayan grade, Duff was able to coast a bit to a place called Freedom, where he first was able to call me before losing the connection again. Storms were still approaching, and there wasn't much shelter, but fortunately,the storm stayed away from them. Duff was so exhausted by the time he pulled into Alpine at 8 p.m., that he said he was starting to feel a little goofy. He picked up a hamburger, ate and crashed. Max also loved the hamburger, and loved being able to sleep on a bed instead of the floor. The motel room allowed Duff to spread out all of their damp belongings to dry. Another 50 miles completed, and two blisters on the soles of feet earned.