Day 11 Mountain Home ID to Twin Falls ID

Day 11
Mountain Home ID to Twin Falls ID
Miles Ridden 96.9
Climbing 3231 Ft.
Total  Miles 776.0
Miles To Go 2913.4

After a few days of  rest and light riding, we had almost a hundred miles to cover today.  We got started at dawn while the moon was still  bright.

Starting by moonlight

The weather was cool, there was a light layer of clouds and as soon as we got out of town and started to head east we had a 20 MPH tailwind. Just about perfect conditions. We covered the first 50 miles in less than three hours, which is pretty fast for us. The land gradually transformed from sagebrush and sand to large farms growing hay and  wheat and corn. Must be a lot of water around as virtually every field was being irrigated with water that blew over us in the wind.

Miles of hay, slightly better than miles of sand

We had to climb 3200 feet today but it there were no backbreaking hills. We rode on an old U.S. highway that had been replaced by I-84 and there was virtually no traffic.

Bliss pretty much described the riding today

About a quarter mile from a rest stop,  (luckily while I was going slowly after a very fast descent) I heard a load noise that turned out to be my rear tire exploding. The tire was destroyed by a large nail but luckily I was only blocks from support staff who had a replacement tire. We carry spare tubes but when the tire is ruined it's usually trouble,       

The nail that wrecked my tire

The wind continued to push us on, which was a good thing as we passed miles of stinking stockyards filled with untold thousands of cows. We got to Twin Falls earlier than planned and got a chance to do some sightseeing along the Snake River Gorge. We have a short ride tomorrow which will give us time to go off course and see the Falls.

Snake River from Twin Falls

After about six hours of riding, I believe my old saddle, which Kathie sent to Boise has solved my saddle soreness. It's not greqtyet but much better than it's been. Hopefully the subject doesn't come up again.
I've had trouble getting this blog up and running. I decided to post the current day and will try to fill-in the days as I can.