Sunday, August 09, 2009

Day 55: Burley, ID to Bliss, ID

As much as I don't care for riding on the Interstate, today we were going to be left without any other options. West of Heyburn I-84 rapidly becomes the only paved road straight west we can easily find. Jillian talked me into getting on the Interstate right away, rather than waiting a while. I did my best to procrastinate at breakfast. As much as everything I'd ever read had said it was ok to ride the interstate, I'd never seen anything official. I simply couldn't believe that it was legal for cyclists to ride the Interstate.

I shouldn't have worried so much about the interstate. While it was really boring, and we couldn't talk at all, it was only 8 miles until there was a good frontage road that we could use. No traffic, not too hilly, not too hot or windy yet. We took advantage.

About 15 miles in, we crossed the highway at an exit and stopped at a convenience store. There wasn't much here, but we had cold drinks. On our way out of the convenience store, we found a young mother with a bit of a tire problem. Her tire was bulging quite a bit, and she needed to put on the spare. We gave her a hand.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get one of the nuts off the tire, no matter how much weight I put on it. I even tried rigging up a longer handle to get better leverage. No luck. The woman we were helping asked the driver of the next truck down for a hand. He had a real tire iron, which got the nut off right away, but before he could help he had to help his kid, who was throwing up off the tailgate of his truck.

Tire changed, the woman drove off and we were able to get moving again, feeling full of good karma, even if we were still a little worried that the spare tire was kind of low on air (there was no pump at this convenience store).

There wasn't a whole lot to see in this part of Idaho.

Our next stop came at a place called Anderson Camp. It was simply a campground with a little cafe. It was quirky. We had lunch here - salads and tater tots. Most importantly, I also had some Mexican Coke - Coke made with real sugar instead of corn syrup. It was wonderful, leaving no aftertaste. All of the tables at the Anderson Camp had these awful books which we tried to read, but couldn't. Then it was back on the road, still avoiding the Interstate.

About 40 miles in, just outside the town of Jerome, we flatted on the front. I really didn't want to change the tire on the shoulder, and we were quite close to the exit, so we walked the bike off the highway.

At the top of the ramp was a Wendy's, where we got very wonderful Frosties before changing the tire. I was not happy about having to change the tire.

As long as we were off the highway, I thought maybe we could stop in at the police station and inquire about riding on the Interstate. But the state Police barracks was closed - it was a Sunday. Fortunately, just down the street we spotted a sheriff filling up his car and took the opportunity to ask him. He confirmed that it was completely legal, so we decided to ride to the far side of town and get back on the highway.

Just before the ramp to get back on the highway I noticed problems with our back tire. The same boot we'd put on our tire way back in Wyoming was still there, and now it was making the bike bounce a bit and causing a bulge of our own. We stopped at another gas station, and took a look.

No luck. We needed a new patch kit and we needed new tires. We did some searching to find a bike shop, but there wasn't one in town. The only option was the Walmart - back by the first exit to town. We called ahead, and they said they had some tires that were close. Close probably wasn't close enough, but they were our only option and by now it was getting to be dinner time. We needed to get moving if we were going to make it to Bliss.

Indeed, the tires at Walmart were close - but not perfect. But, as always, we were out of options. I bought them anyway, as well as a patch kit. In another two days we'd be in Boise, where we could surely find a shop to supply us with all the things we needed.

So now, a day which started with us hopefully establishing some good Karma was on its way to ending terribly. I was so very, incredibly frustrated. I love riding bikes - I hate fixing them. I did what I could with the tires and we got back on the road, choosing to ride slower than normal until we knew how well the boot on the tire was holding.

A few miles later, we started raising our speed, eventually averaging 17-20mph. Our plan was to make it to Wendell, where we'd get off the Highway and follow US-30 in to Bliss in order to keep off the Interstate when it was dark. But after a very brief conversation we decided to stay on the highway - it was only 7 miles, and there might be no shoulder on 30.

Jillian kept her headlamp moving side to side, scanning for road hazards. I did my best to avoid them, but at the speeds we were going in the dark, it was almost impossible.

Only a few miles out of town is Malad Gorge State Park, and I was kind of upset that we weren't going to be able to stop. Today was supposed to have been a fairly easy day, if we hadn't had tire troubles we would have had plenty of time to stop for pictures.

But, so much as we'd had an awful day, the Amber Inn in Bliss was wonderful. Small, inexpensive, with huge rooms. But most importantly there was a 24 hour diner nearly across the street. We had a tremendous amount of food, which nearly made everything ok, and we were able to forget the awful part of the day before going to bed.

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