Today we left Oregon behind us and started our trek across Idaho. We were up early, determined to get an early start...out by 7:00AM. We grabbed breakfast at the hotel at 6:40 AM. We not
iced the clock on the wall indicated 8:00 AM when we left to get on our bikes. We had crossed into mountain time a few miles from the hotel yesterday. So much for an early start. We spent the day going south. Our route took us through the high dessert...very dry with minimal vegetation (dry grasses and small sage bushes with very few trees). With the winds, any riding in this area consumed a lot of energy. The temperature hit 94 degrees by the end of the ride...and we felt every one of those degrees. Even though there was only one significant climb today, we were glad to put the bike up for the night shortly after 5 o'clock.
Occasionally, the route would take us past the Snake River valley. Here farmers irrigated the land and grew several types of crops. In these areas, the riding was much easier as you could see and feel the difference that irrigation made.
When we started the ride, we thought that we had to ride about 130 miles today. However, 
there were no hotels on the route, so we had always intended to transport the riders to the hotel. This was a pleasant surprise, since this meant our ride today was only 104 miles. Larry went to the hotel to check in and unload enough of the support vehicle to haul both riders and bikes to the hotel. Since we reached Grand View before Larry, we put in an additional 15 miles today. As a result, we finished the day with 119.5 miles and averaged 18.4 mph.
The road had a very small shoulder and in some areas, there wasn't really a shoulder. However, there was practically no traffic on the road all day. Mostly pickups and motorcycles, but nobody crowded us. I don't know if the light traffic was due to the close proximity of the road to Interstate 84 or because it was Sunday. Since we are on the same road tomorrow, we will probably find out.
