Mountains are our friends

We're in Hailey, Idaho surrounded by the Sawtooth mountains. Everywhere you look it's hard not to be in awe of the geological wonderfullness. We rolled in on Saturday, passing over the Galena summit, our biggest yet at 8,900 ft. We heard that this area has great single track, and was a cycling hub. This soon became apparent as we started seeing large groups of road cyclists and signs on the road warning motorists about the "Sawtooth Century." As we pushed our bikes and gear up the mountain we were being passed by roadies who were on their way back Ketchum to complete their 100 miles. After making our way down the 6% descent we cruised into town at our best paceline yet, for an hour or so pushing 20-30 mph with little effort. Once in town we received the celebrity treatment. In a bike crazy town, with bike paths everywhere, and a pump track, our loaded bikes were a sight and seemed to be a magnet for attention. Everyone wanted to know where we were riding from and tell us which way to leave from here. People were super nice and friendly, but I was left with mixed feelings. Ketchum/Sun Valley is like Disneyland for grown ups. And it is disgustingly wealthy and white. Talking to folks you get the impression that this is just a bubble, insulated from the rest of the world. A place where the rich and famous (the Governator to name one) have summer homes. That being said, everyone we met was great. Especially Brian from Backwoods Mountain Sports, an avid mountain biker whose domesticity has been dependent on single track. Brian is what our buddy JB calls a "trail angel." He hooked us up with some mountain bikes and sent us off with a map, a loop and a place to shower after, as well as a cool dirt route to get to Craters of the Moon, our next destination.

Some other notes:
We are getting good at using space. Yesterday we dried out laundry in the park. Today we woke up on the side of a dirt road after sleeping under the stars and (almost) full moon and cooked a fat boy breakfast for $10 in the park. Libraries, supermarkets, gas stations, random places with shelter become your home, where you feel comfortable. And quickly, the odd looks people give you become just another reason to laugh. This hobo life is growing more and more attractive. Everyday is a new day, a new place with new people and a lot of unknowns. How lucky I am!

catching up.....

Day 22 - Boise to Ten Mile Campground, Idaho City (55 miles)

Day 23 - Idaho City to Bonneville Hotsprings/Campground (46 miles)

Day 24 - Bonneville to Alturas Lake (66 miles)

Day 25 - Alturas to Ketchum (52 miles)

Day 26 - Bummin' around Ketchum, riding single track

Day 26 - Hailey rest day

Amerikuh!

Ted cooking a bacon breakfast at Alturas Lake

one of a few passes leaving Boise

rocking my Luce Goods hat, thanks Lucie!!!

huge frisbee in Stanley, ID

first glimpse of the Sawtooths

drinking a schooner of tasty IPA at Lefty's in Ketchum

riding to our campground

Sun Valley single track

doin' laundry in the park

riding our touring rigs in the pump track

Dispatches from the land of irrigation

Greetings from Idaho,
we have been enjoying some rest and relaxation in Boise. We're staying with our good friend Jocelyn's family who have been extremely gracious hosts. Home cooked meals, board games and great conversation has made me forget about riding my bike everyday. This is what the trip is about. Catching up...

Day 14 - Burns, OR to John Day, OR (75 miles)
We decided that we would much rather climb more and be in national forest than to continue riding in the high desert, so we rode north to John Day. It also just happens that Lisa has been working in John Day, bonus! This was one of the best days on the bike thus far, riding through small mountain towns like Prairie City and Seneca, checking out some old growth Jefferey and Ponderossa Pines and mashing down an epic decent into John Day was reinvigorating.

Canyon City, Or

Brendon going wild in Seneca, OR

Seneca, OR

Day 15 - Rest Day in John Day, OR
Lisa took the day off work and we cooked an F Street breakfast and mosied out to the John Day Fossil Beds which were incredible.




Day 16 - John Day, OR to Unity, OR (40 miles)
We got an early start, leaving John Day around 2 pm and rode almost to Unity. The mountain passes aren't so bad once you're already above 4,000 ft. Ted and I rode into Unity looking for a swim spot, after failing we decided to look for beer. We ended up at the "R Watering Hole" in Unity where we drank Coors light on tap in frosty mugs and ate french fries while Brendon and Chris set up camp and cooked dinner. Lisa met us here and drove us back to camp where we enjoyed a roaring fire.

Ted in search of the reservoir

Day 17 - Unity, OR to Vale, OR
Third and last (for now) goodbye to Lisa and we rode in to Unity for breakfast at the watering hole. The ride into Vale was challenging, a nasty headwind persisted all day and the last 10 miles were on chip seal, so every time a truck drove by you'd pelted with rocks. By the time we reached town we were haggard. Fortunately we fell into the flow. Chris chatted up a lady at the local pool who let us in for $1 each. We showered, swam, and showered before grabbing some Mexican food downtown which was the best we've had so far on the trip. The owner of the joint was super nice, as was everyone we chatted up in town. We camped out in the park, and checked out some cattle roping qualifications for the huge July 4 rodeo. We're starting to become knowledgeable in the world or ranch sports, although this doesn't make us stand out any less amongst the cowboy hats and hefty belt buckles. The roping went on well into the middle of the night, but you can't complain much when you're sleeping in the public park. Another cool thing about Vale is that there are murals (30 or so) scattered throughout the town, mostly depicting the Oregon Trail.

Unity, OR

scrappy chickens in Brogan

Taqueria in Vale, OR

cattle ropin' in Vale

Brendon contemplating manifest destiny

Day 18 - Vale, OR to Boise, ID (76 miles)
Woke up early in the park, grabbed some breakfast from the greasy spoon and hit the rode. Mostly down hill with a tail wind leading us to a bike path into Boise. Interesting transition in culture from rural farmland to wealthy private condos and houses along the river with private lakes where the friendlier folks are those who come for the fishing, and not those living there. Swimming in the Boise river was a nice way to cool down. We rolled into town and found ourselves in some sweet digs a la casa de Tessie and Scott. We cruised downtown Boise, which on a Saturday night resembles an episode of MTV spring break, where the girls look like scandally clad oompa loompas and the guys make me feel embarrassed about being a male. Definitely some culture shock, but entertaining nonetheless. After finding a taco truck we headed to bed.

ye old Oregon Trail

Day 19-21 Rest Days......
We headed into town to check out the local bike shop (Boise Mountain Touring) who happened to be having an IBIS demo day. After chatting with the IBIS dudes (who turned out to Scott Nicol, the OG of IBIS) we decided to ride some single track. Quickly Boise became the first place we've been to so far where I could see myself living. there is great single track in town and a strong cycling community. I met Jeff from the Southwest Idaho Mountain Bike Association who was tabling for their License Plate fundraiser. Jeff was super nice and told us all we need to know about the riding in Sun Valley, ID which is where we are headed next. Everyone was super friendly and helpful. After a great diner with out newly adopted family, we went out to a cool bar for some beer with Jocelyn and her friend Meighn, where I ran into Doug Martsch from Built to Spill. This further cemented my approval of Boise.

Mr. Ibis

Our generous hots Scott and Tessie

Pool at the Nerolux

Doug Martsch!

Meighn and Jocelyn

Brendon's first Winco experience

Winco at ~3 am

Solstice sunset hike

Mountains, desert and mosquitoes.

After seeing family in the Ashland area Chris and I picked up Brendon, our fourth rider.


He is a pal from Santa Rosa and is becoming quite the skilled frame builder (he built my bike and the one he is riding). While Ted caught up with his folks Brendon, Chris, and I rode to Lake of the Woods, OR where we met up with Lisa and Rose. We decided to take a rest day at my aunt and uncle's cabin, on the Lake. It was beautiful and relaxing.


Day 8 - Wednesday we left Lake of the Woods and rode through Klamath Falls to Sprague River, OR. Riding along highway 66 was amazing, pine covered forest quickly changed to rolling hills and sage brush desert. We did get a chance to ride along the OC&E Rail to Trail



which runs from Klamath Falls to Bly. While we were excited to ride this trail that goes for 150 miles, we soon found out that only a few of those miles were paved, and the rest varied from hard pack dirt to seizure inducing cattle pasture.

Day 9 - Thursday we finally rode a mile.... high to Lakeview Oregon.


It was a cold nasty day filled with rain, hail and wind. Hearing that it was going to freeze that night we decided to get a hotel room, which all six of us shared, and destroyed.


It is amazing what a shower, a hot meal (bacon burger, fries, and a coke) and clean clothes can do after a hard days ride.

Day 10 - Lakeview to a rest area 53 miles north of Lakeview.
Leaving Lakeview the landscape changes dramatically, and we soon found ourselves in the high desert. Big open skies, miles and miles of sagebrush, and the occasional 5,000 + ft. pass is what we saw for the next few days. The views were incredible but the riding was challenging, due to an incessant headwind.







Day 11 - Rest Area to Rest Area (15 miles outside Burns, OR).
Another day of hobo camping in the luxurious highway rest stops, where warm showers are had in the bathroom sink and we ate dinner under cedar trees along the highway. This was another hard day, and Rose hitched to Burns with an injured knee. Feeling bad for us she met us with an awesome dinner and cold beer. Along the way though, we fell back in time 100 years as we happened upon a cattle branding. This was an awesome experience to witness, and although I may be questioning my consumption of meat again it was really cool to see traditional methods of ranching being used and even more rad to see these traditions being passed on to younger generations. Once they determined we weren't from PETA, everyone was very nice and equally curious about our journey as we were of their livelihood.






Day 12 - We rode into Burns and parted with Rose and then rode out to the Malhuer National Wildlife Refuge which is home to 300 plus species of birds, and about 600,000,000,000 plus recently hatched mosquitoes. After sleeping in a mined out field next to abandoned farming equipment and creeper vans, where curious horses peered down over the hills at us, we determined that we were miles and miles away from the flow.

Day 13 - Rest Day (sort of) in Burns. Lisa goes back to the real world and its back to the four of us, headed towards Boise, ID.