Today we rode from Boise, ID to Ontario, OR. I left the church alone but caught up with a group of 14 people riding at the front of the group. We rode in a paceline for the first 33 miles that consisted of Me, Boss, Haley, and Barb. We held a fast pace but there was a tailwind helping us. We stopped in Notus, ID for lunch at a gas station to wait for the van. While we were eating, we noticed an apricot tree in a yard across the street. We went over to inspect the mouth watering fruit on the tree when the owner of the house came out to greet us. He told us that we could take as many as we'd like. The whole group basically stood around eating as many apricots as our bellies allowed. The homeowner came back out with trash bags and a ladder and told us we should take some with us. We loaded up bag after bag of apricots. After lunch I rode with Courtney, Kira, and Laura. We had fun riding 2 wide and goofing off. We hit the state line at mile 48 and celebrated! We took a bunch of pictures and then waited for Bridget because she had gotten two flats since lunch and we wanted to hang out with her. After eating more candy than you can imagine and taking more pictures than you can imagine.. we headed on to our destination. On the way there a van flagged us down and interviewed all of us for a women's cycling magazine. They said they would post a story about us soon. I'll post a link when I find it. Sad news... I had my first flat today. It was a slow leak. I had to change it. I can't believe I made it 9 weeks without a flat and all the way to the last state before getting one. I'm not too upset about it because I figured I would get a lot of flats at the beginning. The lack of flats in the past 9 weeks made me hopeful I would survive 1 more. Oh well. Good news is that I have seen enough people change flats that I know what I'm doing. I changed my flat on my own and Courtney and Kira provided moral support. We got into Ontario at 3:00 and I found my $5-footlong haven and enjoyed an afternoon snack (meal). We had provided dinner at the church an hour and a half later and I ate a ton of pasta. I'm surprised I haven't gained 15 lbs since the beginning.
Two days ago we rode from Idaho City, ID to Boise, ID. The ride into Boise was only 40 miles and it was mostly downhill. Laura and I rode in together and we got in early. The ride was a great way to set up a good day off the next day. The afternoon in Boise was spent walking around downtown with a group of people. We were informed that there happened to be a professional cycling race in Boise in the evening. Courtney and I headed down to watch these men and women riding an average of 32 around a track for an hour and a half. It was amazing to see the races. After that, we all went out for Nick's birthday. The next morning I got to sleep in until 10, which was a real treat. I went out with Mark, Kira, Courtney, and Bridget to breakfast. After breakfast we went tubing down the Boise River with the group. The water was freezing, but it felt really good to not be able to feel my sore butt for awhile. I'm pretty sure I ran into everything possible to run into while on the river, but it was still a great time. After tubing, we all decided to go see the new Harry Potter movie. I didn't like it as much as I liked the older movies, but I'm sure the final movie will be amazing. The time spent in Boise was a lot of fun and I think it has been my favorite day off so far. Hopefully our day off in Portland can top it!
The day before all of that was the ride from Stanley, ID to Idaho City. I know I talked about that in my last blog and I was wondering when people were going to show up. The next person finally showed up at 5:30 and informed me that they weren't looking for me. I was worried they would be because I skipped both lunch stops. They said that people were concerned at the first lunch stop because Laura told them I was with Courtney and Kira.. and Courtney and Kira said they hadn't seen me all day. Apparently everyone was a little worried until they saw my chalking to Laura on a big hill in the middle of the day. They told me they celebrated the fact that I was alive when they saw it. Haha. Crazy days.
Tomorrow we have an 80 mile day into Unity, OR. I'm sweep with Courtney so I better go get some rest. We're in the Oregon desert and heat, so enjoy your AC (if you have it) while you read this.
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