Aug 7 (Day 219) - LONG ride to reach Mountain Home, Idaho

The weather around Southern Idaho the last few days has been less than stellar. There have been constant thunderstorms accompanied by some very nasty winds. The sky looked a bit ominous when I set out at 7:45 this morning, but, luckily, I hit only a few isolated pockets of rain in the next few hours. The clouds kept things nice and cool this morning, and after lunch the skies finally cleared for good.

Given the uncertainly surrounding the weather, I had lined up two potential places to stay. The first of these was Bliss, ID, approximately 75 miles from my starting point in Burley, ID.  The second was in Glenns Ferry, an additional 19 miles down I-84. In addition to scatted thunderstorms, the forecast had called for light winds from the south and west. However, once I got going, I quickly realized that the wind was actually coming from the southeast - a tailwind! I arrived in Bliss around noon, I wolfed down a turkey sandwich lunch, and I hit the road towards Glenns Ferry. By this time the skies had cleared, and I was feeling incredibly energetic. I rolled right through Glenns Ferry and continued an additional 27 miles to Mountain Home where I finally called it quits. This made my ride today 121 miles, my longest of the year. This sets me up nicely for a short, 40 miles ride into Boise tomorrow.

121 miles, all on Interstate 84. I-84 is GREAT riding!

Good scenery after the skies cleared

Today was one of the rare days where my body felt like it could have kept going indefinitely. I gave serious thought to riding the additional 40 miles straight into Boise. I decided against it; Although my body felt good, I wanted to avoid making some stupid mental mistake when fatigued. In mountain climbing, few people are hurt on the way up as they are acutely focused on reaching the summit. Most injuries occur on the way down when people are fatigued and they lose focus. I wanted to avoid a similar situation that could end my year. It was a really great feeling to have my body working on all cylinders. Sometimes I can do more physically than even I think I can. 

OK, I'm very tired so its short entry tonight. Bedtime.......