Day 14

Though the ride was a little longer than I anticipated, in many respects it was a beautiful day.  It was sunny, light wind and what wind there was, was at our backs.  We were riding in a very green rural area until we got close to Idaho Falls at which time we rode along the Snake River through some very nice developments.  For the past few days, we could see snow peaked mountains, both north and south, in the distance.  But today as we got closer, the contrast between green valley and snow capped peaks was very picturesque.

The ride turned out a little longer because I missed a turn.  Though my family has no respect for my navigation skills and though it was my fault, the trip sheet (i.e. directions) was somewhat misleading and I made a wrong choice.  Mike agreed that it could be interpreted my way and would be changed for next year.  

After whining about the extra miles, I found out one rider fell and it could have been a lot worse.  Four riders where in a pace line, all very good experienced riders; however, when they were getting ready to pass another rider, the lead rider hit his brake forcing the rest of the riders to brake also.  The third rider could not brake quick enough and hit the wheel of the second rider.  Unbelievably, the second rider was able to keep riding while the third rider went down. The rider was bruised, but should be able to ride tomorrow.  This one of the reasons I rarely do pace lines -- something can happen very quickly.  

The first picture is of three of our international riders - Andres, Damian and Jan.  Andres and Jan are brothers from the Netherlands while Damian is from Ireland and joined us in Boise.  All three are very strong riders.  Andres and Jan ride touring bikes, take a lot of pictures, which means they stop a lot for pictures and then coming rocketing by until they stop again.  They are both engineers -- Andres on a leave of absence while Jan waiting to start his new job.  The second picture is of Michael, who is from Quebec and is quite the character.  It is of him at the end of day.  

The last two pictures are of the Snake River from my hotel room.  

Tomorrow will be one of the toughest days of the tour as we climb over Teton Pass to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.