Distance:90.2 miles (145.2 kms)
Total time: 8hrs40mins (including stops for lunch, map checking and refuelings later in the day)
Average Moving Speed: 13.1mph (21.1 kph)
Maximum Speed:37.0mph (59.5 kph)
Calories burned: 4796
Powered by: scrambled eggs, bagel, yogurt, muffin for breakfast, 1 protein bar, 4 bananas, about 3 liters of water, 4 liters of Gatorade, 1 Coke, 1 giant Mississippi Mud Pie fudge ice cream sandwich (i'm getting addicted), and a handful of salt and vinegar chips (crisps).
Elevation gained: 5128feet (1563 meters)
Weather: Very sunny with light N wind, and it neither helped or hindered me; temperatures rose from 61F (17C) to 96F (36C) later.
After the debacle with the pump yesterday,I decided that I needed a more reliable one before continuing and while in store, bought 2 more tubes. Lucky for me, there was one bike store open on Sunday morning in downtown Lewiston, one of few businesses showing signs of life. There is a casino on the edge of the city on tribal lands and the casino was busier than the churches.
The casino on the left was busy on a Sunday morning. Tribal peoples are allowed casinos on their lands.
The first 25 miles was along busy highway 95 and since the shoulder was filled with debris, I tried to steer around obvious dangers to the tube like broken glass and metal bits from blown tires. This is hard to do at speed, though. Eventually, at Culdesac, I made the decision to leave the highway and take the high road to Winchester.
Not anymore. There are two ways out of this cul-de-sac, the highway and the hard way. I took the hard way on the Old Winchester Stage road.
The road climbs for about 10 miles through a series of 18 switchbacks and grades from 4-5% near the bottom to 7-8% near the top. It gains about 2500 feet and tops out about 4000 feet. The road was completely empty though it passed a few farms.
These llamas were quite surprised by my passing and showed interest in me, until their owner emerged - with the possibility of some food.
The grades got steeper towards the top
Great views from the climb up the Old Winchester Stage Road
When you see the cell phone towers, you know you're near the top of the climb
Unfortunately, the road from the top of the ridge to Winchester is in terrible shape though the views are nice. The mini-mart provided welcome drinks and a super Mississippi Mud pie. A rodeo was in progress but I still had 45 miles to cover and I needed to push on. Back on highway 95, the traffic was still heavy as people were returning from the 4th July holiday week with many pulling boats and other recreational stuff. There are a couple of interesting historical sites along the road including a display about the railroad construction.
The railroad trestle dates from about 1900
About 25 miles from Kamiah,my destination, I left highway 95 and travelled on quiet farm road through more grain field and hills that resemble the Palouse. The last 10 miles was a swift downhill on a smooth road surface along a small creek in a deep valley. The air was cool and for the first time on this trip, I felt the need to zip up the bicycle shirt. Almost everything in Kamiah was closed but I managed to get the bartender of a saloon to ask the kitchen to stay open for me. They served the biggest portions I have seen in a long time, maybe ever, but I made good inroads on them.
Back to a Palouse style landscape - rolling hills and lots of grains
A photo from Friday taken by Tom of the Berkeley group - on the road to Walla Walla.
An action close-up from Tom
Hi John ... as Bernard mentioned previously, it doesn't seem to be easy to post comments but I am trying this once again as a test. By the way, I wouldn't be worried about your calories intake but with all those eggs, your cholesterol will be sky high! Ambrose
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