The early part of the week was spent dialing in gear: bike, packs, tools, replacement parts, sleep/shelter, medicine, clothing, electronics, nutrition, hydration....the list goes on! All assembled and placed in its appropriate pack, bag or cage on the Fargo. I gotta say I was happy with some of my organizational solutions learned from years of dual-sport motorcycling. Here is a brief description with some images of the ride.
DAY 1: UPSTREAM, 107 MILES
ROUTE: From home to Bonneville Point/Blacks Creek to Prairie/South Fork/Anderson Ranch Dam/Pine/Featherville/Camp 1 east of Featherville a few miles.
Late start, around 10:00am or so, and headed out the Greenbelt toward Lucky Peak. My fellow Fargo friend Chuck (whew!), working in his office on Saturday, had been keeping an eye out for me. He hailed me down as I cruised by and we had a quick Fargo briefing confirming all systems GO. I then saw Colby and Casey, a couple tri friends, on their long Ironman training runs and had some conversation - Boise is small! Rode up to Bonneville Point and the water was rushing down the rocky trail. The Fargo was feeling good - well balanced and well behaved considering the 20+ pounds of gear. Lots of climbing to Prairie and had a quick re-supply at the Y-Stop. Roads were excellent and dropping down to the South Fork was incredible and inspiring. Zero traffic too!
After a hellish climb out of the surreal canyon there were black clouds to the north and as I crested the choppy road to Anderson Ranch I was hit with wind and cold with eventual rain to hail to snow flurries. Idaho weather! Put on my rain gear and rode in warmth and comfort along the west side of Anderson Ranch Reservoir and then had a chilly - and long - descent through some aspen groves as I headed north toward Pine. Rode through Pine and on to Featherville on pavement in a light rain. Talked with a couple grumpy old codgers in Featherville and was 'told' I could not head east, which was where I was planning to go. Eventually we all agreed I was on a non-motorized vehicle and it would be cool and I would not receive the requisite $500 fine for the infraction. I was expecting spandex comments but was prepared to retort that I was wearing wool. I bought a three year old Payday to bribe the authorities if necessary.
The campground was on the river and off of the road still closed to motorized traffic for the winter. It was excellent, quiet and had firewood at hand. Swiftly set up camp, changed to my lounge wear and prepared a gastronomic delight of fish tacos, a cheese quesadilla and a peanut butter tortilla roll up for desert complimented by a fine drink (Translation: tortilla with sardines; tortilla with parmesan; tortilla slathered with PB; washed down with a packet of REV3 in water). I was beat, didn't set an alarm and did not wake till after 8am to a cold, cold morning. Crazy long sleep....I was surprised!
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Day 2: UPSTREAM>DOWNSTREAM, 101 MILES
ROUTE: Featherville Camp/Baumgartner/Big Smokey/Reverse course>Featherville/Pine/Anderson Ranch/Camp2 above the South Fork.
Super cold morning, broke camp with numb fingers and toes. A Starbucks VIA (cold) and a breakfast burrito later I was ready to roll. Rode the Baumgartner Road along the Boise River and it was beautiful. The sun was out, patches of snow here and there, the evergreens smelled strong and it finally felt like it was SPRING! Headed toward the Big Smokey to check on snow conditions. Had a short-lived thought of hiking up to Skillern Hot Springs, but with only bike shoes and sandals this was not going to happen. Rode 10 miles or so south along the Little Smokey - it was a soft sandy base and it was brutal and slow going, plus I was climbing again! Ran low on water and got out the Steripen and treated 3 bottles of water, although the source was fast flowing and clear.
Discovered a real fine mid-day pick-me-up: Starbucks VIA coffee with Elete Electrolyte supplement added. Tasty and loaded with the right stuff! I never had to dig into the No-Doze to keep my head propped up and my eyes open. Retraced my route at this point back to Featherville, Pine, Anderson Ranch and then back down to the South Fork of the Boise. The goal was 100 miles and my calculations were very close. I got to the end of the canyon before the climb out to Prairie at a sliver under 100 miles. I crossed the Danskin Bridge and rode a brutally steep old rocky trail up for a mile or so, eventually finding a very remote and primitive campsite sheltered behind enormous rock formations - no wind, nothing - completely still. As night came on you could hear the sounds of animals moving and talking among themselves.
The campsite was fantastic and I had a small fire and enjoyed a meal of slow roasted ravioli's, some beans and a small bag of chips. I gotta say they were some of the best raviolis I have had.........cheesy, cooked el dente and full of flavor! Was I hungry?
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Day 3: DOWNSTREAM, 103 MILES
ROUTE: Camp2 above the South Fork/Prairie/Long Gulch/N. Middle Fork Road/Troutdale/S. Middle Fork/Arrowrock/Hwy 21/Boise
Woke up to a sub 30 degree morning........shook up some Starbucks and broke camp as quickly as possible. Frost on the bike, tent and gear with ice chunks in the water bottles. Had about a 20 mile ride to the Y-Stop, where I was going to grab some grub. Had an excellent breakfast of a giant pancake, eggs, slab of ham and coffee. This would prove to get me through a good portion of the day. I was again the only person at the Y-Stop (and maybe Prairie for that matter) and chatted with Cort, the owner, for an hour or so while I ate. I was feeling good as I started the multiple climbs up Long Gulch and eventually dropped down Slide Gulch to Middle Fork Road. The weather again was great and warming up quickly. I peeled my helmet off on one especially long climb cause I was getting overheated and there was no air.
I rode north toward Atlanta planning an out-and-back far enough to log the necessary 100 miles for the day. The road was super rocky and rough but once past Twin Springs the road became firmpack with only some potholes and boulders in the road to watch for. The river was so clear and deep I stopped a couple times and scanned for trout.
Had a front tire blow-out with the tubeless. Not sure what I ran over but the sealant could not keep up with the wound so I had to decide whether to boot the tire or take the easy way out and just toss a tube in. I went for the tube and hoped I didn't have another puncture since I only had one tube. I'll practice my booting techniques in the comfort of my garage. And by this time my interest was to point my wheels south and to rock and roll for the home front.
The road to Arrowrock was no better - rocky and rough the entire way, but once I hit the pavement of Highway 21 it was easy sailing, except for the grind up to Hilltop, where I got a large Coke at the grill to cool down and satisfy my afternoon caffeine requirement. All pavement and all downhill into Boise at this point. As I rolled into town there was a big wind storm and rain clouds brewing and it was starting to spit rain just a few miles from home.
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SUMMARY
- 311 miles total
- About 10 hours a day in the saddle
- Left knee damn sore and concerning
- Sit bones bruised but healed quickly
- Two toes on right foot numb for two days
- Bike weighed in around 47 lbs. without water and food
- Exhausted the day after both mentally and physically
- Did I mention my messed up knee (Dr. appointment next week scheduled)
- Sleep/shelter system was comfortable and quick to deploy
- Food - need to work on higher calories and more variety
- Hydration - May need to figure out how to carry another 2L or fluid
- Goal of not wearing a pack on my back was met
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All in all I was pleased with the equipment, loved the route, my overall fitness level and how everything worked. I need to dial in some details still and I have a list in process. The SPOT GPS was not sending a consistent signal I found out after returning home. Wingmen John, Darren and Chuck were tracking progress online and it seems like the signal would go out for lengthy periods of time. Eve was happy to see my dot progress each day as well, even if it was sporadic.....movement is always a good thing.
With 5 weeks until the Grand Depart I feel I am under pressure and still feel under prepared. I plan to get in another shakedown ride, get the knee resolved, the GPS tracks of the Tour Divide route loaded without issues into my GPS, the cue sheets manipulated, the revised maps studied and fitted in my bar map holder, my cyclometer re-calibrated, parts shipped to two locations, bike torn apart and rebuilt, new rubber and hope to get to the starting line healthy, organized and confident.
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