Day 14: From Castle to Magic (and beyond)

Day 14
Destination: Bellevue, Idaho
Today’s mileage: 60. Total: 789

Starting point of Day 14: Castle Rock. Basically, the peak of climbing from Day 12 — about 5,500 feet.

Pretty straight-forward day for me today. I got on the bike, rode State Hwy 20 for 51 miles; turned north on Hwy 75 (near the Magic Reservoir) and pulled into Bellevue for a night at the High Country Motel because the price was right and a shower and air conditioning felt right. It’s going to be another couple of days of hot weather — and, let’s face it, another couple of months of hot weather. So we take our refuge when we can find it.

The Wrangler Drive-In in Fairfield. Great burger, great milkshake, awesome stop in the middle of a ride. I can eat and ride, no problem. Stopped here after 25 miles; rode another 35 fueled by a burger, coffee and chocolate-banana milkshake.

I ran my bike up to a bike shop in Hailey, Sturtos Hailey, to have the chain cleaned (mostly to eliminate that dust and dirt from the stupid Oregon Trail), but also to adjust the shifter cables because of some slight problems getting the thing to shift onto the big gear wheel. I tried to adjust it some myself, but I was worried I did more harm than good. I want the bike to be in tip top condition because in a couple of days I need to scale the Grand Tetons.

But I celebrate today because 60 miles felt like a leisurely ride. My body feels good. My legs feel strong. I’m thinking of pushing about 100 miles tomorrow to get to Idaho Falls because the heat is upon us and there are some Warm Showers hosts there. Might be nice to hole up there if I remain a couple of days ahead of schedule.

Until tomorrow …