Day Sixty-one (78.4 miles, 2933.2 total): One Way or Another!

5:45AM. Clank! Click! *shuffle shuffle* Click! Bang! The ACA group is up and getting ready to go once again. Ella isn't sleeping in this morning and is already crawling over me like I'm a jungle gym. I open the tent fly and she bolts out into the camp. I drag myself out of the tent like a slug and slow begin my morning routine. The ACA group already has a hot water made, so I quickly make my oatmeal and coffee for the morning. After a nice cup of joe, I get back to work packing my panniers. By 6:45AM, I have said goodbye to the ACA group and headed off for Kooskia. It's an easy 17 miles into town along the same spectacular roadway I've been on for the last two days.

I breeze right into town before I even know it. First thing I do, is head into the grocery store to stock up on supplies for the next week. I couldn't find tortillas, so one of the employees helped me search the entire store for them! Even the employees didn't know where they were! Eventually I found my little flat bread stacks and headed to the counter to pay. Walking out of the store, I ran into the ACA group again! They were stopping for breakfast and insisted I join them. We all sat down at this great little diner for breakfast and enjoyed massive amounts of food. Bob, an ACA friend, was treating breakfast for everyone and we couldn't thank him enough. Bob leaned over the table and told me I could order a second meal. At first I though he was joking, knowing the mass amounts of food I can inhale. But after insisting I order another breakfast, I couldn't resist! It was probably the most satisfying meal I have enjoyed on this trip so far! Sadly, I would be splitting off from the ACA group route today and probably won't see my friends again. We said our farewells and they headed off down the road.

I turned the opposite corner and headed for Lewiston. It was 70+ miles from Kooskia, but I needed to get there today. I was really anxious about how I was going to make it with my front tire looking as bad as my back tire was. Every bump in the road, I was checking to make sure my tire wasn't going flat. I had a constant wobble and a consistent *thump thump thump* on every rotation. The day was hot and the asphalt was even hotter. When the road gets hot like that, you have to be careful with your tires. Tires and tubes commonly go bad when under pressure in high heats. As I made my way down the road, the winds picked up, almost like they didn't want me to reach my goal. I struggled on into the afternoon. Every convenient store along the route became a water break for Ella and I. I had to keep pouring water on Ella to keep her cool under the summer sun.

By 2:00PM, I had gone just over 30 miles to reach the town of Orofino. I pulled into a huge gas station with a canopy and bought an ice cold bottle of Gatorade. I sat out side in the shade and cooled off for a little while. While I was sitting out front, an old man came to talk with me about my trip. He headed inside the store and came back out with a can of Beanie Weenies for me. It was nice of him and I personally thought it was pretty funny. I thanked the man and he got back in his truck and headed down the road.

The winds were becoming too much and I still had to make it to Lewiston before all the bike shops closed up for the evening. I pulled over at a guard rail to hitch a ride. A few people stopped, but none were headed into Lewiston. Finally, a family picked me up that was headed toward Lewiston. I thought I was going to die in the back of that truck. The driver was whipping around corners at 50+ mph, dodging traffic, braking sharply, accelerating even faster. I was holding onto Ella, my bike, and the truck for dear life. My face probably looked like something out of a cartoon as I struggled to maintain a grip in the back of the truck. We finally came to a stop about 12 miles outside of Lewiston where they let me off and headed down another road.

No sooner had I hopped out of that truck, another truck pulled over for me. This one was a massive flat bed truck, and a jolly looking guy hopped out and introduced himself. His name was Larry and he was a funny dude. In his passengers seat, sat a massive Leopard Pitbull named Lily. Ella quickly showed she was the dominant dog and scared Lily into Larry's lap for the rest of the ride! Larry used to hitch hike all of the country in his younger days, so now he's repaying the kindness to others. I was really appreciative of his help into town.

By early evening, I had finally arrived in Lewiston. It was another couple of miles to the bike shop, but I was able to ride through neighborhood roads that slightly blocked the wind. At the bike shop, I got a new tire and talked to their owner for awhile. It was clear this was a bike store not a bike shop. A bike store wants your business and most importantly your money. A bike shop on the other hand, wants your business but they also love their regular customers and take care of the cyclists in their local community. I paid for my new tired and headed off to find a local campground.

About 5 miles away, was Hell's Gate State Park, right along the Snake River. I quickly made it to the campground with the wind to my back. I was able to score a great site with plenty of trees, a nice grassy area, a fire pit and a picnic table. After a long an exhausting day, I set up my tent, took a shower and made my food for the evening. I felt much better once I had some food in my system. By the time I was done cleaning up for the evening, the sun had been down for an hour or so. I locked up my gear and crawled into my tent, almost immediately passing out on my nice comfy pillow. We hope you are enjoying our daily misadventures and continue to follow our journey out west!