Day 81 Boise to Banks

Sunday 8th August
Daily mileage 51miles Average Speed 10.5mph Ride Time 4hr52min
Total Mileage 3248

Lady Ga Ga the alarm clock sounded at 6.30am and we sat to yet another feast of a breakfast this time with freshly made scones and home made jam. It took a while to load the bikes but eventually we got on the road along with Noah and Winston and Rachel and Patrick. Our kind hosts escorted us along the city bike paths to guard us from the traffic. The lads split off as they are heading to Eugine on a different route while the rest of us continued together. After 12 miles it was time to head north on highway 55 alone. We cant thank you enough for making your home our home for the past few days. We hope we can return the favour when you come to London!

We started climbing almost immediately into a valley. The road kept going up then just when we thought we had reached the top we turned yet another corner and started climbing again to the next horizon, I hate those kind of hills! It was a good few miles before we reached the summit but then we got to enjoy a 5 mile downhill at 7% gradient. We rolled right into Horseshoe Bend after 30 miles and stopped for a chocolate milk and some fruit. The sun had started to heat up but it was nice to know we only have to do 50 miles today to be on target so back on the saddle we headed for Banks and bypassed Gardena with almost not even noticing it. This 15 miles was very scenic with the Payette River rushing alongside us and folks either kayaking or rafting down having a blast. Despite the road being relatively flat, it was narrow and there was way too much traffic for our liking. We were so busy concentrating on the traffic coming up behind us and dodging rubbish on the narrow hard shoulder we hardly got to enjoy the surroundings.

We stopped in Banks after an extremely close shave with a terrible caravan driver and had a well earned soda. Even though it was only lunchtime we did not really have much more left in us so only about 5 more miles up the road we found the best wild camp spot ever. Just off the highway we ventured down the embankment to the river edge where there was a campfire already built for us. With the sun beating down on us we jumped in the river to cool off being careful not to be carried off with the strong current. We attempted to sieve for gold that was shimmering in the sand but we did not collect enough to quit our jobs, or my job! We dined on take away pasta and drunken chicken with a boiled egg chaser courtesy of Rachel and ate jelly beans while sitting round a fire then watching a movie in the tent.