I
woke up at 4:20am, which was ten minutes before wake up. Just before dawn is
the coldest point of the night, and it was also the coldest I’ve been all
summer. I’d heard that deserts don’t trap heat, but I had never experienced a
95 degree day that was followed by a 35 degree night.
I
stumbled over to Kevin’s bike and grabbed his safety triangle and helmet. His 24
hour ultimatum to propose was almost up, so I hung his triangle and helmet on
the park’s flagpole. Lacy and Rae were supposed to get Dan and Josh’s stuff
too, but they didn’t wake up in time.
After
the route meeting, as we all were huddled in the pavillion’s kitchen for
warmth, Josh announces, “Will the three unclaimed ladies please follow me.”
Lacy, Rae, and I are directed to a picnic table. Josh continues, “We were given
an ultimatum to make our prom proposals, and with 30 minutes to spare, here it
is.” Josh, Dan, and Kevin start dancing to rock music, and then take off their
shirts one by one. Written on their backs are our names. Then they each got
down on one knee and asked us to prom – Kevin asked me and I gave him a hug.
With
one day left before prom, I had to find an outfit. Kevin and I were going to be
Aladdin and Jasmine. Luckily, Cassie picked out really cool pair of
turquoise pants at a thrift store, and I
found a matching children’s shirt that only fit me after I ripped the sleeves.
I even found a small jar of bells and strung them on a string to wear around my
waist.
But
the ride from Snowville to Burley, ID was spent in the van for me. For a few
days now I’ve been experiencing a soreness in my right wrist, probably from
putting too much strain and pressure on my hands during all this riding. But
it’s not riding that’s hurting, it’s when I apply pressure to my wrist when
it’s bent – lifting my bin, twisting door knobs, pushing myself up from
sleeping. It’s frustrating, but I don’t want it to get worse. So I’ve been
staying off my bike for two ride days and one build day, giving my wrist three
days of rest.
When
you want to bike across America, vanning yourself is a tough decision. I was a
little bummed about not biking to the Idaho state line, but I kept a good
attitude. Every time we drove past a rider I stuck my head out the window and
shouted words of encouragement while pumping my fist. The ride to Burley was 75
miles, and 54 miles were on the interstate highway in the desert at 99 degrees.
Because
of the 90/90 Rule (if a day is 90+ miles or 90+ degrees) the van had two lunch
stops. This can be logistically tricky. The riders at the front found a good
place for the van and trailer to pull over for a lunch stop around mile 23.
Then the people in the van wait for a few hours for every rider to stop by, and
after sweep (the assigned last riders) leaves, the van then heads over to a second
lunch stop. Along the way, usually at a gas station, the water and Gatorade
coolers are refilled. Sometimes the riders get so stretched out along the ride
that the front of the pack beats the van to second lunch. There are days when the front of the pack decides to skip
second lunch, and the biggest risk here is running out of water.
Once the van got to Burley, I went to a bike shop
to get tubes for myself and one to return to Marcus from the day before. I went
to a diner for food, and ate in the bleachers of the County Fairgrounds. There were
auditions happening for a junior rodeo,
so I watched young cowboys chase cattle around the fairgrounds on horseback.
There were low flying planes overhead as the sun was setting over potato and
wheat fields. Idaho is just what I expected.
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