Roxy and Linda's Bicycle Blog

12th posting on June 26, 2013 ..... Back to the welcome page and listings for other links

Day 16 - New Meadows, ID to Riggins, ID - 35 miles ... 617 total miles
Downhill day! We started the day under cloudy skies, rolling along past cattle ranches. Enjoyed the roll and wider shoulder, though the traffic was still heavy. The plan was to ride 22 miles to breakfast.
The sky opened up with 5 miles to go and we were drenched when we entered the cafe. The owner was gracious, she brought us hot water for tea as we dripped on the floor. We dried out and warmed up as we enjoyed breakfast. The rain quit and we headed off continuing to roll downhill, following the Little Salmon River to Riggins, where it flows in to the Salmon River. We decided to stop early and enjoy a relaxing afternoon. We found a great motel, The Big Iron, from Tripadvisor reviews. The owners greeted us and offered a cool beverage and fresh cookies! After we were settled in the room they brought us beef brisket sandwiches and salad! We spent the afternoon wandering around town. There were historical signboards every block. The homes were really well tended, with all sorts of flowers. The folks called out greetings as we walked by. A great place to spend a quiet afternoon.

Day 17 - Riggins, ID to Grangeville, ID - 50 miles ... 667 total miles
The first 30 miles of our ride today took us downstream along the Salmon River, winding thru mountains and canyons. We planned to have lunch at White Bird, but the cafe wasn't open yet. We're learning you can't always count on things to be open in the small towns we're riding thru. There is often only one or maybe 2 restaurants, sometimes they close at 3 pm, don't open until 11, are closed Sundays or maybe Tuesday & Wednesday, or just closed. We munched on our snacks and started uphill, an uphill that just kept going & going for 13 miles. The good part was we were on old hwy 95 so there was no traffic, the views were stunning and it wasn't raining! The challenge was there were switchbacks that just kept going and you could see most of them, way high above us. It was a character builder! We zipped downhill into Grangeville, found a hotel and headed off in search of food. Had a great pasta dinner, shower and did the laundry. Life is good!

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