Zim's to White Bird, Day 9

Today was a series of tests and successes, and a reminder that often the only difference between a shitty day and a good day is how you look at it. 

Stats first, to get them out of the way. 63 miles, 4:26 on bike, arriving at 3:23 pacific time, which I am now back in, because Idaho is weird. Leaving at 7:07 Pacific. 

Ok, firstly, last night was super wild. A huge storm blew through Zim's and I ended up taking shelter in their garage. They were kind enough to let me put my tent up behind the hot springs lodge since the campground was too exposed and the wind was insane.  It only took an hour to blow over but it was crazy rain, lightning, the whole thing. The wind lasted most of the night though, and even with a moderate wind break it was a loud night. 

My tent is pretty good in a storm, however (REI Halfdome) and I waited until after the storm to put it up, so it only had to deal with wind most of the night. The biggest storm I weathered in it was an A&M Reservoir on The Divide - that was several hours of me holding the end up as the wind flattened it. It was insane. 

So it was a loud night, but thanks to the kindness of Larry and Deb from Zim's it wasn't nearly had bad as it coulda been. 

The storm brought in cooler weather but also a wind shift. I had headwinds all day, and the first 30 miles were a net downhill by a beautiful river. If I'd pushed yesterday it'd been a tailwind and like a motor, but today I had to pedal downhill. It wasn't hot though, so everything has pros and cons. Also, 95 had a shoulder all day today, so even though traffic was high it wasn't as bad as yesterday. 

I spent a couple hours in Riggins, a white water rafting adventure town, 30 miles out, because I was feeling a bit worn down. I had 33 miles to go, and no more downhill, just 2k of climbing in rollers, a headwind, and predicted construction.  

So here is where I either had an amazing afternoon, or a terrible one, all depending on your mindset. Firstly, my left knee really started hurting, as well as some saddle sores. I also went through 10 miles of construction and my back tire wore out and had to be replaced. It was also headwindds the whole time. 

But here's how it actually played out - my knee WAS killing me, I stopped and stretched several times, and ofne of the times I was sitting behind my bike and happened to notice my rear tire was worn down to the blue "stop riding me you idiot you're gonna die" warning strip. Shit. Just a half mile prior I'd seen a sinh "construction, rough road, motorcycles beware, clutch your pearls" or something to that nature.  I had 15 miles left to White Bird, and it was a crapshoot if I'd make it there on that tire. And, tomorrow, I have a amazing screaming downhill after Grangeville where a catastrophic blowout would be... catastrophic. 

So my knee pain warned me about my bad tired with enough time to find a shady place before the construction to fix it.  I happened to have a spare tire, because the BS half done chipseal scared me enough on day 1 to buy a spare on day 2 in Prineville, the last chance I had to to buy one. Another case of a shitty thing saving my ass.  It also only took me 30 minutes to do the change out, despite having an Old Man Mountain Rack which attaches direclly the quick release skewer. 

So, I found a shady place, changed my tire, and saved my ass. Then, I took ibuprofen and raised my seat up a little which mostly solved my knee pain. So far the other reasons that cuased me to lower my seat haven't returned. It's in he middle spot now. I also filled my water bottles with caffinated Mio, which is a great mood  boost.

Then, 10 miles of construction, torn up road, pilot cars, the whole bit.  The road wasn't too bad though, and what ended up happening is the pilot cars bunched all the traffic up into big groups. So those 10 miles were more like 20 minutes of the road all to myself, then getting off on the shoulder for 3-5 minutes while all the cars and trucks passed, then 20 minutes of the road to myself again. It was AWESOME!  In the past I'd have kept riding while the groups of cars came by, and many cyclists do - but it's dumb. Sometimes you just gotta accept that you need to get off the road for 5 minutes. 

So my knee pain may have saved my life, the chipseal scared me into grabbing a spare tire, and the constuction made the traffic better.  I could have wrote a blog complaining about my knee pain, construction, etc, but that's just not the reality I live in. Oh yea, I could complain about the full day of headwinds, but they brought the temperature down to the 70's instead of the 90's, which made standing by the road while craploads of traffic passed me much more enjoyable.  Nothing is all good or bad, you just gotta focus on the right things. 

I've said before that this is what I think Karma, or Bikema when on a bike trip, really is.  People who do good things have good attitudes and see their life as blessed - while other people have shitty attitudes and interpret the very same events negatively and see their life as cursed. It's often the same life though - but eventually it does build on itself, because the healthier our outlook is the better able we are to make good choices - like getting off the road and waiting patiently when a line of logging trucks is about to go past you instead of stubbornly riding next to them on a torn up road, and cursing them, your life, and your bad luck.

Anyways, White Bird rules.  I stayed in a church here in 2003 and the park in 2014. In 2014 I drank in the local bars and jammed out with a local in the park. This year there is a new place with great wifi and good food/beers and I'm hanging out. In general I love this town - even if I'm keeping my blueish hair covered. 

Tomorrow I climb the famous White Bird Hill. 3.6k feet climb over 12 miles on Old 95 (no traffic), then into Grangeville, then eventually to the Lochsa River and the last leg of this trip! I think 60 some miles tomorrow. 

Also my knee feels fine now, so.... ok.  Knee you so wiley!  Oh yea, I almost forgot. I shouldn't have hot springed yesterday. I knew this but forgot. Right after excercising heat is bad. It promotes welling, etc. Hottubs are good for recovery 24 hours later, but the same day you ride you want to ice to reduce, instead of increase, swelling. This is likely why my knee hurt today and my wrists and hamstrings hurt after hot springing yesterday.  Bad timing. I knew better, but forgot that I did. :)