Dayton, WA to Lewiston, ID

Miles: 76.9
Total Miles: 405.1
Climbing: 3062

It was chilly this morning and many people started with tights, arm warmers, and/or jackets. Many went to the Patit Creek encampment reenactment done in silhouette which I saw yesterday, but my ride partner today, Kathie, had not seen it so I rode out again. After we were back on the main road, we had a wonderful tail wind and were going 28-30 mph on the flats. It was awesome! We had a short climb and then a 6% downhill for three miles. Ramsey went 46 mph! I cannot do that but had a high of 39.1 mph. The road was smooth, straight, and windy. A SAG stop about mile 30 was the "strip the layers" and sun block stop. At 36, Kathie and I stopped in Pomeroy at Donna’s Place for a nice late breakfast sandwich and a stop at the Courthouse, a really nice, old building.

Courthouse in Pomreoy, WA

We were warned about the 2.6 mile “climb” for today, followed by a 15 mile downhill. Where I come from this would not count as a climb but just a hill! It was a 3-5% grade and I climbed it going from 8-10 mph, but with a headwind. I reached the top of Alpowa (rhymes with Alcoa) Pass at 2785’ and Kathie was waiting. (She is a great climber) I snacked up and put on my jacket which was in the SAG vehicle and started down the 15 mile, greatly anticipated downhill all the way to Clarkston, WA. However, the downhill was about 3-4% and I never had to brake even once on the whole trip down, going about 30-35 all the way….with a headwind. By the time the 1% downhill grade came, we needed to pedal every bit of the way!

Starting down the 15 mile hill

Kathie, who is not crazy about the downhills was glad to get to the bottom!

Lewis and Clark sign

Faint switchbacks may be seen on the hill where Lewis and Clark passed in 1806, in the area where we rode today.

A short stop at Chief Timothy Park and Lake was a nice diversion, although the lady at the gate was VERY worried about letting us in without the use fee. She said we could ride through if we came out in five minutes! What a joke! We rode around the lovely park on the lake for 15 or so minutes!

Sign in the Chief Timothy Park

We decided not to hike through here!

Just after that, we saw some basalt cliffs like Hat Rock (from a few days ago).

Basalt Cliffs

In Clarkston, there was a magnetic force that pulled Kathie and I right into the Baskin Robbins for a chocolate milkshake. After 77 miles, we needed that recovery drink for the 91 tomorrow! Soon after, we crossed the Snake River into Idaho, but the Welcome to Idaho sign was right on the bridge where we were pedaling as fast as we could to get across! So my dear readers, you just have to imagine the sign! Lewiston was a nice little town with Saturday traffic and not much open in the downtown area. We did see a wedding party on the street as we passed by. I decided to forego any sightseeing in this town as our motel was located on the far end and it was too late to go back to visit the few sights.

Nancy B. rejoined the group tonight and Nancy N. celebrated her entry into the Medicare years with a little birthday celebration and a delicious (as usual) dinner by Chef Linda.

Birthday Girl, Nancy N from my Southern Tier ride, too

Our after dinner map meeting was lengthy due to the long ride for tomorrow. The cue sheets covered two full pages but there is some bike trail riding out of this town. Everyone is nervous about the length of the climb from mile 30 to mile 40, 10 miles of 4-7% grades with some up to 9%. Sounds just like Holston Mountain to me, my home training grounds. I can’t wait! I may not be able to make too many side trips tomorrow with the length of the ride, but I will decide that as we go.

For those map lovers, our route will take us through Hell’s Gate State Park, onto Hwy. 505, probably not on the map and onto 95-S to Craigmont. We will then ride on Old Hwy. 7 and then Route 12 East toward Kamiah, our destination for tomorrow night.