This year Chief Winn has dropped to his fighting weight and between that and his regular mountain biking, he’s confident he’ll be able to do the entire route, so we made no provision for ending the ride before Weiser as we had done last year. We had planned the ride for Saturday 24 Oct, but as we reviewed our available vacation hours and the weather forecast we made a last minute switch to Friday 23 Oct to catch the forecast low of 42, high of 62, mostly sunny, and 0 % chance of rain here in South Idaho. With those temps we wouldn’t even need balaclavas this year! An even better last minute change was Margaret Winn’s dropping us off near New Meadows and driving back to Boise eliminating an after ride drive up to New Meadows to pick up a car! To Margaret, reportedly a non-morning person, thanks for getting up at 0330 to deliver us to the ride’s start!

Rubicon to Council 17.7 miles 2:03 riding time: Through the Mountains We finished breakfast in New Meadows just as dawn was breaking and Margaret drove us the 3 or 4 miles back to mythical Rubicon to begin our journey. The new bike’s odometer also has a thermometer, and it showed we were right at that forecasted 42 degrees. By the time we reached the Tamarack Mill, we were riding into- or under a fog bank. Temps immediately dropped to 32, and we were again glad we’d brought our balaclavas! Fog transmits cold well, so we were glad to come out from its cover in about 6 miles when the temps again rose to the lower 40's. While riding in the cold fog and until we were out of it long enough to warm up, we gave no thought to photos,

but as we came out of the mountains into the high desert, the sun also came out, and a huge flock of wild turkeys with the males displaying and pushing each other around- apparently determining dominance- caused us to stop and enjoy the show.

In Council we removed a layer of clothing, and Chief Winn observed his quads were becoming uncomfortable. “Hum, we’re only 20% into the ride and our nearest vehicle is in Weiser, some 80+ miles into the ride, are we going to be hitch-hiking with some pickup before the day is over?” I wondered. I then questioned the chief’s training program, and on hearing it was intense 1 hour mountain bike rides, I thought the pickup hitch-hiking would be inevitable.

Council to Cambridge 29.7miles 1:44 riding time: Smooth Trails The first 3 or 4 miles out of Council the trail was a little soft and Hwy 95 follows the old rail bed- which is probably the least interesting section of the trail for me, but then the road turns leaving the railbed a separate route back into the quiet isolated river valley/canyon which is the draw of this ride for me. That late-November-like weather we had in the first half of October with its killing freezes made the high desert colors unusually bright, but those freezes were so early the higher mountains had already lost their best color.

Cambridge is about half way through the trip and is our designated lunch stop where some of the best home made onion rings are available. While I was anticipating those onion rings, the Chief was fidgeting; sitting on one leg, then the other, then standing, and repeating the sequence almost like an energetic 3 year old but without the smiles and giggles. As the meal progressed, the fidgeting reduced as his quads began to settle down!

I love small town Idaho/USA. We overheard a discussion that the waitress had gone AWOL, and when a large extended family came in, the only gal in the party got up, severed them all their drinks, and took their orders back to the cook. The Chief then asked her, “can you possibly bring me a hot chocolate”. The gal softly grabbed his arm, looked him in the eye, and said, “I believe I’m capable of doing that”. As soon as she brought him his hot chocolate, she sat back down at her table. On the Chief’s behalf, he was confused whether she was a waitress or not. After drinking his hot chocolate, the Chief sneaked into the back unused dining room, lay on the floor and took a 12 minute nap hoping his quads would relax- which they did. As we left the owner wouldn’t let us pay for the hot chocolate “because the service was so bad”. I thought it was great service even if partly provided by another customer. The nap had done great service to the Chief’s legs, but we still headed to the local turn of the last century grocery store where he bought some Motrin. I thought we’d be lucky to make it to the next town, Midvale, only 9.6 miles away. I was wondering but politely didn’t ask “Would the Chief prefer to beg a ride of every passing pickup or sit and nap somewhere waiting for me to finish the ride and return for him in the Subaru?”

Cambridge to Midvale: 9.6 miles 46 minutes riding time Between the lunch break, the nap, and the Motrin, the Chief was back on the bike and seemed more in his usual humor- he was out of pain. He decided we’d keep the speed down. We only rarely crossed the 10 MPH mark from this point on. Temps briefly hit the forecasted 62, and then clouds started building. On this section we relived last year’ events as the LT left the path, dropped onto an adjoining farmer’s field road, and doing a little jump returned to the railbed- with all those puncture weeds in his unslimed tires. On the bridge on which he made those tire repairs, we stopped for solemn remembrance, and while standing there, a wind from the south suddenly hit us followed by a light drizzle which lasted the rest of the day- on this day the National Weather Service had forecasted a 0% chance of rain.

Midvale to Weiser (Total riding time 8:13 distance 87.2 miles) Because of our slow speeds, I’ve quoted last year’s riding times until the above line, as we didn’t do this section last year. If you’re planning this trip, it shouldn’t take quite this many hours of riding time (unless you keep your speed at 10 MPH or less), but in late fall allow for bicycling from dawn until dusk!

Bananas with their high potassium were the last thing I could think of that might help the Chief’s legs, and Midvale is the last town before Weiser, so we stopped at its turn of the century store. We prolonged our stay a bit to stay out of the drizzle and enjoyed talking to the owner who wouldn’t let us pay for the bananas because they were overripe, and she didn’t think she could sell them to her regular customers. She advised us there are many cougars and some wolf in the canyon below. She’s another example of fine small town Idaho/USA people.

Midvale is the last chance to quit before entering the “roadless” area of nearly 20 miles, and we’d bailed here last year. The Chief’s legs hadn’t cramped since lunch and his spirits were high though our speed was slow. “Can’t do” isn’t in his vocabulary, so off we headed in the drizzle. This long isolated narrow canyon without houses, roads, or people is a highlight of the trip. The Chief thinks it’s his favorite section of the trail. I think maybe the forest is still mine, but it’s a close call. LT, you will want to ride this section when you return! There are several sections where rock slides have covered much of the trail- leaving rideable single track. Although we’ve had many hard killing frosts, we found some puncture weed still living and growing in this section of trail- the only section we found that invasive weed growing in the trail- it’s alongside it everywhere from Council or maybe Fruitvale on down. Sean, I hope I don’t get in trouble for writing this, but the new Bontrager HR tires are the most easily punctured tires I’ve ever owned. The saving grace is that new slime for tubeless tires. Every puncture weed that touches these tires punctures them leaving a green spot, and I don’t believe I’ve had the bike out without getting at least 1 puncture weed hole. Contrast that with the Specialized Armadillo tires on the Gunnar- I’m not even running slime in them, and have had no flats this year. Of course, I ride the bikes in the same areas. Anyway, while in this canyon in the heaviest rain of this drizzly day, suddenly I’m throwing florescent green lines of slime about two feet ahead of me. Green slime has looped about half way around the tire, and it’s thrown itself onto the Chief’s bike, coming out like colored water out of a squirt gun. As we stop, the Chief sees the puncture spike sticking out at the source of the green spray- which is doubtless mixing with the plenteous supply of water on the tire. He’s hopeful that slime will seal it. My experience with regular slime says it does nothing on a wet winter’s day, and there was no possible way to find any dry shelter. I imagined putting a new “slimeless” tube into my easily punctured tire in this puncture weed territory and then having patch issues as the tire so easily punctures. Much to my surprise with the puncture weed spike out of there, the thoroughly wet tire sealed in less than 60 seconds! I didn’t even have to pump more air into the tire! Drizzle continued until we hit the small dam at the bottom of the canyon and diverted from the muddy trail to a back paved road. As we hit the pavement, I could tell my tire was a bit low on air but that’s after at least 6 holes before the squirting slime episode. It was just a few gently rolling miles before for our entrance into Weiser with a SUCCESSFUL Ride that ended just as dusk was turning to dark.

PS. The chief promises a more aggressive training regimen before our next ride, but next year he'll be mobilized, and perhaps the LT will be back! The trail appears to be in a little better condition each year. It’s a fun ride with a lot of variation in terrain, but my recommendation: don’t do this ride without slime in your tires and a more aggressive training program than provided by one hour mountain bike rides though they be "intense".

Happy cycling for fun, fitness, and transportation!

Steve