Cycling America – Day 14

Dayton to Lewiston

70 miles / 2795 ft climb

Another early start, a long, potentially tough day ahead.

Starting well, this morning saw me cover my fastest 20km ever! We followed the I12 for most of the day. Busy at times but with a fair tail wind, today’s climbs didn’t seem too bad. Without doubt we are getting fitter. The scenery along the Snake River was lovely. We had covered the first 35 miles by midday when we met up with Denise and Jim who had travelled from Calgary to join us for a few days.

We met Denise and Jim first when we cycled to Barcelona and again when we cycled in Norway last year. It’s great to see them again. They immediately relieved us of our pannier bags to allow the afternoon’s cycling to be a little easier and Jim joined us on a slow uphill climb rewarded by miles of downhill into Lewiston where we rejoined Denise who had driven there with all our panniers and a boot load of food and drink to spoil us over the next few days.

We have left the States of Washington and Columbia behind us and are now in Idaho. We are over 500 miles into our journey, so we are finally feeling like we are beginning to make progress.

Two punctures slowed our return to our hotel down, this afternoon, both on my bike. First the front tyre, then the rear. These were efficiently repaired by the rest of the team who came to my rescue knowing that the fiddly nature of removing a wheel and replacing the inner tube is particularly difficult for me due to the effects of Parkinson’s.

I find myself surrounded by superhero’s once again.