As I travel more and more, I realize why Dicky says goodbye to his blog during his trips to wherever it is Dicky goes. Even though I have at least a couple of times a day when I could probably write something, the motivation factor is pretty low. However, this morning, I’m trying to kill as much time as possible in Twin Falls (at 3700 ft of elevation) before going up to the Ketchum/Sun Valley area (5800ft).  So, I figured I might as well start to fill in on what it is I’ve been doing since Monday.

Monday was relatively boring. I drove the 10.5 hours to Hays, KS to get the first chunk of movement out of the way. Trip fueled by Three 6 Mafia Radio on Pandora…

Tuesday, I got up and continued west to Fort Collins, where I met up with my coach for the last few years, Andy Clark. We actually hadn’t interacted in person since I’d first met him at the Winter Park Super D on my first trip to Colorado back in 2010.

We went out for a great ride that included a stop by 1 of 2  pump tracks in Ft. Collins.

 

 

Fort Collins is someplace I’d love to spend more time. The city has embraced not only bike racing, but also bicycles as a mode of transportation for everyone- there are bike paths and bike lanes everywhere as well as (well-used) bike racks (and occasionally scooter parking places) in front of every business. Also, not only is Andy super-dad to his kid, he’s got a really adorable dog, too.

 

Wednesday morning, I headed out towards Twin Falls, ID. I was on track to get there around 4:30 in the afternoon, but realized about 45 minutes from town that I’d left my cycling shoes in Andy’s garage. Needless to say, I didn’t get to Twin Falls until after 6. Between this trip and the one to Victor last year, I’ve realized that in mid-summer, Idaho is really hot, dry, and usually on fire.

(the fields are all well-irrigated, though)

Once I arrived in Twin Falls, I took a couple of quick photos of the canyon before checking in to the hotel and going out for a ride.

I’d noticed from the tourist-info overlook that there was what looked like a trailhead and singletrack that went from the road halfway into the canyon down to the river level (you can actually see it in the bridge photo above). I could see the trail from the trailhead then at the bottom of the canyon, but couldn’t see what was in the middle. I realized about 3 gnarly, near-vertical rock sections and one steep, narrow staircase into a hike-a-bike that, while there was not a “no bikes” sign at the trailhead, it was not a bike trail.

(the stairs were actually the easiest part)

After hefting my bike back out of the trail, I cruised down the road to the park at the bottom of the canyon.

As beautiful as it is, the entire area smells like sewage because of a water treatment plant that’s down there. It’s like a bathroom with sage-scented air freshener.

Thursday, I’d had all intentions of driving up to Sun Valley and pre-riding the Nationals course loop. However, one thing I’d failed to consider when I’d made my plan was that, by that time, I’d be absolutely exhausted of driving. So, instead, I went to a local breakfast place called Norm’s. I got crazy looks from the farmer clientele that filled most of the seats, but, as I realized back in Fort Collins, when I don’t get weird looks and I “fit” in with the normal crowd, I feel really awkward.

I stalked Strava and found some local trails called Auger Falls. Unfortunately, when I got down into the canyon (and past the water treatment plant), I found this:

I climbed back out and crossed the bridge to see what was over there. I found some powdery moto trails and some very nice scenery

After my ride, I had lunch and lounged around the hotel before picking up dinner and riding over to Cold Stone for desert before watching the city fireworks display from the hotel parking lot.

So far, so good. Check out time isn’t until noon, so I’m gonna get a late breakfast as soon as this Tour stage is over. Without spoiling it, I’d say this is, tactically speaking, my favorite stage so far.