Day 6 - July 25, 2009 - Council, ID to New Meadows -33 miles

We had a great time at the Adam’s County Rodeo last night. Gregory’s favorite event was the bull riding. We said our goodbyes to Quincy and Tina last night and were off this morning before they woke up. Today we did our first off road riding. We followed the Weiser (Weez-er) River Trail (rails to trails) rather than busy highway 95 with very little shoulder. For the most part it was great with a nice gradual grade however we did run into some sandy patches that caused some near accidents. Gregory had a rough morning saying goodbye to his new doggie friend Samantha and it took some time for him to get out of his funk. This makes for difficult pedaling because Mike and I have a hard time enjoying ourselves when he is down. The second half of the trail proved much more enjoyed after we stopped for a snack and met up with Andy McCarthy and Cammie from Adventure Cycling. They were running the sweep for an Adventure Cycling group and though the rest of the group stayed on the highway to enjoy a speedy downhill they chose the more scenic route. Andy took our picture and said we just might see ourselves in an issue of Adventure Cycling. Wouldn’t that be fun?! Shortly after their departure we met up with some campers collecting firewood. While we chatted, Gregory helped the two boys bring the firewood to their site. During our conversation Mike mentioned the 145-psi needed for our tires and that we were probably running low but that we wouldn’t be able to top them off until Missoula, Montana. In the blink of an eye they produced a bike pump and Mike aired the tires up to maximum pressure. Again just another example of how generous people can be. In New Meadows we realized it was the town where we had encountered our one broken spoke during our 1994 crossing. We had breakfast at 2:00 P.M. in the Granite Café and met Dave who insisted we stop by his place, 4 blocks away, to check out a sample from his Rhodonite mine. (Rhodonite is an attractive mineral that is often carved and use in jewelry. It is named after the Greek word for rose and has a pink color mixed with black.) Gregory and I were talking to him about our love of rocks and minerals. After a visit with Dave we headed 4 more miles north out of town to Zim’s Hot Springs (recommended by Andy). On the way we crossed the 45^th parallel and Gregory got a mini geography lesson. Though it was 93 degrees outside we sat in 105-degree hot springs pools and soaked our tired muscles. There was also a cooler pool that was much more relaxing and we lounged about for a good while. We have the campsite almost entirely to ourselves with an amazing view of mountains on all sides. With a slight breeze the temperature was ideal. We stayed in our suits well into the evening cooking our pasta and setting up camp. The “clubhouse” has a couple of pool tables and Mike and Gregory are shooting a game at this very moment.