Day 7 – Kellogg Idaho

Today we rode from Coeur D’alene to Kellogg Idaho, and it will be our last stop in Idaho before Montana. Before we could pack all of our stuff on the boat to leave Camp Sweyolakan, we had to unload 3000 lb of food that was being brought across on it. It was the least we could do with the hospitality provided, so we formed a line and passed the stuff from the boat to the kitchen with the help of the camp staff. Once on the other side we began our 85 mile ride to Kellogg. Our original ride was supposed to be 45 miles but our project manager heard about a trail that was supposed to be gorgeous, so our ride was increased to 85 miles.

Ride route

The first 30 miles to get to the trail were tough because they were uphill with a very strong headwind which made for a long day.

The team taking a break

Once on the trail it was smooth sailing, as the route is part of a “rails to trails” program converting old rail road bed into bike paths, and the trail was nearly flat the entire way. Along the way we saw 3 moose, and we stopped and took pictures.

Bullwinkle

Today was physically the toughest day for me, while we didn’t have a large climb or even long miles I’m still terribly saddle sore and it makes 5 hours in the saddle extremely uncomfortable; I hope to find a new saddle in Montana. We arrived in Kellogg around 5pm and did a quick photo shoot. Jeremy, our PM, decided we had earned a dinner out so we all went out and got what we wanted, and while at dinner we found a newspaper with an article about us on the front page. On the way home we were flagged down by people who saw the decals on our vans and ran waiving to us, we really are out here changing the way society views fraternities and people with disabilities. Tomorrow is a long day of 105 miles, and two very tough climbs, it will certainly be our hardest test yet, but I’m confident we can finish it as a team.