Day 13: Winchester, ID to Kamiah, ID: Recovery ride?

Saturday June 17, 2023, 45 miles (72 km) - Total so far: 567 miles (912 km)

Today’s Route:

Today was promised to be all downhill - a nice recovery ride. The ride out of Winchester started out downhill but turned into mostly rolling hills for the first 35 miles or so. Once we hit Winona, we began a much anticipated downhill ascent into Kamiah.

We started out early today leaving by 7:30. It was also pretty overcast, so the temperatures were cooler. We had a nice breakfast in our cabin and didn’t stop for lunch - just a roadside (or field side depending upon your perspective) snack consisting of a combination of potato chips and trail mix!

Traffic wasn’t too bad on HW95 as we left early and at mile 20 we turned off onto Jentges Road which was a country road with little to no traffic. Along the way a man (who chooses to remain anonymous) flagged us down and offered us freshly picked strawberries from his garden. We talked for awhile - he was an older gentleman but a real cycling enthusiast. In fact, he shared that he used to race bikes in Southern California and was a highly ranked time trialist. His wife also raced bikes. We talked a lot about cycling, about crops and his community, and a little about politics. The population in his town, Greencreek, is about 230, and he liked it that way. He wished us a safe journey, and told us to encourage others to take up cycling.

His strawberries were delicious!