andy reagan only the interesting stuff

The saddest day

Boise

I didn't realize at the time, but putting myself out in front of the group by so far was a poor choice in terms of safety, although I am a strong rider....and for this, the leaders put me in the van for the day into Boise.  So I didn't ride, but with a tailwind and mostly downhill ride, Mark made it to town in less than two hours including lunch.  I was really let down about not riding, and wrote some angry blog posts that won't ever make it andyreagan.com, but after a while I got over that...when we heard the news that really shook up our trip, and every Bike and Build-er, past and present.

Paige Hicks, a leader on the P2S route, was struck by a truck and killed.  I'm not going to elaborate, but you can read about her and the full letter to the BnB community here: http://www.bikeandbuild.org/cms/content/view/9188/1/

Our trip was very shaken up, as you can imagine, and we spent all night in prayer and comforting each other.  We have learned how strong the Bike and Build family truly is, which has been beyond amazing, and all of thoughts and prayers go out to her family and the riders she led.  We took a video the following day, along with many other things we have done, called Bike and Build IS.  We'll be sending notebooks to her family and the trip, and are wearing tye-dye yarn to symbolize that we now are riding on for her.

90 miles solo: 2 passes, 2 clif bars, and 2 water bottles

Idaho City

Later we would find out that that night, the coldest place in the entire US was Stanley, ID.  I had slept in just my fleece blanket off the ground in a hammock, and it was 34F when we woke up.  I couldn't feel my feet.

To make a long story short, I hopped on my bike early that morning and got an early start to stay warm.  That put me in front of the group where I stayed all day, missing both lunches but somehow finding the stamina to make 91 miles, 90 degree heat, and a 12 mile mountain climb on 40oz. of water and two clif bars.  I got to the host at noon, the same time that sweep made it to the first lunch 30 miles in.  Mark got there a couple hours later and I woke up from my passed-out nap, and ate a ton of food haha.

Sorry it's sideways, can't fix it haha

From the climb

Food!

Gorgeous desert to mountains along the Salmon River

Stanley

It was Kristen's 21st birthday, and we were on sweep together! After stopping at a diner in town and singing happy birthday to her, and Alyson who's birthday it also was (although she got slightly overshadowed bc it was Kristen's 21st haha) with everyone at the diner helping and two candles in two pieces of pie.  It turned out being one of my very favorite days of riding, although slow we made it a lot of fun and it was hard not to have fun on her birthday haha.  We spend almost the whole day going into a headwind, uphill beside an awesome river, the Salmon River.  It's become an attraction for rafters recently, although the only thing going on there back in the day was a silver mine about half way there.  It was in a nowhere town of 29 people, and had a really cool museum that we spent some time at.

At the diner, b-day girls!

Their bikes in the AM

Tried to capture the oasis around the stream in this desert gulch near the host we left

A bustling metropolis

The museum there

The scenery changed from desert river to pine forest river, which was awesome to go through, and it was just really beautiful riding.  10 miles out from town, we stopped at a hot spring that went into the river and that felt great.  It was long day for only 62 miles when we got into town at 4:45PM, but neither of us minded.  Perhaps the best moment of the day, maybe the week or even the whole trip, was turning one of the many corners through the valley next to the Salmon River we had been climbing all day, to see the landscape open before us to the skyline of the Sawtooth Wilderness Mtns.  Stanley claims that is has the best mtn vista in the west...and they may be just right.  To top it off, we camped out on the side of town close to the mountains, the only thing between them and us was a field and some trees.  I slept in the hammock, and the stars were out of this world as well.

Hot springs!