Day 16 – Shorter and Better but not Better Enough - Midvale to Mesa Siding -2nd day of Trail

After a great breakfast at the Midvale café, we decided to take the innkeeper’s offer to shuttle us to Weiser on our return trip back down the trail, gave her a call and made the arrangements.

We were on the trail by 9:30. The ride to Cambridge was relatively flat and the trail surface was marginally better at times.  There were still sand traps, deep gravel, large rocks to dodge, and a deceptively large deep hole at one narrow pedestrian/bicycle gate (which Rob successfully navigated and quickly warned Diane—"STOP!”).

It may seem counterintuitive, but going through sand or deep gravel, it is important to keep your speed up as well as your ability to accelerate quickly in a tough spot.  That means you have to be in the right gear to do that.  If you’re in too easy a gear, you will simply spin your legs without applying any torque to increase your acceleration.  We have the proper technique, but Diane says she still feels an unpleasant adrenaline spike each time she needs to apply the principle.  But sometimes, you simply have to STOP and remain upright.  Diane did.

While taking a break at the Cambridge Trailhead, nine miles into the ride, we decided we would not ride to New Meadows the next day as planned, but would instead try to arrange for a shuttle to the top and then ride back downhill to Cambridge.  The ride from Cambridge to Mesa Siding was more scenic, with some portions that were actually pleasant to ride.  But they were short and few.  And four short stretches of the trail were worse than the day before.  By the time we had reached Mesa Siding, we decided to forego riding any further any direction on the portion between Mesa Siding and New Meadows. 

Our Elkhorn B&B innkeeper picked us up at the Siding right on time and we began enjoying the best part of the day!  But first, we rearranged our lodging, so we could bicycle back to Cambridge the following day, then on to Midvale for one more night at the Trailhead Hostel, and a shuttle to Weiser the next day!

The Elkhorn B&B is a working goat and sheep farm, run by Debra, an eclectic and energetic person with many skills and interests.  She fixed us dinner and treated us to several varieties of her Artisan Chevre (goat cheese) with different sweet and savory flavors.  We shared stories of our lives until it was time for us to turn in for the night.  She still had to milk goats, so it was at least another hour before she could call it a night. 

Diane & Rob

An example of the many cattle control gates across the trail.

The dangerous pothole averted.

Diane grinding up the trail toward Mesa Siding.

Grinding on the final rise to Mesa Siding.

Steeds at rest.