The alarm went off at 3:30am, which was a little early; even during a trip like this. However, this early start came in handy given the unexpected adventure that occurred later in the day. I was on the road around 4:45am, and took the interstate south to Regina, where there was a restaurant and convenience store. After having a sizable breakfast, I asked the waitstaff about the surfaces of several roads that were in very rural areas away from the interstate. On a map, I could have had the guarantee of paved surfaces for a total riding distance of 101 miles, or rolled the dice on uncertain road surfaces for a total of 99 miles (per Google Maps recommended route, which doesn't indicate road surface type). With the reassurance of the waitstaff that the 99 mile route consisted of paved surfaces, I left the restaurant feeling comfortable with taking the 99 mile route over the longer, more heavily traveled 101 mile route. For the next 10 miles, I was on tar-and-chip surfaces, which is suitable for riding on with this bicycle. I then reached Martha Ave., one of the roads that the waitstaff confidently declared was paved. In her defense, the first 200 yards were. If one glances down the road, it appears to be paved from its intersection with Till Rd. However, my guess is that she hadn't driven down Martha Ave. before, because the next six miles were gravel. Backtracking now to the interstate only to take the longer route made little to no sense. While gravel wasn't ideal for riding on, it was manageable for this short of a distance. Road tires that are 28mm wide can get bullied around fairly easily by gravel, which makes for an exercise in keeping the bike and 45+ lbs of gear upright! After about 50 minutes on Martha Ave., the next turn was onto an even lesser traveled, rougher gravel road for about one mile. This one mile, with a hill that had a grade demanding respect, took about 15 minutes. At this point, I was growing a little concerned, because with each road I turned onto, the road became less and less maintained. Of all these backroads, Immigrant Rd. is a road name that will forever be seared into my longterm memory. When I arrived at this turn onto Immigrant Rd., I looked down the road to see a sign indicating the road was not maintained during the winter. I also saw that the surface was a combination of dirt and loose gravel. I reluctantly pedaled down this stretch of the route in the heat of a late cloudless morning. I stopped for a drink of water, and checked how far away US-20 was from my location. I was 2.8 miles away with 653' of climbing! From the looks of it, the majority of this climbing occurred in a one mile span of these 2.8 miles. This is some serious elevation change in that short of a distance, let alone on this surface. Before beginning the frustrating and grinding climb on this loose, unpacked gravel I saw an information board; one that you might expect to find at a trailhead or a historical site. However, mind you, this is out in the middle of nowhere. I inspected the sign and was surprised to learn that I had just ridden on part of the Oregon Trail! Talk about a brush with history! This feature alone changed this, up to this point, unpleasant experience an outstanding one. After those treacherous 2.8 miles were behind me, it was on to US-20: riding on pavement again was marvelous, even though there were several climbs ahead of me! The most formidable of which was the ascent to the Castle Rocks scenic viewpoint. Once at the top, I stopped and had lunch: four home-made chocolate chip cookies given to me by Christa along with water. The winds at this pass were strong and appeared to favor the direction I was riding in. The next 28 miles went by quickly, as strong tailwind pushed me into the Camas Prairie towards Fairfield. In the high plains country of Camas county, the Camas Prairie stretches for well over 40 miles tucked between the Sawtooth Mountains to the north and the Mount Bennett Hills to the south. Camas Prairie was emerald-like, I thought; quite the contrast to the massive amounts of snow that falls here during the winter. Earlier this day, I had reached out to a potential host, and Laura (a resident of Fairfield) thankfully allowed me to camp in her backyard. To me, this is peace of mind: having a place to land at the end of a long ride. When I arrived in Fairfield, I stopped at the library per Laura's recommendation. While here, I was able to draft a few blog posts and clean up my email inbox. Afterwards, I went to a local eatery and had dinner while Laura wrapped up farming for the day. Shortly after 6pm, Laura swung by and led me to her home. After setting up my tent and unpacking other gear, Laura and I chatted for quite some time. I learned that she works in public schools too as a paraeducator! During her summers away from working in school, she farms. We also talked about other cyclists that she has hosted. She has been offering her hospitality to cyclists for over 15 years! Hands down the most remarkable story was the Ukrainian unicyclist that was touring across the country! Across the county! While there are likely typographical errors in my blog posts, "unicyclist" is not one of them! I can't begin to fathom what it must take to ride a unicycle across the country. After a long and adventurous day, I was fading fast and needed sleep. Fortunately the next day had fewer miles to cover than today, which meant I'd likely sleep in.
