Today I would be riding all day among the US 95. The first part of the day was a flat ride through the Salmon River Canyon. In Riggins I took a short break and by then it had gotten really hot. Next was a gentle climb up along the Little Salmon River. The heat initially made the climbing tough, but luckily the temperature slightly but steadily dropped as I gained elevation. There were a lot of road works for which I had to stop, but as long as they are making better roads and shoulders for cyclists I don't mind :)
During the climb the arid landscape slowly turned into a landscape with more green in it. At the summit I was surprised by a sort of plain with the small river meandering through it, covered with green fields and surrounded by tree covered mountains... totally different from down in the valley.
In New Meadows I'm staying with WarmShowers hosts Don and Mary. As I was there early I went for a coffee with muffins in the coffee house first. When I called Don it appeared that he was out cycling with a friend (Jeff) and we had actually passed each other and waved at each other. They picked me up at the coffee house, after which Don guided me to his house. Their house is just out of town in super peaceful foresty surroundings, really cool. I got to use the guest room with a nice comfy bed, awesome!
I learned that Don is retired engineer who set up a small bike mechanic business, called the Pedal Medic, to help people riding the Transam trail. For the first time in 4 days I had a real shower (you know, with running warm water and soap and such). Don had already told me that they would be having friends over for dinner. Jeff was one of them and brought some nicely tasting locally beer, the others were a couple of ranchers: Dean and Daisy. It turned out to be a super fun and interesting evening with pizza, fresh salad, ice cream with fresh berries for desert, nice and cold locally brewed beer and off course lots of conversation :)
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