Technically we were in Irwin, but we spent some time in Swan Valley, too.
We rode our bikes, you see.
I like riding my bike, but I’m not stellar at it. I’m kind of slow, you understand? So here’s the thing: Brooker is a good little biker. She brought her road bike, and she rode it fast. Also, here’s the other thing: Brookie is also quite a biker, and she is also much faster than I am. She was determined to wear herself out, so for the first half, she road on the sandy asphalt beside me while I was on the road.
Bless the Brookeses heartses. Bless Brooker’s heart for inviting me with her to share an adventure when I’m a slowpoke in comparison. And bless Brookie’s heart for staying beside me (for the first half) on our cold and crazy bike ride.
The plan was to ride from Brooker's uncle's property (in Irwin) to Fall Creek (in Swan Valley)—like we did a couple of years ago.
However...
The weather had other plans. It was overcast on our drive to Irwin, and it wasn't exactly warm, but we decided we'd give it a go and just see what happened.
What happened is that we got hailed on. And then rained on. And then gale-forced wind tried to throw us off our course. (Okay, so maybe "gale-forced" was a bit of an exaggeration, but truly—I checked my weather channel app, and it told me that the wind was going about 15 mph, and that’s not nothing.)
Shortly after we got past the cubic ice cream place, the hail started pelting down in earnest, and we decided to head back to Mav.
All in all, we biked about 17.5 miles. I was a bit nervous that I might’ve caught a cold in the inclement weather, but here I am three days later, and it seems I’m in the clear!
So...here are some pictures, okay?
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| So maybe the drive over wasn't too darkly overcast... |
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| We stopped for gas, and we found some guaca-chips for Brooker. Because she loves them. |
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| The clouds got darker the closer we got to Irwin. |
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| This was our starting point. And our ending point, too, I suppose. |
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| The Brookeses along the way. |
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| That's Brooker way up there...that bright red dot. |
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| I felt bad for my Brookeses, because they wore shorts and sandals. |
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| OH, HAIL! |
Where the Brookeses stopped for me?
That was when we decided to turn around and ride back to Mav.
The hail was throwing itself down at 1,000 mph,
stinging our hands and faces (and it smarted quite a lot
when it struck my lip. A few times, even.)
We pulled under the patio of a bar and grill (maybe?)
to decide whether to call Brooker's dad to save us,
or to finish our ride back to our starting point.
We decided, "Well, we've made it this far, we might as well finish what we started."
Made for a better story, too.
After heading back into the storm, the hail turned to rain.
And then it dried up and the wind died down a bit,
so we were really glad we hadn't called dad to come rescue us...
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| Swoon, huh? This was on our return trip; we really were surrounded by ominous clouds, I tell you. |
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| Pausing for a breather. |
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| This portion of Idaho is so beautiful I could just burst! |
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| Mooooo. |
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| We discovered some poppies in an obliging |
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| Perdy, i'nt it? |
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| Back to the beginning. And look at the sky... |
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| The final tally: 17.60 miles. |
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| Helmet hair... |
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| off to the west... |
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| There were more poppies to be enjoyed in the back of Uncle Tom's property |
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| Brooker loooooves poppies. |
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| Nicely done, |
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| On our drive home |
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| On our drive home some more. |
Hey, adventure: cheers to you. CHEERS, I say!
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