June 29 Boise to Mountain Home, Idaho

A tender farewell…romantic music swelling in the background.  As Suellen pulled me close, tears staining her freckled cheeks, she looked up with dewy eyes and said, in a tremulous voice, “We’ll always have Boise.”

Well, OK… that’s not really the way we said our farewells, but it was awfully nice to have Suellen in Boise on our rest day. Boise seems like a very nice town — it’s fresh and fun and bright.

SE on the (overflowing) Boise River

Boise is to Idaho as Austin is to Texas — a liberal island in a conservative sea.  I half-expected to see signs saying, “Keep Boise Weird”.  We walked along the Boise River and saw an eagle fishing right in the middle of the city.  We also went to the municipal rose garden and cruised around downtown.  In the afternoon I washed all my bike clothes and cleaned up my bike while Suellen read in the shade.  Then a nice swim in the hotel pool.  For dinner we had a lot of nice restaurants to choose from.  Many restaurants (and breweries)  are dedicated to local fare. We ate in a sidewalk cafe that organized its beer menu by how far away the brewery was. I especially liked a beer that was brewed less than a mile from the restaurant.  But that was yesterday… today I’m in Mountain Home and Suellen is flying back to Denver after a tender farewell.

Today was a fast, flat ride to Mountain Home.  We picked up a nice tailwind and covered the 53 miles in slightly less than three hours.  We were also motivated by the fact

Spot the rainbow

that a big thunderstorm was forming behind us.  Our first clue was a morning rainbow — just visible over my left shoulder in the picture.  Rainbows are almost always in the afternoon and to the east.  As the sun sinks in the west, it illuminates water vapor in the eastern sky.  (It’s a good way to orient yourself if you’re lost).

Prairie Storm Brewing

Morning rainbows — to the west — are rare because there’s not much water vapor in the air.  A morning rainbow is often a precursor to an especially large thunderstorm.  There’s more water vapor in the air and the storm has all day to heat up before breaking loose in the afternoon.

I wore my Lawson jersey today for sentimental reasons. I worked for Lawson for 4½ years, including three years in Sweden.  Lawson is being acquired by Infor and the deal closes today — so Lawson ceases to exist as an independent company. It’s good for stockholders (including me) but bittersweet for former employees.  I just hope my former colleagues land on their feet.

Day’s distance: 53.7 miles (86.4 km)
Average speed: 18.1 mph (29.1 kph)
Day’s climb: 1,400 feet (426.7 meters)
Total distance: 701.4 miles (1,128.8 km)