USNA 1973 Ride-2-Remember

Day 17, 20 August: Arco to Rexburg, ID

As Tes followed changing and conflicting weather forecasts this morning (Day 17), we initially concluded we had a window of opportunity to get out of Arco and into Rexburg missing the bulk of the rain. The plan was to start in our regular windbreakers and stage raingear in Sally’s car as a contingency.  The rain picked up as launch time approached, however, and we collectively made the decision to switch to full raingear at the last minute.  Good call, for all it was worth.

The rain was from the leading bands thrown out by Tropical Storm Hilary, and continued for all 87 miles, letting up somewhat just at the end.  Roads were generally good and relatively flat, but the wind made most of it feel like a climb. We crossed a lot of rangeland, farms and part of Idaho National Lab, but mostly just kept our heads down and pedaling. The SAG went to 10-mile rest stops which helped but we couldn’t stop long or you’d get chilled, so they were quick water or sandwich breaks and back on the road again.

Tes, Dave and I rode the last 4 miles together after concluding we had reached a steady state of pain and it really didn’t matter if we finished in 4 miles or 40 – it just couldn’t get any worse.

I was pretty happy with my selection of rain gear. It kept me relatively warm and dry (except once when I forgot to tuck my jersey into my rain pants).  At least I thought so until we finally arrived, decompressed and I found out how damp my socks were, and took awhile to truly warm up again.

We honored Steve, Jeff and Rex at quarters. Sadly, like a few other classmates, we were unable to find much info on Jeff Welch since graduation. Tomorrow (a merciful rest day) we carry the tags for Jim Hopkins and Don Lewis of 12^th Co.

Bill Montgomery