AAN Day 12 - Twin Falls to Burley, ID

Daily Statistics:
Mileage: 52.0 miles Average Speed: 14.3 mph
Vertical: 2613 feet Departure: 8:35 AM (6:26 AM) Arrive: 12:16 PM
Calories: 3736

Today's ride was highlighted by a series of waterfalls. They each had their own attractions, but the downside was that you had to descend to view each, and then climb back out again. The route sheet was only 38.5 miles, but each of the waterfalls was a side trip, which is why I totaled 52 instead, and had a lot more vertical than advertised as well.
Tom Zack and I left after an early breakfast and before the late load to descend into the valley to the golf course. This gave us great early views of the bridge into Twin Falls, and a bonus waterfall which we didn't know about, and I still don't know the name of. I show the shot I took looking over the golf course, which shows the setting. It is always ominous when you start down a road, and the sign says "10% grade", and you know you have to come back up again. Tom says it was mostly 8%, with some 10%, but it was still challenging. Fortunately, it was only about 0.7 miles. We were back and ready to go with the rest of the group.


I am also including the following shot of the bridge from the east side, which I also took on the early morning jaunt. It is quite a bridge. This is where they do the BASE jumps, but it was much too windy today.
Very quickly into the ride sheet (3.6 miles), we had the turn to Shoshone Falls. It is called the Niagara Falls of the West. The picture below gives you some idea why.


It is quite a falls. Unfortunately, the lady who does the route rap was confused, and told the riders who asked if they only did one, which should they do, that they should miss this one and do the next. This turned out to be quite wrong, but several of the weaker riders followed the advice.
The next photo is of Twin Falls, where the power company has captured the upper falls. While a nice falls, it is nothing to compare to Shoshone. The other downside was that there were grades that some folks said were as much as 17%, so it was tough work coming back out. The rest of the ride was an easy go with a mild uphill into Burley, on quiet county roads parallel to the Interstate.
Today was my first real day with tire problems. I had been losing a little air each night in my front tire (down 50-70 psi) but had pumped it up each day, and had no problems. This morning, it was virtually flat, so I decided I better change it. It went flat again in about 5 miles. I changed it, and by the SAG at 25 miles, it was pretty soft, so I pumped it up again. I made it in OK, but still haven't gotten to the bottom of the problem, and spent all my time at mechanics getting my shifting, which was also skipping, resolved. More on this as we head to Pocatello tomorrow.