[CR]One silly trip:The eve near the atom

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From: <John_Squires@ew.com>
Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 12:11:35 -0400
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: [CR]One silly trip:The eve near the atom

In 1972, two of us set out on a 160 mile fully-loaded trip from Pocatello to Sun Valley, Idaho. No creditcard touring for these 15 year olds, our Schwinn Continentals were fully loaded with sleeping bags, food, cassette decks, Koss headphones a complete compliment of Jim Morrison tapes. The outgoing trip was without incident but on the return leg we covered 110 miles in a day, which placed us squarely in the midst of Idaho's only desert, near Atomic City (you can't make this up). We were exhausted and there were no signs of human life after the atom splitters boarded up the place in the late 50s in favor of more lush climes down the road in Arco (the first city powered by atomic energy--and still glowing today). We found a shack to give us cover for the night and settled in. When the sun set we drifted off to sleep only to be awakened by a gnawing sound around our feet. It was pitch black and we had know idea who the homeowner could be. It seemed best to pick up a tennis shoe and hope that a well placed thud would scare the varmint away. This was repeated several times throughout the night. Near dawn I was roused again but this time I could feel something nibbling near my toes. It was just light enough to see a strange, enlarged and no doubt, irradiated animal chewing at the bottom of my sleeping bag. Across the sage covered desert morning, all the way to Arco, was heard the scream...RATS!