Day 9 John Day to Baker City: 85 miles and 5000 ft elevation
Today was a 3 pass day, Dixie, Tipton, and Sumpter passes! Phew. So glad to have the company of Colleen. We talked, ate and battled the climbs, heat and wind together. We road through old west of Oregon and old towns of Sumpter, Whitney, etc. Finally we made it into Baker City and stopped at the first store for drinks of orange juice, cranberry raspberry juice, water and Cheetos! Wow, saved the day. Road through the old town of Baker City with cool buildings then arrived at camp. RV park with nice showers and great shade. We looked at maps to plan out the ride through Idaho which we will enter tomorrow!
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
June 27 Day 8
Day 8; Mitchell to John Day: 70 miles
Left at 5:30 am to get a jump on the heat and the wind. Wind really kicks up at the day goes on and does the heat. I quickly topped out on the main pass of the day then descended through a beautiful canyon. This is fossil country the territory sure looks like it. Soon I was in the very cute town of Dayville where I sat at the post office bench in the shade to eat my second breakfast. Then more Wild West Country side quickly was in Mt. Vernon where I met up with T and L. We chatted it up and I ate first lunch then quickly finished the last 8 miles into John Day. We set up camp at the Grant County Fair grounds which was actually really fun then found the city pool. Wow, that was awesome and so refreshing. We went back to camp and soon Colleen arrived transported to John Day by Mary. Colleen flew into Redmond, stocked up with food to feed her and Hortense then drove to John Day. So I now have a riding partner! To finish the day, I discovered my headset was a little loose. Ultimately needed to FaceTime Cenna (Cenna's Custom Cycles) who is Tamara's good friend, Barbara's husband. He is a mechanic and has a bike shop in Longmont. He walked me through the process to fix my headset and voila, it was better! When I meet up with him in Colorado, I'm gonna buy him a beer! Thanks so much Cenna!
Left at 5:30 am to get a jump on the heat and the wind. Wind really kicks up at the day goes on and does the heat. I quickly topped out on the main pass of the day then descended through a beautiful canyon. This is fossil country the territory sure looks like it. Soon I was in the very cute town of Dayville where I sat at the post office bench in the shade to eat my second breakfast. Then more Wild West Country side quickly was in Mt. Vernon where I met up with T and L. We chatted it up and I ate first lunch then quickly finished the last 8 miles into John Day. We set up camp at the Grant County Fair grounds which was actually really fun then found the city pool. Wow, that was awesome and so refreshing. We went back to camp and soon Colleen arrived transported to John Day by Mary. Colleen flew into Redmond, stocked up with food to feed her and Hortense then drove to John Day. So I now have a riding partner! To finish the day, I discovered my headset was a little loose. Ultimately needed to FaceTime Cenna (Cenna's Custom Cycles) who is Tamara's good friend, Barbara's husband. He is a mechanic and has a bike shop in Longmont. He walked me through the process to fix my headset and voila, it was better! When I meet up with him in Colorado, I'm gonna buy him a beer! Thanks so much Cenna!
June 26 Day 7
Day 7; Redmond to Mitchell Oregon- 65 miles
Mary joined me for the beautiful ride to Prineville. High desert country with basalt columns all around. Lots of old homesteads that were quite charming. Prineville was a very cute town. Mary and I ate a snack then she sped off back home to Redmond. I, now with headphones, enjoyed the ride by Ochoco reservoir, Ochoco pass and descent into the ghost town of Mithchell. We set up camp at the city park and enjoyed resting in the shade and watching all the Sunday activity at the bathroom. We laughed a lot at people as something to do. Hee Hee....
Mary joined me for the beautiful ride to Prineville. High desert country with basalt columns all around. Lots of old homesteads that were quite charming. Prineville was a very cute town. Mary and I ate a snack then she sped off back home to Redmond. I, now with headphones, enjoyed the ride by Ochoco reservoir, Ochoco pass and descent into the ghost town of Mithchell. We set up camp at the city park and enjoyed resting in the shade and watching all the Sunday activity at the bathroom. We laughed a lot at people as something to do. Hee Hee....
June 25 Day 6
Day 6; Mckenzie Bridge to Redmond about about 60 miles and 5000' vertical
I got up early to start my process up the 22 mile Mckenzie pass. Phew, that was some work! But beautiful ride and not many car on this road. Summit allowed views of the mountains in the peaks in Oregon. Then it was a fast descent into Sisters Oregon where I met T and L for some lunch at the Sisters Bakery. Ate a donut and powered into Redmond with a tailwind. Ate some dinner then remembered Todd's son Andrew was running the Western States 100. We followed some very exciting Twitter feeds and watched the process. Then he was in the lead so we watched the live finish of Andrew being the youngest person to win this super bowl of ultra marathons. Wow, way to go Andrew! You are amazing. Also thanks to Mary Yocum to letting us stay at your house in Redmond.
I got up early to start my process up the 22 mile Mckenzie pass. Phew, that was some work! But beautiful ride and not many car on this road. Summit allowed views of the mountains in the peaks in Oregon. Then it was a fast descent into Sisters Oregon where I met T and L for some lunch at the Sisters Bakery. Ate a donut and powered into Redmond with a tailwind. Ate some dinner then remembered Todd's son Andrew was running the Western States 100. We followed some very exciting Twitter feeds and watched the process. Then he was in the lead so we watched the live finish of Andrew being the youngest person to win this super bowl of ultra marathons. Wow, way to go Andrew! You are amazing. Also thanks to Mary Yocum to letting us stay at your house in Redmond.
June 24 Day 5
Day 5: Corvaillis to McKenzie River Bridge campground; 95 miles
Left Corvaillis early and took my time riding to Armitage state park near Eugene. Beautiful country side kept me entertained during this ride. Met T and L at the state park for some lunch then the push to McKenzie Bridge. As the ride continued east I got more and more into the woods and was nice to feel like I was heading into the mountains. Arrived at McKenzie Bridge and met Monte who was camping next door. He was riding to Missoula and a repeat of what he did 40 years ago for the original Bikecentinial. He was to arrive in Missoula for the ACA 40th party for Bikecentinial. He was super envious of our SAG setup fore he was carrying gear. I'm very happy I do not need to carry gear. Thanks sis and Loren!
Left Corvaillis early and took my time riding to Armitage state park near Eugene. Beautiful country side kept me entertained during this ride. Met T and L at the state park for some lunch then the push to McKenzie Bridge. As the ride continued east I got more and more into the woods and was nice to feel like I was heading into the mountains. Arrived at McKenzie Bridge and met Monte who was camping next door. He was riding to Missoula and a repeat of what he did 40 years ago for the original Bikecentinial. He was to arrive in Missoula for the ACA 40th party for Bikecentinial. He was super envious of our SAG setup fore he was carrying gear. I'm very happy I do not need to carry gear. Thanks sis and Loren!
June 23 Day 4
Day 4: Rest day in Corvaillis. Woke up to rain and actually more important needed a rest day. 5 hard days from Edmonds to Corvaillis so the rain gave me an excuse. We spent the day resting, doing laundry and eating. Was able to spent the day at our cousins house so was a very comfortable day.
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