June 22
Friday, June 22nd - Baker City, OR 81 miles
Had a good wide berm
again. Up to this point, we sure
couldn’t complain about the roads here in Oregon and in all towns of any good
size. Oregon has designated BIKE LANES
on the busy streets. They are all
marked with an icon of a bicyclist. ( I took a photo, will post it and my other
pictures as soon as I get home.) The
sharp climb started and we all had lots of early morning energy and moved right
along. Not many trees, lots of rolling
foot hills in the distance. As we
headed up the mountain there was a nice photo opportunity with nice view of
surrounding area. We were taking
pictures by the covered wagon that sat on the overlook site.
As I rode up the
mountain to the Dixie Mountain Summit, Rich caught me on film. Sure was happy to be at the top, way up
there at 5,277 feet, after the 7 mile climb.
Great going down the other side of the mountain for a fun 7.5 miles
right into the SAG stop. Then we got
the BAD NEWS. Up ahead we were told
ODOT was working on the road. 17 miles
of new, newer and just being put down chip & seal road. No escaping, it was the only road out. Our map cue sheet said we would have a 6
mile 1,000 foot climb. That was going
along OK, bumpy road and all until I realized I had forgotten to fill my water
reservoir. I did have a half bottle of Gatorade and that was by this
time almost to the boiling point – being out in the sun for hours. When it gets that warm I feel sick in the
tummy if I drink that hot sugar drink.
I had no water and could only sip the Gatorade a little at a time. It wasn’t long and the van drove by and I
motioned for Brian to stop ( by tapping the top of my helmet). ABB sure does
look out for all of us by cruising the roads while we are out biking to assist
us if we ever need any help.
Trudging along the
chip and seal, our tires were taking a beating. Stones were hitting our spokes and getting stuck sometimes
between the tire and fork clearance. It
happened to me, and my peddling came to a dead stop. The stone was stuck and I had to remove my wheel from the bike to
get it out. In this area heading up to
the mountain pass there were a lot more trees which was nice because every once
in a while there would be a little shade cast on the road where we could stop
and cool off a little. We were all sick
of the chip and seal surface and darn just when I reached the Tifton Mountain
Summit at 5,124 feet, I heard my tire hissing.
A flat. First one. I wanted to get it changed just as soon as
possible to get out of the sun and start the descent down the mountain side. Phil happened to come cycling by and he
helped me finish changing the tire tube.
Going down the fast descending road on chip & seal was NOT nice. All of a sudden we had to stop in line with the
traffic. The ODOT worker motioned for
us cyclists to come up to her. She said
we could not go down the last mile – because it was freshly laid tar &
stone. It was an hour before traffic
was led down the road by a pilot van. I
was getting anxious to get to Baker City because I wanted to call my niece who
lives a short way from Baker City.
Still had 30 miles to ride. The
road smoothed out and the scenery was beautiful. I saw two big birds that were Sand Cranes. They were in the grasses near the Powder
River. For many miles, the Powder River
flowed along near the road. I sure was
tempted to jump in it. I was riding
near Mike and we were clipping along until the last 10 miles. Then the head winds started. That wind slowed us down to nearly a crawl. We finally got into Baker City.
We had to go all the
way through town. I was really
exhausted when I got in at 5:45. Dinner
was served at 6. I could not find my
niece Wendy’s phone number and couldn’t find it in a phone book. I was so tired that right after eating, a
quick trip to the whirlpool and Route Rap I went right to bed.
This Best Western had a terrific meal for
us. Roast beef, vegetable lasagna,
marinated chicken breasts, potatoes and gravy, vegetable, rice, breads and
served to us in a lovely banquet facility. Before we left in the morning they
served us a wonder breakfast buffet. We
all raved about this place! It also had
the biggest and best whirlpool so far.
Only one more day in
Oregon. Thank you everyone who have
cheered me on this wonderful adventure with your donations to Habitat For
Humanity.
God is Good.