June 23
Saturday, June 23
Baker City to Ontario, Oregon
- 83 miles Hot! 94 degrees.
The Best Western in
Baker City had the best food yet. The
breakfast bar was super. First time we
had hot oatmeal, fresh pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, biscuits
and gravy. They also had a choice of
juices along with bacon and scrambled eggs.
The servers were hustling to keep up with the 6:15 AM starved
bikers.
We went from Pacific time to Mountain
time and lost an hour.
Today the terrain
was more of the same. Low mountains and
very few trees, desert like, lots of
sagebrush and grasses. Leaving Baker
City this morning it was a fun ride because it was mostly down hill after mile
5. All the way to mile 30 and the first
SAG stop. We were all hammering the
pedals, having a blast. We followed old
Rte 30 paralleling Interstate 84. Down
below us were the railroad tracks and we raced along the Pacific Railway Train
for mile and mile. After the hot day
yesterday, this morning was a welcome
relief. At the SAG rest stop we were
all talking like we would get into Ontario by 1:30 or 2 PM. HA!
After that we got on Interstate 84 ( It’s legal here in Oregon to bike
on the berm of the Interstate for a few miles ). Downhill until we exited at Weiser. Then the Snake River started and the wind started and the heat
went up to 94 degrees. This was one of those
character building days or so we were told.
You wouldn’t like the character it changed me into! Shade was miles and miles apart. When I saw shade, it was like an oases in
the desert.
I enjoy the tiny
towns we go through. The locals are so
friendly and they like talking to cyclists.
I get a little local history visiting with them. But when it is hot and miles to go, I can’t
dally very long.
Road kill today -
saw 6 rattlesnakes. Some bikers saw
live ones crossing the road! I had to
do an emergency pit stop and walked into the grass & sagebrush and made it
a quickie when I saw a big 4 foot rattlesnake skin at my feet.
I had my second flat
today. But lucky me, the mechanic wagon
happened by and I used his floor pump to top off the air in my tire. The bike
hand pump is so much slower and in the hot sun I was glad to fix it fast and be
on my way.
Several were going
to Mass here in town today but by the time I got in at 5:30 PM, I was to late
to go with them for the 6 PM Mass.
We are all looking
forward to our first rest day that starts when we get to Boise, ID tomorrow.
We have in this first week climbed 28,000
feet and cycled 53 miles.