Day Six- Am I Tough Enough?

Day 6 (81 Miles)- Saturday June 23, 2007- John Day, OR to Baker City, OR (3,446')


Ok- so yesterday was supposed to be the monster and it wasn't and today looked like a romp and it wasn't. Although the miles were only 81 today, the ride had nearly the same amount of vertical feet- close to 5,000. We had three serious climbs, with long, long grades of 5-7%. Now I've been doing climbs in Georgia with 10-17% grades- so we laugh at 5-7% right? Wrong. When a climb is 8, 15, 20 miles long, you don't get to laugh at much. We're talking climbs that take and hour or two, and that just ain't right.


After a rough night- Friday night is Kareoke night 'til 2:00Am at the restaurant next to out motel (I think I had the Lucky Strike Suite) we had an early load and breakfast. The morning was cool and promised clear skies all day with temps in the low 80's. Our first climb began almost immediately and lasted until about mile 22, where we crested Dixie Mt. Summit at 5,277'. Then it was payback time and we descended for nearly 10 miles- the boys playing cat and mouse as we approached 40 MPH on the way down.
Along the way we stopped long enough to have an alien encounter and I was fortunate enough to have my digital "Brownie" on the ready and captured this image- really. No kidding. I'm totally serious. Gathering our wits about us, we then rolled into our first sag and the only restaurant we'd see until Baker City (our destination today) at mile 29.

After enjoying our downhill playtime, we again strapped on the harnesses and began our second 5-7% climb which ran about 6 miles and delivered us to Tifton Mt. Summit at 5124'. This climb began to expose us- we all suffered some on this one and I began to start adding up all the miles we'd ridden since Monday (more on this later). I wasn't beat, but was starting to fray around the edges some.

Following this climb, we hd another thrill ride as we descended for nearly 10 miles and the began our third and final climb for the day. This one was another real grind- one of those climbs where you swear at every crest or curve, that this must be the summit. But time after time, the road was cruel to us and pitched upward, leaving us to wonder if there really was a summit. Finally we crested at Snall Summit and the began a beautiful descent, nearly 30 miles long, through a canyon with the beautiful Powder River slithering along beside us.

With 15 miles of relatively flat terrain to go Mother Nature decided to kick up her heels and started throwing us a brisk headwind. But we had the answer and the Miller Train reformed with the young guns Michael and Derek Miller pulling us all into Baker City. Along the way we picked up 2 or 3 more riders who happily sat in on the wake of our diesel powered teens. Those of us in the pace line thanked our lucky stars for another incredible day- maybe not the romp I'd expected, but certainly more than I deserved.

As soon as we arrived in Baker, as the locals call it, we found sidewalk seating for the pro bike races and watched the Cat 4/5 riders duking it out in a thrill a minute Criterium



as we gorged ourselves on some seriously tasty pizza pies.

Today brings our total miles ridden in six days to 470 and we'll bring this total to614 before we get a day off, so there's another 140 miles or so to go. I'm tired and headed for bed-see you tomorrow.

Day Five-The Monster is Dead

Day 5 (117 Miles) Friday June 22, 2007- Prineville, OR to John Day, OR (3,083')

Well day five has come and gone and it was nothing like the monster I’d imagined it would be. In the lead up to our tour I have had big concerns about today’s ride. In my fears it was going to be the ride from hell- hot, boring scenery, headwinds, etc—in short, a Monster. In fact, the ride was a solid gold blast- nothing like what I’d imagined.

The day started early- I loaded luggage at 5:15 AM, ate a nice breakfast and joined forces with Jennifer and her husband Brett and their friend Russell (to the right). Others came and went through the day, but I hung with these three throughout the day. I’d ridden a bit with them before and thought we’d be compatible, which we were. All three are strong riders and are very funny. Plus they laugh at my stupid jokes, so that makes me really like them.

Since the ride today is one of the longest of the tour (117 miles) and has a total of 5,100 feet of climbing, we were on the road by 6:30. The day started with a 30 mile climb in which we gained about 2,000 vertical feet or so. Actually it wasn’t all that bad and I think we crested Ochoco Pass (4720’) by about 10:00AM. From there we had a 12 mile descent (everything comes in serious proportions) that was an absolute scream.

At mile 42 we hit the town of Mitchell and made a stop at the local ranch mercantile store where we had a snack, filled water bottles and enjoyed watching the local ranchers come and go. We met the Miller Family Train and a few others in the town and then began another 12-14 mile climb gaining another 1500 feet or so and crested at Keyes Summit (4369’). From there we had, I kid you not, a 30 mile descent. That’s right boys and girls- 30 freaking miles. It was a thing to behold and we all turned into squealing school girls for over an hour as we rocked down through the canyon, along the John Day River and on through some unbelievable scenery. The area is still primarily high desert, but there are surprising areas of very lush vegetation. They told me in town that the area has Bighorn Sheep, Elk and Mule Deer.



AT 2:30PM we hit our last sag at mile 85. The 8 of us stopped and had lunch at a roadside café and at 3:00PM we saddled up to ride the remaining 32 miles. Now as luck would have it the cycling gods smiled down on us and gave us sunny skies, temps in the mid 80’s and, I saved the best for last, a big, fat, juicy tailwind. Jen, Brett, Russell and I split from the Miller Train and hightailed it into John Day averaging close to 20 MPH in a well organized pace line. We were in high spirits as we realized that we had drawn winning lottery tickets for our ride today- it was most of our longest rides ever (117 miles) and yet it was a fun, relatively easy day.



I’m happy to report that I feel good (legs are a bit achy, but perfectly useable) and I’m enjoying the tour immensely so far. Tomorrow’s ride will be a challenge, 81 miles, three pretty good climbs (totaling nearly 5,000 feet) and a really good chance for a headwind.

By the way, thanks again to Keith and Jack for your entertaining comments. And welcome to Brody and Brian from Habersham Bikes- glad you are helping me along.