Mitchell to John Day, OR

Via Hwy 26. 70.8 miles. We rode a lot farther than we had expected to today, both because we felt good after a day off and the accommodations/food options were very limited between Mitchell and John Day.*

The day began with a steep 7-mile climb out of Mitchell up Keyes Creek Pass. Since we had fresh legs, we ground our way up to the top with relative ease. Despite the fact it was early in the morning and the temperature was still relatively cool, we both shed gallons of sweat by the time we crested the summit however. From there we enjoyed a 25-mile descent into the John Day River canyon and the Picture Gorge.

It was another scorcher today, but for the first time on this part of our trip some clouds rolled in during the afternoon. The cloud cover provided welcome relief from the blazing sun as we rode through the river valley, where cattle and horses grazed in fields flanked by magnificent bluffs.

We saw only one other cyclist today (heading west as we continued east). He waved and went on by so we did not get to hear his story.
We stopped at a C-store just as we hit the John Day city limits for a last break (we were definitely tired). I decided to buy some beer** and they had a 6-pack of Budweiser that was missing one bottle. I knew that we'd never drink an entire 6-pack anyway so I thought I would get myself a deal over the regular $5.79 price for the full 6-pack. But when I took the 5-pack to the counter, the young lady rang up the sale as 5 individual bottles and said I owed $6.75. I pointed out (as patiently as possible, which is tough for me as patience is admittedly not one of my stronger virtues) that since I could buy an entire 6-pack for $5.79, I did not understand why I had to pay more beer for less. She paused a moment to consider that, then magnanimously announced that she would give me the 5 bottles for the same $5.79 price as a 6-pack. When I then asked (the patience meter was nearly on empty at that point) why I should pay the 6-pack price for only 5 beers, she clutched and went into stall mode, gurgling something about perhaps having a full 6-pack in the back of the store. I then knew my quest to get a deal on the 5-pack was going nowhere, so I simply paid the 6-pack price and slunk out of the store.

*We had originally planned to stay in Dayville (31 miles west of here) but the only restaurant in town recently closed. So we were facing another evening eating microwaved C-store pizza and thawing frozen egg sandwiches for breakfast. So we decided to check out the next town (Mount Vernon, 23 miles further east), which had an open cafe and two motels. But Mount Vernon looked really dumpy*** and it was only 8 more miles to John Day, so we plodded on further. Eight miles doesn't sound like much, but as we'd already ridden 52 miles (including another mountain pass) it was a bit of a struggle to finish those last few miles.

**We normally don't drink much beer, but after a long day on the bike nothing tastes better than a cold beer. And there are all those carbohydrates that beer contains. Many cyclists drink beer after a ride on the theory they are simply replacing the carbs burned that day and/or "carbo loading" for the next ride. That's their story and they are sticking to it.

***Mitchell, where we spent our rest day, was dumpy too but in a cool Old West kinda way. Mount Vernon was just a plain dump.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Beware of bear

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Sign on Henry's pen

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Keyes Creek Pass

The haze in the distance is from some nearby forest fires.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Another one bites the dust

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

John Day River canyon pic #1

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

John Day River canyon pic #2

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

John Day River canyon pic #2

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Picture Gorge pic #1

Picture Gorge is so-named because there are ancient pictographs on the rock, not because a lot of tourists take pictures here.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Our friend Devon

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Ochoco Reservoir pic #2

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Ochoco Reservoir pic #1

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Another pass is in the memory bag

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Happy to be headed downhill

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Another cyclist we met today

Note the sandles. We don't get it...maybe it's a generational thing.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Henry the bear

At Mitchell, OR gas stop.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Exit to Mitchell, OR

Off Hwy 26.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Mitchell business district

Not too much has changed over the past 120 years.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

High gas prices keep Mitchell residents at home

Honey, when you go to the auto parts store remember we need a fresh set of cobweb removers.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Prineville to Mitchell, OR

(Ridden on July 24) 49.6 miles via Hwy 26. We had a good day again today. We crossed another pass (Ochoco) but it wasn't nearly as difficult as Santiam. We enjoyed a beautiful descent off the pass until about 5 miles before Mitchell,* where the road turned steeply uphill again. By that time (early afternoon) the temperatures had climbed into the high 80s/low 90s making the last few miles into town very hot ones.

We saw dozens of other cyclists today, virtually all of them headed the other direction to complete the TransAmerica route that they began in Virginia.
The one exception to the westbound flow of riders (other than the guy with the dog, who we're still not sure was for real) is Devon, a young woman who we encountered on our way up Ochoco Pass.** She quit her job in Connecticut as an emergency room nurse to ride the TransAmerica route before she goes to Haiti to work in a clinic there. Devon originally planned to ride with a male cyclist who she hooked up with on the Adventure Cycling website. (People advertise there for traveling companions.) Prior to this trip she had never done any serious cycling and was unable to do much serious training for the trip. Also, they planned to start the trip very late in the season for a cross-country trek. (We began in April, most people start in May or at least by June.) Then, two weeks before she was to fly to the West Coast to begin the trip, her travel companion bailed out on her. You would not blame her for throwing in the towel at that point, but Devon put her head down and set out alone. Because she left from Astoria, in northern Oregon, while we began further south in Florence, she has ridden farther and been on the road longer than us. Devon now concedes that she probably won't make it to Virginia on this trip, but is shooting for Denver where a friend lives. Despite the fact that she already has ridden several hundred miles over very challenging terrain, she
is a obviously nervous about what she has gotten herself into. We tried to convince her that is "over the hump" in having made it this far, and were tremendously impressed by her gumption and determination. We are resting here in Mitchell tomorrow while Devon plans to continue riding. We are nevertheless hopeful that we'll catch up to her down the road, to continue to support her (and keep an eye on her).

*I will blog about Mitchell tomorrow, as it deserves a full blog day coverage by itself.

**We could not believe there was another cyclist slower than us. Devon is slower, but not by much.

Rest day in Mitchell, OR

(July 25th) Sorry for the large backlog of posts and pics - we've had no Internet service for several days.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Mitchell, population 138, is one of those places where the old joke "don't blink or you might miss it" applies. The town was established in the 1890s and, based on old photos from that era, looks pretty much like it did back then. There are a couple of houses, a school, post office, several abandoned buildings, an old-timey cafe, grocery store and 12-room hotel. A few tourists stop here on their way to and from the nearby John Day area fossil beds along with some cyclists (most of whom camp in the city park* just down the street from the hotel).
But it is otherwise very quiet. At the moment I am sitting on the front porch of the hotel. I have been here for about an hour and have seen only a handful of cars and other people going by on the main street in town. It's a good place for a rest day though because there is absolutely nothing to do other than journal and read.

The hotel is very quaint but lacks a few modern conveniences, like air conditioning and showers (bathtubs only). And it is run by a young mother who reluctantly took the job** and clearly doesn't like it. We picked up on this right away: can we put the bike in our room?*** (no); can we put it on the porch, or in a storage shed? (no - leave it outside); can we use the hotel's washer and dryer to do a load of our laundry? (no); can we use the hotel's phone?**** (no, you have to the pay phone down the street). You get the picture.

A couple more touring cyclists rolled into town today, including a guy from Scotland and another guy who rode up from his home in the LA area, intends to ride east (like us) on the TransAmerica route, then head back west to his home. He appeared to be at least sixty and said he has ridden across country previously, as well as the West Coast from British Columbia to southern California several times. We thought we might be a little bit special riding a tandem on a cross-country trip, but the owner of the grocery store here told us of a could in their late 70s to early 80s who - for THREE YEARS now - have come through Mitchell riding a loaded tandem on their way across the country. As much as we'd like to believe these folks are making this stuff up, I
don't think that's the case.

*It is very common for small towns to allow cyclists to camp in the city park, where the amenities can range from some (bathroom, water) to none.

**She is the daughter of the owners. She lost her regular job and came back to Mitchell to live with her parents. They told her she was going to have to support herself and her 3 kids, and could do so by living in and running the motel. You learn a lot of personal stuff pretty quickly in a small town, particularly with someone like her dad around (he seems to spend most of his time sitting on the front porch talking to anyone who will listen). He is also the owner of Henry the bear, who is housed in a cage across the street from the hotel. Henry used to belong to the local Boy Scouts but when they could no longer take care of him dad agreed to take over that responsibility, for which I give him a lot of credit. Henry eats a tremendous amount of food every day and needs constant attention (for example, he recently dropped a log on one of his toes and probably broke it).

***It is common practice on bike trips for cyclists to store their bikes in their rooms. For example, in the course of this trip we've only stayed in one other place (hotel in Ordway, CO run by a woman with a similarly dour disposition) where we were not permitted to put the bike in our room.