I'm sitting outside a cafe in the dark, where an hour earlier I watched a blue sky fade while sipping beers and chatting with Jeff and Pam, two motorcycle tourists riding around the northwest. They do in a day what takes me most of a week! They were in Missoula two days ago!
Now it's 8:30 and it's dark, which is a big difference from every other time I've biked through here (in June.) This entire tour I've had an hour or two less of sunlight then when I normally ride Oregon around the solstice. The nights are chillier as well. It took some getting used to.
When I hiked the PCT at the very beginning of summer it was solstice time. It's crazy to think that the PCT hike started my summer vacation, and that this tour ends it. My summer has been so long that the sun sets 1-2 hours sooner then when it started.
Oh, did you see I typed "bue sky?" The smoke (from here on out to be referred to as "Spicy Fog") has mostly left my area. Or, more accurately, I left it's area when I climbed for 25 miles and went over Key's Pass. Notably, Key's Pass is about the same elevation as the entire town of Ukiah (I think 3,500 or so), which explains why it was so cold there. It also means that the Spicy Fog, which covered Ukiah, could easily make it over Key's Pass if it wanted to.
I'm sure I'll still have to deal with the Spicy Fog some, but for now I've decided to pay it no-more mind.
I love Mitchell. I've always had a good time here when biking through. In 2003 with RoadShow USA we met some friends, and of course last summer I met the Mitchell Crew (Rob, Tim, Bob and Jim) and paced with them almost all the way to Baker City, and then left them chalk messages on the road all the way to Missoula. The town itself is also crazy welcoming, and sleeping in their park is easy-breezy.
I also love riding eastern Oregon. I think it's some of the best riding in the country, and I'm somewhat qualified to say that. Today was 64 miles with 4:54 on bike, and I rode from about 8:30 to 4:30. I've been getting out later due to the cold mornings making it hard to get out of my sleeping bag. The ride was split between a 30 mile relatively flat scenic ride with almost no cars, and 25 mile scenic climb with almost no cars. The end ended with a screaming 6-ish mile downhill. The scenery was shitloads of canyons and fossil thingies as part of the John Day Formation.
The entire time I've been out here, since I left the gorge, it's been almost no cars, great roads, great scenery, and great people. Last night my sleeping area was circled by howling coyotes that pissed off all the dogs in the town a quarter mile away from where I was sleeping outside of town in an isolated park by a river. Creepy and kind of scary? Yes! Awesome? Yes! Probably dangerous? Mmmm... no?
Another highlight of the day was the John Day Fossil Bed Visitor Center (AKA the Condon Visitor Center) about halfway through my day. It had way more to do than I could do in the two hours I spent there, so y'all should check it out. I took lots of photos, but only uploaded a few.
First thing tomorrow I climb straight up Ochoco Pass for 5-10 miles, and then cruise into Redmond about 60 miles away. I've ridden these roads, but not in this direction. It's different. I expect headwinds.
This is bliss. This exactly where I want to be and exactly what I want to be doing. I'm seeing so much and meeting interesting people. I'm experiencing and witnessing many different ways of life that are very different from my own. Also, I get eat shitloads of food. It's hard to get in the swing of things on such a short tour, but I'm getting there.
However, I am counting down the days (3) until I get home to Iris and my friends. See you soon!
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