Ukiah to Monument - insert smoke joke here

Honestly, I have no idea if I should continue riding. I changed my mind on the subject so many times today. Waffle waffle waffle.

Lets start at the beginning.

My rest day in Ukiah was relaxing if not a little boring.  There is a lot going on there for a town of 1-2 hundred, mainly localized around a bar that serves a lot of motorcycle tourists and wildland fire fighters, and an ice cream shop / store that caters to the same. Their park is somehow also filled with kids all day.  People in that town like to have babies.

I spent a fair amount of time in the bar, especially when the firefighters were in there at night. They weren't drinking, but rather being catered huge meals.  It was quick: come in, scarf food, and out.  Barely time for a beer if they did drink.  They had to get up early and keep fighting the next day.

The nights were cold.  34 the first night and low 40's the second.  I had to tent up and wear everything I had the first night.  Turns out Ukiah, at 3,500 feet, is referred to by the locals as "Oregon's Icebox."
I'm looking forward to sleeping in the 50's tonight.

Of course I took that rest day because I heard the smoke would clear out at noon today. It didn't. But I rode anyway: 66 miles with 5:31 on bike, roughly from 8am to 4ish pm.  And honestly, it was a great ride. I climbed over two smallish passes, had some killer downhills, and great views even with only a few miles of visibility. 

Smoke can't take away the thrill of a screaming downhill, the reward of climbing a pass, or the beauty of a canyon. You can't see shit past a canyon anyway.

However, my throat and eyes burned, and when I stopped riding my voice was hoarse and weak.  I can't sing while on the bike. I'm worried about long-term damage. Cancer, diminished lung capacity, things like that.  I'll quit a bike tour for two things: an emergency back home, and risk of long-term injury.

I should mention here that I knew that there was a chance I'd find smoke in central Oregon when I planned this trip, but I never imagined it'd cover such a wide area and be so unavoidable. I got real unlucky with the way the fires spread and how the wind directed it.

When I arrived in tiny Monument, a town about the size of Ukiah, but with less going on and way better canyon and river scenery, I was planning on quitting.  But, after some research, I decided not to.  The theory is that after I finish this trip my lungs should clear out fine.  Also, the while the Redmond/Bend area is smokey, there is no air warning there. That means I just have 1.5 days of riding left before I'm out of the dangerous air. I can do 100 more miles of this.

Or not, we'll see. Waffle waffle waffle.  Every part of me wants to continue. I feel good (well, my eyes burn right now) and I want to ride.  I was a bit nauseated earlier, but I don't know if that was because of the smoke or something else. I'm in danger of turning into a hypochondriac right now, looking for ways the smoke could be hurting me.

Tomorrow I ride 30 easy miles to the John Day Fossil Beds, and then 30 miles over a pass into Mitchell.  I'll still have a chance to bail at the fossil beds if I really think I should stop.

Tonight I sleep in a no-camping park area where the locals said I should camp.  Seems like a better plan than the city park by the school that I think will have kids tomorrow.  Less chance of being hit by sprinklers too.

Oh, and I passed through a town called Dale today. No dragons though.  Just a tiny store.