Holy blowhearted cow babies, today was awesome! Just just a little awesome either, but hella crazy awesome. As in it might have been one of the 10 best rides I'ver ever done, ever. The weather combined with the route put me into cycling bliss all day.
This route is crazy good. 85 miles, 7 hours on bike, and about 7,000 feet of climbing (and descending!) all through beautiful canyons. No passes! The pavement was awesome, the views included tons of windmills, wide open vistas, breathtaking canyons, and views Mt. Hood and Jefferson (and Ranier, St Helens, and Adams if it hadn't been smokey in that direction.) There was sooo much open space!
I had several long sustained 40+ mph descends. Several. That's a big number for 5 miles at 40mph.
There was also a 25 mph tailwind that I think is common judging by the windmills. That wind got a little confused in the canyons, but it was great. The route hit one town, Condon, almost exactly halfway. I had to carry 45 miles of water each time, but with the cool temps and a tailwind that was easy. Condon was a pretty cool town where I got ice cream and a bacon cheeseburger. Winning!
I almost stopped there, as that was my planned pacing, but stopping at 40 miles by 12:30 am seemed stupid. I asked the locals about the terrain going forward, and they said it was even more hilly and canyony then Wasco to Condon. Of course I had to keep going! It's a sin to waste a tailwind! (Mark and Sarah, if you are reading this, this would have been the tailwind I missed if I'd taken a rest day in Portland.)
To give you an idea of the terrain and tailwind, I did the first 10 miles out of Condon in 28 minutes. The next 10 miles took over an hour. I loved both. Yay canyons!
I got to Heppner about 6pm and looked around for a place to stay for a while. It's a neat little valley town with a rodeo and county fair going on right now. That means I can't stay at the fairgrounds. Luckily there is a little kitchy in-town RV park ran by a really fun family that is currently blasting calypso music, and they are letting me stay in the tent area for free (edit, not free, $10, I got bad info. Still, not bad). A couple other baggers just showed up too and they will ride to Ukiah tomorrow.
Speaking of, if I stop in Ukiah tomorrow, 40 miles, along the Blue Mountains Scenic Bikeway, I will be a day ahead of schedule. I want to ride father, but I suppose taking a half-rest day would be good. Being ahead of schedule will allow me to take a longer route than originally planned (version 2 posted below) all the way to Austin Junction! Go me!
Also, there is rumor that Ukiah got blocked by a forest fire today, so I'll have some internetting to do tonight when I get wifi to check. I may need to start altering my route, but I knew that this was likely in this area. The adventure continues!
ILYI
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