Mitchell to Redmond - Adventure Happens!

Ok, I gotta be quick. I'm trying to get this recorded during the beer run!

The ride today was good. It started with 3 mile of down, then 13.5 miles of up, climbing 2,200 feet (or so) over Ochoco Pass in 2 hours.  Then I had 30 miles or so to Prineville, and then another 20 or so to Redmond.  All in all 68 miles, 5:20 on bike, arrived at 4:30pm with an 8:20 leave time.

After the pass it was headwind central, so even the gradual post-pass downhill was work. Today was work. Hot, headwindy work.

Today was also a lesson in trust.

In Prineville a local told me to take a different road then 126.  He said to take the O'Neil Highway, which is not the adventure cycling route.  Fewer cars and prettier he said.  So, I did, and it was WAY BETTER.

In Redmond I wasn't sure where to stay, but I figured I'd do OK even though it's a town of 26k because there are lots of baseball diamonds with baseball dugouts.  I did have more of a plan than this though.

First I went to one of the two bike shops in town and asked if they knew anything. They directed me to a park I could stay in, but warned of 3am sprinklers.  They also said bikers sometimes can stay at the firehouse. 

Anyway, yadda yadda yadda, I checked both out and that involved some off-road riding near some dugouts that wouldn't get sprinkled, yadda yadda yadda, and so then I find myself at the firehouse and no-one is there and I have two flat tires because of Goathead Thorns that picked up in the park.

Friggin Goathead thorns, found in central Oregon when you leave the road, gave me at least two punctures in each of my tires (turns out it was more.)  I had one spare tube and a bunch of patches, so I changed one out and failed to find all the holes in the rear one with my patches.  As I was riding across town to get to a concert in a park I heard about, it went flat again.

Eff.

The bike shop was closed, but I found a guy in lycra eating at an outside shop and asked him if he had a tube.  Another exercise in trust.  He had one that was a bit too skinny, but it still worked.

One thing I learned from reading Tolkien is that travelers get to ask for things that other's would feel guilty asking for.  Travelers get a free pass.  It's a karma thing, if could be you next time.

Eventually I got to the park with the music, where I met Sue who had bike toured across the US on a 1952 tandem some time ago. She was friends with the guy throwing the concert and invited me to stay in her yard.  For the next hour I helped break down the show, and now I'm at the very chill after party. 

So... yea.  One of those many bike touring moments of "how the hell did I get here again?"

Talk about a day of ups and downs. Thanks for the life lessons Redmond.

Both tires flatted with at least two punctures each. Maybe more (they are hard to find). Fuck you goathead thorns! #biketour

Nothing beats a 2 hour, 16.5 mile, 2,200 foot climb first thing in the morning! Plenty of hard headwindy riding left, but McKenzie Pass is the only remaining mountain! Made it to the top of the hill, Never had a doubt in my mind. Now I get to fly down the otherside, Until I find another hill to climb! #biketour

Monument to Mitchell - Exactly where I want to be

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!

Monument to Mitchell Megaphotos!

I guess what I look like at 7am on a cold 55 degree morning after sleeping on a picnic table.

I really do love sleeping on picnic tables. They are my favorite road bed by far!

Morning view. Still Spicy Foggy.




The North Fork of the John Day River (although soon I hit the main fork)

This was a goat in the road. It started following me. I tried to lead it to it's home but it wouldn't go on the ranch and the scary No Tresspassing signs made me decided to just leave.





Slides. Really?  Couldn't have seen for for myself.

One of the many fossil-related hikes in the area.

This was an old sheep ranch right across the street from the fossil place. Worth visiting.

In 2003 and 2014 I got within two miles of this place on my bike tours, but didn't want to detour to it. Now my route goes right past it!


There were lots of murals and fossils and smart shit inside.

RAR!  It's all "Age of Mammal" stuff, but those mammals will still eat your face off.


Mmmm.. Still Spice Foggy.

Less Spice Foggy as I climbed away!


Just a cow. Hanging out in the road.

Where shoes go to die? Sign says "Just a bunch of old souls hanging out."  This is on what would be a fast downhill going the other way. I'll have to see if I noticed it last year and took a photo or not.

Near the top of the pass it flattened out a bit, but a headwind showed up.

Victory! I'm writing a "top of the hill" song for occasions like this. I think it will go something like:

"I made it to the top of the hill,

I never had a doubt in my mind,

Now I get to fly down the other side

Until the next hill I can find!"

It was still a bit spice foggy descending into Mitchell, but soon it got better.

Home

Great bathrooms! I pooped in there!

Mitchell. Last time I was here there was a concert. See the blog around June 19th, 2014, ish.

Ukiah to Monument -photos of beauty in spicy fog

Morning Spicy Fog Sunshine

Alot of these photos are Spicy Fog - Tinted scenery. Beautiful in it's own way, and really much better if you imagine the smoke as fog.

45th Parallel sign

The Town of Dale - no dragons or Lonely Mountain here though. Just a 150 year old building (sort of - at least 100)

Inside was weird.

The Dale Community Center

All of Dale.

The first of two passes. I can't read the sign right not to caption this though. Zoom in. It was a pretty long climb. 

Spicy scenery


The second pass. Not as much of a climb. I also can't read the sign on my tiny captioning phone.

Heading into Long Creek


The bike sign is always nice to see! So welcoming!

Heading out of Long Creek toward Monument. At this point I was losing my voice due to the Spicy Fog.


I also kept losing my breath due to scenery! (cheesy caption!)



Monument

Click on this photo and check out the signs on this thing.

Sign on this house says "Do not open, dead inside!"


My view from the little park I slept in.