Day 73: 88 Miles

Baker City, OR to Mt. Vernon, OR

I got a good night of sleep at the hostel last night and was up early to start what I knew might be a long day. I got out on the road around 6:45 and had 25 miles of slight uphill before I hit today’s 3 big climbs. We had originally planned to stop after climb number 2, but we got through those 50 miles quickly and it didn’t make sense to sit around a campsite all day.

The 3 climbs weren’t too hard or long and the downhill after each was a nice break. Had I biked all the elevation up at once, it would have been a tough day. Breaking the climbing into 3 distinct hills made it much more manageable.

The first stopping point of the day was after the downhill of the second climb. At this point I was 50 miles into the day and very hungry. Stephen and I stopped at a cafe where I got a chicken tender sandwich and some ice cream. We originally thought we would be dead after the 2 climbs and 50 miles, but after lunch we decided to keep going.

The third climb was the easiest of the three and after that it was mostly downhill the rest of the day. It was nice to ride through some forest land for the morning, but once we got over the third climb it was right back into the desert. Coming down the third hill I could tell the temperature was getting very hot and there was a strong headwind.

We reached Prairie City about 10 miles into our descent from the third climb and grabbed a few drinks to cool off. There was camping available, but we knew if we could last 21 more miles on the bike there was a free hostel waiting for us in Mt. Vernon. That meant getting back on our bikes in 92 degree heat and riding into a headwind the rest of the day. Our 50 mile day turned into 88 miles. In total it was almost 7.5 hours of pedaling today. My body has gotten so used to that amount of time on the bike, that I wasn’t even that tired by the end.

I arrived at the hostel around 4:15 and found Stephen along with a few other cyclists. We grabbed some food and beers and relaxed and then discussed our plans for tomorrow. I think Stephen and I are going to do a very short day of about 20 miles to a free hostel at a church in the town of Dayville. Joe started the day ahead of us, but stopped in Prairie City, so he will hopefully take a longer day and meet us in Dayville. I’m looking forward to sleeping in and having a quick ride tomorrow. Hopefully it doesn’t turn into a long ride after feeling like the 20 miles wasn’t enough riding for the day.