Day 75: 38 Miles

Dayville, OR to Mitchell, OR

I woke up to the smell of pancakes this morning. Joe was up first and had started to make breakfast with the pancake mix provided by the church. I had a couple of pancakes and a PB&J sandwich and then got my stuff together. I was on the road just before 7:30 for a short 38 mile ride to Mitchell, OR.

Today was one of those days that was mostly uphill, but it was so gradual that it wasn’t a hard ride. I started in Dayville around 2,300 feet and climbed up to 4,300 feet before the descent into Mitchell. It was a pretty uneventful ride, with the same scenery we’ve had for the last 2 days. The ride started by entering into another canyon. We then slowly climbed our way up to Keyes Creek Pass. The descent into Mitchell was nice and required no real pedaling for the 6 miles to the Spoke’n Hostel where we are staying tonight.

The Spoke’n Hostel is amazing and there was a great group of cyclists here tonight. I’ve been riding with Stephen and Joe. We were joined by Jordan and Lincoln who I met in Baker City, Daniel who is from Germany, and Ginger who I met in Mt. Vernon. The hostel has bunk beds, free WiFi, showers, a full kitchen stocked with food, and many other perks. 

After everyone took the afternoon to relax we decided to do a family style dinner made of some food items provided by the hostel and some from what everyone has been carrying in their bags. It turned out to be a great meal of pasta with meat sauce made with some fresh vegetables. Ginger surprised us by bringing back a few pies and cobbler from the the local cafe for dessert. The food shared between the 7 of us along with a few beers made for a great meal.

After dinner, one of the owners of the hostel took us in a shuttle to see the Painted Hills. We got there just in time to watch the sun go down over the hills. It was a really nice way to spend the night.

Tomorrow there is another big climb in the morning. I’m not sure exactly where I’ll be stopping, but I’m hoping to get as close to Bend, OR as possible. I plan to take somewhat of a rest day in Bend and then I should make it to Eugene, OR a couple days after that.