Rode from John Day to Mitchell Oregon today- 74 miles and 2500 feet of ascent. A BEAUTIFUL day- sunny, starting off in the 50s and climbing to the low 80s. No humidity but some headwinds off and on during the uphill stretch. It was a long downhill for the first 37 miles all the way to the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. I visited the visitors center there. Very interesting exhibits on the geological formations in central Oregon with a lot of fossils from the Cenozoic Era (60 to 10 million years ago) when mammals were starting to flourish. Dinosaurs are long gone by the time these formations were created. A beautiful ride through the canyon followed by a long 20 mile uphill slog to a sparsely inhabited plateau with the occasional cattle ranch, followed by a steep descent of 7 miles into Mitchell. No incidents today! No crazy drivers, no flats. Everyone was at our destination by 3 PM. We are staying at a bike Hostel, called the Spok’n hostel. Great place with bunk beds, a full kitchen, a comfortable lounge area inside and an outside patio with a stream nearby. WiFi and charging stations at each bunk. It was really designed with bikers in mind.
Below are the RidewithGPS stats:
Biking across the USA with Mike 
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