Author: acrosvezda

Alsea to Florence today. FINAL DAY! Nice cool ride from Alsea to Waldsport where we all met up for coffee at Rays before proceeding down the coast to Beachside State Rec area for the ceremonial wheel dipping in the Pacific. We wanted to go together as a group. We finally saw the great Pacific as we turned left on Rt101. What a sight! I can just imagine when Lewis and Clark saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time as they approached the mouth of the Columbia river at Astoria! But their trip was a lot longer than ours! And a lot tougher. But nevertheless, it gave me considerable pleasure to see this grand ocean after 2 1/2 months on the road. What a trip this has been! I was worried these past couple of days that something might happen to screw it up- a flat, an accident. But the bicycle God was kind to me. Other than 3 flats I have not suffered any misfortune. No accidents, no illness, no muscle problems. I actually feel great right now- bicycling every day gets one in good shape!! After the wheel dip, we had a glorious ride along the coast south to Florence. Kind of like the Champs D’Elysee ride on the last day of the Tour de France. Taking it easy, enjoying the beautiful coastal scenery. The 101 is not the best road to bike on- it is twisty with narrow shoulders in many places and a lot of traffic. You really have to keep your eye on the road. Plus there is ALOT of up and down- a lot of ascent footage today. But we all got into camp at the Heceta Beach Resort noonish. It is cool and windy here- in the 60s, so it will be a cold night tonight as we sleep in our tents for the LAST TIME! Looking forward to not having to pack up tent and sleeping bag for awhile, after tomorrow! We are going out for a celebratory dinner tonight, in Florence. Then off to Eugene in the van to drop our bikes off at the bike shop there, to be shipped home. My wife and son are meeting me there at noon and driving me back up to Portland to spend a few days with my son’s family. Looking forward to getting some normalcy back in my life.

Below are the RidewithGPS stats:

Here is the link to todays video

Coburg to Alsea today.  A short 55 miles but we had a steep 800 ft climb in the mix after 30 miles, with a lot of 10% steep grade, but no issues.  It was early in the day and the road was wonderfully shaded with big trees so not a bad climb.  On the way down we entered this wonderland forest of huge trees and lush landscape.  Looked like a rainforest.  The West side of the coastal range gets all the water!  And no sign of any previous forest fires. It was incredibly pretty.  Directions on the GPS around Alsea got screwed up.  Timmie, who was ahead, followed the GPS directions up a gravel logging road to a dead end and had to come back down.  Fortunately I was a bit behind and I passed our support van where Dan told me of the screwup and gave me the good directions to camp.  Got in around noon.  It is warm, in the 80s but dry so not uncomfortable at all in the shade.  A nice quiet campsite at Salmonberry Park.   Timmie got in another accident today as we were going out.  Some guy making a left turn didn’t see him and he had to swerve to miss the car, hit the curb and fell over.  A little more bleeding- I think Timmie has lost the most blood of anybody on this trip.  But he cleaned himself up back at our Coburg campsite and carried on famously.  That and the misdirection up the logging road made for an unfortunate day for Timmie- but only one more day to go. What could go wrong now????

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A non eventful ride from McKenzie Bridge to Coburg Oregon. Hot today! This morning we woke up to the low 50s, much warmer than it has been. Bright sunny sky and it quickly climbed into the 80s with the forecast for 90 some degrees this afternoon. Summer has finally come!!! Complaints about cold mornings are no more. I tell you, I am glad we started this trip end of April instead of middle of May as in past trips. Rather deal with cold mornings than really hot riding days. Ah, soon we will be over the coastal range to the Pacific side and it will be cool once again. Our ride followed the McKenzie River for a long ways. Much of the McKenzie River valley was burnt to a crisp- the entire mountains on both sides were just covered with charred tree trunks. Looking up on the internet apparently there was the Holiday Farm fire in 2020 which destroyed over 170,000 acres in this valley. I didn’t see many little trees poking through- it looks like it will be awhile before the valley recovers. A shame because otherwise it would be a beautiful area. There are a lot of cottages built alongside the river and it would be a beautiful place to hang out on the weekend, were it not for all the charred tree trunks staring you in the face when you open the curtains of your floor to ceiling windows in the morning. Much of the road had no shoulder or little shoulder and it was a fast two lane road so it was not so comfortable riding, but fortunately it was on the average slightly downhill and with no wind we made it into Coburg before noon, before the heat really set in.

Two days to go!!! We are all excited to see the Pacific Ocean and dip our front wheels in day after tomorrow! All except Chet- he left us today. He is Mel’s brother, the guy who ACA booted from the trip several days ago. He has not been happy with the leaders and after one last altercation with Dan, he was fed up and made the decision to end his ride and be driven to Eugene to leave his and Mel’s bikes at the bike shop and catch an early plane home. A real shame- he and Mel were much fun to ride with and will be missed at the Ocean on the final day. ACA made a real mess of this and spoiled the experience for many of us. But I will try not to let this impact my own personal experience. In spite of the ACA leadership issues, it has been an incredible trip for me. Wasn’t sure I could really do it but fortune has been with me (knock on wood three times…..).

Here is today’s video

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Sisters to McKenzie Bridge today.  Not too long but a good climb up to McKenzie Pass then a fun twisty downhill run through the western side of the cascades to McKenzie Bridge campground.  Another early start- folks wanted to beat the heat and the wind.  As it was, we started off it was in the low 50s and during the climb to McKenzie Pass it didn’t reach the low 70s. Beautiful blue sky, no wind and perfect temps made for an easy 2100 foot climb to the pass.   The beautiful pine forest turned into burnt out tree stumps as we climbed higher.  Work of previous forest fires and probably more pine beetle blight, but the forest was decimated as we climbed to the top of the pass.  Near the top the terrain turned volcanic- a lot of black basalt block jumbles interspersed with small pine trees that were trying to grow.  Really cool.  As we climbed we got better and better views of the 3 Sisters volcanos on the left (South) and other snow covered mountains to the right.   At the top of the pass there was a lookout station made of basalt rocks where we got incredible views of all the volcanic mountains in the area, with huge fields of these basalt rock piles all around and pine trees sticking up here and there.  The downhill run was LONG and TWISTY!   Through really a really dense pine forest- no evidence of fire or beetle damage on the West side of the mountains.   They were having a bicycle race going up to the pass as we were screaming down.  A lot of riders, I would say at least 100, in various stages of the climb. They were going fast up that hill- pretty impressive.   It was basically downhill all the way to McKenzie Bridge- a VERY small town with a small store and a pub.  We passed it on the way to our primitive campsite.  In a beautiful pine forest- sooooo quiet!   We all got into camp by noon as it was as a short ride and we started out at 7 AM.  We went in the afternoon to the Belknap Hot Springs, 6 miles down the road for a really great soak in their hot springs pool and a nice shower.   Completely relaxed now as I write this blog with a nice cold beer in my hand.   No pains at all- I feel I could ride my bike every day like this for the rest of my life!  Ha.  I will fast get out of shape when I get back home, I’ll have to be careful what I eat when I stop exercising so much- turn into a fat toad!  

Here is today’s video

Below are the RidewithGPS stats:

Prineville to Sisters Oregon today.  A short ride of 52 miles with only 1400 ft of elevation gain.  We started early as folks were worried about winds picking up as well as high temperatures.  Turns out winds weren’t a factor and the temps were great, starting off in the 50s and climbing to low 70s at the end of the ride.  Timmie and I were in camp at Sisters before noon!!   We got our first good look at the Cascades which we are crossing tomorrow.  The Three Sisters volcanos stand out but all of the Cascade mountains have quite a good covering of snow at this point in time.   We are camping in a beautiful public campground 5 miles from the town.  A beautiful pine forest with a soft bed of pine needles throughout the forest, making for a nice comfortable tent this evening.  And quiet!!   No sound of any rodeo here, or trains, or anything.  We are going into town this afternoon to spend the rest of the day there.  Looks like an interesting place, we rode through it on the way to camp.  They are having an arts festival this weekend so it will be interesting to visit the galleries, take in some music, enjoy the microbreweries and have a good dinner out!!  

Here is today’s video

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Mitchell to Prineville Oregon today- 48 miles and 240 ft of elevation gain. We started early in order to avoid high winds and temperatures for the climb to Ochoco Pass. It turned out to be a nonevent. While it was a long climb over 10 miles with 2000 ft of gain, the grade was not too bad averaging around 3% with nothing higher than 7 so I was able to do it without a break, reaching the Pass around 9 AM. From there it was mostly a coast downhill to Prineville. Than and I got there around 11 AM and we grabbed an early lunch at a BBQ joint in town before heading to our campsite at the Fairgrounds. There were a lot of people in town as there was a rodeo going on Friday through Sunday. the campsite was packed with RVs, presumably a lot of folks there for the rodeo. Chet and I prepared dinner in the evening after shopping for groceries at a local supermarket. Hamburgers and potato salad. We were able to use a covered pavilion that had a grill so we could cook the hamburgers there and eat there as well. Worked out really well! I went to the rodeo which was just a short 4 minute walk from our campsite. No one else wanted to pay the $30 to get in! It was a lot bigger than the rodeo we went to in Wyoming a ways back. I would imagine there were 5000 or so packed in the stands and they had a lot of food and beverage services scattered around, as well as a live music venue. Even a mechanical bull!!! Which I did not ride…. It’s fun looking at the people who go to these things- a lot of cowboy hats and boots (of course). A lot of tattoos, even the women, and nose piercings. They didn’t have as much bull riding as the last rodeo I saw. A lot of bronco bareback riding where it is a lot easier to stay on. I like the barrel racing, where women race around 3 barrels. It is amazing how they can make the horses turn around a very tight circle around a barrel, then accelerate real quickly to the next barrel. There was the calf roping, which seems to me rather inhuman, but isn’t the whole rodeo thing a bit inhuman?? With the calf roping however, they send the calf out into the arena at breakneck speed- not sure what they do to it to make it run so fast, then the cowboy comes speeding out on his horse, twirling his lasso then throwing it around the neck of the calf. He stops his horse immediately and the rope pulls taught around the calf’s neck and stops the calf’s forward momentum in a split second, jerking it off its feet to the ground. Do that to a human and you’d break his neck, don’t know how they live through it. But they do. After they are all tied up by the cowboy, they lay still on the ground for 5 seconds, some other cowboys come and untie the calf and he gets up, shakes himself off and trots off to the other end of the arena, chased by two cowgirls on horses leading him to the gate. Ahhhh- wonder what it would be like to be a cow! Or a horse for that matter. Wonder if horses are OK having a saddle and bridle and being ridden on all day long? Not that they have any choice in the matter. They sure seem to like to run, but I imagine they would prefer running without some human strapped to their backs. Anyhoo, the crowd sure seems to like all of this. I left before it ended and went to bed with the distant din of the announcer and the crowds lulling me to sleep. It was a good day!

Below is the RidewithGPS stats:

Here is today’s video

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.

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Riding from Baker City to John Day, Oregon. It was a LONG day with 3 big hill climbs, 82 miles and a total of 4100 ft of ascent.  We started early, temperatures were in the 50s and climbed into the 80s during the day. It was mostly sunny and wind wasn’t a big factor. We climbed into the hill country West of Baker City- forested hills interspersed with green grasslands- very pretty area.  Not much in the way of towns- it is a pretty isolated area.  The highest elevation was at the last hill- Dixie Summit at 4,600 ft.   We had a bit of a scare to start off.  Some crazy driver drove past Than, Timmie and I in our direction, and very close to us, shouting obscenities.  A couple minutes later she came barreling back TOWARDS us and swerved over into our lane aiming to push us off the road.  Than and Timmie were in front and crashed onto the side of the shoulder- I was far enough back that I could brake before I hit them.  The driver went roaring off and we didn’t see her again. It was some old lady with long gray hair.  Than was OK. Timmie got his hand and knee banged up pretty bad.  Their bikes were OK.   After assessing the damage, Timmie decided to ride on and we all finished the ride.   We filed a report with the Baker City sheriff, but not much to go on as we didn’t catch the license plate number  and we could just give a  vague description of the driver- an old lady with long gray hair.  No other incidents today- no flats- everyone is safe and sound in camp at John Day now! This was one of the longest days with one of the largest amounts of elevation gain.  After over 2 months we all came through with flying colors.  I would say all of us 8 riders remaining are now in pretty good shape!!

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Here is the video for the day

Our last day off! A beautiful sunny day in Baker City- got up VERY late after a great nights sleep, 7 AM! We all went to the Inland Cafe in town for a real breakfast at 8, then drove to the Oregon Trail Interpretive Museum 5 miles outside of town. A really good museum all about the Oregon Trail- the various routes used, the people who ventured out West and the wagons they used. The main trail goes right through Baker City and from the Museum you can see the wagon wheel ruts heading towards Baker City from the East. We actually walked the trail for a bit at the entry to the museum. It is very desolate out here- mountainous desert as far as the eye can see with the snow covered Blue Mountains to the west that they eventually had to cross to get to the Coast. Something to think about making this 6 month journey from the Mississippi all the way out here, by wagon. And they didn’t ride in the wagon, they WALKED alongside. It seems luxurious to be traveling along much the same path on a bicycle cruising at 14 mph on smooth paved roads!! We actually have crossed the Oregon Trail several times on our way out West, so you really get the feel for what they experienced as far as change in topography and landscape as they went. And where we have been biking there is still a lot of wide open space so you get even more of a feel for what they saw as they were traveling West. Minus the millions of buffalo that are no more………

It was warm today, getting into the 80s, and forecast is even warmer in the coming days. We have been very fortunate with the weather to date but it looks like I will be stowing my cold weather gear for the rest of the trip! We walked around town today, got some lunch then walked back to the campsite. Baker City was once an important hub for commerce and a major stop on the Oregon trail, but now it is a relatively non-descript town of 10,000 in the middle of nowhere.

After our walk in town I went to the pool, did some minor work on the bike (seating the rear tire on the rim and lubing the chain). We’ll go out tonight for pizza most likely and get to bed early. Tomorrow is a long day, 80 miles, with three big climbs so we want to get an early start. Mel got booted from the ride today and is headed back home. So we are down to 8 riders! He apparently had some altercations with the leaders and they determined he had to go. Very unfortunate and unfair in my opinion. Mel is a guy who is not afraid to speak his mind, but that is no reason to kick him off, particularly with NO warning and just 8 days from the finish.

Going from Halfway to Baker City Oregon. We get a day off tomorrow! Our last day off for the trip. Following that we will have 8 straight days of riding, some pretty hard days coming up! We are permanently on Pacific time now.

Below are the RidewithGPS stats for today’s ride:

Here is today’s video

It was a good ride today. An initial 1000 ft climb out of Halfway then some other fairly sizable climbs along the way, but grade was not too bad- around 4% average. A total of 3200 feet of ascent for the day. Weather was beautiful- NO RAIN. Not many clouds, in the 70s after a cold morning start. The terrain is mountainous desert. We followed the Powder River valley for quite a ways. Along the river is green but only for a couple hundred feet and then all turns into barren scrubland. There are a few cattle ranches scattered along the valley and they must use the river water to irrigate the fields to give the cattle something to eat.

Stopped halfway, about 27 miles at a rest stop for lunch. Not really any towns along our route. There are 4 million people who live in Oregon, but none of them live out here in the East!! I tell you, I am glad we are riding through here in June and not in August, it supposedly gets bloody hot in this area. As it is, temps stayed in the low 70s and it was a very enjoyable ride.