Pedal On and On...: 6/19/11

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Day 6 - Can It Get Any Better?

John Day, OR to Baker City, OR

Distance: 81 miles
Time: about 9 hrs
Elevation Gain: 5,046 ft

We didn't have Internet at the hotel last night so I update Day 5 tonight. See day 5 under the archives.

Today was yet another great day for a bike ride. The weather was clear and cold to start and stayed cool and sunny all day. We had three Mt. passes to climb today with summits at 5277 ft, 5134 ft, and about 5250 ft. The first climb was 22 miles long, a gradual climb to start, then steep for the last 3 or so miles. The 2nd climb was steep from the start of the climb to the summit, and the third was like a stair step climb, steep, flat, steep, flat until the last 2 or 3 miles which was all steep. The descent from the first climb was very cold and my right knee froze up, it was painful to pedal for the first 5 to 10 min after the descent, but was OK after it warmed back up. The other two descents were fast, but it didn't get all that cold. The scenery was spectacular all day long, lush pine forest, snow covered mountains, fast running rivers and streams, green farm land, canyons, lakes, and so much more. Tomorrow will be an easier day, it will be an 83 mile ride to Ontario, OR that will be mostly down-hill!

Link to my GPS Rout

Front Camera View - Leaving the town of John Day

Front Camera View

Gary and Jan

Front Camera View - Dan and Dale

Rear Camera View

Rear Camera View - Climbing the 1st Mt. Pass

Rear Camera View

Front Camera View

Rear Camera View - Chuck (AKA the Headless Bike Rider)

Rear Camera View - Julie

Front Camera View

Pedal On!!

Day 5 - A Glorious Day for a Ride!!

Prineville, OR to John Day, OR

Distance: 117 miles

Time: 10 hrs

Elevation Gain: 5,338 ft

Today was another perfect day for a ride. We had an early start do to the amount of mileage and amount of climbing. I was up at 4:15 am, breakfast at 5 am, luggage loaded at 5:45, and on the road at 6 am. The temperature was about 40 degrees at 6 am; most of us dressed warm and took layers off as the day warmed up. The rout to the next hotel was easy; turn left out of the hotel, ride 116 miles, turn left into the next hotel. We started with a 30-mile climb back up into a lush pine forest and green meadows with fast running streams and brooks. The climb was long, but it gradually brought us up in elevation traveling over rolling hills and on Rt. 26 E. We reached the summit, Ochoco Pass, at 4,70 ft. The descent was fast and long, about 12 miles. The views on the ride down were stunning!! Lush green forest, streams, open vistas, and rock formations, just to name a few. We lost about 2,250 ft on the descent and the next climb was the big climb of the day. Back up to 4369 ft, but the climb back up was steep; about 6 miles with last 3 o 4 miles at a constant 7% grade. Views on the way up were also amazing, and the descent down the other side was again long, but more like a rolling descent, up and down small hill, that brought us back down to 2,250 ft. We road through Picture Gorge with the John Day River flowing along side the road, there was something new to se around every corner, if I stopped to take a picture of everything I wanted to, it would take me a year to ride down. The land opened to open fields as we left Picture Gorge with many small farms. The finale leg was another 30-mile climb, but a gradual climb with a good tail wind to push us along. I reached our destination of the town of John Day at about 4:15 pm, 10 hours in the saddle!!

Link to My GPS Rout

Front Camera View - Early Morning

Rear Camera View - Leslie Waving Hi

Rear Camera View

Front Camera View

Rear Camera View

Rear Camera View - Jeff

Rear Camera View

Front Camera View

Rear Camera View

I was dead tired at the end of the day

Pedal On!!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Day 4 - It Just Gets Better!!

Kah-nee-ta, Or to Prineville, OR

Distance: 60 miles
Time: 4 hr 50 min
Elevation Gain: 3,478 ft

Another great day for a bike ride!! With the short mileage, we had a late luggage load and I didn't get on the road until about 8 am. The weather was perfect, cool morning temperature with mostly blue sky, it warmed up nicely to the low to mid 70s as the day went on. We had a good tail wind most of the day, but we also had a strong head wind on some of the early climbs. We started with a steep descent from the hotel followed by a short but steep climb. We road through high desert with rolling hills and wide open views. The scenery was stunning with something different around each turn of the road. We had another steep climb at about mile 18 that gave way to amazing views of Mt. Jefferson and the Three Sisters and later were views of Mt Washington, Three Finger Jack, and Mt Bachelor. We had several more climbs to are SAG stop at mile 30 in the town of Madras. The 2nd 30 miles was a long gradual climb and one long 15 mile descent to our finale destination for the night in the town Prineville. Tomorrow we have a big day, 116 miles with two mountain passes. We have breakfast at 5 am, luggage load at 5:45 and on the road by 6 am.

My GPS Rout

For the photos below: FC means forward view camera and RC means rear view camera