Fourth Shift: 3 Days In Oregon

We have finally made it to some remnant of civilization, if civilization is defined by cell phone service, McDonald’s and Internet access. So that explains the lack of updates for the past few days. So I will recount the past few days and events.

The last you heard of us we were staying the night after a long cold day in Mt Vernon OR. While we were planning to ride the next day, we were so comfortable where we were staying at in the Bike Inn, that we convinced ourselves to take a much wanted but not needed rest day. It was good to wake up knowing that the day ahead would consist of being lazy and grazing on food. We had made 6 grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for the road before we decided to take a rest day. We popped in a an old VHS movie, Gladiator, and sat eating our sandwiches. Because the Bike Inn runs off donations, the owner asked us to mow her lawn. Within an hour we had fulfilled our donation and the property had a freshly mowed law. Afternoon snack consisted of a pint of ice cream each and another movie. We had supper at the local café, burger and fries and milkshakes. At the end of the day, we were horrified at how much food we ate.

Waking up the next morning I could not have kicked myself harder for deciding to take a rest day the day prior. It was cold and rainy with a mild headwind, far from the warm sunny day we decided to rest on. Regardless, we pressed on toward the small town of Mitchell. We had heard there was free camping. We met up with a brother and sister from Cincinnati doing the cross American trail. We chatted for a long time with them exchanging blog information. Soon we were passing cyclists every 5 or 10 minutes. We stopped at a gas station to pick up some lunch and water. The parking lot greated us with over 30 other bikers. They were part of supported cross country tour, mainly consisting of older retirement aged people. We got to chatting with one couple, surprisingly the man routinely cycled past rosedale, a small world it is. We ended up climbing for most of the day, weaving through red rock canyons and their winding creeks. The descent into Mitchel was long and steep, a good reward for a day of climbing. Mitchel is more like a little village than a town. Because it lies on the trans am trail, they have allowed free camping in the city park. Pulling in the town was surprisingly busy. Music was blaring from local cafe, which was de facto the local bar, and men and women in leather and chaps were milling around the center of town. Apparently, an annual party of motorcyclists was in town, equipped with large amounts of alcohol as well as food. It was soon apparent that it would be hard getting to sleep.

The alcohol fueled environment did however, make these intimating strangers quite friendly. Our neighbors in the park invited us to their camp site, shoved bratwursts and beer into our hands and hounded us with many questions about the ride and more than enough advice about upcoming sites and routes. Also camping in the park was an Italian man exploring the US. Our drunk neighbor war more than excited to find out he was from Italy. Maximilian, an Italian mortician, wore a cowboy hat and spoke with the most stereotypical accent I have ever heard. I’m sure if you would have cut off his hands, he would have had a speech impediment. It was nice being able to socialize with people than ourselves. We went to bed full of food and ready to sleep.

We left Mitchell knowing that we had a long day of climbing. The sun was out in full force, which while better than rain and cold, it made climbing slightly uncomfortable. A few water bottles later, we finally crested the top. We were disappointed that our reward was not a steep fall like what we just climbed, but rather a long and gradual descent. We chased a small creek all the way to the town of Prineville, just north of Bend. We stopped at McDonalds for some cheap calories and free A/C. here I saw a warm showers host was in town of Sisters, around 40 miles away. Steve and Karen said they would start biking toward us and then bike with us to their house. The last forty miles went well enough, the first half I had noticed that Sauders rear wheel had a bad wobble to it. Upon closer inception, we found a broken spoke. While it is a simple issue, correcting it is quite complex. We were lucky that the next town, Redmond, had a bike shop. We spend 20 minutes fixing the tire and went on the road toward our hosts. We met our hosts by the road and now as a group, headed to sisters. The road to Sisters was amazing. All along the horizon the peaks of the Cascades rose up, reminding us that we have to climb them tomorrow.

So that has been a condensed version of the last few days. We have 160 miles left in this trip so that is exciting. Here are some pictures!