The first ten miles or so were a piece of cake. It was all downhill, following Pine Creek on its way to the Snake River. And even the first miles after we left the main highway weren't bad. We were climbing, winding our way up into the fragrant forest of pines and other evergreens, but it was shaded for the most part and still on the cool side. And the pavement was pretty decent, too...
It was eighteen miles of climbing to the first summit, but it kind of went in stairsteps, so one had a bit of a break once in a while. What I found entertaining as I got closer to the top was one gentleman I passed (yes, I do occasionally find someone I can pass) who was looking at the map and told me, "We're almost to the top. Only 2oo more feet of climbing." What he didn't say, or possibly didn't know, was that it would take nearly four miles more of pedaling to climb that 200 feet...
About a half mile below the top of this particular climb I decided it was time for a snack break, having cached a banana in my handlebar bag earlier. Unfortunately for my statistics for the day, I managed to bump a button on my bike computer which put it in "Set" mode, so that when I did finally make it to the top and got to swoop down to lunch, my speed was never recorded. At lunch I finally figured out how to get the silly thing back in normal mode, but that descent was never recorded...
After lunch was the continuation of the downhill that took us to lunch, but after only a mile or two we got the thrill and privilege of starting the second long climb of the day, the climb to Salt Creek Summit. This climb is ten miles of up. No stairsteps, no relief, just up. Needless to say, it took a while to get to the top. The cool part about that climb was the food at the rest stop at the top. Peaches! Really juicy, sweet peaches! And watermelon! And Oreos! Life was definitely good...
Zoom! Downhill again, then a left turn, then Curses! Another climb! But this one was very much short compared to the others, and was soon conquered, then it was mostly downhill into Joseph. In Joseph ET phoned home, because I figured that there would be no cell service at the lake. Cheryl was glad to hear that I survived the day. I did manage to take a picture across the lake of the CO community...
At the lake I found our camp, got my tent set up, and went to find the troops, who were, naturally enough, in the beer garden. Dinner was devoured shortly then it was time for the bike rodeo. There was a big buck wandering around snitching food from unattended plates and investigating the stage while we were waiting for announcements and the bike rodeo. Once again, I pulled a stupid and left my camera in my tent with my backpack, so no pictures of the buck...
The next day I decided to ride the "layover loop" to Enterprise. It was really nice weather, nice pavement, good lunch, and just an all-around good day on a bike. For some reason, I started taking pictures of barns along the way. They were neat looking, so maybe that was the reason. Here's one of them...
The lunch stop at Enterprise was very comfy, green grass to sit on, live music, that sort of thing. A group of enterprising (pun intended) young people who looked to be about nine or ten had a bike wash going, but I was, once again, photographically incompetent and didn't get a picture of them. I did, however, get a picture of the general hubbub...
Wallowa Lake is a beautiful lake so I couldn't help but stop for a photo op on my way back to camp...
When I got back to the lake, Mike, Todd, and Craig flagged me down at the bridge over the inlet stream. "You gotta see this!" There were salmon all over the place, heading upstream to spawn. The little red things in the picture with the arrows pointing at them are fish. Really. Trust me on this one...
That night's dinner was salmon. How appropriate, eh? I for one do not consider salmon to be one of my favorite dishes so I suggested to my campmates that we go to town for steak. A piece of medium rare beef seemed to me like just the thing to end the week on, so we all hopped the shuttle into Joseph to the Stubborn Mule. Let me say that I heartily endorse the Stubborn Mule as a place for dinner...
The next day was the grand finale. We began with what was essentially a downhill free for all, in which I found myself averaging 18 mph. Which proves that it was indeed downhill. Lunch was in Wallowa and even at 10 in the morning, pulled pork makes for good eats. The "lunch" line was long, but the food was worth the wait...
Minam Summit was the only big climb for today. Hearsay has it that Minam Summit is 5 1/2 miles, and I won't argue. By this time it was getting toasty out, so I was glad I had my Camelbak. I just geared down and settled in spinning. One of the interesting points for me was a lady I passed just after her front tire blew. Loudly. Going uphill! I've heard of tires blowing on downhills due to excessive braking, but uphill? Unheard of!
From the top, it's possible to see quite a ways, and I did remember to take a picture from there...
My brother and sister in law, who live just outside Island City, met me at the finish line. So did people with chocolate milk and some really yummy cookies. We met up with Cheryl at long-term parking and found my bag. It was time to head home, with a stop at Susan's for a shower and Subway in La Grande for food...
So another Cycle Oregon has come and gone. This year's ride has been described as "a vacation instead of a death march". It was much easier than last year, which is good, because I was much less prepared than last year. The weather was great, the food was good, the company was fantastic, overall it was a great ride. And once again I want to thank Mike, Todd, Craig, Larry, Colleen, and Jerry for letting me tag along and be part of their group, even though I'm "the fat kid from down the block who wants to play and can't always keep up". You guys are the greatest...
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