Day 5: Prineville to John Day, Oregon
June 25, 2004
Miles: 117
Weather: Cool to start, warm in the middle and hot for the last
30 miles; the cooling clouds from thunderstorm activity to the east
didn't materialize.
Our tour leader calls this our "toughest day on paper." I'll
reserve
judgment til later but this is certainly in the top 5. It is 117
miles and over 5,000 feet of climbing. Other candidates are the
Teton Pass climb into Jackson, WY and a couple of days in New
England. The day into Rapid City used to be tougher, but they've
changed the route to pass by the Crazy Horse Monument in addition to
Mr. Rushmore and both the distance and climbing decreased.
No matter its rank, today was a long day. We left before 7 am and
I didn't get to the
motel until a little after 5. Two
long climbs, lots of great scenery and plenty of salty snacks and water
kept me electrolyzed and hydrated. Long snack and lunch breaks
contributed to the length. The little places in the
middle of nowhere just aren't ready for groups as large as ours.
Here's that scenery (due to its length, today was not a big picture
taking day), beginning with Lake Ochoco a few miles east of Prineville:
Then a climb to Ochoco Pass:
The secret to getting through a long day is to keep those wheels
rolling:
While we
were stopped in Mitchell for a snack, my trip computer gained 4
miles. Lou from Portland was sitting near my bike and his heart
rate monitor was sending pulses to my computer that made it think the
wheels were spinning. It wasn't a big deal as I calculate a
correction factor at nearly every milepost to account for differences
between my mileage and what the route sheet shows. I don't
think I'll ride next to Lou, though.
Wide open views:
Jeff taking in the scenery in or near the
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument:
Those last 30 miles were a bit of a slog for Jeff and I. For a
while we had a good two man paceline going at about 18 mph but then
Jeff forgot
the "pace" part and kicked it up to 22 on his pull and blew himself
up. From that point, we
dragged
ourselves in, helped by some cold water
from the SAG van. Some stopped in Mount Vernon for more
snacks but we were more interested in getting to the motel. The
bar at the restaurant, otherwise western themed, had historical photos
of European bicycle
racers, smoking and drinking no less. Odd.
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