Stage 7 - A Case of the Blues (Mountains that is!)

Thursday, June 13, 2013
Baker City, Oregon, United States
Today was a day of milestones: another big climb, the halfway point of the ride, and entering territory we've never ridden in and don't know well.

Cheryl Headley fixed us a wonderful breakfast - no surprise, after her great dinner last night!   Then we packed up the car, put what we needed on our bikes and rode away. The road to the Headley's house is quite steep - uphill last night (I, Ann, did walk my bike the last block!), but a simple downhill this morning. Plus, once we were on the main road, there was a terrific tail wind. So we made the few miles to the start of Cabbage Hill quickly and with little effort. Cabbage Hill is the road that the wagon trains used coming down on the Oregon Trail from the Blue Mountains. But today we were going up, not down. It is now paved and called the Old Emigrant Trail road. It's 13 miles long, though not as steep as parts of White Pass. We'd all ridden the route a couple weeks ago as part of the Pendleton CROC ride, and at that time I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it (I did, in the chilly rain!). Today I was definitely stronger and a bit faster, and it was much easier. Only 2 cars passed us on the entire climb, and it was so quiet we could enjoy the bird songs. At one point Dave pointed off to one side to where a white-tailed deer was leaping through the grass, startled by our approach. A mile or so from the top we had a bit of a delay while a herd of cows and their calves crossed the road from one meadow to another. Not your everyday occurrence on a bike ride!

Dave and I made it to the top in about 2 hours. Dennis was quite a bit faster. Lea met us at Deadman Pass for a snack and a chance to sit in the car and warm up. Though the early morning had been sunny, clouds were moving in and at the top the temperatures were in the upper 40s. We could see rain off to the southwest. We decided to put on long biking pants. But there was a nice wind from the west, so we set off again with a tailwind. I don't think I can thank God enough for tailwinds! We rode through one shower, but it was brief and we'd put on our rain jackets (unlike the first day of the ride) so it was no problem. We stopped at the little store in Meacham, a tiny old settlement midway through the Blue Mountains, and decided to have lunch at the cafe there. They definitely operated on their own time schedule, so it wasn't the fastest meal, but the food was good and the atmosphere homey.

It was nearly 2 when we finished, and we still had about 50 miles to ride. The road wound through old forests, where the sun shone and the birds sang. Once we moved away from the highway, the only sounds were the whisper of my tires on the road, the little creaks of my bike and saddle, and the birds. Really lovely. A few sun breaks added to a gorgeous ride. After a couple of miles of gentle climbing - to a real cyclist, it was gentle, but for me it slowed me down to my lowest gears - we came to the fun part: several miles of good downhill. I cruised along at about 30 mph, and Dennis would have gone faster, but he didn't want to get too far ahead in case I had trouble and he had to ride back up the hills to help. Dave had stopped some to take pictures and video, so he was a bit slower. At the bottom of that run, we had to join up with I-84 and ride it for a few miles, as there is no other bike friendly road through this area. This was also where we started into new territory, and it would prove a bit of an adventure. We'd met a guy at Deadman Pass who was working on road construction on this part of the highway, and he had warned us that parts were too narrow for bikes to ride safely. So we went just 4 miles on the freeway, but it was all downhill - mostly 5% grade - and I coasted at 31-34 mph. The guys were faster, with Dave clocking 42 mph. Lea was waiting for us off an exit and we loaded up the bikes on the car to go through the dangerous construction section. While we hated not to ride all the way - especially downhill with a tailwind! - it just wasn't safe. (While it may seem that the Interstate itself wouldn't be safe on a bike, it is in some ways better. The shoulder is wider, so there's more separation from the cars. But the shoulder also often has quite a bit of debris -you may not notice it in a car but it's there - and it's much more noisy than the quiet back roads.) We got back on our bikes where US 30 left the interstate and rode into La Grande. We'd been told about a great bike shop right on our route, and Dennis said Dave's back wheel was wobbling a bit, and Dave said his middle gears were skipping some, so we kept an eye out for the shop. We saw it a block ahead, and immediately Dave got a flat tire! What timing. So we spent half an hour or so while they checked his bike out, put in a new tube, and made the needed adjustments - all at reasonable price! Thank you Mountain Works. And thank you, God, for providing what we needed to ride safely.

But by now it was 4:00, and we still had 30 miles to ride to make our planned stopping point in N. Powder. Dennis led out of La Grande, and with a powerful tailwind, we cruised at about 20 mph for most of the 15 miles to the little town of Union, still following US 30. That was great! Out of Union, the road narrowed and wound its way up a little canyon for probably 8 miles. Very scenic, and very little traffic, but definitely uphill. The tail wind got lost in the canyon, so we were on our own! By now, I was pretty tired, my knees hurt, and with every pedal stroke I was having painful pressure where my leg and behind connected with the bike seat . So this was a hard section. But then we'd come out along a lovely willow-lined pasture filled with cattle. After that, we rode under some of those big wind turbines. It was so
quiet we could actually here the "whoosh" as each blade cut through the
air! (per Dave, ever the engineer - if you do the math the tips of those blades are moving at 80-100 mph!) Across the little valley, we could see a freight train waiting on the side tracks for an oncoming train to pass. Then, for me, it became a bit of a challenge to see if I could get to the top before the waiting train could start up and make the climb. Not unexpectedly, the train won. But not by much! As I crossed the bridge over the tracks, I looked at my odometer and saw this was the halfway point of our ride: 451 miles.

I'd thought that crest over the train tracks was the last of the uphills, and that below I'd see the valley where Baker City lies. But no, my memory from when Mom and I drove this in April was not that good. The road wound down, then up, then down, then up, etc. etc. for a few more miles. It got to the point that I said to myself, "If I don't see the valley over this next rise, I'm not going any further. They can just bury me where I fall!"  But it's amazing how you just keep going. We finally did come to the last rise, and then began our cruise down into the valley. By then, Dennis was nearing N. Powder, as he'd ridden on ahead. Part way down the hill, we met up with our wind again, but it was a powerful side/shoulder wind this time, and nearly blew me across the road. That made the ride even harder, though the road did wind enough that we sometimes had the wind helping us along. We also met back up with that old train. (He had to take the long way after the top as trains are limited in the grades they can make. Roads can take shorter paths with steeper grades.)

Finally we rode into N. Powder at nearly 6 PM. Lea and Dennis and the car were waiting, and I was so thankful to get off my bike and onto a soft seat. We made several phone calls to find a motel with a hot tub - the Super 8 - and checked in. They were so nice. Several motels have wanted to charge extra for the Guide Dogs for the Blind puppy-in-training that Lea has with her, but this one didn't. After quick showers, we went to dinner at Sumpter Junction, a cute little restaurant with a railroad theme that extended to an electric train that wound its way through the restaurant and past all the tables. Very cute. Dinner tasted great, and we were so hungry (though it probably would have tasted good anyway!). Then back to the motel for a good soak in the hot tub and bed.

[more pictures to follow]
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