Diary

Mileage:  85.99 miles (139.30 kms)

Elevation Change: 2011 feet  (613 meters)

Weather: sunny and hot

Morale:  great descending, flagging at the end

Incidents:  Ray’s bottom bracket came loose

Daily Summary:

Up and out 6am, after going to bed at 8:30 last night.  Yes, not much nightlife on this trip!  After a beautiful  10 mile warm-up through horse country, we started a great, long, wonderful descent.  This area is so remote that we had to ride a few miles on the Interstate just to get from here to there.  We literally went more than an hour at one point without seeing a car.  Our average speed was way up today, and most of it was just coasting along, which was a nice and needed break.  100 yards short of the second SAG stop, Raymond’s bottom bracket came completely loose which meant none of us could pedal anymore.  Fortunately it was an easy fix.  The two bolts holding the elliptical in place had come loose.  After the descent we had 25 miles along the totally flat, very rural, very agricultural, and very hot snake river valley.  This was very tough mentally.  The heat was terrible, and we just wanted to get there.  We did roll in in good time, and had a nice Mexican lunch as a reward.  The pool helped to cool us off.   The weather is supposed to stay very hot tomorrow, so we will have to really be careful with hydration and staying cool.  One guy in the group passed out at our group meeting tonight.  He had just ridden in and was overcome by the heat.  That got our attention!

 

In the pics below, first you see morning load up with the mountains of eastern Oregon in the background.  Next, a screaming descent as far as the eye can see!  Finally, this little bird had fallen out of the nest at our first SAG stop.  Christopher gave him some crackers to hold him over until his Mom could come rescue him.

 

We’re making progress—we’re in the mountain time zone!