D9 Priest Hole to Mitchell
Mileage: 20
Video https://www.relive.cc/view/vLqekoXQMdO
Map https://ridewithgps.com/trips/91062150
I am typing this in the bicycle paradise of the Spoke’n Hostel in Mitchell, Oregon. Janet and Pat run it as a haven for cyclists on the Trans America route (the first route mapped by the Adventure Cycling Association). It is a true labor of love. It has 12 bunks with a couple of private rooms. Everything in here is gear (ha!) for cyclists. It would be a great place for a rest day and it just so happens I am doing a ½ rest day. I only did 20 miles today. I got here around 1:30.
I had not seen another long haul cyclist until I hit the painted hills and by the end of the day I have met six. It’ll be interesting to see if I see more along the way. It would be nice to have company for a bit. The Trans America parts ways with my route about a day and a half from here. It goes the more scenic route to Baker City. I am taking the flater route to Boise.
For something different, I am going to list the good and dumb things I have done.
Good
Being flexible on routing. Changing course to go through the Columbia Gorge was good. Not taking the northern part of the Oregon Outback was good. Of course you don’t know the road not taken, but when that road is full of snow or pea gravel it’s a pretty good guess.
Eating before I get hungry.
Taking a big keyboard
Not spending money on bike computer
Not holding onto stuff that I am not going to use
Dumb
Putting stuff on the top of my rack during stops. I forget about it, ride of and lose it. I lost my wrist brace that I was using to protect my sore left wrist. I’ll have to ride to John Day without it. I got SUPER lucky because I put my GLASSES on the rack, rode 10 miles amazingly they were still they.
Storing my jacket on top of my rear panniers. The sleeve dropped down and got into my rear brake which could have been dangerous. It’s a blessing that the only thing that happened is the mangling of the cuff of my expensive Rapha cycling jacket
The travels were less today. I rode about 10 miles on a gravel road from my campsite to the Painter Hills unit of the John Day Fossil Bed National Monument. I want to come back and do more hiking here. May is a great time BTW. Then I rode up the Bridge Creek valley to here. Riding on highway 26 was a shock after 75 miles of almost no traffic. While there isn’t a ton of traffic, it isn’t a gravel road in the middle of nowhere. I’ll be on 26 all the way to Boise, four days away. Wish me luck!
People:
Peter and Liana who are bike tourers, but just doing day trips. They have a Landcruiser from Japan with right-hand drive that they will ship to Africa for a year long adventure
Greg from California who I met at the hostel who is biking the Trans Am
Mark from California who I met at the Bridge Creek Cafe who is biking the Trans Am after getting laid off
Janet who runs the Spoke’n Hostel
Olav from Norway at the Spoke’n Hostel
Chad from Seattle at the Spoke’n Hostel
George and Rosemary from not only Seattle, but Greenlake, at the Spoke’n Hostel who are on their way to Ashland for some plays and it making a detour. Moterists can stay here as long as they understand this isn’t a hotel. I literally met Rosemary just now and she looked familar and she is! She used to work at the library that is a block from my house!
Oh TJ, what a wonderful trip! I am enjoying reading this so much. Thank you. You need a checklist to go through before you take off from some place, like pilots who check all their instruments (etc), like me when I leave my house (car keys/house keys). Ha! My son did this trip years ago before he was married. I think the being alone part was the hardest for him and meeting people was the fun part.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! I got a sharpie and will make a list.
DeleteTJ, I'm a friend of Val's and Peg's. They were at my house in western Washington when I was clearing it out to move....to Bend, Oregon! You were just going to get started on your trip and, as I'm a serious cyclist, Peg gave me the link to your blog, the one that you were not going to write, so I could follow along. I told her that if you'd be going through Bend we'd love to give you rest for the night, but that wasn't to be. We were at the Paleontology Museum just a few months ago and I thought then that it would be nice to ride a bike through the Painted Hills. I'm loving your blog, especially reading about your adventure! Thanks for taking the time to share it all!!
ReplyDeleteI'd love to go through Bend but it's a little west for me now. Maybe another trip. The Painted Hills are great. If you ride gravel, there's a nice road up to the John Day River
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