Ride Report: 69 Miles, 501 Total Miles, 17.8 Avg mph, 2,943 Ft. Climbing, 5,993 Calories. Just in case the reader isn't aware - this is one WHALE OF A RIDE REPORT. At least for me. That's a lot of climbing to end up with an average speed of 17.8. For details see below...
First thing out of the gate today - Keyes Creek Pass. The reader will recall that yesterday I mentioned that Mitchell, OR is at the base of the climb. Folks, this one sucked. The first two miles were 4-5%. I'm thinkin to myself, "Self, you got this licked." I should have known better. The remaining 4.5 miles were dead steady at 6-8%, all the way to the top. So, it was head down and grind all the way. The thing about grinding with one's head down is that when one sweats profusely it drips off one's helmet right between the eyes (annoying at best), it drips off one's nose onto the Garmin (thus making it difficult to read the % slope - this may be a good thing), and it drips out of one's beard at the chin (again - annoying). When I made it to the top, Susan was waiting to refill water bottles, and I availed myself of the opportunity to change base layer, headsweats and gloves. Yes gloves. I had wiped the various drips sufficiently to make the gloves slick with sweat. Not a good idea on a downhill. Given this description, I hope the reader will understand that there are only two pics of the ascent.
Good thing the Sequoia bothered me early for this one. As is typically the case, he's chatty when I'm suffering. Which just adds to the suffering...
An early uphill shot. Trust me, there was nothing worth looking at the rest of the way up. Note the scenery. There is a small creek just beside the road - green. There is no such creek in the hills - brown.
Proof we made it to the top. Smiles lie. I wasn't feeling smiley inside.
While the reader can't see it because my head is in the way in that last pic, Susan and The Rig are right behind me on the down slope. There was a conveniently place turnout there.
The downhill went on for about 25 miles. This is when one wonders if God rides a bike. How else to explain a 25 mile downhill. Apparently the Devil is in charge of up-slope topography. But - the downhill made it pretty easy to recover by the time I got to the lunch stop in Dayville, OR. When I arrived, Laura (of Ken and Laura fame) was in The Rig talking with Susan. I was glad Susan had found someone to chat with. Unfortunately their schedule won't line up with ours after today. We likely won't see them in person again. But we intend to check out their YouTube channel. The reader can do so by going to YouTube and searching for "Team Lucki" - yes, with an i. They plan to post once a week.
Those are actually giant sagebrush plants on the side of the road. I'd no idea they got so big.
The mountains you can see in the distance are on the schedule for Wednesday - that would be tomorrow. The reader may recall my previous mention that I'll be climbing three separate mountains tomorrow. Hence, I've dubbed it Cardiac Wednesday. Leave it to a mountain to ruin a perfectly good downhill. Stupid mountain.
But back to the downhill. The reader may note that Delta is now in the pic. That's because I swapped out bikes at the summit. Maybe I'm imagining things, but Delta seems more responsive and also more stable in corners. So, if I'm goin' downhill for 25 miles, he's the guy.
Lest the reader think that by "stable" I meant emotionally mature, I proffer this pic. This tire weight happened to be on the ground when Delta and I stopped for the pic above. When he asked, I explained to him that car tires are sometimes out of balance and require these weights so their tires don't "jump around" at high speeds. He thought this ridiculous in the extreme, asserting that bike tires require no such contrivance and that as a result, bikes are better than cars. (sigh)
I gotta tell ya, the ACA folks nailed it when they chose this route. Highway 26 West of Dayville, OR is possessed of absolutely stunning views. This is one.
This is another - in an area that I think was called "Picture Canyon". It was something like that. I was paying attention to where Delta was going, looking at the canyon and trying to read the sign all at the same time. While there is a bit of room on the right side of the road here, in many places it was just river to left of road and rock wall on the right. Regardless, it was breathtaking.
But eventually all downhills (like all good things in general) must come to an end. So it was with the descent from the Keyes Creek Summit. On the bright side, the end of the downhill occasioned my introduction to the John Day River. Delta and I eventually crossed it three times before reaching our destination of John Day, OR. Both, by the way are named after some finder of fossils. There are the John Day fossil beds just West of John Day (the town). As is typically the case, once one meets a river flowing the opposite direction one is riding, the pitch kicks up. In this case mostly around 1-2%. But it was no big deal because there was a strong tailwind all the way to John Day (the town).
Gotta agree with the Oregon Tourism guys on this one. This has been one Oregon Scenic Byway.
Oh - and I apologize again for the irregular timing of the posts lately. Its kinda like cell service out here - irregular.
Till next time.
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