July 4th Eugene OR to Florence, OR 79 miles

Freezing cold Grand Finale!

showing our Patriotic pride

Final Day of the journey! We rode past Fern Ridge Reservoir, where I used to sail a little in college, and through Triangle Lake where we stopped and had lunch with good family friends, the Olsons. The ride was mostly on rural roads. I loathe chip seal. There was actually a portion of the road that was so rough I thought my brain was shaking loose from my skull. The final portion of the trip was on the 126, which hypothetically would have a nice large shoulder, except they decided to tear it up in preparation of repaving it (by 2010). Awesome, I'm sure the people that ride the route in 2011 will really appreciate that, but in the meantime...

Within the last 20 miles of the trip the temperature dropped 30 degrees from 87 to 57. In my head I imagined the last leg of the trip with perfectly sunny skies, birds chirping, crazy Oregon hippies noodle dancing along the road and a big bottle of champagne to top it off. Instead it was foggy & freezing cold with head winds glaore and we couldn't wait to get off the beach. But alas we are done and we can say we rode our bikes across the USA! 

July 3rd Sisters, OR to Eugene, OR

2nd to last day of the trip! The McKenzie pass was closed, which meant the busier Santiam Pass which I've driven about 3,000 times and never thought about biking. Lynn got two flat tires near the end of the day due to a spoke that was poking out, but luckily made it into Eugene before a bike shop closed. 

Crazy sidenote, Mom & Lynn ran into a group from the old bike touring company I used to work for- who were also going riding cross country. Small world!

We had an awesome dinner at PF Changs in Eugene, and I got to see my old roommate from college. 

Mitchell to Bend, OR

It was some more beautiful riding through Central Oregon & all the way home! It felt great to get off the bike & know that we have a few days off before we finish up our ride to the coast. A million thanks to Pat & Lynn for all their help & for making the riding more fun! 

We'll finish up riding over the weekend and post some pictures from the Oregon coast!

John Day to Mitchell

Stained glass donated by cyclists to the church in Dayville

Another day of worry free riding. We've gone passed a lot of the Oregon Trail history. I think the pioneers had to be literally insane. They hauled these huge wagons full of their junk, and basically hoofed across half of the country all the while plagued with perpetual diarrhea or cholera. That just sounds like a great time, sign me up. At least our bikes can go fast (which we'll have to try sometime). 

Anyways the weather has been gorgeous with no clouds in the sky & it smells like pine (mom prefers the roadkill smell in Kentucky) & we are so happy to be in Oregon and almost home!

Baker City to John Day

Our driver- thanks Pat!

We were so incredibly lucky to have Pat & Lynn come join us for the final few days into Bend. Pat carried our gear while Lynn rode with us. Lynn made some delicious food that we ate for dinner last night (for those of you who haven't experienced Lynn's cooking you are really missing out) & they brought food for breakfast & lunch as well. Unfortunately they forgot to bring white bread and miracle whip, so we really missed Kansas for a moment. In John Day we ate dinner at a delicious restaurant and slept in a nice motel (with real pillows!). We cannot thank Pat & Lynn enough!

Richland to Baker City, OR

I love this Cycle Oregon bike rack

yay- more hills!

that's right, even more hills

Our campsite in Richland

We spent last night in Richland, OR, at the nicest camp site we have been to yet (another point for Oregon). They had the cleanest showers & cheap laundry, and to top it off when our high quality mattress pump decided not to work, a nice older man from an RV came over and helped us pump it up with his incredibly loud air compressor (pretty sure we woke up the entire campground). 

Since we were only planning on a shorter mileage day, we got a later start (plus the grocery store didn't open until 8 am anyways- honestly I'm done with touring small towns for awhile). Unfortunately we did not plan for lots more hills and headwinds. There was actually a point during the day when we were descending a 6 or 7% downgrade (which should equate to really high speeds) and the wind had us at a dead stop. I was so irritated- I should not have to pedal to go down a huge hill!!! It was all I could do not to throw a child-like tantrum while kicking the crap out of my trailer (which I blame for all problems on this trip- it's my scape goat). 

Luckily, when we got to Baker City we got some great news. Our good family friends, Pat & Lynn are coming the next day to ride with us & sag our gear. Yay!

Cambridge, ID to Richland, OR

Mom trying to avoid riding into the bull

Wallowa Mtns. (I think)

Hell's Canyon

Oregon!! (i.e. the Promised land)

We finally had good weather as we started our day! After so much rain the past two weeks, and temperatures in the low 40s in Idaho, we are ready for good weather for the rest of the trip! Today was basically a day of climbing. Climbing to get over the pass to Hell's Canyon, climbing to get out of Hell's Canyon, climbing some more hills just in case we were enjoying mild terrain, and climbing the most painful climb of the day - some pass in between oxbow and Richland. We had originally thought perhaps we would stop in Oxbow, but decided to make it into Richland to try and make the next day a shorter day. We stopped for lunch in Oxbow and the guy at the restaurant made the comment "I knew you guys had to be either bikers or runners because of how big your thighs are." Hmmm...... I guess I'll take that as a compliment.