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| Grandpa Lost His Mind |
A Journal - Crossing America by Bicycle |
| May 3, 2007 Miles 33 Total miles 374 |
| I am now on the eastern end of Oregon. In the lower left corner of the map is Canyon City. Just above that is a black dot and that is John Day. I am staying the night in a motel here. John Day has about 1,800 people but there are a couple of nice restaurants and a bunch of fast food places, plus several motels. I will make my way to Bates and follow the state road to Baker. I hope to make it to Brownlee by the beginning of the week if the weather will permit. |
| I have followed rivers all across Oregon. Some are streams and some are fast moving like this one. The temperatures are generally quite a bit colder here than on the coast. The elevation here is over 3,000'. When I left Dayville this morning the sun was shining and I was looking for a 50 mile day. The weather changes very rapidly and the mountain passes seem to have a lot of rain. It was another day or rain, cold, and sleet for the ride which overall gained 1,000' in elevation. There is a cafe in Dayville but it only opens on weekends so I didn't eat breakfast until late in the day because there are no eating places between here and there. I did have some junk food however.
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| There is one thing I would like to mention which I have found very interesting. The mountains are very illusional. What I mean is this ... sometimes it looks like I am going downhill but I am having to pedal like crazy instead of coasting. I'm not talking about slight grades. Sometimes it looks like I should be flying down a hill and yet I am having to crank with all I have. I noticed this on Santiam Pass. I would stop to take a picture of something which I thought was downhill but my bike would be rolling backwards. It is very strange. |
| Here is another field of those cockleburrs. You women sure wouldn't want to walk through here in your fur coats.
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| Someone hold this old geezer down and give him a shave!
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| I might be a little rough looking but these girls sure had their eyes on me!
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| Come on, Ol' Blue. Let's just keep going straight!
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| Just another beautiful mountain with a little snow still on it. I stopped to take a picture and a car pulled over in front of me. I thought they stopped in case I needed help.
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| It was Christine and Mary Fran from Idaho. They are just lovely ladies and they had been backpacking along the Rogue River here in Oregon. They had seen a couple of other touring cyclists about twenty miles back and they said if they saw anyone else they would stop and ask questions. I told them it was going to be embarrassing when those two cyclists pass me. Christine invited me to stay at her place as I pass through her town but alas, I will be going in a different direction. They sure were nice and it was a pleasure to visit with them. They also had run into problems finding stores which were open. They are cycling enthusiasts and have done some 100 mile rides.
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| This is a church which was built in 1870 in John Day. It is next to the restaurant where I ate tonight. I expect it will be four or five days before I can update again. |