June 4-12

June 2, 2009

A few days ago our group had stopped on the side of the road in Coburg to find our route into Eugene. Luckily a fellow cyclist came blazing by on a race bike and offered us a place to stay in he and his wife’s house in town. It turns out that Brian and Carrie had ridden the Transamerica 7 years ago, and had promised to give a roof to cyclists in need. The generously put us up in the living room, let us do laundry and get some GREAT showers. It turns out that the couple owns the premium bike wheel company “Rolf Prima.” Their company designs, manufactures and sells their products right here in the US. If anyone is in the market for new bike wheels, its definitely worth taking a look; they are works of art! Thanks again Brian and Carrie!

The last few days of riding have become increasingly rural. We’ve spent the last two days coming up and out of the western Cascades in Oregon. It’s been stunning countryside – there is water EVERYWHERE and everything is unbelievably green.

Yesterday we crested Mckenzie Peak and headed down into Oregon’s central high-dessert. The climate change has been dramatic, going from the lush forest of yesterday to a stark, barren landscape. The weather has become increasingly erratic, and we have found ourselves caught in the middle of more than a few afternoon thunderstorms. Yesterday almost got out of control when we went from riding in sunny- 70 degree weather to marble size hail and blackout in only about 5 minutes. A woman had stopped her car earlier in the afternoon and told us there was a “severe weather warning” on the radio. Within minutes of her warning, the hail came down so hard we had to ditch the bikes and run for cover behind a big post box. We managed to weather out the rest of the 30 minute storm on someone’s porch. These thunderstorms move unbelievably fast, and it makes me feel SO ALIVE to be in their midst.

Right now we’re sitting in a small park in Mitchell, Oregon. We tried to make tea out of sage brush, and ended up with a beautifully-green, but unbearably bitter brew which we are somewhat pleased with. The mountains are getting higher! Today we cross two 5000 foot passes. It takes about 3 hours to climb up, but its all worthwhile for the 10 mile cruise down the other side.

We’ve been eating well, sleeping better, and loving life!

June 6, 2009-06-06

Well, we have collectively agreed that this had been our coolest day of riding to date. Our route this afternoon took us up from Mitchell to Prairie City Oregon. Mitchell is a funny little rural town with a population of 127 where EVERYONE knows EVERYONE. The sheriff hangs out with the locals all afternoon, and life is at a slower pace. The coolest thing about Mitchell? The town has a pet bear named Henry. Yes, that’s right, a 275 pound black bear resides in a large enclosure in downtown Michell. PETA would have a field day if this were in California, but the bear has lived there in relative comfort for 20 plus years. Apparently the bear belongs to the sheriff’s younger brother who took custody of it after it grew up from bring a cub-sized mascot for the local boy scouts troop in the 80’s.

We left Mitchell at 6am and journeyed into the John Day Fossil Beds, the Painted Hills, and Picture George. All the terrain is harsh, rocky and HOT, but amazingly beautiful. I broke out my Ipod for the first time this afternoon and was sprinting 30 mile runs, unable to wipe the ear-to-ear grin off my face the entire time. An 85 mile day left us in Prairie City, a sleepy but comfortable old-west town in the shadow of tomorrow’s mountain climb.

As always we having the time of our lives, and never want this experience to end.