Michael is writing this - Today was an awesome day. The weather was pleasant, the ride ended before it got too hot and before the rain, and the scenery was beautiful. Some of us were a little nervous about the 1700 and 500 foot elevation climbs, so we loaned our gear to the SAG cars so that their muscles would grow instead of our muscles wearing out. I always wanted a muscle car.
Our route followed a scenic river with lots of miniature falls rushing over the rocks. The sound of water over rocks always captivates me. When the river left us, a babbling brook joined us for the rest of the way. Along the way we saw two snakes, one of which quickly ducked out of the way when Gloria accidentally tried to run it over and another which was visiting with Tom as he was checking out some scenery. For some unknown reason after these incidents, the riders did their best to find other facilities.
After our 1700 foot climb, we were treated to a 7 mile downhill run. Top speeds reported were 36 and 41 MPH. Look out Lance Armstrong, Tom is searching for his next career. Halfway down the hill, Gloria and Michael stopped to take pictures of Black Butte. Other than stopping to eat and hydrate, stopping to take pictures is our next most common activity. Our SAGs today were Eric and Tim and they did another great job of sagging.
As the first group of our 8 riders approached Mitchell, they stopped at an espresso/ pulled pork sandwich stand. The sandwiches were excellent although I admit that after that last 500 foot climb at the end of the ride even my cooking would have tasted good.
Deb was intrigued by the tire shop next to the espresso stand since they shared a common last name. Deb introduced herself to Bob, but determined they were probably not related. As Bob left, he warned Deb that if she had any troubles and needed any help, she should not tell other people her last name as he had already ruined the name's reputation.
We stopped at the Oregon Hotel, a quaint hotel where some rooms have claw foot tubs and some rooms share bath rooms. After showering and waiting out some rain showers, Brent and Michael drove to the Painted Hills to see the hills with various colors. I know some were red and lavender thanks to the signs, but I still appreciated the color differences I could see. Color was never my specialty. Even some of the flowers and grasses were yellow and red. Quite a few of us had debated bicycling the 6 miles off the route to see the Painted Hills, but after the car drove, Brent and I were both glad we had not bicycled there. The road there was 6 miles.... all downhill and most of it very steep.
We had dinner at the Little Pine Cafe. The 10 of us took up literally half the available seats in the restaurant. We were pretty sure our arrival caused later customers to create the first waiting list ever needed at this restaurant. Several in our party seriously considered ordering take out as alcohol was not served on the premises. However, we ended up staying for some fine hamburgers. The Little Pine Cafe is in the building which formerly housed the Mitchell Stage Stop used by stage coaches many years ago.
After dinner, Max, Valerie, Brent, Deb, and Michael went for a walk to explore the town of Mitchell (population 149). We discovered a cute church with many beautiful quilts in the pews. We also ran into Brynn who had a fabulous garden and was kind enough to give us a private impromptu tour of her garden. She had many fruit trees, beautiful flowers, and many vegetables. Brynn said she never has to buy fresh fruit or vegetables during the growing season.
We also listened to another guitar concert by Sean Keegan...guitarist extradonaire. It was a superb concert, and we were joined by other people staying at the hotel.
Today's ride was around 46 miles. Tomorrow we ride on to Dayville, a mere 39 miles away. We start with a 1300 foot climb, but it looks to be downhill or level the rest of the way. It should be another great day for riding.
For those of you wondering if your spouse, friends, or relatives are planning to contact you any time soon, the cell phone service out here is just short of non-existent. I suspect this will last until we start hitting much larger towns. In 2 days, we should pass through a huge town of 1,700 people.
Life is great and we are indeed enjoying the ride, even the uphill climbs.
Our route followed a scenic river with lots of miniature falls rushing over the rocks. The sound of water over rocks always captivates me. When the river left us, a babbling brook joined us for the rest of the way. Along the way we saw two snakes, one of which quickly ducked out of the way when Gloria accidentally tried to run it over and another which was visiting with Tom as he was checking out some scenery. For some unknown reason after these incidents, the riders did their best to find other facilities.
After our 1700 foot climb, we were treated to a 7 mile downhill run. Top speeds reported were 36 and 41 MPH. Look out Lance Armstrong, Tom is searching for his next career. Halfway down the hill, Gloria and Michael stopped to take pictures of Black Butte. Other than stopping to eat and hydrate, stopping to take pictures is our next most common activity. Our SAGs today were Eric and Tim and they did another great job of sagging.
As the first group of our 8 riders approached Mitchell, they stopped at an espresso/ pulled pork sandwich stand. The sandwiches were excellent although I admit that after that last 500 foot climb at the end of the ride even my cooking would have tasted good.
Deb was intrigued by the tire shop next to the espresso stand since they shared a common last name. Deb introduced herself to Bob, but determined they were probably not related. As Bob left, he warned Deb that if she had any troubles and needed any help, she should not tell other people her last name as he had already ruined the name's reputation.
We stopped at the Oregon Hotel, a quaint hotel where some rooms have claw foot tubs and some rooms share bath rooms. After showering and waiting out some rain showers, Brent and Michael drove to the Painted Hills to see the hills with various colors. I know some were red and lavender thanks to the signs, but I still appreciated the color differences I could see. Color was never my specialty. Even some of the flowers and grasses were yellow and red. Quite a few of us had debated bicycling the 6 miles off the route to see the Painted Hills, but after the car drove, Brent and I were both glad we had not bicycled there. The road there was 6 miles.... all downhill and most of it very steep.
We had dinner at the Little Pine Cafe. The 10 of us took up literally half the available seats in the restaurant. We were pretty sure our arrival caused later customers to create the first waiting list ever needed at this restaurant. Several in our party seriously considered ordering take out as alcohol was not served on the premises. However, we ended up staying for some fine hamburgers. The Little Pine Cafe is in the building which formerly housed the Mitchell Stage Stop used by stage coaches many years ago.
After dinner, Max, Valerie, Brent, Deb, and Michael went for a walk to explore the town of Mitchell (population 149). We discovered a cute church with many beautiful quilts in the pews. We also ran into Brynn who had a fabulous garden and was kind enough to give us a private impromptu tour of her garden. She had many fruit trees, beautiful flowers, and many vegetables. Brynn said she never has to buy fresh fruit or vegetables during the growing season.
We also listened to another guitar concert by Sean Keegan...guitarist extradonaire. It was a superb concert, and we were joined by other people staying at the hotel.
Today's ride was around 46 miles. Tomorrow we ride on to Dayville, a mere 39 miles away. We start with a 1300 foot climb, but it looks to be downhill or level the rest of the way. It should be another great day for riding.
For those of you wondering if your spouse, friends, or relatives are planning to contact you any time soon, the cell phone service out here is just short of non-existent. I suspect this will last until we start hitting much larger towns. In 2 days, we should pass through a huge town of 1,700 people.
Life is great and we are indeed enjoying the ride, even the uphill climbs.
