Saturday June 25th, John Day OR to Baker City OR, 81 miles, 5,075 feet of climbing
Today was another tough day with three different mountain climbs/descents. The wind was also somewhat against us for the first time ( you can't be lucky forever). On the ascents, for 5-8 miles long climbs we average only 6-7 mph, followed by descents where we average 25-30 mph for several miles. As such we spent about 80% of the time climbing (just the way the math works out). But wow, are the descents thrilling (and well earned). The scenery was varied and included some pine forests.
At the summit of the third mountain we met a Brit on bicycle, self-supported, travelling the other way. He started in Yorktown VA and was ending in San Francisco. I kidded him how the Battle of Yorktown turned out. He artfully reminded me that we had the help of the French and that they (UK) had taken care of "them" yesterday (referring to the UK's vote to exit the EU). A funny retort.
Baker City is a active, hip type small town of about 10,000 in Western OR. By pure luck the city was hosting a cycling race event featuring a number of events for top regional cyclists. I stopped and watched one of the events on my way to the hotel.
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Clowning around pulling the Conestoga wagon a few miles east of John Day
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