Buccs/Bucks on Bikes: 06/19/10

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Saturday, June 19 - Day 6 - 69 miles - 383.6 Total Miles

We had a great night sleep in the church last evening. I think everyone slept great. Thanks again, Carl and Irene.

Another awesome day on the road from Mitchell, Oregon to John Day, Oregon on route 26. We started right out of our sleeping bags with a climb of about 6 miles that got us to an elevation of about 4400 feet. It was a nice climb to get our legs awake for the day. From there, it felt as though we had a descent that lasted forever. The first part was steep enough that we could all hold about 35 mph for a 6 or 7 miles. Even after that, we were slightly downhill for a while longer. Even after the descent was over, we were the beneficiaries of a tailwind all the way through the towns of Dayville and Mt. Vernon on our way John Day.

Horses and cows are a big part of the scenery in these parts. I am not sure how well crops grow around here. All the fields are irrigated to grow hay. Our resident genius (self-proclaimed) assured me that most of the crops in the area are to feed the animal stock. Speaking of Bobby, I have not had many good quotes from him to report yet. We have been riding single file for the whole trip so far. That does not give us as much time for conversation. I am sure that open roads and group riding will result in some quips worth reporting.

Kim and the kids stuck fairly close to the route today. The did get a chance to check out some fossills and we all got to see some pictographs that are believed to be 5000-8000 years old.

Tonight, we are getting rested up in a motel in John Day. We will need some rest tonight as we travel 80-90 miles with 3 climbs over 5000 feet. We will probably be on the bikes in the neighborhood of 5-5.5 hours. As we get going on this trip, that will probably become the norm. But, for now we are easing into things. We had set a goal of 500 miles weekly and will be just under that for our first week. We are all pretty happy with that.

Our stop tomorrow evening is in Baker City, Oregon, which is getting real close to Idaho. We are planning to stay at another warmshowers individual's home.

Until our next update....

(V)Anna Showing the "Letters"

More Pictographs

John Day Fossil Bed Exhibit

Hills Where Fossils are Found

Friday, June 18 - Day 5 - 48.4 miles - 314.6 total miles

Today was just what the doctor ordered. Good weather, good roads, no traffic, one nice climb, one long descent that we flew down, and the only dog chase went after Kyle. As the terrain begins to change from the damp stuff of the first few days, to the dry, arid plains, we actually feel like we are traveling somewhere.

We are staying in the basement of a Baptist Church in Mitchell, Oregon tonight. We called them randomly last night and explained our need for affordable lodging and they put us up for the night. Thank you so much for your kindness and hospitality, Carl and Irene. It is much appreciated.

I asked Kim how she was holding up so far….to which she replied: “It is 6:30 p.m. on a Friday night back home. If we were home, I would be settling in at the kitchen counter doing cakes until 3:00 a.m. I will take this any day.”

The kids seem to be doing ok. Anna divides here down time between Nintendo DS, computer, and reading. Nathan is not about to budge on his reading strike that he has been on since birth.

After we got settled in, we went about 7 miles outside of town and visited the Painted Hills. It was very beautiful. I am sure the picture below will not do it justice.

Tomorrow we plan to end up in the John Day area. There are lots of pictographs and fossil beds in that area. This should give Kim and the kids some things to do while we ride. Hopefully we will have some cool pictures of that area tomorrow.

That’s all for today. Thanks for reading.