I am writing this post the day after the ride–technically, my ride ended after midnight, so arguably it is the same day.
I reached Mitchell–home of the Spoke’n Hostel–pretty early and had their spaghetti for breakfast, although the 30-mile climb out of Prineville meant I wasn’t too early. Mitchell is in a valley, so after that long climb, you give up all that altitude, and then climb it again to get out. By the time I left, the day has heated up.
Most of the rest of the day is a blur. The three big climbs after Mitchell were all late in the ride, well after the halfway point. By the time I finished the second of them, it was chilly enough that I needed my jacket for the descent. After the third, it was cold enough that I needed to add more warm clothes, and my sweat-soaked jersey was chilling me, so I needed to take that off. Finding a place I could even lean my bike took a while, and then I was working in complete darkness. I was exhausted enough that I knew to be concerned about dumb mistakes, and tried to be very methodical. Even so, I rode off without my bone-conduction headset on, but it was hooked around my handlebars, so no loss there.
One minute after I passed the Baker City City limit sign, the sky opened up. I was only in the rain for about 10 minutes but got soaked.
I had set the goal of reaching Baker City because there’s a bike hostel there. I knew it would be a big push.
It was too long. 195 miles with 5 major climbs. My appetite has been hit-or-miss, and my last solid food of the day wasn’t sufficient.
Excellent blogging, Adam, appreciate all you’re giving us, the map/elev, pics, and narrative. Eating is everything. Try to always eat at the summit so you can digest as you’re descending. I hope you’re gut adapts and you can begin to payoff more of your calorie debt. Keep on truckin’!
I hope you got some solid rest and recovery. That was a helluva day compadre – strong work!!!