Didn’t rollout out until just after 7:00. Another shower. I had found an ice pack in the commons refrigerator and had been trying to take some of the swelling down in the balls of my feet. Much better this morning. The Cinnamon roll was amazing. Heated up in the microwave per their instructions. Killed the banana and off I went. Not as many miles planned for today but five summits to climb as I head to Ontario.
Today was truly a hot one – dry and not much if any shade to get out of the sun. My first real resupply was 102 miles away in Vale and Ontario was only 120 ish miles where I would be able to resupply as well. Head down cruising the shoulder of John Day Highway, work each of the climbs, recover and do it again. No shade anywhere. But then I rolled into Brogan at about 80 miles and there was the most beautiful town park with a shelter and a water spicket. Perfect timing. Nice!!
After a refreshing break and my Subway cookie, it was all down hill pretty much to Vale and then Ontario. Focus on riding my 5 and dime cycles. One mile at a time with a target mph goal. If grade less than +1%, push into the 20’s. At five minutes, hydrate, at ten minutes take a break if necessary. Do again. Great for focus and keeping my mph up to hit my targets and get to Ontario earlier. I had left an hour later than normal and then lost another hour due to changing to Mountain time. Really focused on riding at least 20+ miles per hour to make up time.
It is really a hot day – got to Vale and found the local mini mart. They were cleaning up for the day in the “kitchen” but had some decent looking chicken breasts left. Grabbed a chocolate milk and refilled my peanut m&m’s. Great stop. Feeling good about continuing to work hard to Ontario. My buttcheek was getting raw on one side and my feet were still sore plus the affect of the heat. I asked Lori to hook me up with a cheap room in Ontario on the route and close to the Walmart and Walgreens. Ontario was right off of I-80 so a pretty dense area for commerce. She texted me the info for a Super 8 and I had another reason to push hard.
BTW, for this ride and most of my other rides, I carry a Garmin Messenger Plus that pings my location every five minutes. It also gives me Satellite Text for messages and photo’s. This is my only means of communication for many miles as I ride without any cell service or bandwidth.
Riding to Ontario from Vale there was lots of commercial farms with acres and acres of produce. Onions, Rhubarb, Potatoes, Carrots, Corn, Wheat, incredible. Lots of furrow irrigation. And riding through the Irrigation that sprayed on the road was refreshing.
I found the Super 8 which was an old motel and sort of rough but got the only room left on the ground floor (stairs to the second floor) because the TV was busted. I didn’t care. A huge truckstop and Shell 24 hour convenience store with an Arby’s next door. I walked across the overpass for I-80 and went to Walgreens for large bandages and antibiotic ointment. Then Grocery shopping at the Shell. Ended up grabbing a shake and a gyro at Arby’s and across the parking lot back to the room. Dinner, triage, email, shower and bed.
Four days in and still on schedule.
