3rd Time Bicycling Oregon's "Old West" Route

The weather forecast kept getting worse, but Sean, Carol, and Christy were ready to go and last minute attempts to switch dates which would have let Amy and Paul join us didn't work. Christy had reminded me that the weather won't always be great on the Northern Tier either, and the purpose of this ride is to test our preparation for that.

This forecast for Bates made me want to stay home but not my fellow riders!

By the time I reached Meridian, ID I had to turn the windshield wipers on high where they stayed for an hour until Ontario, OR.  I was mentally preparing myself for a layover day on day 1.  By the time I got to Vale, OR the rain stopped, and it didn't look like they had had the heavy rain southern ID was enjoying. In John Day where Sean, Carol, Christy and I met, it was dry and the clouds were breaking up, but windy. 

Day 1 John Day to Austin House 29.6 miles  2:57 riding time  2,313 elevation gain
The wind was fairly strong, but it would be a tail wind, so we set off for Bates State Park enjoying the wind blowing us up to Prairie City.  Winds up the grade were a side wind which didn't push us up the grade like they did into Prairie City. Last fall the ride up to Dixie summit had mentally defeated Carol, so this was an important test for her and the group before the x-country ride, but one she easily passed this year making us all happy! 

Carol, Sean, Christy, and Steve about 1/3 up to Dixie Summit

Sean, Christy, and Carol at Dixie Pass summit

We sailed down from the summit to the Austin House where we learned that Bates State Park won't open until May, so we made arrangement to camp there where we ate dinner.  A Trans Am rider rode by, seemed to look at our bikes but continued on to Bates SP.  Alan Potter was his name, and he was back to the Austin House about the time we finished dinner, and he verified for us that the park was closed.  He set up tent with us, and we enjoyed him and his tales of adventure.

Day 2  Austin House to Long Creek  55.1 miles  5:03 riding time 2,044 elevation gain
Rain fell most of the night giving the new tents everyone has their first mild test for water-tightness.  The proprietress had agreed to open an hour early, so we had breakfast at 0800 in the Austin House while drizzle continued, and she took a couple group photos as we left..  

time to break camp behind the Austin House

Prepared for rain as we leave the Austin house  Sean, Carol, Christy, Steve, and Alan - photo by Christy, the proprietress

 

We ride away in the rain- Carol, Christy, Sean, Alan, and Steve -  photo by Christy, the proprietress

Alan Potter leaves the group near Bates SP to continue on the Trans Am

We enjoyed Alan and would have liked to have had him along for the entire trip, but we said our goodbyes and continued on down the Middle Fork of the John Day River in occasional drizzle and some headwind.  The descent is beautiful, but with with cold, drizzle, headwinds, and heavy gloves no one took photos on this otherwise sweet descent. The drizzle ended by noon, but the headwinds continued as we turned to go up to Long Creek. 

Sean climbing the grade to Long Creek

Carol climbing the grade up to Long Creek

Christy spotted a "view point" above the road's high point, so she, Sean, and I started riding up to it, but stopped when it became a Jeep trail where this photo was taken - Christy and Sean

 
Reasonable opinions may differ, but I continue to think this is the toughest day of the ride with all those draws to go thru before reaching Long Creek, but there was no heat fatigue today.  It was cold with more rain forecast, so we decided to check out the motel.  $60 (with taxes, fees, & hidden charges) for the 4 of us instead of $40 for the RV park, so we parted with the extra $20 and enjoyed heated accommodations, microwave, mini refrig, and beds. (I also hadn't forgotten that snow was in that initial forecast for that evening).  Carol and Sean cooked outside on picnic tables an excellent chicken curry dish (light on curry as Christy and I prefer) as the store which calls itself a  "general store" is more of a convenience store was closed on Sunday afternoon. Its hours will seem all too short to bicyclists headings this way.

Day 3 Long Creek to Dayville 60.3 miles  5:17 riding time 2,697 elevation gain
After a warm night in the motel no one was interested in going outside to cook, and I suspect we'd have skipped breakfast had it not been for my resistance to that idea (skipping breakfast on tour is always a bad idea).  We used the microwave to reheat the left over chicken curry and headed out.  Again, cold with resulting heavy gloves seemed to eliminate most photos.  

Sean and Carol near the top of the ridge after Long Creek

We had a 2nd breakfast (if the first light one can be called a breakfast) at the store in Monument.  We were turning to a south southwest direction and hoped to lose the West headwinds in Monument, but the canyon kept the winds straight in our faces. In the wind, this was a tough section this year.  Finally, at Kimberly store where we had lunch, we turned to an almost true west direction, and picked up the strong tailwind.  Right where the Old West  meets the Trans Am,  Chris, another tourist came around the corner.  Chris rode east to west last year, wintered with friends in Eugene, and is headed home to New York on a combination of the Trans Am and Northern Tier routes, but isn't following A/C maps.

Chris, from upstate New York.   Chris carries a lot of stuff with him and noted this photo make him look like he was behind 3 stacks of garbage - photo by Christy

Chris is travelling on a severe budget, and has paid camping fees only once or twice, so that was the final info causing us to stay in the Dayville Church instead of the campground.  It was still a bit nippy, so I don't know what decision we'd have reached without Chris who rode on down to the fossil bed monument before rejoining us at the Dayville Community Church where he joined us for Christy's dinner of sloppy joes and later serenaded us with his Ukulele before we hit the sack at 9:00 p.m. Chris slept in his usual hammock hung between two of the church's trees rather than joining us inside.

Day 4 Dayville to John Day 31.0 miles 2:36 riding time 1,037 elevation gain
After a breakfast of pancakes and bacon, we said our goodbyes to Chris who wasn't ready to leave.  The strong winds of the last few days were gone, and the air finally quiet, but as we cycled, a weak west breeze slowly grew.  

Before leaving the Dayville Community Church Sean attempts to reinflate Carol's tire, but it's had a presta value failure, so a new tube is required

  

Carol, Christy, and Sean between Dayville and John Day

Carol, Christy, and Sean riding off on the last leg of the trip

We celebrated Carol's birthday in John Day with a nice lunch and said our goodbyes.  Great ride everyone, and thanks for not letting the weather make you back out!  Makes me look forward all the more to the Northern Tier with you all!

Happy cycling for fun, fitness, and transportation,


Steve 

2015 Old West Ride 
2012 Old West Ride