August 6, 2022
Day 106, to Mitchell: Fascinating fossils and a hugely hospitable hostel
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Saturday stats
Start: Dayville Community Church, Dayville, Ore.
End: Spoke'n Hostel, Mitchell, Ore.
The Daily Progress: 44.2 miles
Cumulative climb: 2785 feet
Cumulative descent: 2394
Elevation at endpoint: 2758
New creatures seen! (Well, we saw their fossils): Actually, I bet Dani already noted these, do I'll hold off and let her tell it. It's better in a narrative than in a stat!
Ice cream flavors: Death by Chocolate and Sisters vanilla, here at the hostel. This hostel might be my favorite. The one in Damascus (Lady Di's) is probably going to remain my favorite because the breakfast there was so good, but this one here in Mitchell wins for the overall vibe. So ... tie.
Beer flavors: An IPA for me (because it was brewed right there at the brewery) and a sour for Dani
Other indulgent notables: Today we came across the crunchy cookie M&M's for the first time in ages, so of course I bought a bag but haven't had the chance to try it. Will they unseat the dark chocolate peanut M&M's as best candy in the universe? We'll have to wait until a day that did not have an incredibly sweet and rich dessert after dinner (which was the sticky toffee cake at the brewery — yum!).
Lodging expenses: $80 donation
Food expenses: $24 in snacks and groceries at the grocery store here in Mitchell, $70 for dinner at Tiger Town Brewing
Saturday thoughts
I described a few days ago the ways some motorists make the roads uncomfortable (and, as Dani will mention below, there's another new example of this). However, I would like to point out that these are the exception, not the norm. The vast, vast majority of interactions with motorists are either positive or unremarkable. I noticed a comment on my recent entry that mentioned people rolling coal or not slowing down when they should; the commenter said these behaviors are why they tour in Europe and not in the United States. I can understand that and completely support anyone's decision to tour wherever they want and are most comfortable.
But I hope my description of motorist behavior doesn't deter anyone from riding or touring in the States. Besides, I believe in the idea of critical mass — the more cyclists who are riding these roads, the more frequently motorists will encounter them and have to learn how to share the roads.
One other thought from today: We met a Ukrainian refugee at the hostel this afternoon. We didn't talk much, but her predicament — where to go now that she's accepted that going home is not an option — brought the war in Ukraine into the bubble that is this bike tour. I've avoided the news while on tour because the news has always made me think about my work and I really wanted to try not to think about work during this break. Now I feel out of touch. I'll start reading the news again. And I'm wishing the best for the woman we met today. It was touching to see someone come by to drop off a purse that their daughter had made for her. (She leaves town tomorrow to head to Portland.) There are lots of good people in the country.
Dani's daily digest
We woke at 5 but soon realized that our first destination for the day -- the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument -- was just 9 downhill miles away and didn't open until 9. This meant there was no real reason to hit the road before 7:30, so we enjoyed a leisurely morning at the church. I enjoyed my breakfast of Greek yogurt and fresh berries (both from the mercantile) topped with cereal (from the church's biker supply pantry). I also succeeded in brewing a decent pot of coffee in the church's coffeepot.
On our way to the paleontology center, we stopped at an overlook to see the Mascall Formation, a badlands-esque rock formation emerging from the Oregon desert. I had no idea what Eastern Oregon looked like, but I did not picture this. The interpretive sign at the overlook didn't tell us anything about the origin of the formation, but we did learn about ancient beasts called bear-dogs and giraffe-deer and oreodonts, and they sounded pretty metal. ("Our ancient animals could beat up your ancient animals" -- Chris George's interpretation of Thomas Jefferson's desire to find evidence that North America held impressive beasts to prove to those supercilious Europeans that North America was not a degenerate continent.)
We biked through an impressive gorge (Picture Gorge; see photo above), yet another landscape that I would not have placed in Eastern Oregon, and passed by basalt columns, which we've seen frequently in Idaho and Oregon, thanks to periodic lava seeps in this region roughly 15 to 11 million years ago. I liked the introductory sentences to the interpretive sign at the base of the basalt columns: "What comes to mind when you think of a river? What about a RIVER OF LAVA?" (Emphasis mine.) Apparently, nothing in the region survived those eruptions. Not even bear-dogs.
We arrived at the paleontology center at 8:53, prompting me to ask, "are we good or are we good?" We are good. But you know who is NOT good? Google. The center opened at 10, not 9. Figuring that we had no reason to hurry on, we decided to enjoy an hour of doing nothing in particular in the shade of the building's outdoor spaces. I finally had the time and the mental quiet to draw in my poor neglected sketchbook.
Inside the center, we glimpsed the ancient ecosystems that used to exist in this region and the fantastical beasts that inhabited them. My favorites were the fanged mouse-deer and the tree-dwelling dog that ate fruits and nuts.
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From the paleontology center, we had about 25 miles of steady climb and then 5 minutes of swift descent to our destination for the day, the Spok'n Hostel in Mitchell, Oregon. As we neared the apex of the climb, a motorist pulled up to make sure we had enough water -- so nice! (Though I do have to retract my generalizations about Oregon drivers vis-a-vis Idaho drivers after someone shouted "GET THE F**K OFF THE ROAD" as he passed me. Arseholes exist in all states.)
Let's talk about this hostel. We walked through the front door into a cavernous room lined with sturdy bunk beds. Sunlight filtered through the western windows and indie rock played softly from a set of speakers on the far wall. "This is what I thought Oregon would be like," I said.
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2 years ago
Our host soon appeared to show us around. Every turn revealed a new delight. Power strips on every bunk bed! Wifi! Tea and coffee and milk and cereal for the morning! A shower! A system for hand washing clothes! A clothes line! A shelf of games! A chest freezer with five-gallon tubs of ice cream! A floor pump! A shoe-drying rack! Everything a touring cyclist might need. Everything was so thoughtful. For example, there were fresh towels on every bunk, but there were also towels in the shower so that you wouldn't have to go wet streaking back to your things if you forgot to bring your towel.
After touring the amenities, we helped ourselves to ice cream from the chest freezer in the basement and sat at the table in the kitchen with the host. There we learned that this hostel is actually a small church, and our hosts are the pastors. The church provides hospitality to touring cyclists. Donations from touring cyclists pay for the overhead of running the church building. In addition, cyclists spend money at the downtown businesses, contributing to the town as a whole. It's a pretty elegant symbiosis.
After showers and laundry, we walked to the market and the Tiger Town brewery. I was famished by the time I reached the brewery, making my dinner (a gyro and a salad) taste SO good.
Time to organize my things (I feel like I am always packing and repacking my bags) and head to bed.
Today's ride: 44 miles (71 km)
Total: 3,954 miles (6,363 km)
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