Day 81: Dayville to Ochoco Lake

July 30, 2006

My sleeping spot! It was pretty warm in here when we all went to sleep, but it got cool during the night since we'd left the door hanging wide open!

Patrick is so nice. He rode with me much of the day, especially after lunch in Mitchell. Henry the Bear wouldn't come out even when I told him I was born in Iowa like he was. Oh well. Wil, Patrick and I had lunch in Mitchell, with Wil getting these 'ice cream pancakes' that were way too sweet for me. Sandwich it was for me.

Henry the Bear wouldn't come out of his house in Mitchell to say hello, even when I told him I was from Iowa originally, too (we both were born there).

The ride down into Mitchell after the first pass had been fun, but soon another uphill grade slowed me to a crawl. Patrick said he wasn't slowing down because of me. I'm not so sure, but I was glad for the company anyway. Having someone to talk to makes uphills go faster somehow, even though we did stop pretty often and wrote chalk messages to the riders behind us toward the end.

This hill was steeper than it looks...and we were just plain tired of climbing for the day, but Patrick patiently stayed with me much of the time. It's nice to have someone to distract you from the fact that you're STILL climbing.

There was very little civilization around Ochoco Lake, although one tiny convenience store stayed open long enough for us to get snacks and beer. Patrick and I had both talked about going on into Prineville a few miles up the road for the night, but inertia took over and we both stayed with the group instead. Tim had found someone to take him into town to get dinner supplies, and the group let me eat with them since Jacques had declared that I (as his geisha) should take his place.

After dinner, Alvin and I tried to figure out how our research interests meshed so we'd know if we could write an article or so after the trip, but that conversation turned into a discussion of his dissertation, and my heart wasn't really into thinking about school anyway.

The night was going to be cold, so I bundled up, snuggled down, and got to bed long after dark. I hadn't even taken a shower, even though everyone said they were good-the evening had been too cold even by dinner time, and I didn't want wet hair so I went to bed stinky.

Today's ride: 83 miles (134 km)
Total: 4,158 miles (6,692 km)

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