September 15, 2018
La Grande, Oregon to Baker City, Oregon
Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig
Regretfully, we were so cranked to get to the finish line today we didn't take as many pictures as we could have/should have. As per usual it was beautiful, blah, blah, blah but we were in the clutches of "wanting to finish" so we pretty much did a two man team time trial for the entire day (average speed for the day 16.7 mph!! Woo-Hoo!) Looking back though, we kind of wish we'd dawdled and soaked in more of the "feels" of this final day of the ride.
A couple highlights: The first water/rest stop was at the 16 mile mark in the little town of Union (Why do I say "little town" every time I speak of a place out there? They're all "little towns"). A lovely place, and the stop was in a city park directly next to an historic hotel, still in use. At home we checked their web site and saw that some famous movie and TV stars in the old days stayed here. We want to come back just to hang out in their lobby! The most wonderful thing was a group of local kids who were playing their orchestral instruments for us as the day's entertainment in the park's gazebo. Five students and two adults did a excellent job and it was a great feeling to see that this sort of local pride and willingness to share with strangers still exists.
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Further down the road the official lunch stop was in North Powder, Oregon. The highlight here was stumbling upon a high school football game. Being that it was Saturday, I'm guessing this was the JV game. I watched for while and then realized they were playing eight man football! Some rural places in the US are so small that they don't have enough players to field traditional 11 man teams, so they play eight man football, and this was the case here. It felt like a very Americana moment because of that, and there they were with their field having the mountains as a backdrop. I bet folks here wouldn't trade this for anything.
At the finish in Baker City, the route brought us in on a bike path that ended in the area where we had camped the very first night on Friday and Saturday. Most tours kind of end with a fizzle but not Cycle Oregon. There were cow bells, banners, hoots and hollers, local kids and cheerleaders to make us feel like we were on the Champs-Élysées! We were given a chocolate milk hand-ups, and free metal CO tumblers and dogtags as mementos of our ride. We parked the bikes and felt a little stunned and star-struck. Eventually we wandered over to the lunch area and had our final delish meal of the ride, and then with some regret started the process of packing up and driving away.
Was the nearly 4,000 mile drive to and from Oregon worth it for this ride? Was the (*gulp*) $2400 registration fee worth it? Was the ride worth it? Oh Hell Yes it was. It was an Experience. Sure we could have used that money to buy and/or replace something, but we have enough "stuff" cluttering our lives as it is. We saw amazing things. We spent so much fun time together. We met some wonderful people. We learned about another part of the world and the strong, open-hearted folk who populate it. We unplugged from the shitstorm of political venom on the media (that alone was worth it.) We recharged. We regained faith in people. We'd do it again.
Today's ride: 59 miles (95 km)
Total: 391 miles (629 km)
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| Comment on this entry | Comment | 4 |
Was that each or was it $2,400 each.
Whatever it was a great experience.
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