September 11, 2018
Lake Wallowa State Park to Elgin, Oregon
The Long Decline
Riders were slow to stumble out of their tents this morning. Yesterday's route levied a steep tax on everyone's accounts, and there wasn't much chatter in the breakfast line. Even the early bird riders whose alarms went off at 4:30 AM (At the obvious risk of repeating myself .. God Good, who gets up at that hour?) seemed to be lagging behind schedule.
Here in September, one thing Margaret and I are learning about the eastern part of the Northwest is the strong swing of temperatures over the day. With little greenery to hold the warmth of the day and quite a bit of the land mass being rock or sand, the day heats up fast, but it also gets damn cold once the sun is down. This morning the temperature was in the upper 30's and there was a thin sheen of ice on the tents! So strutting out of your tent at 6:30 AM to greet the day is not for the faint of heart. The hearty breakfast and surprisingly top notch coffee saved the day and we were getting organized before you knew it. Nonetheless, we weren't rolling until 8:08 AM, which bordered on sloth, and perhaps some other deadly sins we aren't aware of.
Today was the obverse side of yesterday's climbing coin. Basically, after 5 miles of flat warm-up, there was a 42 mile segment of very gradual downhill to the Wallowa River valley. This was not 42 miles of screaming descent by any means ... but a long, friendly and gentle 1% to 3% grade down, down, down. Perhaps the best evidence of that was our average speed for this 61 mile day ... 16.3 mph. (full disclosure, that is on-bike speed, not including down time). Margaret and I are not Cat. 1 or 2 racers to be sure, but we are no slouches either, and it would be uncommon for us to knock off a distance like that with average speed of 16+, especially one with a couple thousand feet of climbing.
Once again the terrain was eye popping. Margaret has uttered her "Pinch Me" comment at least twice a day on the bike. I, too, have fallen head over heels for this ride and this part of the country. Unlike when Harry met Sally, I didn't allow Cycle Oregon to "have me at hello." I insisted on being a hard headed realist about the ride (not my default state BTW) and wanted it proven to me this ride was "all that." But really, although I was on the verge of True Love about this ride from Day 1, today sent me over the edge. I love it out here, and am just boggled by the scenery. Margaret and I try to express our appreciation about the landscape to each other, but all that come out are disjointed and sputtering sounds of amazement. It suffices.
Today's overnight town is a little jewel called Elgin, Oregon. A community of about 2,000. The towns here in NE Oregon struggle economically, but all are fighting the good fight. We have been impressed ... actually better to say we have kind of fallen in love ... with the good people of all the towns we've stayed in. They seem like strong, level-headed sorts who take phenomenal pride in their communities and make an effort to keep them healthy and strong. Perhaps their isolation from the wider world brings them together. Walking from the tent city into Elgin proper, we passed their elementary school and HAD to pop in. Margaret and I were both educators and there is no better place to poke around than a school, in our eyes. It always feels like home. We were welcomed with open arms in the office and they gave us the low down on their school and the district itself. People love their school here, and the High School team are the Huskies, named after the olden day form of transportation using sled dogs. The school was old, but trim, well kept, and sparkling. Love it.
Elgin's crown jewel is their Opera House, built in 1912. Though used for various functions through the years, it lay neglected for a long time until a community effort refashioned it as a performance space. It has been, for about 15 years now, the center of a vibrant regional community theater. Because CO was in town, they offered tours of the facility all day long, and invited us to attend a 30 minute dress rehearsal performance of some of the high points of Mary Poppins, the play they will debut a couple weeks after we are gone. Margaret and I thought, "Ah what the heck let's go. It will probably be quaint and cute in a rustic sort of way. We can lend support to a sleepy little theater group." Oh. Were. We. Wrong!! This group was WORLD CLASS. The singing, choreography and "presence" of the entire troupe was phenomenal. Like, broadway level. Everyone hit their marks, the harmonies were perfect, and .... we were gobsmacked (we have an English friend and I love to sneak that Brit term in wherever I can). Turns out the artistic director moved here from Portland and has an extensive theater background, much of the troupe has been performing since they were 6 years old ... basically grew up on the stage .... and they rehearse 6 days a week for their shows. Some of the more distant members of the cast drive three hours round trip for rehearsals! A multitude of members have gone on to collegiate theater programs nationwide, and one has an agent and is working on stage in New York City. All spawned in this little town of 2,000 people. Man. Interested? Here's their website. Throw them a few bucks donation as your good deed for the day. If you're in the area, go see them perform! https://www.elginoperahouse.com
That was a a magical finish to the day. It reminded me never to discount the fact that talent grows everywhere, no matter how small the garden where it is planted.
Today's ride: 61 miles (98 km)
Total: 200 miles (322 km)
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