Day 70 - Halfway, OR to Baker city, OR - Can('t) Hurt Me

July 21, 2021

Day 70 - Halfway, OR to Baker city, OR

Windy, the cat and in general

Today we woke up refreshed after having the additional hour of sleep, thanks to the time change. The morning went well and we made good time getting ready. The ride out was another morning climb where we passed two cyclists going the other way. It took a while to get to the top, but it wasn't that bad of a climb. The ride down into halfway was a 3 mile 7% grade, which would have been pretty good, bit the wind was really violent.

Almost dropped my phone for this, because of the wind

I had to lay really flat to avoid pedalling. In town, we stopped at a cafe for some light second breakfast since we were only 15 miles in. We filled up in water since there were any places to stop until baker city. The middle part of the climb through the canyon got even windier somehow. The wind was pretty violent and seemed to be channeled through the canyon. We stopped to look at a landslide location that buried the original highway in the early 80's. The rest of the ride was more of the same: winding and hilly prairie lands. We passed alot of monuments to the original oregon trail too, including a huge wagon, a whole interpretive center, and a giant obelisk.

I thought this was some crazy rock formation from far off. I guess it is

We arrived in baker city around 3 and went to the grocery store. Mary and I ate sandwiches in the parking lot. Mary, Alex, Mark, and I went over to our warm showers hosts place a few blocks away. Nancy met us outside and showed us into the garage where we could store the bikes. We showered and Nancy walked us down the block to a brewery that her friends owned. The beer was good and it was interesting to talk to a local about the area and politics. Nancy mentioned that eastern Oregon wanted to join Idaho or something, but she didn't want to elaborate in public. I forgot to ask about it when we got back, so I guess I'll have to Google it. Back at the house, nancy made veggie burgers and we played with her cat, windy. We went to bed early and were glad to be sleeping inside.

Unfortunately, no pictures of windy, the wind or the cat, so here is a picture of some interesting eroding rock with an American flag

Mileage:54
Altitude gain:3550

Today's ride: 54 miles (87 km)
Total: 3,639 miles (5,856 km)

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