July 31, 2018
7/31/18 Prairie City to Dayville: Kam Wah Chung and Awesome Church Hostel
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Yesterday was a rest day in Prairie City, or more accurately, a heat day in an AirBnb. We didn't leave, 'septin' to walk next door for groceries. We have time, so there seemed to be no reason to push on. But we are rolling again today, a 44 mile down hill to Dayville.
The best kind of ride during a heat advisory is one that's all downhill. Thankfully that's how the road from Prairie City to Dayville was designed: 44 easy miles. We left at 6am, planning for a 2nd breakfast stop at the Silver Spur in Mt. Vernon (tasty!) .. and an early arrival in Dayville. The forecast was for 90 degrees by 11am. The haze from the Northern California fires gave us false hope that it would be overcast and less hot, but by 10am it was obvious that the heat advisory was the real deal.
The shoulder on highway 26 was comfortably wide enough and the traffic was relatively light. Before we hit the Silver Spur, we stopped at the city park in John Day for a pit stop. There was a sign for the Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site, and we were disappointed that we were there way too early to take the tour.
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6 years ago
From the Oregon State Parks website:
If you haven't seen this place you need to go. Originally a Chinese medical clinic, general store, community center and residence, Kam Wah Chung gives you an incomparable glimpse into the past. The museum was built in the 1870's, possibly as a trading Post. The tiny, unassuming building became home to two Chinese immigrants, Ing "Doc" Hay and Lung On. Both became locally famous: Lung On as a general store proprietor and businessman, and "Doc" Hay as a practitioner of herbal medicine. For 50-some years, the building was a social, medical, and religious center for Oregon's Chinese community.
The various heat waves we've experienced on this tour have presented one irksome challenge. Staying safe from heat-related health incidents takes precedence over stopping to smell the flowers. The Kam Wah Chung tour is one amongst many opportunities we've missed in the name of pedaling with purpose during the early cool hours of the day.
Fortunately, when we arrived in Dayville, our heat-related angst was quickly erased by the kindness of Rose, a member of the Dayville Presbyterian Church. Rose welcomed us to stay in the church, which has become a legendary refuge for touring cyclists.
It all started in the early 1980s when a cyclist asked a woman named Millie if he could camp in her back yard. Millie said she could offer him a better place than her yard and invited him to stay at the church. He was the first of a hundred or more cyclists that have stayed at the church every year since.
Millie was a loyal hostess to two-wheeled travelers for many years until she passed away in 2006. Shortly afterwards Rose took over where Millie left off and has been extending great kindness to cyclists ever since. When we arrived, Rose showed us the fully stocked kitchen, the bathroom with shower, the laundry room, and the 'Biker News' bulletin board. Below the board were a few binders filled with notes from all of the grateful guests. We looked through them and found the notes written by Holly and Jim that we met in Sisters last year. And another note from Rich and Cissy when they passed through Dayville in 2013.
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6 years ago
6 years ago
We spent most of the day in the church, with a couple of outings for cold treats. In the early afternoon we walked to the Dayville Mercantile, which has a truly impressive selection of anything you might need. Plus a bike repair station! In the afternoon we went to Twisted Treasures Gnarly Goods for ice cream.
Dinner at the church was rice with chicken and green beans, and salad. We wanted to get rid as much of our heavy food as possible before tomorrow's climb up to Mitchell.
How lucky we were to rest for the night in a church that has been an important refuge for touring cyclists for almost four decades.
Today's ride: 44 miles (71 km)
Total: 1,953 miles (3,143 km)
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6 years ago
6 years ago