Roxy and Linda's Bicycle Blog

8th posting on June 21, 2013 ..... Back to the welcome page and listings for other links

Day 10 - Mount Vernon, OR to Bates, OR - 39 miles ... 374 total miles
Said goodbye to the Eugene gals at breakfast and headed off in the rain toward John Day. We stopped at a McDonald's for more hot tea. Joined soon by Mel & Jez. Lots of rain, cold temps but a great tailwind. We entertained the locals by dripping everywhere. Continued on, in the rain, to Prairie City for lunch. Soon to be joined by Jez & Mel. Lots more hot tea. Made good time to here, so thought we would head over Dixie Pass, in the rain. It was a cold, wet climb with no services along the way. We couldn't really enjoy the downhill cause we were freezing. The first downhill ever we wanted to end. Pulled into the campground in Bates. Fortunately there was a picnic shelter we could set up in. Another bicycler, Dave, was already set up & kindly offered us hot tea. We changed into dry clothes,
drank the tea & dove into the sleeping bags to warm up. After a cold dinner, Russ & Laura invited all the bikers to share their campfire. After enjoying the conversation & warmth, we snuggled into the sleeping bags.

Day 11 - Bates, OR to Baker City, OR - 52 miles ... 426 total miles
Woke up feeling pretty good after a night in the tent. 43 degrees, but not raining when we headed off. We climbed 2 passes as we headed toward Baker City. We hopscotched with Mel & Jez most of the day. They are faster, but take a lot of breaks, and have each had 2 flat tires. A few sprinkles, but we came over one pass and saw big mountains with fresh snow. We wound down along the Powder River into Baker City. The sun came out the final 10 miles and warmed us enough to shed some of the layers. Staying at the nicest Rodeway Inn. Tired tonight, going to take a rest day.

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