Not much time for relaxation today. Van loaded at 05:30, breakfast at 6 and we set off shortly after. The ride looks scarier than it actually was as the page is the same size but the distance is almost twice the previous day.
The first bit was a climb of 1850 feet but spread over 30 miles.
After that we had a wonderful downhill descent down to 2300 feet over 12 miles. What a ride although I stopped several times to take photos of some really beautiful countryside.
After the descent came the second ascent which was 'only' to 4369 feet but this time over just 10 miles so we had some gradients of 7% which were slow going to say the least. I had the company of Philip, a librarian from San Diego so we chatted all the way which distracted us from the pain!
It was then downhill pretty much all the way to 2300 feet over 28 miles which was great. At the SAG stop at 65.5 miles, I discovered I had 2 broken spokes but fortunately, the team leader mike came along and replaced them with the two I had taped to my chainstay. 
I then carried on downhill and went through Picture Gorge
and stopped for an ice cream at Dayville
It was supposed to be a bit of an incline all the rest of the way but with a tail wind, it felt more like a downhill
ride. Clearly, the locals do a bit of everything to make ends meet!
John Day is not the wealthiest of towns and clearly the State Police are not a priority when it comes to
spending tax dollars
Today's Stats
Distance 117 miles
Time in saddle - 11 hrs 45 mins
Climbing - 5000 feet
Average Speed - 9.95mph
Now that looks like a day and a half! Plenty of work from Chris Hoy's long lost brother's chunky legs! Two spokes! Good man, keeping up the British tradition. You seem to be very much enjoying it, Ian, and from the pictures, the landscape and surrounds seem to be getting more interesting. Keep the udder cream going, my friend and may the wind be always on your back. I have a very good friend who used to be the Media Relations Officer for San Diego Police. Now there's a place to visit! I think they give the newspaper free if it rained there the day before!
ReplyDeleteAndy