Three Peaks – Day 7

Date: Thursday 12th August 

Route: John Day, Oregon – Baker City, Oregon

Distance: 84 miles

Total climb: 4865ft

Net climb: 445ft

 We managed to haul ourselves out of the exceedingly comfy beds at our motel (I note in passing that Best Western have not paid us in any way for their mentions in this blog, it’s just that the motel was excellent) and after Fred’s mechanical issues the previous day we were desperate to find a bike shop in John Day as soon as possible.  We popped next door to the chamber of commerce to be told that, unfortunately the Strawberry Mount Bike Cooperative was not going to be open, as the proprietor had been taken ill.  Fortunately for us one of the members of the co-op was available to help us, so we wheeled (and in Fred’s case carried) our bikes round to the home of Mytchell Mead.  What followed was a hugely enjoyable couple of hours.  Mytchell worked a miracle with Fred’s rear tire which was truly “tacoed” (horribly bent out of shape) as well as tuning both of our bikes up.  He also regailed us with stories of the tours that he done in the past, his previous career in the high-tech industry before opening a bike shop in Seattle and then moving into metal sculpture (his work is available to view at www.Mytchell.com) and also about his book which is in the process of being published (“The Importance of Flying”).  A huge thank you to Mytchell, not just for sorting the bikes out but also for a few hours of engaging and enjoyable company.

With the bikes fixed, and being given an extra half-hour to check out of the motel, we were back on the road by 11:30, which was great news.   We had adjusted the route to account for the lost time, but this still meant that we had 84 miles to ride, with three significant passes to climb in onlhy two thirds of a day.   We raced to Prairie City – which was our intended destination for the previous day and stopped for supplies before heading on to the first, and largest of our climbs.  Fully stocked we set off toward the Dixie Pass.  Delayed somewhat by two Parkes punctures in the space of two miles, and the awful state of the roads, we still made good time and rolled down the other side of the pass for some lunch in a diner at Austin Junction.  There were a bunch of other cyclists who had also stopped there and whilst we were rather shunned at first we eventually ended up swapping tales about our respective rides to date, albeit in stilted manner.

After lunch we churned our way up both the Tipton and Sumpter Passes and were then rewarded with a long downhill ride into Baker City, the largest town in the area (and the site of the first multi-story building we had seen since our ride began). We made it into town just as the sun was setting and happened almost immediately upon the Bridge Street Inn.  Our evening was spent in the Barley Brown “brew pub” which served up the best meal on the trip to date as well as some authentic and award winner beers, brewed in house.  All in all an excellent result for a day which otherwise could have been wasted.

JBS