Day 6 - Even the Cows Think We're Crazy (Baker City)

It pretty funny but every time we pass some cows they stop and stare at us - "like what are these fools doing"

Today we are heading to Baker City Oregon.  It is 84 miles away and we will have to climb over three passes to get there.  Big climbs of 5000 plus feet.  Just outside of John Day (where we stayed last night) we get our first views of the mountains.

Going to be another long day!  At the end of the day we get pretty close to the base of these mountains. I think they are called the Wallowa Mountains.   Approaching the start of the first pass I see the following sign (not good).

Get ready for the climb.  It's about a 15 mile climb ending up at around 5300 feet.  Slow and steady is the only way to get there.

Then we get an amazing downhill that goes for about the same mileage (15 miles).  Unbelievable views on the way down.  Photo gives you a sense for the steepness of the downgrade.

I was cranking at 35 mph, scared out of my mind.  But we hit the hill at about 8 am and there was virtually no traffic.  So we could take the center of the road.  I do admit I was scared to take my hands off the handlebars.

As soon as we get to the bottom we encounter pass number 2.  This time we have to climb about the same height but in a shorter time (about 10 miles.  This means it is an even harder climb.   I am feeling pretty good.  Not sure why but I am not going to question it.  I cruise to the top.

Meet up with some of the group and managed to take a shot of them starting their descent.  Again we are  moving really fast.

Only got one interesting "people story" today.  I passed Jarret Schecter on climb 1.  Jarret lives in New York City and is a photo journalist.  He explained last night that he gets hired by organizations like the UN to document social issues (like Somalia) .  His website is  http://www.jarretschecter.com/

So two interesting things about Jarret -

One he does not seem to have a camera with him (he explained he is on vacation).

And two, more amazingly, Jarrett did not train for the ride.  A couple of 20 mile rides here and there.  Now in comparison I did 3500 miles last summer and 1500 miles from April to start of ride. It is almost impossible to do this ride without training.   I hope he makes it!!

Hopefully I will see him at dinner.  I might even buy him a beer.

Well today makes the end of the first week of riding.  Here are some statistics.

Distance first week  501.07 miles
Time it took me   41 hours and 4 minutes
Calories burned   19,012 (amazing)

So another 3100 miles to go.