Bicycling in the USA: Washington to Kansas
Washington and Oregon
May 1, → Central Ferry WA, 56.8 miles
I've never before started a trip from my door. Setting out for an adventure from ones own back door seems more complete somehow, more authentic. No flying and airports and buses and first nights in a motel, just get on my bike and take off. I wish I was coming back to my home by cycle but I'll probably fly back, or drive. I took a picture of Roadboy at my gate, ready to start on another journey.
Today was an easy day to start the trip. First, I followed highway 95 out of Pullman to Colfax, the county seat for Whitman country. Highway 95 to Colfax has a wide shoulder and plenty of traffic, especially as I join the parade of WSU students heading home for summer vacation. One must have recognized me because someone yelled "go Dr. J" as they drove by. My students are generally too young to know of the famous basketball player with the same nickname. Or maybe I am an incredibly athletic prodigy and national hero. Hmm,
I stopped in the Subway shop in Colfax to pick up a sandwich, foot long tuna fish. I saved half for later. From Colfax I headed east on highway 26 toward Othello. The road goes up and down the rolling Palouse hills. Sometimes one can see coyote and deer in this area, but not today. At Dusty, about 20 miles west of Colfax, I stopped to eat the second half and have a little nap on the grass. There was a chilly wind blowing out of the northwest but wrapped up in my handy ground cloth it was 
warm in the afternoon sun.
Dusty is about 10 miles north of Central Ferry, my planned destination for the night. It's almost all downhill from Dusty to Central Ferry where there's a state park. The water at Central Ferry is slack water behind one of the many dams on the Snake river. My altimeter shows 280 feet, which I think is about right. That means I'm probably at the lowest point of the trip. The state park at Central Ferry opened just today so I'm lucky I guess.
Central Ferry has tent camping but charges an expensive $20 per night and has only one building with washbasins and toilets, pretty far from the tent sites. I moved to an RV site for dinner; the attendants didn't seem to mind my rule breaking given that most of the sites were empty. It's very quiet, I can even hear the cattle baying from about 1/2 mile away.
May 2, → Lewis and Clark Trail State Park WA, 46.2 miles
The land must have subsided during the night because my altimeter showed an elevation of only 243 ft this morning. I know I was tired and slept deeply but still I'm a little surprised I slept through a subsidence event. It was cold last night and cold this morning so I was in no hurry to get up. I waited till the sun hit my tent and still tired I started moving.
I crossed the narrow two lane bridge over the Snake river in the bright sun and started the long climb back up to the Camas Prairie at Dayton. I've driven this road many times on the way to a small ski area just outside of Dayton. The climbing starts about 2 miles past the bridge. This area is deep into the Great Basin separating the coastal mountains with the Rocky Mountains so it gets little rain and few trees. By the time I got to the top at Dayton it was pretty hot.
Today had two long sustained climbs with other easy gradual uphill parts, and even some short downhill sections as well. The first climb starts a couple miles past the bridge, then a short downhill section to the junction with Highway 12. From the 
junction with 12 the highway starts a gradual gentle uphill climb through a valley. About 10 miles from Dayton the road became much steeper which reduced me from about 16 kph down to 8 kph. Finally, about 2 miles from Dayton I reached the top.
Dayton has a very nice little 
library with cool reading room equipped with soft sofas. It was nice to escape the heat in a cool quiet place to do some emailing was very nice. I would have tarried with my book longer, maybe get a nap, but by the time I finished some business it was almost 4pm and time to move on.
I planned to stay at the Lewis Clark Trail State Park just south of Dayton. The state park has hiker/biker sites for only $12/night although the sites are not as nice as Central Ferry. It does have a nice stream running through the back providing a nice natural noise machine conducive to sleeping. Bare ground site instead of think grass,could be muddy if it rains tonight.
May 3, → Lewis and Clark Trail State Park WA, rest day
It seems a little lazy to be taking a rest day so soon and I do feel good, no outstanding aches and pains to force a rest day. But, the second day is usually the sorest day so I hope that giving my body a day to rest will pay off later. The park has a shower (3 quarters) but I have yet to take advantage. It's been cool and threatening rain all day so it didn't feel that attractive. Too often these showers at state parks don't have much hot water, rather lukewarm.
I had a nice talk with the attendant who says they get some cycle tourists most every year, but later when it's warmer and in larger groups. Too bad, I would have enjoyed some company. I suppose I'll have to wait till I get to the Western Express before I meet other cyclists. I haven't toured alone for awhile so had forgotten a little about how lonely it can be out here on the road by yourself.
I also met a couple from Seattle out bird watching. Evidently they are on the hunt for some rare bird they have not yet seen. The whole bird watching thing sort of eludes me. I like to see birds and I like being outdoors but I don't think I have the patience to focus on elusive birds. Maybe when I'm older. Anyway, the husband, Tom, was very interested in Roadboy. He used to ride quite a bit in the past but had to give it up because of back problems. I was glad to talk about the bike, it's advantages and disadvantages. Finally, I convinced him to give it a try. A couple laps around the park later, I think another recumbent rider has been born.
The park is small but nice. A nice size stream runs along the back of the park, in better days it probably had fish. The water looks good enough but the ranch land upstream has probably ruined it as a fishery. Evidently the park was created in 1931 when the local homesteader decided to sell the land. The people in Dayton and Walla Walla petitioned for the state to create the park and donated the labor to build a stone building for facilities. The building was built from 10,000 stones carried from the stream for the purpose.
Tomorrow I think I'll go to Pendleton and look for a motel. I need to conserve my cash as much as possible and know that later in the trip motels will seem even more attractive but I can't verify that I can camp at the national wildlife refuge 5 miles past Pendleton so I think I'll splurge.
May 4, → Pendleton OR, 73.4 miles,
This was a long day for this early in the trip. It was cold again in the morning but my tent site was in the shade so I had to get up in the cold and get going. Highway 12 climbs presents a moderate long steep climb out of the state park up onto the prairie. From there was flat fast riding to Walla Walla, no wind to speak of, where I arrived about 11am.
I spent quite a bit of time in Walla Walla eating lunch, looking for another container for white gas, eating another lunch, and listening to some music at a local farmers market. I finally started out of town at about 1pm and immediately started another moderately long steep climb again. About 5 miles brought me to the top where it was mostly flat, with a few ups and downs to Pendleton.
I was planning on a motel for tonight. Someone told me about a Motel 6 up near the interstate, which meant a fairly steep climb of about a mile up out of the downtown area onto the surrounding hills. As I got to the top and could see the sign for Motel 6 I also noticed a small sign for a KOA. I had searched on the internet for campgrounds in Pendleton but had not checked the KOA site. It's a nice place, almost completely devoted to RV's but they do have a little patch of grass for one tent, between the laundry and the playground. Still, it's nice and I expect I'll sleep very well almost no matter what the circumstance.s
I ate a huge dinner consisting of the restaurants steak breakfast, 16oz T-bone steak two eggs, hash browns and two pieces of French toast. I'll needed a snack later before sleeping! my wife told me yesterday that my new grandson Kenchan is getting pretty good at army crawling, pulling himself along by his arms, dragging his body behind him. I'm sorry to miss that, I'll also miss his actual crawling too. He may even be walking a little by the time I see him again in August More's the pity, but "You can't get all the possums up one tree."
May 5, → Ukiah-Dale State Park OR, 56.4 miles, Avg=8.6mph
Up early today, talked to my wife about Kenchan, then went to a restaurant for a huge breakfast: bacon, ham, sausage, 3 eggs, country fries, and French toast. Bicycle touring gives me a vacation from most all of my normal life, even the diet. I'm able to eat many normally forbidden foods and in quantities simply unacceptable without the extreme exercise required for cycle touring.
The breakfast lasted me most of the day,which was good because today was a very hard day. When I left Pendleton about 7:30am I went down a little hill to connect to 395 south. I didn't realize that would be more or less the last downhill for the next nearly 40 miles. Oh,there were a few tiny little down hill sections but for the most part, especially after Pilot Rock, it was a steady grind, never really steep but steep enough to keep my speed down to about 10Km/hr. About noon I stopped for a long rest, took a little nap and finished off a liter of chocolate milk I had purchased in Pilot Rock.
This part of Oregon has green grassy rolling hills with wooded glens in small ravines. Rain is not infrequent here but I had no rain this day. In early May there is still snow in the shade on the hill sides near the top.
The wind all day from the north gave me a little boost but made the climbing more sweaty since it seemed like I was going about the speed of the wind. The shoulder is very wide all the way to the summit of Battle Mountain. I finally attained the Battle Mountain summit (4255 ft) and from there to can enjoy a swift ride (about 12 miles) downhill to Ukiah and later the camp ground. 
The little town of Ukiah has almost nothing in the convenience store. Lots of soda pop, beer, and chips, canned food. They had some gallon jugs of milk and small bottles of juice, some ramen and spaghetti sauce but the pickings were very slim. They do serve some food, mostly greasy hamburgers and such. I ordered some greasy chicken strips and fries. The portion was plentiful for only $3.50 so I'll call that dinner. No chance for any vegetables to go into my ramen later tonight.
The owner operator of the little store had a chubby little girl who played outside with a friend. She and the girlfriend were riding their bikes up and down the main street of the town, happy and excited to just talk and travel up and down, up and down, quick to get off the street for the occasional RV or truck. She was quite startled when she first saw me and Roadboy ride into town but soon she was pleased to return to her patrol up and down the street. While I was eating my oily chicken and fries the little girl dashed in to plead for some junk food. The mother adamantly refused to give her snacks before dinner. I thought approvingly of small town rectitude and traditional values of self-discipline. I should better have remembered the cubby waistline and not been surprised when she began to whine about her hunger and need for potato chips. It wasn't long before she was happily skipping out of the store with her bag of chips and a coke to wash it down. Gracefully, she happily shared her spoils with her friend, unselfish at least. It must be a particular hazard for quick mart owners, an unlimited and impossibly tempting supply of comfort food and empty calories. I can only diet by keeping such food out of the house.
From Ukiah I rode on to the Ukiah-Dale state campground a few miles south on highway 395. It's damp and cold this time of year in this narrow canyon. The camp has a camp host and one other guest, otherwise I have the place to my self. It has a great little river along one side and has many tall trees. The loneliness of the setting was even more intimidating after seeing a warning posted on the camp sign of a cougar sighting.
It's been a tiring day with lots of climbing. The night looks to be very cold and I'm beginning to realize that I should have brought my three season sleeping bag instead of my ultralight summer bag. I was still very hungry as I prepared my ramen with some tuna. Alas, while draining the water as I learned from my wife I dropped the pot and most of my noodles 
on the ground. Desperate, I put pride aside and picked up as many of the noodles as I could from the dirt, washed them, and ate what I could.
I've got a big day tomorrow, in fact looking more closely at the map my destination tomorrow is three passes away, one pass over 5000 feet. So, I may not get very far tomorrow, we'll see.
May 6, → Long Creek OR, 41.3 miles, Avg=7.6mph
A short but hard day. It was quite cold in the morning, about freezing, so lay in bed for quit awhile trying to stay warm in my thin sleeping bag. I couldn't wait for the sun to hit my tent because in this narrow canyon that wouldn't happen until late morning. I finally roused my sore body out of the tent and started breakfast of ramen and tuna, again. By the time I finished my breakfast and started out it was about 8:30am. Bundled up with my leg warmers, arm warmers, vest and rain jacket I started down the 5 mile grade toward the North Fork of the John Day river. It was really really cold hurtling down the shaded road with no exercise, I had to stop part way down to put on my mitten shells. Along the way I came across a couple cycle tourists two days out of John Day, on a 6 day circle tour that would take them to Hells Canyon and then back. These were my first cycle tourists so I was quite excited to stop and chat. Fortunately, they were in a mood to compare notes.
Next came the long climb up to Meadow Brook pass (4127) then down to the middle fork of the John Day river, then back up to Ritter Butte summit (4004), then up and down to the little town of Long Creek. Most of the climbing was quite steep, slowing my pace to 7-8 Km/hr, in my lowest possible gear. But,the scenery is beautiful, sparsely wooded with lots of little streams and rock outcroppings. The climate is generally dry but occasionally a small trickle of water 
falls down the steep canyon walls creating small moss filled cascades. This is basalt country and some of the exposed columns were quite impressive. I still marvel at the hexagonal shape these post piles possess. When I was young I just couldn't believe it could occur naturally, it seemed like it must result from some human artifice. The streams are a little dirty and full to bursting from snow melt off. This area has quite a few wild camping options in the canyons and around the pass summits but must of the route passes through ranch land with fences to keep tired cyclists out.
I stopped in the store/restaurant to check on food and found very slim pickings, no fresh fruit or vegetables, although I found a better assortment of canned food than I found at Ukiah. I was talking to the clerk/cook/waitress about needing a place to stay. Long Creek has an RV park but it doesn't look too attractive for tents. A patron in the restaurant listening to me offered to let me stay in his empty lot next to the store and I could get water across the street. This was a very welcome offer from a really nice guy, but he was a bit of a talker. I got a lesson on all the ills of the town but he hopes it will start growing again 
soon. The clerk/cook/waitress tells me the town is filling up with people on welfare who earn extra money growing medical marijuana in their garage. She was pretty discouraged about the long term prospects for the town. The only gas station closed about 4-5 years ago and the restaurant went of out business. She didn't know why this little town was attracting so many medical marijuana growers but I have to guess it's the low rents and the even lower law enforcement. I don't think they have any police protection at all, it's almost a true lawless western town.
I'm still about 30 miles from John Day city where I had planned to spend the night. I'll make that tomorrow and then decide what to do. Evidently I've got a few days of tough cycling until I get to Burns Oregon. After that the land turns to desert and flattens out somewhat. Too bad, I was hoping to make John Day or Canyon City and then take a rest day; I could find an internet connection and catch up with my email.
I had ramen for breakfast this morning, that always reminds me of my wife and Eri who preferred it to oatmeal. I do too now. We've had lots of fun experiences, my wife and I. I feel blessed with a good life.
May7, → John Day OR, 42.8 miles, Avg=9.7mph
It was bitterly cold this morning when I started. I rolled out of the tent about 7:30am to a very dark foreboding sky and a noticeable cold breeze coming up from the south. It really looked like rain but thankfully hadn't started yet. Even with the stiff climbing ahead I started out with my rain jacket, insulated vest, wind breaker vest, leg and arm warmers. By the time I got to Mt Vernon I had shed the rain jacket, the sun was out and it was quite warm so I shed the rest, keeping only my windbreaker vest.
I expected a hard day that turned out not so hard. Right out of town 395 starts climbing to a 5100 foot pass, probably about 6-7 miles. At the top I found a fair amount of snow left over from a harsh winter. This area is well forested but generally pretty dry. From the top I had a fast descent down to the little town of Fox, about 6-7 miles, then rolling hills for a few miles, then another long descent toward the John Day river. After about 6 miles of this descent the road flattened out a little but still going down all the way to Mt Vernon. Unfortunately, a headwind robbed me of the coasting I had hoped for.
I stopped in Mt Vernon at a gas station and convenience store to get a snack. I got some juice and donuts and sat outside in the sun to solve the worlds problems with the local representatives of the reserve army of the unemployed. These specimens were fine examples of rural philosophers for whom all government action is unbelievably stupid and only slightly more rational than the media, corporate leaders, and preachers. The youngest of the group was very definitely at the bottom of the pecking order and without any visible means of support and a toothless grin for character, he was the champion for legalization of marijuana.
When I got on Roadboy and proceeded to show my audience how to get started on a recumbent bike I found I couldn't click into my Speedplay Frog pedals. After several attempts I rolled back into the gas station and found that the cleat on my left shoe was broken. Fortunately, I have two backups. One backup didn't seem to work properly so I switched to the other, leaving me wondering about the status of my last backup. I should probably get my wife to send me another set. The Speedplay Frogs are very nice pedals, with a very smooth float and extremely easy disengagement. But, the clear has a moveable piece that can break, making it necessary to carry backup. Other pedals, like SPD, have the spring activated retention device in the pedal instead of the cleat (as with the Frogs). I guess it's lighter and more compact to carry an extra cleat than both a left and right pedal, however I've never broken an SPD pedal. I did once lose an SPD cleat while walking, so carry an extra cleat to cover that mishap.
The road from Mt Vernon to John Day has a few rollers but mostly flat and fast with a good shoulder. I passed a campground but the backup workers waiting at the gas station in Mt Vernon for a national emergency had told me of camping at the county fair grounds in John Day. It turns out that the county fair grounds allows camping on their grass, and the RV park next door let me shower for only $1.50. So, as I had planned to get a motel this is a welcome saving.
There are two brothers and a woman camped out nearby, in the RV park. They are from California and seem to be a little down on their luck. Evidently they stayed the limit at the state camp ground near Mt Vernon so had to move here. I suppose they don't have gas money to move on but they evidently aim for Moscow Idaho where they've heard of some organic farm at which they can live cheaply or maybe free. Alas, I've never heard of the farm and couldn't give them any encouragement, however it wouldn't surprise me at all to find out such a farm existed near Moscow. That area of Idaho has and odd mixture of refugee hippies from the 60's and redneck loggers from the mountains. The mixture creates a strange brew I sometimes refer to as the only population of redneck marxists in the nation. They were curious about job prospects in Pullman and Moscow, I couldn't help them.
May 8, → Idlewild campground OR, 57.5 miles
It was very cold in the morning, frost on my bike, water bottle partially frozen. I stayed in my tent till about 7:30 then packed up and went for a big breakfast of omelet, sausage and french toast. I finally left town maybe about 9am. In Canyon City I decided to send my wife a mothers day card, almost forgot. Canyon City has a very interesting downtown section, nicely maintained. It has some art shops and tourist supplies. I found an interesting picture postcard of a native American woman from the 1800's that I sent to my wife. I talked to some Harley bikers for awhile. On the road about half of the motorcycle riders wave to me (evidently thinking we share a bond because we ride on two wheels) while the other half ignore me (perhaps feeling estranged by my motive power).
It was about 10am before I was seriously on the road cycling. Highway 395 starts out with a slight climb that gradually steepens. By the summit maybe ten miles away it is quite steep. I had to walk a couple of times, which gave me some time to really appreciate the scenery and view. This beautiful road travels through an arid region of green forest covered mountains mountains capped with snow covered peaks. The lack of rain prevents any brushy undergrowth, just sagebrush. I reached the top about 1pm so I stopped for lunch and perhaps a snooze. Unfortunately, I didn't wake up till about 3pm so when I got back on Roadboy I was running very late. From the top it's steep at first then nice steady downhill riding leads to the almost dead town of Silvies and then on to the very nice little town of Seneca. Unlike Long Creek, a town of about the same size, it seems things are more prosperous and family friendly in Senaca. The woman running the convenience store was very friendly.
Just out of town I ran into Cliff who makes pictures and poems, check out his web site www.pictures-poems.com. I had heard about him from two campers at John Day but didn't expect to see him. Cliff is quite the iron man. He bikes around the northwest in early spring with 120 lbs of gear, including all his backpacking equipment, snow shoes, and a bunch of photography gear. He pulls a BOB trailer (piled high), has rear panniers (piled high), and carries a small backpack with his camera gear. When I met him he had a fully extended camera tripod strapped to the top of his Bob trailer and his rear pannier. Cliff doesn't have to work as he makes a modest living with his photography; well he might say photography seems like work sometimes but it mostly seems like fun to me. When he finds an attractive area for backpacking he hides his bike in the forest and takes off with his pack for up to a week at a time. Great guy.We had a very nice visit so by the time I left him I was really running late.
A good tail wind helped get in some miles but the last 5 miles to Idlewild campground presented some difficult rolling hills. The first national forest campground I found didn't have any water and a notice on the bulletin board instructed people that Idlewild campground. I cycled on a few more miles; it was nearly dark when I dragged myself to Idlewild only to find that the apparently not yet opened campground did not have any water. Fortunately the outhouses were open and some leftover snow provided the snow I needed for dinner, more ramen and tuna. No one else in camp, the camp host site was empty and lonely. It looks like a very cold night; at about 5100 feet and piles of snow around I think I've landed in a cold campground. I was regretting that I didn't call it a day when I met Cliff, find a campground and enjoy an evening of cycle touring camp stories.
May 9, → the Narrows OR, 53.3 miles
As expected, it was frigidly cold last night, frost on the bike, on the tent, on the grass. I lay in bed drinking chocolate milk and eating snack bars till about 7:40. I was already wearing my leg and arm warmers so I put on my windbreaker vest, insulated vest, rain jacket, full finger gloves, bike gloves, rain mittens and started down the hill. After a couple miles I was nearly frozen and was just about to stop and put on my rain pants when it flattened out and I realized that it had warmed up a little bit. I think I coasted downhill a steep 5-6 miles, where the road started a gradual descent toward Burns. I got into Burns about 10am and greedily sucked down a big breakfast at McDonalds. I stopped at the Chamber of Commerce to check on a wireless connection, they told me the folks at Best Western would let me use their WiFi system. That turned out to be true (thank you Best Western) so I was able to catch up on some mail. Then I had a nice talk with goodwife my wife and gooddaughter Eri, it's almost Eri's first mothers day. After that I rode back to McDonalds for lunch and finally started out of town.
At a gas station I stopped to look at a map of Nevada and realized that I have underestimated the distance from Denio (pronounced denial) to Winnemucca. It's 111 miles from Denio to the junction with 95, maybe 35 miles from there to Winnemucca. This worried me quite a bit since I wasn't sure I was ready for a nearly 150 mile ride with no services at all. I decided to press ahead after spending quite a bit of time in Burns asking people about the road. I didn't pick up much reliable information but pressed on anyway. Here at the Narrows I met a local who works for the utility company and thus knows the area well; he was able to tell me the road from Denio to Winnemucca is flat and smooth, that there was a little town of Four Corners about 20 miles south of Denio with a market and other supplies. So, I think things will work out OK.
The RV park here at The Narrows has a nice grassy section for tents, which is unusual for an RV park. However, so far the staff are not so friendly, it seems they are not too impressed tent campers. I guess I have to say they are courteous but no more. So far I've done well by pushing myself to be friendly and gregarious instead of my usual quiet and taciturn self. So far by effort to charm has worked reasonably well. The campground has a small restaurant where you can get OK food with OK service, smiles optional. Why should I expect more? I don't know.
May 10, a mile south of Frenchglen OR, 40 miles, Avg=8.7mph
Very cold last night, my water bottle left on my bike mostly froze solid. I lay in bed waiting for it to warm up a little. By the time I got dressed and ready to leave the restaurant was almost open, not able to resist a hot breakfast of eggs and pancakes I didn't get on the road until about 9am. A short steep climb just south of the campground takes me up on the prairie once more (The Narrows is in a sort of little valley), from there it's gently rolling hills until Frenchglen. Later I had to pay for the late 
start. About 10:30am the wind started to pick up, evidently it does so every afternoon in this area. The wind was right out of the south (as usual) so I had to fight it the whole way. By 11:30 my speed had dropped to around 12Km/hr. On level ground with no wind I can usually maintain about 20Km/hr.
The store at Frenchglen has almost nothing. For dinner I could choose between a large can of stew, a large can of clam chowder, and several flavors of ramen. I chose the stew and shrimp flavored ramen. They had a reasonable assortment of drinks and chips and candy bars and beer and candy bars, but no milk or eggs or yogurt.
The store is run by a friendly lady who lives up the hill south of town. She has her granddaughter living with her, she seemed like she was a young high school student. The future for this young girl didn't look so bright, apparently not living with her mother or father, growing up in this isolated little town and hungry for some encouragement. She shared her art journal with me while I downed some soda and snack bars. When I asked about eggs the store owner offered to cook me eggs in the morning if I stop by her house south of town. I won't take her up on her generous offer as I'm pretty sure to be on the road pretty early in an attempt to beat the wind.
The major attraction in Frenchglen is the historic old Frenchglen Hotel. It's a two story building with nice rooms and reportedly a good restaurant. They server food family style, which means everybody eats the same thing. It's a out of my budget but seems to be very popular with bird watchers. The Steens mountains are just east of Frenchglen with much of the surrounding area a protected wet lands for migratory water fowl.
After a nice rest and nap at the little park next to the Frenchglen Hotel I pushed my bike to the top of the very steep hill south of town and found a wild camp. This is a very nice wild camp, just off the road in a little flat spot hidden by a small eroded outcropping of lava. It looks like this country was a lake bed millions of years ago, over which spread a layer of basalt. Most of it has eroded away by now, creating some beautiful mesa like scenery. Most of the region has no trees and thus no shade, but on the very highest parts one can find some pine and juniper trees. The arid climate leaves the ground mostly bare, with the exception of sage and hardy grasses, making it easy to find nice camp sites. Evidently, it's mostly downhill to Fields so maybe I'll get there and even be able to push on to Denio. Turns out it's 66 miles from Denio to the junction with highway 95, and about 30 more miles into Winnemucca. I suppose I could be in Winnemucca in two days if the wind changes direction.
May 11, → Denio Junction NV, 79.7 miles, Avg=12.3mph
Up and out of camp by 6:15am! I'm determined to beat the wind today. The local people tell me the wind kicks up in the afternoon, a pattern I've noticed the past couple days. Alas, I forgot some food and had to return so I actually left for real about 6:30am. As predicted, highway 205 south from Frenchglen (after the steep climb south of town) has very slight rolling very hills, essentially flat. I was hoping for no wind but instead I had a nice tail wind that blew me along pretty good. After about 40miles the road turns more easterly and starts to climb a 5100 ft pass. As I approached this turn the road gradually comes closed to 
some cliffs on the east side. I spooked a small herd of antelope ahead of me that ran south, afraid to cross the road. With the wind I'm able to maintain about a 20 mph speed, not as fast as the antelope but they stop occasionally to see what I'm doing. As I rode south I could see the herd gradually pushed toward the road as the cliffs and the road come closer. Finally, after a few false starts the herd made a break to escape the trap, dashed across the road, bounded up a small embankment, jumped a fence, and dashed off across the prairie. The best I could do was get a blurry picture of the great escape.
Climbing the pass slowed me quite a bit but the tail wind persisted and helped a little. It's relatively cool, even at midday, cool enough to wear a vest and my lycra leg warmers. I'm not cold but the leg warmers work as a nice substitute for sunscreen. The downhill on the other side was a long steep steep drop to Fields at the bottom. I have traditional rim brakes and worry about excess wear and overheating on these long downhill drops so I kept my speed to about 15 mph. I was very thankful I didn't have to climb this hill. This is the second time I was thankful I was going south because so far I think the climbs are easier going south than going north.
I got to Fields about 11:30am. Fields is a store, two room motel, and three site RV park I'm pretty sure they would have let me camp if I wanted but the wind was even stronger and blowing my direction so I decided to press on. I did stop for a great burger and fries. The cook/waiter appears to be a Marine Corp vet who lost a leg, below the knee. He looked fit and seemed to be doing well but the sight reminded me of the disproportionate burden borne by the young men from little towns like Field Oregon.
It's essentially flat all the way to Denio, which has nearly nothing to recommend it, and still flat to Denio Junction, a couple miles further on. With the wind at my back most of the time I was hitting 25mph on the slight downhill sections. For the last 5 miles the wind was from the side so my speed slowed considerably but still a record average speed for the trip so far.
Denio Junction has a bar, restaurant, mini-mart, motel, and RV park. The motel was completely booked and the RV park across the road look especially bleak for a camper. I asked the restaurant/bar/motel operator if there was any camping around; she responded that I could camp in the small grassy area next to the bar. They even offered to let me use the shower and washing machines they have available in one of the motel rooms they keep open for the purpose. The bar is the local hangout, the people are very friendly. I had a nice dinner in the restaurant complete with a nice view of the people at the bar drinking and having fun country style. It always amuses me to see families with children partying in a bar. A middle age rancher drove up in a big truck with his pretty wife and two young boys, maybe 5 and 6 years old, all dressed in cowboy boot, cowboy hats, jeans, shirts, and vests. The kids don't drink alcohol, they have to settle for cokes. There were some serious drinkers in the group but the families leave before it gets too rowdy. Later, when a tired cyclist is trying to sleep the drunks weren't quite so amusing. The Marine from Fields roared up in a hot black Mustang to a hearty welcome from the group. It seems most know each other quite well and have probably been working together and going to school with each other and dating each other for many years.
On the way to Denio today a tumbleweed broke loose onto the road and as the road was straight and the wind blowing directly down the road it stayed ahead of my bike for most of a mile. It just rolled and rolled it's way down the road, making little scratchy sounds and tossing off little bits of itself as it rolled along. It seemed to hop a little as it rolled, as it was not a perfect circle; whenever it hit the ground little bits of tumbleweed would break off, searching for fertile soil in which to root in the spring. I kept thinking of Louis L'Amour story of a lonely widow living on the prairie with her young boy and tying little poems written on scraps of cloth that she attaches to tumbleweeds which are found by a range riding cowboy.
Tomorrow I'll wish I had pressed on further. I've got 100 miles to Winnemucca with no services for maybe the first 80 miles. The map doesn't show anything but a local told me I'll find a gas station and mini mart about 80 miles from here. I may be able to make it all the way, it depends on the wind.