Bend to Boise - Day 4

What a difference 25 degrees and a rest day make! Today’s weather was generally in the upper 60s with overcast skies. We did get rained on a couple of times, but only once was it heavy, and even that only lasted perhaps 15 minutes.

We started out bicycling up the John Day River to the town of Prairie City. This was a gradual climb over the first 15 miles.

The scenery was lovely with the mountains in the background. My left hamstring was not bothering me. The temperature was great. All told, a fabulous start to a ride.

A bit past the town, we turned north away from the river and began our first of 3 significant climbs. Out west, most climbs tend to be long but not terribly steep. Over the next 7 miles, we gained about 1600’ of elevation. In contrast, much of New England has only short climbs, but these climbs can be very steep at times.

This photo gives a sense of the open landscape as we worked our way up to our first pass.

Here is a selfie of me as I biked. Today, my legs felt good and I was really enjoying myself.

The vistas were tremendous. About the only negative for the day were the occasional periods of rain and a couple of nasty drivers. One driver swerved next to each rider as he drove past, getting his mirror 6” to 12” from each of us, then moving back into the center of the lane.

The clouds were quite dramatic throughout the day. But overall, they threatened rain much more often than producing rain. Here one can see that the road is damp, but it is not covered with puddles. Much of the time, it was completely dry. With temperatures varying between the upper 60s and the low 70s, a bit of rain was no big deal. I would put on, then take off my rain jacket which easily fits in my back jersey pocket when I am not wearing it.

We stopped for lunch after the second of our climbs in what was once a lumber town called Whitney. As my friend Ruth would say, “Definitely Haunted!” It is not just the buildings. Who knows what is lurking in all of those swirling clouds.

In contrast, a house like this one has to wonder, “Is it haunted?” Without Ruth here to give the definitive answer, I don’t know. She did text me after my last post saying “P.S. that was DEF haunted”. So I will have to wait for an answer on this one.

After lunch, we had one last moderate climb, then descended into this nice valley with Phillips Lake to our right. Phillips Lake has a dam at the end which controls the flow of water into the Powder River.

We biked alongside the Powder River as it descended the mountains. This is a photo of the river taken at our final rest stop for the day. The sun lighting up the greenery makes for a nice contrast with the still threatening clouds.

I’ll wrap this post up with one more of the “DEF haunted” houses we past. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny but with temperatures in the 70s rather than the 90s at the beginning of our trip. I am looking forward to another great day of riding before a rest day on Tuesday on Wallowa Lake.