Halfway, Oregon to Cambridge, Idaho -- 58 miles

  

 We got on the road at 7 am to try and beat the heat. We went through Hell’s Canyon along the Snake River, which was mostly downhill with brown mountains rising up on either side of the canyon. At Brownlee Dam, we crossed into Idaho and began a 13-mile climb that started gradually and got steeper during the last few miles. We had read that temperatures in the canyon could reach 110 degrees, and it must have been in the 90s as we were climbing. We stopped about a mile from the pass to eat lunch, and met up with Jacques and Mariejo from Paris, who are also riding cross-country. On the downhill ride, even the breezes were hot.

When we got to Cambridge, Lenny wanted to stay in a motel, so we checked into the Hunters Inn and Jack Croly, the owner, brought two cold Heinekens to our room! We had dinner at Kay’s Cafe and enjoyed the informal, friendly atmosphere. The cook asked how Lenny’s steak was, and gave the thumb’s up when he said it was perfect. One guy ordered apple pie with cheddar cheese on top, instead of ice cream. We had chocolate pie and strawberry pie for dessert (no cheese). Tonight, we are resting for more climbing tomorrow. We lost an hour with the change to Mountain Time when we crossed into Idaho.

Baker City, Oregon to Halfway, Oregon -- 54 miles

We had planned to get up at 5:00 am, but slept later and were woken by Bob Berkowitz’s phone call at 6:00 am. Had slow service but good food at the Baker Truck Corral for breakfast. Lenny talked to Debbie Epperson, the motel clerk, when we checked out, about vertebral subluxation and our website. She wanted to share that information with her cousin, who is having various health problems. Biked out of town at 8:10 am and stopped at the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. After hearing and seeing the hardships they experienced, we had great empathy for the early pioneers on the Trail!

In these modern times, it seems that bike touring is about as close as you can get to what the pioneers did 150 years ago. There is also a real camaraderie between bike tourists - the difficulty of life on the road creates a kinship and a genuine willingness to help one another out. The terrain was downhill until we reached the town of Richland. From there, we climbed for 7 miles up a 7% grade in the sweltering heat of the day. Fortunately, the downhill was equally steep! We camped in Halfway and saw a sign from Half.com about this being “the first dot-com town.” Remember hearing in the news a while ago about the town changing their name. Had a campstove dinner of lentil stew.

Rest day in Baker City, Oregon

 

We woke at around 7:30 am. Lenny started making phone calls to take care of business with his office, while Lorraine composed some e-mails to friends, and went across the road to the laundromat to wash most of our clothes. We rode our (unloaded) bikes into town to go to the post office, bike shop, library and grocery store. We checked out the Ride for Chiropractic website at the library and read all the great messages that people have added to our guestbook! When we wanted some work done on our bikes, the bike shop owner said, “I know you need it right away. Bike tourists are often a pain in the neck, but you gotta take care of them because they’re living the dream.” He was a real character. We talked to him more about bike touring - he asked us if we had done a lot of touring before and we said we had done smaller trips, but nothing this big. He commented, “It seems like a lot of people who do this are not avid cyclists - it’s like a mid-life crisis trip or something.” We had dinner at El Erradero, a Mexican restaurant recommended by the woman at the motel front desk, and had ice cream at Charley’s Ice Cream Parlor. We even considered taking a second day off, but decided to see how we felt in the morning. Went back to the motel and packed our bikes for the next day.

Prairie City, Oregon to Baker City, Oregon -- 68 miles

Got up at 5:00 am and started riding at 6:30 am to beat the heat. We went over 3 passes, with a total of 6,000 feet in climbing - 2,000 feet more than the climb at McKenzie Pass. The last pass was the hardest, with rolling hills and steep climbs. Ate lunch at noon on top of the 3rd pass, and still had 30 miles to go to reach town. The downhill ride was nice and picturesque, but we hit a strong headwind for the last 10 miles, which just wiped us out. This was definitely our toughest day. We got to Baker City at 3:30 pm, stayed at the Quality Inn, and ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant. By 6:00 pm, we were zombie-exhausted - we rested and watched TV for the rest of the evening.

Dayville, Oregon to Prairie City, Oregon -- 45 miles

Lorraine phoned her parents from town and we got on the road at 9:30 am. Ate lunch in Mount Vernon in a public park, and spoke to a couple, Duane & Dana Diller, who were riding their motorcycle in the BMW rally. We told them more about the Ride for Chiropractic and vertebral subluxation. He was a retired eye surgeon, and was very interested in what we had to say. We gave him a brochure to follow our ride and to consider a pledge. The sun felt very hot, riding through the high desert, and we carried 2 liters of extra water. We camped in Prairie City and had an excellent dinner at a cafe in town - Lenny had T-bone steak, Lorraine had chicken & pasta.

Ochoco Lake County Park, Oregon to Dayville, Oregon -- 78 miles

We got up early and hit the road by 8:20 am. Rode over Ochoco Pass, elevation 4,720 feet, which was a fairly easy climb. People asked us about our “chiropractic” flags and we told them more about the Ride. The downhill cruise was 7 miles long with spectacular views of the valley. We stopped to eat lunch in Mitchell - Lorraine was getting stomach cramps, but felt better after we ate. 

The second climb, Keyes Creek Pass, elevation 4,357 feet, was much steeper and Lorraine was screaming all the way. The downhill ride went past tall rock cliffs and the John Day Fossil Beds. The sun reflecting on the canyon walls created beautiful pastel colors and patterns of light. We arrived in Dayville at 6:30 pm after 10 hours on the road, with 7.5 hours of actual pedaling and an average speed of 10.9 mph. We camped at the Presbyterian Church hostel.

Sisters, Oregon to Ochoco Lake County Park, Oregon -- 40 miles

We had breakfast with Jane in the morning. We hung out in town for a little while and hit the road at 12:20 pm. We biked past many ranches - the mountains and valleys were spectacular, the kind of views we had only seen before in Wild West movies! We arrived at the Ochoco Lake county park at 6:30 pm. Lorraine made a campstove dinner of butter & herb rice and teriyaki “I can't believe it's not chicken.”

McKenzie Bridge, Oregon to Sisters, Oregon -- 40 miles

We broke camp and started biking at 8:30 am. Noticed a ticking sound on Lorraine’s bike and stopped to check, but couldn't find anything - we are overly cautious now! Our starting elevation was approximately 1300 ft. It took 4.5 hours to climb the 28 miles over McKenzie Pass - elevation 5,325 feet - and 1/2 hour to descend! The average grade was 3%, and as high as 5% in some places. We rode past rocky lava fields - the last volcanic eruption from Belknap Crater was 2700 years ago.

At the top of pass, we enjoyed the view and took photos of the mountains from Dee Wright Observatory, a fort-like structure built from lava rock in 1933. In the town of Sisters, Jane Green offered to let us camp in her yard. She used to cycle tour, and was crossing the U.S. one section at a time before she hurt her knee. We talked to Jane, her carpenter Fred, and her friends Joanne and Ron about vertebral subluxation. We had barbecue ribs and chicken for dinner at Bronco Billy's (formerly the Sisters Hotel).

Eugene, Oregon to McKenzie Bridge, Oregon -- 61 miles

We enjoyed the motel’s continental breakfast and hit the road by 7:45 am. The bike route left Eugene and followed the McKenzie River, increasing gradually in elevation. We were nervous about the climb ahead, but the grade was steady and manageable. Saw newborn colts and incredibly beautiful scenery along the river - enormous trees, well-kept farms, and lush green valleys. An irate truck driver yelled at us to “Get out of the road! You're going to get yourselves killed!” 

We met up with some Adventure Cyclists in Walterville, where we stopped at the post office. Continued the comedy of errors by mailing a package which contained the wrong case for our sunglasses - now, Lorraine has 2 yellow lenses and no tinted sunglass lens. We debated staying in Blue River, but decided to get a jump-start on McKenzie Pass by continuing another 10 miles to the town of McKenzie Bridge, where we camped in the National Forest. The forest was thick and shady, and we could hear the rushing river from our campsite. However, there were no showers here - just one outhouse. A little too primitive! Lorraine cooked a gourmet campstove dinner of cheese quesadillas & salsa, and Spanish rice.

Rest day in Eugene, Oregon

We decided to spend a rest day in Eugene, so we packed our stuff, biked 6 miles into town, and checked into the Timbers Motel. Met William Watson in the parking lot, who just moved to town from Texas and will be biking in Europe in 2 weeks. Talked to him about the Ride for Chiropractic, vertebral subluxation, and becoming a chiropractor. It was raining and overcast today, but our bikes were unloaded, so it was a breeze to run errands, and Eugene is very bike-friendly. 

Ate lunch at “The Downtown Lounge,” then picked up equipment at REI and had the bike cranks tightened and front derailer adjusted. Met Amy from the Adventure Cycling group. Went to the hardware store, grocery store, and a couple more bike shops. Walked around for a while looking for a restaurant for dinner. Ended up at the Pearl Street Ice Cream Parlour & Restaurant, a neat old-fashioned place that has been serving hot fudge sundaes since the 1950s - we were the biking couple amid 5 or 6 kids’ birthday parties!

Monmouth, Oregon to Coburg, Oregon -- 57 miles

We left the motel at 11 am - Lorraine was not feeling well after eating peanut butter and a bagel. The terrain was fairly flat, and the new gearing worked well - Lorraine said that she hardly broke a sweat. We stopped to eat lunch in Corvallis, and met Erik Hawzah and Christina Hurst. They are biking the Great Divide Trail, from Montana to New Mexico, in two weeks. He works in a bike shop in Corvallis. When we reached Coburg, just outside of Eugene, it was 6:30 pm. We stayed in Kamping World RV Park.

Grand Ronde, Oregon to Monmouth, Oregon -- 28 miles

We got on the road around 8 am, with a mission of reaching the bike shop today. After biking 20 miles, 2 more spokes broke on Lenny's bike; several Adventure Cycling people helped us with the repair. We were able to ride the last 8 miles to the bike shop in Monmouth. John's Bike Shop rebuilt all 4 wheels, changed the cranks and chainrings, tuned up the bikes, and changed the bottom bracket. We bought a new air pump & spokes. He gave us a chain whip & cassette tool. The atmosphere in the store was like that in the movie "High Fidelity" - except, here bike dudes John Anthony and Ross hung out, read magazines, talked about bikes, and helped John sell bikes and do minor repairs. We spent 6.5 hours there, until 7:30 pm. It was too late to reach Corvallis, so we stayed at the Courtesy Inn motel in town and ate dinner at J's Restaurant.

Pacific City, Oregon to Grand Ronde, Oregon -- 40 miles

Kids were screaming and chasing rabbits in the campground until 10 or 11 pm last night. We woke up at 5:20 am, and broke camp by 7 am. We discovered that Lenny had lost his sunglasses. We didn't cook breakfast this morning, and had a misunderstanding about the groceries, so we stopped at a small place called Grateful Bread to eat. Lorraine says it was the best omelet she's ever had. We met Richard and Eve, and told them about the ride and vertebral subluxation. They surprised us by treating us to breakfast! Hit the road by 9 am and biked to Grande Ronde, where we stayed at the Wandering Spirit RV Park & Campground. We joined the Adventure Cycling group for a fantastic and inexpensive dinner at the Spirit Mountain Casino buffet.

Cape Lookout State Park, Oregon to Pacific City, Oregon -- 18 miles

We woke up fighting this morning - Lorraine was cranky, and Lenny was threatening to send her home. Then, we discovered we had lost our air pump, and Lenny had broken a spoke on his back wheel. Neal Brenner lent his pump and expertise to make the repair. After noon, we got on the road, and biked to Pacific City. We had lunch at Pelican Brewery & Restaurant, looking out at the ocean. Now that the weather is clear, we have been enjoying the gorgeous views from the bike route along the Oregon coast. When we were setting up camp, we met a few of the 15 riders who are on the Adventure Cycling organized tour. We decided that we should stay ahead of them, in case of any problems, until we got to a bike shop to buy an air pump. Lorraine spoke to her good friend Kara who is cat-sitting for the summer - to her amazement, Clifton has learned to open doors in the house!

Manzanita, Oregon to Cape Lookout State Park, Oregon -- 50 miles

We started biking at about 9:45 am, and met our first fellow cross-country tourer on the road. George Tregea is 72 years old, lives in Rio, and is riding his TourEasy recumbant bike to Yorktown, Virginia. We biked and had lunch together at Pacific Seafood in Bay City. He told us stories about his world travels, and we told him more about the Ride for Chiropractic. He decided to end his biking for the day in Tillamook, but we continued on to Cape Lookout State Park. There were no yurts available, so we got a hiker/biker site and camped by the ocean. On the beach, we dipped the back wheels of our bikes in the ocean and took pictures. In camp, we met another cross-country biker, Neal Brenner from Atlanta.

Cannon Beach, Oregon to Manzanita, Oregon -- 15 miles

It had started raining around midnight on Monday night and continued all day on Tuesday. We debated whether we should ride at all, but decided that we needed to press on. We rode about 15 miles over steep hills and along busy roads. The nonstop rain and the cold weather really made things miserable. In the town of Manzanita, we were looking for a motel room to dry out in, and spoke to a nice gentleman who helped us out. He told us about the yurts at Nehalem Bay State Park - round wooden cabins with a bed, couch, electricity, skylight, and space heater! We were able to dry our clothes and gear, and had a great night's sleep as well!

Astoria, Oregon to Cannon Beach, Oregon -- 30 miles

Lenny's sister Susan and her husband Mel drove us to Astoria, Oregon from their home in Lacey, Washington - a scenic 3-hour trip. Earlier that morning, Lenny had spoken to Darren Dunlap of the Daily Astorian and gave him an interview over the phone. Darren said he would meet us if he could, and expressed interest in covering our cross-country tour and writing about vertebral subluxation.

At Bikes & Beyond in Astoria, we spoke to Richard Fencsak, a freelance travel writer for the same newspaper, and told him about the ride as well. After picking up our bikes, we started our journey at 1:30 pm. We ran into our first obstacle - construction that had shut down the bridge we were supposed to cross. The alternate route was about 3 miles longer. We pulled into the Sea Ranch Campground at Cannon Beach at 5:30 pm. A great dinner at Mo's Fireside Restaurant (especially the tasty clam chowder) completed our first day on the road.