Cambridge, Idaho to New Meadows, Idaho -- 48 miles

We cooked our oatmeal for breakfast in the microwave and got on the road at 7 am. The route was rolling hills with 2 steeper climbs, but the big distraction was the trucks on the road. Log trucks, cattle trucks, Ford trucks and RVs all blasted past us with not much room to spare. We ate lunch before the second climb and the sun really started beating down on us. We arrived in New Meadows around 2 pm, and Lenny insisted on staying in a motel again. We checked into the Hartland Inn, and had delicious chicken and beef brisket at Sagebrush BBQ in town. Tomorrow, we will get on the road at 5 am when the sun comes up, to escape the heat of the day and finish biking by early afternoon.

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.