ABBN05: Prineville to John Day, Or

Beautiful but cold (low 40’s) today. Part of the time we’re in John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. Later in the day, we’re in what appears to be a canyon; the sign says Picture Gorge.

The entire 116 mile ride is on, once again, highway 26. The shoulder varies from good and wide, to fair but covered with gravel to narrow and non-existent.

“Never in a car had I been aware whether a road had a shoulder, and now having that extra lane was about the most important thing in my life. There probably wasn’t another person within five hundred miles who thought a good road shoulder had anything to do with happiness, but a simple truth had become evident to me the past few days: It is the little things over which we have no control that often carry the most weight in making a day a pleasure or a burden.” – OVER THE HILLS by David Lamb

America By Bicycle calls this a “signature day” because of the 117 miles with almost 5,000 feet of climbing. (My GPS never shows as much climbing as their document predicts.) But the weather is a big factor in dictating how difficult a given ride is. We may someday have a much lesser ride, but with rain and headwind, which could be much more difficult. And today, the weather gods were with us. It warmed quickly, eventually getting to the 80’s. But the dry air and slight wind cools you fast so we never felt hot, even in full sun. The real bonus, however, as the tailwind the last 30 miles. So here I was, near the end of a very long ride, spinning along at 20 mph and feeling GREAT. No aches, no pain; I didn’t even feel tired. ‘Had a big smile on my face.

Well, I do have a very strange pain. When I lift/bend my arms, particularly the right, as if to scratch my ear, my tricep hurts. I’ve never experienced this before. ‘Guess I should have taken Jim’s weight exercises more seriously.

Day	Miles today	Feet climbed	Hrs in saddle	Miles so far	Miles to go	Days to go
5	116	4,203	8.3	419	3,243	45