Day 7 - Seneca to John Day (56 miles)

Day 7 - and the end is in sight!  After seven days of camping and riding, I was sore, tired, and smelly - so there were no tears as I packed all my gear in my duffle bag one last time and hauled it to the transport truck.  Our route took us north from Seneca, and then west on Izee Road before turning off onto a Forest Service road through the Aldrich Mountains.  After a water stop at the ominously-named Murderer's Creek Work Center (so named for the killing of eight prospectors along its banks in the 1860's).  From there, we had a steep uphill climb to the summit, where we were joined by Smokey the Bear and US Forest Service staff for a photo opportunity.  After our brief photo stop, we had nearly 10 miles of steep (and invigorating!) downhill until we hit Highway 26 and the John Day River Valley at the bottom.  The last 20 miles of the route was probably the LONGEST 20 miles of the entire route due to the anticipation of being finished!  Around noon, I limped over the finish line at the Grant County Fairgrounds, crying tears of liberation and relief.

After a quick lunch at the Fairgrounds, I collected my duffle bag, headed straight to the showers to get cleaned up for the ride home, loaded up the car and headed south.  Stopping briefly at the Safeway in Burns to get snack food, I began the 13-hour trek back to Las Vegas - tired, sore, and wondering how I'm going to celebrate my 51st birthday!

Route Map - Day 7

Smokey the Bear (and US Forest Service staff) joined us at our water stop at the summit in the Aldrich Mountains

Getting ready for the descent - heading down to the John Day River Valley

Our last full rest stop of the tour - Fields Creek Road

The finish line at the Grant County Fairgrounds in John Day (is it just me, or does it look like I can't stand up straight??)

Day 6: Crane to Seneca (74 miles)

Day 6 was probably one of the toughest days of the tour - some tough (and relentless) uphills, along with a stretch of gravel road - which is incredibly rough on a road bike with very narrow tires.  The route started off smooth and flat as we headed north from Crane; once we turned east on Highway 20, we had a bit of a hill climb until we turned off on Pine Creek Road.  Lunch was at the Pine Creek School, which we were informed has a student body population of three students (all of whom volunteered in serving lunch).  We continued to head north on Pine Creek Road, until just past the Borelli Ranch where the pavement ended and the road turned to gravel.  After the last water stop, the fun began - a good 12 miles of steep uphill climbing, including several false summits (reaching a peak and getting some downhill, only to discover another peak ahead!).  I managed to get through that without coughing up a lung, and then we had several miles of downhill coasting into the Silvies Valley and on to our campground in the town of Seneca.

Seneca's claim to fame is that it holds the coldest recorded temperature in Oregon; a temperature of -54 degrees was recorded in 1933.  Luckily, it wasn't quite that cold the night we were there - it only got down to 40 degrees - but that was still pretty chilly for my thin Las Vegas blood.  We camped out on the local golf course in Seneca, which prides itself on not being "overly manicured," which is a nice way of saying it's pretty rough.  Luckily, I was able to stake my claim to a spot near one of the more manicured greens, so I had a nice soft resting place for the night.

Route Map - Day 6

The first 15 miles were nice and flat - as shown here with one of our many recumbent cyclists

Lunch at the Pine Creek School - student body population:  3  (and one of six elementary schools that feed into Crane High School)

Day 6 featured a mile and a half of gravel road - really tough on a road bike with skinny tires!

This is it:  The start of 12 straight miles of uphill climbing....

Day 5: Diamond to Crane (85 miles)

I was in a much better mood on Thursday, after my tantrum on Wednesday morning, so I got off to my usual start (bathroom/breakfast/on the road by 6:30am).  Our route for the day took us north from Diamond, and then along the east side of Malheur Lake.  Our first rest stop was at the historic Pete French Round Barn, one of three round barns constructed by cattle baron Pete French on his 200,000 acre ranch.  The barn was constructed in 1880, and is the only one remaining of the three that were built.  Cycle Oregon contributed to the preservation of the structure after the last tour through the area in 2001 - so for the preservation-minded, it's nice to see that our registration fees help to preserve elements of Oregon's history.  Lunch was at Crystal Crane Hot Springs, a small resort (I'm using that term rather loosely) clustered around a natural hot-water mineral pool.  We had the option of doing an additional 45-mile loop through the Harney Valley - which oddly, I chose to do.  The loop was through flat pastureland, so it wasn't a bad ride - until the winds kicked in!  I had ended up riding that portion of the route with a guy from San Diego, so we took turns pulling through the headwinds.

Our campsite that evening was in the town of Crane (population: 20), and more specifically - the high school football field.  The high school in Crane is kind of unusual - it's the only public boarding school in the U.S.  As was explained in great detail by the student body president after dinner, students come from as far as 150 miles away to attend the school, so any student who lives over 25 miles away has the option of boarding during the week (which about half of the 63 students do).

Route Map - Day 5

View of Diamond Crater

Pete French Round Barn - exterior view

Cycle Oregon contributed to the preservation of the Round Barn - good for us!

Round Barn - interpretive sign

Round Barn - interior shot

Round Barn - exterior "patio"

Our lunch stop was at Crystal Crane Hot Springs (which provided a soothing rest for sore legs!)

The residents of Crane welcomed us to town at the finish of our ride

Tent City in Crane - I was tempted to go set up camp on the lawn of the LDS chapel (in the background) as we were all kind of squished in the middle of the high school football field, but it was too far away from the porta-potties!

Day 4: Diamond Loop (approx. 50 miles)

When I woke up on Wednesday morning, I decided I was over it:  It was freezing cold (the temperature was 39 degrees, down from the high of 85 degrees the previous day), I was tired of sleeping on the ground, I was tired of rolling around in the dirt, I was tired of wearing clothes that had been wadded up and shoved in a duffle bag, I was sore from being on a bicycle 5 hours a day.  I was done.  So - I rolled over, and decided I was going to sleep in.  So there.

As luck would have it, our route for the day was being cut short by a cattle drive (this is southeastern Oregon, after all...); 500 head of cattle were being driven down the highway near Frenchglen, so it was decided we would turn around before the cows and bikes crossed paths.  Our route took us south on Highway 205 along the base of Jackass Mountain (really - not making the name up - and not sure which jackass it's named after), with beautiful views of Steens Mountain to the southeast of us.  We turned around at the town of Frenchglen, and headed back the same way we came.  The afternoon was again spent searching for shade, as temperatures climbed up towards 90 degrees - and after dinner, we were treated to a showing of the movie City Slickers, which takes on a whole new meeting when watching it in the middle of a cow pasture.

Route - Day 4

Sigh - a cattle drive cut our ride short just outside of Frenchglen

The road crew, who is responsible for putting up the directional markers along the route, felt the need to identify this potential roadside hazard

Riding in the shadow of Steens Mountain

One of the rest stops along the route - in the shadow of the mesa

Day 3: Burns to Diamond (63 miles)

After the usual morning ritual - a freezing sprint to the bathroom, followed by breakfast - I experienced the joy of packing all my wet camping gear (thanks to the morning dew) into my duffle bag, dropping it off at the transport truck, and hopped on my bike for the day's ride to the town of Diamond.  We headed out of Burns to Highway 205, and rode south through the flat pastureland towards Malheur Lake.  We had a short climb up and over a lava tube (as Ken Chichester, our Route Master and resident geologist, had explained the previous evening) before heading towards The Narrows and then on to visitors' center at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge for our lunch break.  After lunch, we continued down Highway 205 through the Blitzen Valley (really, that's its name - and no, it's not named after a reindeer) and headed to our camp in Diamond - or actually, six miles outside the town of Diamond - which has a population of five people, so I'm not really sure it qualifies as a town.  It was explained to us by a resident that the town used to have eight people, but a family moved away last year (their annual census must be a breeze to complete!).  Our campsite was a cow pasture - complete with real live cow patties for the sake of authenticity - so I had to do a little site clearing before putting down my tent.  After my usual post-ride ritual - grabbing a slice of pizza from Pizzicato Pizza (official pizza provider for Cycle Oregon) - me and the rest of my C.O. compatriots spent the rest of the afternoon searching for shade, as the temperature climbed to 85 degrees and our cow-pasture home was devoid of any trees (we discovered that semi-trailers are a wonderful source of shade). After dinner and the evening's entertainment, we enjoyed some wonderful stargazing courtesy of OMSI, thanks to our remote location and the lack of light pollution.

Route - Day 3

Heading south from Burns on Highway 205

View from the top of the lava tube

The Narrows - Malheur Lake

Lunch at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

Tent City - Diamond

Yep - that's a cow patty!  Watch where you step in Diamond....

Day 2: John Day to Burns (71 miles)

After breaking camp, our day started with 15 miserable miles of uphill climbing, then we hit the summit and coasted down into the Silvies Valley.  On the ride uphill, I was stuck behind a woman who talked incessantly all the way up the hill to the poor person next to her - and here I was, huffing and puffing and ready to cough up a lung.  Thank goodness I was able to pass her and get away from the chatter (not that I need to bike in silence, but geez - take a breath and enjoy the scenery!).  Lunch was at the site of restored Silvies Valley School - and after a short rest, I was back in the saddle and on my way.  We had another 7 miles or so of climbing before heading down into Burns, where we set up camp for the night.  One of the volunteers helping to unload our gear from the trucks gave me a tip and told me to avoid the main camping area (which was a dirt ball field) and head a block west to camp in the city park - so I had a wonderful night's sleep on soft grass!

Route - Day 2

Lunch break at Silvies Valley School

Peddling through the Silvies Valley

Broadway Avenue - Burns:  They shut down the street just for us!

Burns City Park (luckily, I got to camp on real grass!)

Day 1: Strawberry Mountain Loop (75 miles)

The first 25 miles of Day 1 were absolutely perfect (perfect temperature, beautiful farmland between John Day and Prairie City, scenic views of the Strawberry Mountains)....and then the hills started.  We hit the peak (about 5,900 feet in elevation) at mile 35, and then stopped for lunch at the Big Creek Campground in Logan Valley.  We had a few more uphill climbs after lunch, before hitting Highway 395 and a lovely downhill section of hairpin curves.  As I was buzzing through the downhill section, the voice in the back of my head reminded me that we were doing this exact same stretch of road the next day - only uphill!

Route - Day 1

At the starting line - Day 1 (note:  I'm still smiling)

View of the Strawberry Mountains