Yesterday I rode exactly two miles, up to a highway junction restaurant and ice cream shop for a beer and their wi-fi. I had some major repacking and map study. Today is my first day touring solo. Fifty miles to Baker City, over Tipton Summit (5,240′) and Pass (5’140). I have climbed and descended both, and stopped to filter water at a small creek.
The farther east I ride in Oregon, the less frequent and more,precious is water. I was calculating how far I could go on the water I was carrying, and was drinking at a measured rate.
Here’s a first for me. When I stopped to get water, I looked at the phone (an older iPhone), mounted on the handlebars, to see if there was a signal. I got the screen message “Temperature – iPhone needs to cool down before you can use it” or something similar. It’s hot here!
Don and Kelly at the finish, Austin House
I’m missing some earlier writing here. I remain in beginner’s mind about blogging whilst bike touring. In short, Don and I rode as far as Austin Junction, where on Saturday Kelly met us to take him back home. We had a good meal together at the cafe that is Austin Junction. We parted having celebrated a good week’s ride, east to west across Oregon, much of it the same section of the TransAmerica Trail that I rode in its inaugural year in 1976 during Bikecentennial.