week 2

On Friday 11th we cycled from Springfield to Rainbow, a lovely ride along the McKenzie river. We had our day off there ,relaxing in the sunshine,before the big climb on Sunday.McKenzie Pass was closed due to snow so we had to take the alternate route over the Santiam Pass which was 20 miles longer!! It was hard as we climbed to 4817 feet and it was hot! On the way down, about 10 miles from our town, we had a little mishap...... Dermot's wheel just buckled! There was nothing for it but to hitch a ride in a pick up. Pure bliss!! We arrived in a town called Sisters and fortunately there was a good bike shop there, even open on Sundays. A new wheel later we were on our way (next day) to a whole week of high passes,5 in total and three of them over 5000 feet. Legs of steel later we are still on schedule and now in Baker city where my bike is now in a bike shop with a warped back wheel!!
Over the past week we have met some amazing people...Parker and Susan Hudson,chronic cyclists who are carrying an unbelieveable amount on their bikes!!! Everything but the kitchen sink!! We also had the good fortune to meet up many times with two nice girls who live on mashed potato!! They are Rachel and Kelsey and they are heading for Colorado. They are now ahead of us due to a little bit of help over the last three passes......enough said! We will miss them all!!
A little mention of the wildlife we have seen along the way so far.... lots of deer (elk), snakes 3 or 4 (one could have been a piece of string), millions of prairie dogs (NOT dogs), buzzards,wild geese, beautiful birds....no bears yet!
The weather has been pretty mixed ,hot,cold, freezing, hail, fresh snow on the passes, lots of wind in all directions.
We have stayed in many different and interesting places but not in a tent yet and I hope to keep it that way! The accommodation has varied from dull motel rooms to homely cabins; rooms in very individual small hotels and last night we stayed in a wild west stockade in Sumpter, camp fire ,the lot!
We have just completed our second map and have covered about 600 miles. We are about to leave Oregon and enter Idaho, our 2nd state. Its been a tough week but I ain't givin up just yet!!