Written by Dave

Day 8 – June 5 – 38 Miles, 1,990 feet climbing (Mitchell to Dayville)

A short but fun day – we made it to Dayville before noon!

After oatmeal in camp, we were rolling by 8:20. The team is getting significantly better at packing the morning. It helps that the sun is up at 5AM and there were lots of picnic tables in the Mitchell park. Right out of the gate we had solid climb. In fact, Nancy turned on her cycle computer and it flashed the climb ahead warning signal. It was 6 mile climb up to Keyes Creek Summit.

The climb might have been harder had it not been for us catching one of the cross-country racers by the name of Raf. He rode with various members of our team all the way to the top. He was only 33 years old, had way less gear than us, a fancy bike and was clearly more fit. He was racing but said that the 15 minutes it might cost him to ride with us would more than be worth it at the end of the race. We distracted him and filled him with stories from our past adventures. Curtis spent the most time with him and told him all about Nancy. By the top when I’d caught up, he wanted to know if Nancy had any younger sisters. He said that he was looking a gal to adventure ride with and that I was lucky.

For all single gals out there, when I asked Raf if I could take the photo below, he quickly removed his shirt – he’s handsome and he appeared to be a super nice. He probably won’t win the race overall but he will surely arrive at the finish line with his head screwed on straight – good luck mate if you are reading this.

The ride off of Keyes Creek was nowhere near as fast as yesterday’s master blaster off Ochoco Summit. Our friend the tailwind was not as strong today. What it lacked in speed, it more than made up in scenery. The hills are all very green this time of year. We scooted through a couple narrow rock canyons and had some nice escarpment views.

We regrouped at the turn off to the John Day National Monument visitor center. Everyone debated whether it was worth riding the 2 miles out and back for a look. In the end, only Pete and Curtis decided that the extra mileage was worth it. Nancy, Chris and I rode on to the Dayville Café for an early lunch and a pie. Just about when I started feeling guilty for not “smelling the flowers”, Pete and Curtis rolled in and reported that the center was closed today – dang for them.

After sandwiches and pie at the Dayville Café we made our way to the Dayville Community Church where they have set up a bicyclist hostel. Nancy found them through the Warmshowers organization and had been in contact with the host. The hosts are out of town but they left the doors open for us and we let ourselves in. They have a great set-up for cyclists – showers, laundry, full kitchen, A/C, lots of room to sleep and naturally a well stocked pantry. Arriving early has almost made today feel like a rest day, right Chris?

We are heading back to the Dayville Café for dinner. I’m not sure if everyone will have pie again (and if they do, I’m not going to be the one to dob them in). For tomorrow’s breakfast we have purchased the ingredients for egg and bacon rolls. We only have enough for the 5 of us – we’re hoping that no racers join us late tonight. But then again, maybe another nice young man like Raf will stop by.