Written by Dave

Day 11 – June 8

We’ve had a very relaxing rest day here in Baker City. The hostel was full and I am happy to report that our team contributed very little to the overnight noise in the sleeping area. Whatever Chris, our chief snorer, did last night need to be repeated going forward. There were three other women in the hostel – two cyclists and one non-cyclist. The smaller of the two woman cyclists did her part to make up for Chris – ah the joys of hostel sleeping. On balance, all of us were happy to have proper beds and sheets, a nice upgrade from the last week.

It’s about a mile to town from the hostel. We walked in to have a look around and pickup some supplies for the road ahead. We hit the coffee roaster, Safeway (grocery store), a bakery, a bike shop and the co-op. We tried to find a place to mail a box home (Chris is trying to lighten his load) but nothing was open on Saturday. Later in the day, Brian, the co-owner of the hostel, agreed to help Chris getting packaged mailed Monday so we were able tick off all of our chores.

As for the look around, Baker City is an interesting small town. The hostel and a small African art store have added significantly to a burgeoning art scene. The hostel owners, Brian and Corrine, put on lots of art exhibits and live music/comedic shows, plus they have tons of their own art scatter all around the hostel property.  The African art store engaged a metal artist from Congo who specializes in large animal sculptures. They lease the sculptures to various business around town creating a stack of very interesting street scenes – yesterday I posted the crocodile.  A few more are posted below.

As for Oregon Tail days, we strolled through the park where it was happening just as it opened. We got to watch the color guard and listen to the national anthem. Pete wanted to stay for the “old western clothes trying on wagon” but it looked like they were going to be a while setting up. Instead we strolled town – one end of Main Street to the other and took in the nice cool morning air. I don’t think any of us will be moving here any time soon, but the town does have a fair bit on offer.

We were all back at the hostel by 1PM. The boys ate left-over pizza for lunch. Nancy and I had lunch again at Sweet Life Bakery simply because it might be another week before we can get a proper cortado coffee. I do feel a little sorry missing out on the whole “eating left-over pizza while hanging in the hostel lounge” vibe, but you can’t do and see everything on these trips (haha).

After lunch we did some bike maintenance and got organized for the ride ahead. The three of us riding all the way across have ridden 530 miles which is more than 1/8 of the total mileage. They say when riding west to east, if you can make it to Baker City, you can do the whole ride. It won’t hurt Chris having lightened his load and for sure the tea tree oil we found in the co-op should help ease some of the team bum issues. Nothing but tailwinds and blue skies from here on for sure.

For dinner we are cooking in. We have hamburgers, salads and a nice bottle of red, the later being used to once again salute Pete for his big award. I figure its fair game to rib him about it for up to 24 hours with dinner just slipping in under the 24 hour mark. Going forward we’ll keep it on the down low, unless of course there is a point where it might be strategically useful in getting a discount or special treatment for the team. You just never know when playing the Alumni of the Year card can come in handy, you never know…