Day 7 – Baker City to Halfway

Tues 8th June 2010

It was cold in the tents last night and I woke up freezing in the middle of the night and had to put on my fleece to stay warm. Neither of us had a good nights sleep as we ‘ve been spoiled up to now and not used to sleeping on the floor.

Campsite in Baker City

Our first campsite in Baker City. Look at those mountains

It was a sunny morning and we were in no rush with just 40miles to do. So we set off at about 9:00am and headed out of Baker City. The wind was in our faces which slowed us down and made the ride more difficult than it should have been. It’s also been an extremely hot day hitting 30 degrees and very humid too.

Mountain view

We've had to suffer at views like this all day

Because we didn’t have any tea bags we promised ourselves a coffee but the first sign of anything after setting off was in Richland where we were due to stop, that’s 40 miles of open countryside. The scenery is stunning and cannot be shared properly with a photo. There are mountains all around and huge open areas. it’s just so vast.

River

Due to heavy rain this river was raging. We followed it for miles today.

We made it to the town Richland by 1:00pm and stopped for coffee. In a short while a crowd of locals had gathered around Chris to get a glimpse of this strange creature that had rolled into town. Just about everywhere we go people want to talk to us and ask us all about our travels, it’s really great.

Cafe in Richland

The cafe in Richland. Good coffee and friendly staff.

So despite promising ourselves an early finish we couldn’t bring ourselves to stop pedlling so early so we pushed on to Halfway about 13miles further on. Unfortunately there was a huge climb out of Richland that really tested us in the heat. Somehow Chris got Sherman over the hill and the rest of the ride intoHalfway was a high speed thrill ride down the side of the mountain.

We are staying in an RV park with no wi-fi so I have walked into town with my netbook under my arm in search of a wi-fi signal. I’m sat on a little bench outside the library where they have 24hr free (unsecured) wi-fi. There is live music playing at a gathering about 100yds away so I’m enjoying sitting here and look forward to an early night ready for a very early start in the morning.

Halfway sign

A seventh of the way would be closer to the truth

When Bob and Judy packed us off yesterday they gave us some beef jerky and some very special goose jerky to eat along the way. A small piece will go down well for supper, so thanks B&J we miss you already.
We have no mobile signal as we travel through this area so we have been unable to use our phones for anyone who may have called or is expecting a call from us.

Daily mileage -54 miles

Time in Saddle -5 hrs 11 mins

Total Climbing – 2,733 ft

Comments

  1. Well done guys. Sounds as though you are going great. Sorry you couldn’t contact me – heavy rain caused a power cut in three villages, including ours! It was off for about 12 hours!! Not that you are interersted in the mundain issues that we normal folk have to deal with!!
    Love you both and enjoy.
    xxx

  2. Enjoying the updates guys, will be tweeting about you!

    But WTF has happened to the Banana updates?

    Paul

  3. Hey
    You are doing great and looks like you are enjoying amazing views! Keep up the blogging and the pictures!!
    Stay safe!
    love you
    Tracey
    xx

  4. What fantastic scenery, stay safe, love you xx