Day 2 started with renewed enthusiasm knowing that it can’t be much worse that Day 1 (actually I KNOW it can and WILL). It started with the decision to go with the alma mater jerseys. Of course there is mine (Go Cougs) and Gregs (The other Oregon school). Greg just got his jersey in the mail and was sooo excited to open it and put it on. It was just like Christmas morning. Greg eagerly ripped open the package and immediately pulled the jersey over his head. Cheryl leaned over to me and whispered “Is that a D on the side?” Little did we know, Greg went to Dregon State University, “Home of the Deavs.” (seriously, you can't make this stuff up!)
Our goal today was to get to another large Oregon town, Fossil (pop 473). We had a fail safe route with no possibility of gravel. I knew it would be hilly but had no idea it would be as bad as it was. 6781 ft of climb over 65 miles. I'm just trying to get to San Fransisco for heaven sake, not ride up Mt Everest! Now I understand why Lance Armstrong took PEDs. All I have is Ibuprofen.
Trying to give you a a first hand look at how it was on the first part of the route. Check out the first video of the trip.
Once we got used to the extreme conditions we settled into a routine (pedal, drink, bitch... repeat). At one of the many rest stops I tried to get my Ansel Adams on and take a creative picture using my new self timer app for the iPad. Probably not something Ansel would do but he's not riding 1000 miles either (or an idiot).
As usual, the scenery was beautiful. We saw the typical miles of beautiful fields but we also rode through some nice canyons. There are two main stays of this blog, the route and the scenic pictures so here you go (panoramic for you Jenna)
Only two days into the trip, Cheryl has already been a life saver. She meets us wherever we need for lunch to get us through the last stage of the ride. She is especially good at making a stir in these little towns as she drives up in the RV. In Fossil, the elderly folks came out in wheel chairs and walkers to see "what the hell is happening" (not kidding) or in Condon when people said "you aint from these parts are ya" I expect to see her in the local paper next week.
Well, we finally made it to Fossil (decided against the new app and went with the tried and true hold out pic)
We found an absolutely perfect RV spot.
It even has an out door shower that we tried. Cheryl got a picture of me going in (I was in shorts) but even so, we'll leave you with thoughts of the beautiful RV park and not of my moobs.
Oh by the way, I added a map I will try and update on our progress under the "Follow Us" page. Check it out.
We are 144 miles from Sunriver. We are going to TRY and get there in 2 days but there are some more hills to negotiate first (surprise surprise) so we'll see how we do tomorrow.
Greg - You didn't know that Oregon State wanted to further differentiate themselves from Oklahoma State? The new catch phrase is "DS" not "OS." Apparently, the cycling team was the first to get their unis updated.
ReplyDeleteGood luck boys --- looked like just another day in the Pyrenese!