Our legs feel like Jello but we were extremely excited to reach...trees!!!! We had to stop and breathe!
We followed The Oregon Trail and were able to still see the ruts made from the wagons. It was fascinating thinking about them traveling west through such dry desolate areas.
Our last climb took us to 5277 ft and we anticipated another speedy descent. Imagine our dismay as we began heading down, the winds started up. We were dropping over 1000 feet and had to pedal in order to go 8 mph. EIGHT! It was quite hilarious to hear us screaming.
We stopped by the roadside at a pull out for some respite from the wind. A car pulled up from California so I had to ask him where he is from.
"No one knows the town that I am from. It is in Ventura County," he responded.
"We're from Thousand Oaks," I said.
"I'm from Simi Valley," he answered.
We're getting much closer to home.
He had already asked us where we were cycling from but asked again. When I told him that we had started in Maine, he couldn't believe it. He took our picture and should be home by now. It is funny that as we are ending our trip, it just doesn't seem so difficult or long.
We are racing winter. Yesterday the temperatures were in the 90's and today the high was 56. We have had many nights below freezing, just about too many to count. We have 3 major passes to summit before reaching the coast. We are trying to dodge the storms as they come through although the boys would love to bike in the snow. I don't know if I am that adventurous.
We are still camping most nights and while it is freezing in the morning, usually it gets warmer during the day. I can't believe that my parents are camping with us. They haven't camped since I was 3 and here they are, joining us! We are loving eating great food cooked over the fire.
Cord will be joining us for the last few days as we ride into Redmond. We sure do miss him but know that he is well taken care of by our neighbors! We are well and hopefully our legs will recover someday!
Oh it's so good to hear from you...I cannot believe how far you are and how close you are to the end...That is so awesome! Can't wait to hear all the stories, see the pictures and watch the videos. So great that Cord will be finishing the ride with you...You will all never look at bike riding quite the same I am sure.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Gardentyme is me, Tricia
ReplyDeleteyeah, Oregon. Eastern OR is something isn't and make the forest of Western OR even more glorious. I was afraid it would be windy. If you were around the gorge--it's known for wind. Glad you got out of MT when you did--they just had a big snow, probably just the mtns. but still.
ReplyDelete