Day 9: Diversity all around

I left Pendleton early-7 am. To leave by 7 I have to get up by 5:30. You read that right. Jim "late night"Holwerda is getting up at 5:30 to ride his bike. It takes a while to get going in the morning because there are limited bathroom facilities-primarily, two stalls for 80 men. That tends to create a jam in the morning. It also takes a while to take down my tent, load my gear, eat breakfast, pack a lunch, and check out the bike.

The early morning effort was worth it. The ride started with a gradual uphill out of Pendleton, which became a steep uphill, with a number of switchbacks and grand views of the surrounding countryside. The road we were on had almost no traffic-a local estimated the traffic flow at 10-15 vehicles/day.

After cresting the hill we came down in woods-just like that-from no trees to a few trees to a forest, in the space of 30 miles.

The geographical diversity was matched by the diversity of roads we traveled-from sparsely traveled backroads to the Interstate-which was the only way to get to our destination-LaGrand. I road with a number of different people and practiced a variety of riding styles-from an extended uphill grind to downhill speed. I talked to a policeman who was on the lookout for speeders on the interstate. I told him I'd keep it under 80. What fun to coast for miles at 30 mph after laboring for more than an hour at 6 mph.

LaGrand was, well, grand. A wooded campsite in the city park. I was done with the 60 mile ride by 2:30 and used the extra time to do my wash and browse around downtown. Wash is easy-just take the day's dirty clothes into the shower and soap them up along with the rest of my body. My socks are starting to look a bit grimy, but the bleach will have to wait.