Day 5 Prineville to John Day

Day 5. We were now heading up into the mountain at the beginning of an epic day. This was the longest thus far at 117 miles. Not only that, it included two long, steep climbs that to some, resembled a pair of very large breasts. I headed out with the fast group, the ones I call the wolfpack. Ilkka had been riding with them for several days, and they really seemed to work well as a team in their paceline. I pulled in behind them and followed as they slowly warmed up, then increased the pace. I took a few token pulls at the front, since it is expected that every rider in a paceline take turn breaking the wind. They really don’t get much benefit from drafting behind a recumbent, but it was what riding etiquette demanded, and it was fun to lead such a fast group. I had to sprint past the group to take my turn, since they don’t want the recumbent in the line itself.

We were on a slight downgrade right before the first big climb. I always need a lot of speed at the start, so I sprinted ahead of the group and began to climb. It never turned our to be a very steep climb, just long. I fell into a really nice pace of what I call “six breathing”, where I breathe in for three pedal pushes, and breathe out for three. ONE-TWO-THREE four-five-six. When I really get cranking I do “four breathing”, which is ONE-TWO three-four. I was able to just flat out smoke up that 30 mile climb back into the cool forest air. I truly feel strongest at altitude, and know that the mountains are really my element. On the downhill I had switched from my still camera to my video camera to try to capture the thrill of descending at over 45 mph. Unfortunately the camcorder battery, which I had just charged, ran out in about 3 minutes. Bummer. Anyway I stopped, swapped back to the still camera, and kept going. Here is a picture from the descent.


The Wolfpack had careened by when I stopped, and I decided not to pursue, but instead rode the rest of the way to our destination with Mike, the other ‘bent rider. We had a good time chatting and comparing notes on the benefits of recumbents. I think one of the advantages was obvious to the staff member at a SAG stop at the top of a climb, where she pointed out that she could hear us talking all the way up, and that everyone else was just breathing hard. It is so nice to have NO PAIN while riding. We get a panoramic view of the spectacular scenery, and are in a better position for breathing efficiently.

We pulled into the town of John Day only to find that the rooms were not ready. Several of our riders were quite rude to the poor desk clerk, a high-school girl who had no resources with which to satisify their demands for an immediate room. It reminded me of our Greek Eclipse cruise, when many of the participants failed to realize that in certain situations, there is just no way that making a demand will help. It just puts some poor underpaid worker in an impossible situation, and actually slows down the process of handling the entire group. The desk clerk ended up leaving the desk to clean two rooms for the more insensitive of our group. I went in to talk to her afterwards and apologized on their behalf. I told her that I had spent 10 years in the service industry and knew what she was dealing with.

If you ever have a situation like this, try to remember that your issue is with the boss or owner, not necessarily the hired help.

We had dinner at a nice restaurant down the street, and traded stories about our longest day on the road. For many, today was their personal best distance. Way to go!

No internet access today, in spite of the sign advertising new wireless.