Last night we sorted out our luggage and decided we were going to send everything we didn’t need on to John and Pam in Durango. We collected various items of clothing (a pair of shorts each, a few T-shirts etc), reduced our pants (underwear to American’s, not trousers) and socks count to 3 pairs each and managed to mail a 10lb parcel to Durango. This should make the climbs a tiny bit easier, even if we do have to wash our clothes more often. We got going at 9.40am, our earliest start yet.

About 6 miles along the route, after Ryan complaining that I was riding too slowly, we came across some road works along which we had to be taken in a pick up truck. What a great way to make up for my slow speed! The day invloved a gradual climb, stopping at a little diner in Mount Vernon for lunch (and a little rest on the park as we ate too much as usual!) before continuing the climb to John Day. On the way in to John Day we stopped at petrol station and bought some snacks, drinks and an ice cream. As usual everyone was so interested in us and so friendly, stopping to look at the bikes and asking us about our trip. I just don’t think people are this friendly in the UK. I guess that’s small town America for you. Sometimes we can’t get away from a rest stop as people keep asking us questions. John Day was a larger town and had a few stores and restaurants. Ryan stopped to buy some lens cleaning clothes and I got talking to a guy on the street who told me, “ I know someone from England… Clare Underwood, do you know her?”. I told him that suprisingly enough I didn’t know her, as England is actually quite a large country with a large population – I guess that’s difficult to imagine when you have never been out of Oregon. Before we left he interogated Ryan, “Are you married?”, to which Ryan replied “Not yet”… “Any kids?, “Not yet”… “Do you go to church”, “Not yet”… “Oh well, you’ll find one” we heard as we dashed away on our bikes!

We had decided that if we made it to Prairie City by 4.30pm we would attempt to go over the pass to Austin Junction. It was about 4.30pm when we arrived, so we stopped at the store for some drinks and to fill up our water bottles and then rested in the park to debate our next move. We decided to go for it.

We climbed and climbed and climbed. It was never ending. We stopped constantly on the way up and made it to a view point over the valley below. A friendly biker from Alabama got chatting to us and said he thought the top was about 2 miles away. “I can cope with 2 miles” I thought and we pressed on. Well the 2 miles turned into more like 4 miles and about 500 metres from the top I just about had a nervous breakdown and started sobbing to myself! It was mental and physical desperation as I thought that every bend I rounded I would see Ryan waiting at the top and the top never came! What we thought was about a 4 or 5 mile climb turned out to be nearer 8! We finally made it to the top of Dixie Pass and Ryan consoled me as I tried to control my sobs. The descent down to Austin Junction was long and steep. We’d have probably enjoyed it if we weren’t so exhausted and freezing cold as we were totally in the shade (I was too tired to stop and find a sweater in my bag).

We arrived at Austin Junction (just a little restaurant and shop beside the road) at about 8pm to find Ivo and Robin just leaving the restaurant and the restaurant closing up for the night. We all camped to the rear of the restaurant in a field – there were no toilets other than in the restaurant, but we were too tired to care. We ate out tuna, cheese and sunflower seed sandwiches (that we hadn’t eaten for lunch and were kind of warm) tucked up in our sleeping bags and listened to our talking book.

Total climb:

3726 feet

Passes climbed:

Dixie Pass – 5277 feet

Animal Alert:

4 Deer and the sound of a large pack of coyotes in the night, they sounded almost human, like they were having a crazy party, bizarre!

Summed up:

A hard end to a long day

Total Distance:

59.352 mi

Total Time Cycling:

7h 27m 45s