Day 5 - Prineville, OR to John Day, OR

What a day! What we feared the last three days, happened today - cold and rain together. We left Prineville in light rain and a temperature of 43 and arrived in John Day in pouring rain and a temperature of 49. For only a 30 mile stretch did it not rain and we never saw the sun. All this makes a 117-mile ride very challenging. Only having calm winds kept if from being a Perfect Storm scenario. The only reason Michael made it was due to the preparation he received from the Saturday morning rides through much of the winter with the "boys" in Burlington. Although on none of those Michael did had rain.

The five to 10+ mile descents on wet pavements really kept you alert, To keep from obtaining too much momentum meant keeping pressure on the brake levers and tired hands. It was hard to keep the bike from shimmying due to the arms shaking from the cold. Highlights of the day was seeing Anne at two SAG stops and eating a bowl of clam chowder with her at the last SAG stop.

We are in the Cascade Mountains and there are some very pretty canyons. We went through one today another highlight. Fortunately, that was during the time when it was not raining. The descent on the winding road was really fun and gives one just a tiny feel for what the riders of the Tour de France must feel on some of the descents we see on television. Randy Wright would have loved it.

The final highlight was finding a jacuzzi in our room and using it to get warm again!

Mentioned yesterday was you were going hear about an item that takes the stress out of cross country tours. That item is a bike computer with maps like a Garmin 800. If you don't  have one, you have to use cue sheets provided by the tour. These are not always the easiest to follow with turns scheduled at specific mileages. The other  problem is you have to follow the sheet while riding and it is easy to miss a turn. If you do, that could be disastrous and result in many unplanned miles to get back on course. The Garmin works great; however, I found out today, it does not do well in the rain. So, make sure you keep a small baggie with you. Mine has stopped working; so, I made a arrangements with Garmin to overnight a replacement to be picked up Monday in Boise. I hope I don't get lost in the interim.

Tomorrow is suppose to start in the 40's (what's new); however, it is suppose to be sunny and warm up to the 70's by afternoon. We may do another bike exchange at the 3rd SAG stop.