Fierce Winds and a Finish at the OR/WA Border

Tuesday, June 11:

After Shaniko was a whole lot of goddamn nothing until the OR/WA border.  About 5 miles outside of town we ran into a 5 mile or so section of the road that was only open in one direction at a time due to repaving.  That was actually a nice surprise since it was a pretty sketchy road to ride on (hwy 97).  The one way only, low speed traffic (due to a pace vehicle) made it much safer and we just pulled off the road whenever a cluster of cars came by.

After that is was back to dirt and gravel roads through rolling scrub and farmland.  The wind was absolutely insane in this section and got worse and worse as we approached the Columbia river gorge,  which separates OR and WA.  Dante was knocked off balance by the wind and fell once.  Kaden and I both had to stop about a half dozen times to avoid getting blown over but managed not to fall.  

There were also some insanely steep, but mercifully short climbs in the last miles of this section.  Dante and I had to walk on a few of them but Kaden powered up every last one.

Farmland and a friendly dog:

Just one of many dusty rollers:

Mt Hood in the distance:

Approaching the Columbia River gorge:

2,000 ft, 5 to 7 percent grade that we had to pedal down due to the wind:

At the end of the route we headed 3 miles east to Biggs Junction. The official Oregon Outback route ends 2 miles west at Deschutes River Campground but we were basically out of food and there is none available there, so we opted to head the other way for food and a motel room.

At the finish, after 8 days and 370 miles of riding:

This was probably the most rewarding ride I have done.  Riding with my sons added a whole different dimension to the journey and it was very rewarding seeing them face and overcome the assorted challenges that come with a multi-day ride like this. 

On the last day we discussed the possibility of riding the Western Express Bike Route together, so who knows, maybe we will tackle that in another year or two.