Month: June 2017

We got another early start this morning, leaving Bates State Park at 6:15 and after a quick stop for water at the artesian well pipe, we were on the road at 6:30. Tipton Pass was our immediate obstacle. We started up it with vigor in the face of low clouds. It wasn’t long before we realized that the low clouds were the smoke of a controlled burn up the entire pass. The smoke became so think and heavy that at one point I thought of turning back. We stopped a car and he said it was bad nearly all the way to the summit. So I prayed for God to give His children oxygen and we pressed on. At one point, about 4 miles in, the fire was still burning. Thankfully, the summit was within a couple of miles and the smoke began to clear. We reached the summit of Tipton Mt. at 8:00. 

Riding down was, as usual, an absolute blast! But it was quickly stifled by another climb up Sumpter Pass, which we reached by 10:00 (there was no sign for a Kodak moment). Both climbs were challenging but I can tell we’re getting stronger. We needed to stop plenty of times for rest but it’s obvious we can go farther between rests than we could last week. And it seems the hills are getting a little easier. 

Given our early start, we had our eyes on the Bike Hostel in Baker City as our target. It was only 48 miles (a little under our daily goal), but it seems a good place to rest after 3 tough climbs–especially since we have some tough climbs ahead of us in Idaho/Montana before reaching Missoula. 

We’ll go into town to see what we can find to do and then get some dinner. Not sure what tomorrow holds yet. Baker City is the end of Map 2 (Yay!!!) and I’ve yet to look ahead to Map 3–I’ll have to do that tonight. 

Thanks for your prayers and thanks for following. 

Until nex time… 🙂 

Today was a great day, full of blessings and excitement. We got an early start from Dayville at 6:30 and made it to Bates State Park in Austin Junction by 6:00. But there’s so much to report between the start and finish of our day. 

First of all, after the boys returned from the swimming hole yesterday Lily’s mother invited us over for dinner. It was already late but I was really looking forward to speaking with Sarah (Lily’s mother) and seeing if I could encourage her and her family in the Lord. So we took our leave from Andy, Greggy, and Christian (the 3 other cyclists who showed up to the hostel earlier) and headed next door to Sarah’s house at 8:30. The kids welcomed us in with much excitement but I was a bit concerned when I saw that raw chicken on the counter… “This is going to be a late night,” I thought. I wanted to get us to bed early so that we could get an early start for once. But then I immediately checked my selfishness and thought, “This is just what the Lord planned for us. We’re right on time. It’s about His schedule, not mine. And it’s about the people, not just the miles. Yes, Lord; I’m ready to serve.”

Sarah took a good hour to join us all in the living room. Forrest immediately headed to the kitchen and spent the entire time talking with Lily while she made the most awesome fried chicken to go with the rolls and risotto which she’d brought over to us earlier in the day. And Rocky started playing Candyland with Paul and Ryder. So I just sat down in a chair and waited for the Lord’s leading. Soon, the youngest child, Willow (age 5), came over to me in her pajamas with wet hair. I asked her if I could brush it and she said yes. As I brushed, Ryder turned and said, “She NEVER lets anyone brush her hair!” I thanked Willow for allowing me to brush it and then offered to put her hair in a braid. She was delighted. Afterwards she brought out some of her favorite toys and started posing them for pictures for my wife. “I hope your wife likes these pictures,” she kept saying. Before long Paul was lining up his toys for a picture. I soon realized why I was there. These kids don’t have a father and their mother is very sick with MS and therefore limited in what she can do. They were hungry for attention. I had so much fun playing with them and bringing them such joy. 

At about 9:30 Sarah came out in her electric wheelchair hooked up to her oxygen. She tried to apologize for her house but I quickly dismissed it and tried to put her at ease. Then she thanked me for taking time with the children and sat by watching some of the fun we were having. After a while I told the kids I wanted to speak with their mother and directed them to play with themselves. Sarah and I started talking about her MS and the many hard providences in her life since she was in a car wreck at age 16. A very bright future at the Naval Academy was shattered and her life took a very different turn. I encouraged her that she was right where God wanted her and that if there was any better way to conform her to Christ’s image, He would have chosen it. She was on the path best suited to God’s glory and most conducive to her good. She wholeheartedly agreed and thanked me for reminding her of that. I also told her of the great help Chantry has had with her MS by Kangen water and ASEA and urged her to speak with her. I hope she does. Then she asked about my denomination; which got us talking about the authority of Scripture, the imporantance of faithful preaching, and the need to be in a church where the Bible is held to be the inspired and authoritative Word of God. It was a most encouraging conversation which lasted right up to dinner. I invited her visit my church website and listen to some of my sermons. I hope she does. All in all, the time at their home was a blessed time of service in the name of Jesus. I pray their hears and spirits were lifted. 

We got to bed after 11 and I awoke at 5:30. I decided to get the boys up and get going asap. We could eat breakfast on the road. We packed as quietly as possible so as not to disturb the others and were on the road by 6:30. After a day of rest I was rearing and ready to go and took the lead, setting a quick pace of 14-15 mph. We were biking up river, and therefore uphill, but the incline was gradual and gave us little difficulty. I think the pace was a bit fast for Rocky but I knew that if we pushed hard to Prairie City (45 miles) we could take a nice long break before tackling Dixie Pass. So I kept us moving. 

We stopped at the Bike hostel in Mt. Vernon (22 miles) to see Samuel and Chad (whom we’d met at the bike shop in Corvallis on June 19) and to use the restroom and refill our water bottles. After taking off we headed for Prairie City (23 miles) and arrived there at 12:40, just in time for lunch. We could see a good storm brewing and picked up the pace for the last 3 miles or so to get to town ahead of it. Thankful we made it. After shopping for dinner, breakfast, and tomorrow’s lunch we sat down outside a local store to make wraps for lunch. The very nice store owner struck up a conversation with us and then proceeded to tell us that John Day (a town back) had just been stuck with a terrible hail and wind storm (there were even some power outages) and that it was now coming to Prarie City. No sooner had she warned us than the wind began blowing hard down the street and upon us. She gold us to bring our bikes inside and to come in to wait it out. 

Before long, we’d ordered three drinks and I was falling asleep in a big cumfy chair while the boys enjoyed some adult coloring books. We sat there for 2 hrs while the wind blew, the lightning struck, and the thunder rumbled. The two ladies (Judy and Debbie) were so very kind and hospitable. I think they would’ve let us sleep there all night if we needed it. But we had a Pass to conquer. 

We set out at 3:00 for Dixie Pass. It was an 8 mile climb of over 1500 ft. I wondered how we/I would do after so agressive a ride in the morning. I prayed as we pedaled, asking God to strengthen our muscles and lighten our weight. All in all it was a very hard Pass but the Lord’s was mighty to help. I definitely felt stronger than I did when we climbed Keyes Creek Pass on Saturday. I found myself able to push harder and longer before needing a rest. And despite how hard the boys found the Pass, they both did well and Rocky also did better than he did on Keyes. 

As we left the summit heading down to Austin Junction another storm was blowing in. In fact, the wind blew so strongly against us all the way down the Pass that if we hadn’t pedaled hard against it, it would have stopped us dead in our tracks–on the downhill! We pushed hard to get to the bottom and arrived at Bates State Park in time to set up our tent before it started raining. Thank you Lord. But as I sit here now, the sky is a clear blue with only a few small clouds. Looks like we’re in for a calm night! 

We hope to get another early start in the morning to get over the two Passes between us and Baker City (48 miles), which will be the end of our 2d map and almost the end of Oregon!! There is more of Oregon on the TransAm than any other state (650 miles) and it’s been absolutely beautiful. But we’re looking forward to Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and beyond… 

Thanks for your prayers, comments, and for following. 

Until next time… 🙂 

​​

The last few days have been busy but enjoyable. On Thursday, we girls went and visited Lenora, her husband Jon, and her daughter Tia. Lenora is a good friend of Mama’s from way back. We had a delicious lunch with them before kayaking  on the lake behind their house. It was wonderful!

Continue reading “Girl Time!–by Schylie”

Today was a most welcome rest day. The kitchen here at our hostel was well stocked with everything we needed for a hearty breakfast. We ate breakfast, read the book of Titus together, and spent some time in prayer. Rose, the volunteer caretaker of the hostel, showed up for Sunday School just before 10 AM with her contribution for the church potluck in hand. Soon afterwards the teacher (Debbie) showed up and, after her, all the others came trickling in as well until there were 12-15 of us. The class covered a series of review questions regarding the book of Acts. I was very encouraged by how freely everyone chipped into the discussion. I also contributed a few things but was careful not to miss the opportunity to learn from the others.

The service was well attended by a beautiful array of ages. There were several young children, teenagers, middle-aged, and some elderly. Everyone was delighted to be here, showed appreciation and love for each other, and clearly enjoyed worshipping the Lord. The church is looking for a pastor so the preacher was on a rotation with some other men in the area. He preached an encouraging sermon from Rom 8.31-39, reminding us of God’s faithfulness.

During the service they have a place in the liturgy for a Missions Report. Rose stood up and read an entry from the blog of one of the cyclists who’d stayed here last week and asked for continued prayer for the many cyclists on the TransAm who take advantage of this oasis here in Dayville. When she was finished the Elder leading the service acknowledged our presence and I had the opprtiunty to share that I was a pastor traveling the TransAm with two of my sons and that we were very thankful for the hostel and to be sharing our rest day with them in worship.

After the service everyone piled into the fellowship room for the potluck. Many people greeted us and we enjoyed good food and great fellowship. Dayville Community Church used to be Dayville Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) but nearly 5 years ago voted to separate from the PCUSA over it’s increasing liberalism and unite with a more conservative body.

One of the dearest people we met today was Lily. She is 16 and lives with her family just behind the church. She brought some of my favorite things to the potluck today, things like carrot cupcakes, pecan pie, and biscuits. As I complimented her on her baking, I learned that she does a lot of cooking at home for her family because her mother has multiple sclerosis. Naturally, with Chantry having MS for so many years now, we found some common ground and enjoyed conversing long after everyone else had left. I shared with her how very helpful Kangen Water and ASEA have been to Chantry’s MS and encouraged her to put her mother in touch with my wife.

When everyone left we brought the bikes back into the church from outside only to find that Forrest had a flat. We spotted the tear in the tube but could find no way to explain how it happened, especially since it was on the inner side of the tube. And when we went to put in a spare, we discovered that the tire was pulling away from the bead, again without explanation since this is a brand new tire. Given our need to leave early in the morning in order to get over Dixie Pass and our not having a spare tire, this was not good. So we decided to head down to the Mercantile Store to buy a new tire and tube.

But before we left I was thinking about dinner. I wasn’t hungry yet; I was wondering what we would eat for dinner. There were desserts in the fridge left over from the potluck but nothing for dinner. We could have the ramen noodles I bought yesterday (although I was saving those for a pinch). Just then, Lily walks in with a bowl of risotto and a large bowl of biscuits. What a nice surprise and blessing. We thanked her profusely. Then she said her family was going to head to the swimming hole and wanted to know if we wanted to come. I told her the boys would be delighted to go after we got Forrest’s bike fixed. So we headed out to the bike shop and planned to hook up with them later. It’s now 6:30 and they all just piled into the van with Lily’s mother, Sarah. I went out to meet her and thank her for the invitation to my sons. She was very sweet, just like Lily. Her MS has progressed much farther than Chantry’s ever did. She is on oxygen and at times unable to get around. I will be praying for her and her family. She has six children, though I’m not sure how many live at home besides Lily, with Lily being the oldest of them.

Today’s temp stayed around 100 all day and topped out at 102 so we were thankful to be off the bikes.

Three other riders just showed up–Greggy, Andy, and Christian, so it looks like we’ve got to make some room! They’ve been doing some aggressive riding, covering 70-100 miles a day. Guess they’ll be passing us up pretty quickly tomorrow 🙂 I’ll look forward to hearing more about their travels.

Thanks for your prayers and thanks for following. Thank you also for your many comments. I’m usually not able to reply, but we’re always blessed to read them.

Until next time… 🙂

Today’s ride was long and hard. We started out from the Ochoco Reservoir at 9:30 and arrived at the Spoke’n Hostel in Mitchell at around 4:00. It’s an awesome bike hostel run by Pat and Jalet Farrell. It’s located in a church building in which the original sanctuary upstairs hosts 6 large bunk beds with room for your bikes to stand at the end. Each bed has its own privacy curtains, a reading light, hooks for your gear, and charging plugs. The room also has two pianos, both of which Forrest enjoyed. Downstairs you’ll find a large table and help-yoursel kitchen. The pews for the weekly worship service are also downstairs and Pat is the pastor of this church. We enjoyed wonderful conversation about the Christian life, preaching, sermon preparation, and evangelism. Also, after we finished up our dinner Pat took us up to the famous painted hills here in Mitchell and gave us a tour of the beauty of these green and red clay hills. He and his wife are super hosts, absolutely delighted to host any whom God brings through their doors. I look forward to speaking with him again tomorrow morning. He’s going to give me a haircut before we leave. Yes, there’s even a “barber shop” at the back of the “sanctuary” 🙂 If you ask me I think it used to be the cry room.

Today’s ride was a total of 42 miles. It’s a bit less than we usually want to cover in a day but we didn’t want to miss this welcome hostel. Several things combined to make today’s ride a hard one. First of all, Ochoco Pass is very deceptive. You keep thinking it’s leveling out and then it doesn’t; and then you think you’ve summitted, but you haven’t. I commented several times today to the boys that while it looked like we were on a decline it felt like we were on an incline. I couldn’t find an easy gear all day. Every gear was hard. Every gear felt like it was dragging. And moreover, we fought the wind and heat all day. By the time we got here I was spent, my giddy-up had done got up and went. I was so pleased to pull into the Spoke’n Hostel.

Before I sign off I should tell you what a blast we had coming down the east side of Ochoco Pass. We finally reached the elusive summit (4720 ft) at about 2:15 (although I think Forrest was there by 2:00). We rested for a few minutes and then headed down what the sign promised to be a 7 mile descent. The ride was totally awesome! We were cruising a good 40-45 mph for a solid 17 minutes!!! I bet Six Flags can’t touch that! And after we crossed the 7 mile marker and it leveled out a bit, we had another awesome downhill. But… every downhill has its price–another uphill. The ride quickly turned back into a climb and the last 5 miles or so into Mitchell were just plain tough. We ran out of water during that stint and it took a few mind games to keep me pedaling to town uphill in that blazing sun. What a joy it was to pull our bikes up to the bike church/hostel and have a man my age and height come out with a big smile on his face and a warm welcome to weary cyclists. God bless Pat and Jalet.

We climb Keyes Creek Pass directly out of town tomorrow. Pat says, unlike Ochoco, it’s not deceptive. You know you’re going up. It’s a mountain pass and it tells you so. But the good news is, we have a good 30-40 mile down and relatively flat afterwards. We’ll end up either in Dayville, Mount Vernon, or Prarie City, depending on our endurance. And then we’ll enjoy a much needed rest on the Lord’s Day.

Thanks for your prayers. Thanks for following.

Until next time… 🙂

Today’s ride took us from Sisters to Ochoco Lake State Park. It was a steady ride of 53 miles through Terrebonne, O’Neil, and Prineville. The ride provided some gorgeous scenery of junipers, rivers, and bluffs. I felt like we were riding through an old western movie set. Although we had a good share of hills to tackle, it required more endurance than strength. It was hot all day and we rode into the wind for the whole 7 hours. We left Sisters around 9 AM on a protein bar, a bell pepper, and a mixture of almond butter and honey for breakfast–it was all we had since we hadn’t shopped the day before. But despite the meagre rations, we rode well and hard all the way to Terrebone (20 miles) where we stopped for a heartily lunch and a visit to the grocery store. 

But check out this amazing providence… During our ride on Tuesday an elderly man came by on a racing bike and began to ride next to me. We spoke about the beauty of the road we were on and about our heading towards McKenzie Pass. I also explained that I was a pastor on sabbatical very grateful for the opportunity to travel across the country with my family and then ride back across it on bicycle with two of my sons. He told me he thought that was just great and that my sons would never forget it and that my relationship with them would be the better for it. I told him I agreed and then he rode off, wishing us all well. Today when we stooped on the sidewalk in Terrebonne trying to decide what to do for lunch, an elderly man came walking up and greeted us. He said, “You won’t remember me, but I rode with you the other day.” “Yes, of course!” I said. “I’ve been looking for you,” he said. “I think it’s really great what you’re doing and I wanted to given this to you.” He took out his wallet and handed me $20. “Here. Go get yourself some lunch. And have a great ride!” I never got his name, but I gave him the link to this blog. I hope he’s following us and enjoys our journey as much as we do. 

We pressed on after lunch and made it to Ochoco Lake State Park just after 4 PM, the campground nearest to the Pass we’ll have to climb tomorrow. Ochoco Pass summits at just over 4700 ft but thankfully we’re already at an elevation near 2000 ft. Besides, it looks on the elevation profile to be a gradual ascent, unlike McKenzie, so we’re hoping it’ll go okay. But to avoid climbing Keyes Creek Pass as well, which would be a climb of another 2000 ft, we’ll probably stay in Mitchell tomorrow night. We cooked a huge batch of spaghetti for dinner tonight and we all agreed that it was our best meal yet. Like my dad always says, “It’s the best I ever made!” In fact, it was so good that I cooked up the rest of the noodles, mixed it in with the left over sauce, and left it in the pan for tomorrow’s breakfast 🙂 Who says you can’t have spaghetti for breakfast!? It’ll be just as good as leftover pizza for breakfast. Actually, it’ll probably be better. Besides, there’s no room in our panniers for leftover spaghetti and we’re certainly not throwing it away. Not to mention, it’ll be the fastest breakfast meal I’ve cooked yet 🙂 and we can get on our way up Ochoco Pass. 

Thanks for all your prayers! I’ll keep you posted as I’m able and will send today’s pictures later. God bless you. 

Until next time… 🙂 

Where do I begin!? We’ve completed our first week and so much has happened. I want to thank Schylie for her help with our end of the blog. It seems every day has been so taken up with biking, cooking, set-up, break-down, and sleeping that there’s been no time at all for me to write a post. Not to mention, given how much we’ve put out each day, the only thing I want to do at the end of the day is go to bed! Even now, it’s already 10 PM Wednesday the 21st and today was our hardest day yet. Nevertheless, I want to try to give you a few highlights and stats from each day of our first week.

June 14

We were aiming to hook up with the family at Jeremy & Marie Prys’ house in Salem, OR on Saturday so we could go to church together on Sunday. So despite being novices at this we knew we had to give it our best shot in order to make it the nearly 200 miles in our first 4 days. Day 1 made for a strong start. We biked 49 miles, from Astoria to Nehalem Bay State Park in Nehalem. Honestly, it was farther than I wanted to go on our first day but once we’d passed the too-near campgrounds, Nehalem Bay State Park was our only option. So we had to keep on trucking till we reached it. I was sprawled out on the side of Highway 101 a couple of times because I was so exhausted by the hilly coastline. One time we even laid in the grass before a tunnel to get a 20 min power nap. The State Park was very nice and we enjoyed visiting with two other cyclists.

June 15

We’d been warned of a freak fall-storm warning for June 15-16 along the coast. They forecasted 50 mph winds and 5 inches of rain in 36 hours. When we awoke at 6:30 on the 15th to a break in the rain, we decided to pack up and hit the road. Breakfast would have to wait. We stopped at a gas station up the road and ate summer sausage and cheese and set out to brave the storm. I had no idea how far we’d get but figured we should do what we could. There were a few campground options along the way so I knew we had plenty of options. With the Lord’s help we made it 25 miles to an RV Park across the street from the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Need I say it was an extremely hard day? The rain blew sideways and the headwinds(!) certainly felt 50 mph. We’d be using all our strength to keep moving and as soon as we rounded the corner and were fully exposed to the ocean, the wind would literally stop us cold. It was like running into a brick wall. We had to quickly downshift in order to keep moving. At other times we’d come to the top of the hill and it would literally blow us sideways. It was a real battle all day,  between the hills, the winds, and the rain. But I have to say, given that we covered 25 miles I think we held our own.

June 16

We left Tillamook and set our sights on Rose Lodge. It would be a long day; 55 miles and the remains of the coastal storm; but I thought we could do it. Besides, we had to make it to Rose Lodge if we had a chance of making it to Salem on Saturday. The ride was the hardest yet. We encountered 2 very long, steep hills that Rocky and I simply could not conquer without pushing our bikes, one on the Netarts Highway (131) and the other on Cape Lookout Road. Forrest biked all the way to the top of both hills with a few good breaks, but Rocky and I probably took a dozen breaks and walked a good mile that day. It was an accumulated elevation gain of 3000 ft. We reached Rose Lodge by 7 PM exhausted and got an awesome campsite on the river.

Two unfortunate events (of which Schylie has already written) were my crash, which tore a hole in one of my front panniers and ripped a couple of holes in my shoe, and my falling over into a guard rail on a switchback on Cape Lookout Road. It’s funny. I don’t remember seeing many guard rails on that hill. In fact, I remember thinking how terrible–if not deadly–it would be to fall off the shoulder hundreds of feet to the gorge. I warned Rocky to steer well clear of the edge and to be careful. I can’t tell you how thankful to God I am for that guardrail. It hurt badly when I fell into it. The guardrail bruised my right thigh and the top tube bruised the inside of my left thigh; but praise God I was thankful to be alive and still on that hill.

June 17

The water spigot at the Rose Lodge RV Park wasn’t working properly so we left the campsite with no water. Just after getting on the road we stopped in a driveway to situate a few things when suddenly a jolly cyclist traveling West stopped to greet us. Brad had begun the TransAm in Yorktown, VA on May 1st and was only a few days from the end–he was cruising! No wonder he was jolly 🙂 In any case he encouraged us to keep going and enjoy the ride–especially the people along the way. He was thrilled to see the boys have this opportunity at their age and wished he could have done it when he was younger. When he asked us how the ride for us was so far, I told him it was tough and that my legs were quite sore. He apologized to tell me that it takes 3 weeks to get past that. He sped off after giving us the water from one of his bottles. Thanks Brad! He warned us that we’d not find any water for over 20 miles so we decided to knock on the door of the home before which we’d stopped. The man kindly let us fill up all our bottles and we were on our way. Thankfully, the day was pretty uneventful. We had a few tough hills, but besides that the terrain was relatively flat the whole way. We biked well together with Forrest in the lead and Rocky and I drafting behind. We’d planned to meet Chantry in Monmouth just outside of Salem. It was a total of 62 miles and we made it by 4 PM. It was so good to see them again and to have a nice bed to sleep in for a couple of nights.

June 18

When we started on the 14th I was bummed that our rest day (Sunday) was coming so quickly. Only four days of biking and then we’d have to rest 🙁 But by the end of Saturday I couldn’t have been more thankful for that Sunday! In fact, I was looking forward to it by Friday. We enjoyed a blessed time at Jeremy and Marie Prys’s home with Chantry and the girls. They have children our kids’ age and we’ve known them since 2004. It was a great time of fellowship and we were blessed to attend their church with them on Sunday.

June 19

Chantry drove us back to the place from which she’s picked us up on Saturday and we were off again before 9:00. We’d enjoyed the rest and felt ready to ride. We needed to stop by a bike shop in Corvallis and didn’t know how long we’d be there so we’d reserved an option to stay with an old friend there. But otherwise, my eyes were on Armitage State Park in Coburg, just outside of Eugene. It would be a long 59 mile ride but with only a few minor hills. More than that, it would be the end of the first of 12 map sections which make up the entire TransAmerica trail. It was a great incentive–and we made it! We got out of the bike shop in less than a half hour and got far more than we paid for. The man who served us, Carl, had ridden the TransAm three years ago and not only gave us encouragement, tips about riding and places to stay, but also made a few minor adjustments on my bike for free. Thanks Carl! We left there excited and at a great pace. We also met two other bikers on the trail heading East as we are–Samuel and Chad; so we expected to see them along the way, if not at Ermitage State Park. But we’ve seen neither hide or hair of them. All I can guess is that they chose a different stopping point.

What a joy it was to finish our first map! We’d ridden 234 miles from Astoria to Coburg in our first 5 riding days. We stopped at the corner of Coburg Road and McKenzie View Drive to do a victory dance and take a picture. Armitage State Park was just a little further up the road so we headed towards it, very much looking forward to a good rest. But just as we came to the entrance we were met by a most unwelcome sign: Campsite Full. With nowhere else to go, we headed towards the office praying for a spot. The man told us the place was full and he had nothing for us. I told him we’d biked 60 miles that day and would take anything. He suddenly made a phone call, charged me $20, and directed us to an undeveloped area for the park in which we could set up camp. Praise God. It was an awesome site right on the river, had a picnic table, and was next to a small sheltered area with a sink for washing our dishes and filling up our water bottles and with outlets for charging our devices. So much for undeveloped. We slept well and dreamed of tomorrow’s miles.

June 20

Happy 18th birthday Forrest! We set out from the Park along McKenzie View Drive and biked along the beautiful McKenzie River all day long. It was a pretty flat ride and we knew we’d be facing McKenzie Pass tomorrow so we tried not to push too hard. Nevertheless, the days and miles were adding up and our legs were tired. We stopped for the night at an RV Park a mile or so West of McKenzie Bridge and camped along the McKenzie River. There was a very nice man there who gave us some detergent to do our laundry and I got to spend an hour talking with him about the authenticity of the Bible’s claims and his need for Christ. He wouldn’t have any of it; but I trust we planted seeds for a future harvest.

June 21

We’d finally arrived. Today was the day we’d have to conquer McKenzie Pass. It’s a 4000 ft climb for 22 miles to reach the 5325 ft summit. It had just opened for cars a day or two earlier so I figured we’d have a tough go of it since there are no shouders. Thankfullly the cars were at a real minimum and we saw far less than I had anticipated. But the cars weren’t my greatest concern. The climb was. We were all sore and I honestly didn’t know if I could make it. Given how Rocky and I fared last Friday with those small hills and a 3000 ft climb, I was really concerned about our first mountain and a 4000 ft climb. I’d been praying about it since our first day and here it was before us. We left the RV Park at about 9:00 and reached the McKenzie Pass Byway (Highway 242) at 9:45. The sign said McKenzie Pass, 22 miles. So off we went. I figured it would take us 7 hours to reach the summit.

I can’t begin to explain how hard that climb was. It never seemed to end or let up. We just kept going up. About half way up I wanted to cry because it was so hard and I was so hard. At 2000 ft I asked the boys to take some of my weight and they were glad to do it. Rocky took my iPad and Forrest took my hammock and sleeping bag. It’s probably no more than 7 lbs total but I was so thankful for the help. We took lots of breaks along the way and I think I spent the whole climb praying. I was praying for God to help the boys, to give them strength and endurance, to help them for helping me with some of my weight. And I was praying for myself. Every turn of the pedals took everything I had. Every break seemed far too short and Rocky and I thought of walking many times. And yet, we kept getting back on that bike and we kept pedaling. The halfway point–Alder Springs Campground–was bittersweet. It means we’d cycled 12.5 miles. It also meant we had to do it all over again. And since it was less than halfway up in terms of the elevation, it meant we had more elevation gain ahead of us than we’d put behind us. Our only food for the day was protein bars. More prayer needed.

After 6 hrs and 45 mins we finally made it to the summit. We’d biked the whole thing and hadn’t walked once. We biked over to the summit sign for a picture and I burst uncontrollably into tears. I can hardly think about it now without crying all over again. It was such a hard, grueling climb and I was just so grateful to have made it. I know prayer was the only thing that got us over that mountain. Thank you God.

After a look around the Dee Wright Observatory at the summit (all constructed from the surrounding lava rocks) we enjoyed the descent into Sisters and stopped at Sisters Saloon for dinner at around 6 PM. After a welcome dinner we headed 4 miles outside of town to stay with Jim and Patty Evered who’ve hosted cyclists on the TransAm since 1976. They gladly put us up in their lush tent/cabin for bikers, offered us a warm shower, did our laundry, and sent us on our way with an excellent cup of coffee. God bless them for their kindness and warm hospitality.

Now I’m finishing this post just after 8:00am Thursday and we’re about to head out for the day. We’re planning to spend the night somewhere just this side of Ochoco Pass, which we’ll have to climb tomorrow along with Keyes Creek Pass which sits just after it. Thank you for your prayers.

Yesterday, we girls relaxed in the morning and then joined Grandma, Grandpa, Great-Grandma, and Mama’s brother, Rex, for dinner at The Green Light Diner. It was delicious and enjoyable. Afterward, we walked down Liberty Bay.

Continue reading “A tough day–by Schylie”