June 22 on the TransAm

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… 🙂