Day 3 – June 19th

Trying to put the news from the day before out of my mind, I attempted to just focus on the day of riding ahead of me. The ride for the day began outside of Government Camp, and we had plotted 112 miles and 4,800 feet of climbing. It was going to be a long day!

We began with a nice flat section that led us into a great descent. Gary and I really got in sync on the flat section, and took turns pulling every mile to mile and a half. Around mile 23 we began a 5 mile climb out of the valley. It was a gradual climb and through it both Gary and I felt really good. I was starting to find my climbing form again, and after finding a good cadence and rhythm I was able to spin up at a steady pace. The whole time I was able to keep my heart rate in check, and made sure I didn’t push into the zone where I’d start building up lactic acid; I tend to try and keep my heart rate below 163 over a long climb. If I go much higher I am prone to burn my legs for the next day; something I can’t afford to do on this type of trip.

After the climb, and a pit stop to fuel up on turkey sandwiches courtesy of Mr. Hart, we battled the heat and a headwind into Madras, Oregon which is where we would be spending the night. However, as we were only a few hours into the ride for the day, we pushed on to get in some more riding. Over the next 20 miles we fought a headwind, 80 degree heat and some stiff little climbs. On this leg of the ride today, we ran into a couple of riders that are doing a ride across America as well. They are riding with the outfit America By Bike (ABB); this company’s website is where we garnished a lot of our information when putting our bike plan together. It was great to meet them, and I wish them all the best of luck on the ride.

After the initial 20 miles out of Madras, we refueled again with Larry and then descending into Prineville, Oregon. (This is the city that the ABB bikers would be spending the night in.) Outside of Prineville we started out longest climb of the day; we ascended up to an elevation of 4,700 feet. My legs felt strong during the climb, as much of it was only 1-2% grade. A few of the steeper sections went into pitches of 6-7% and were thus a bit more challenging; I cut my pace on a few of these to assist Gary as he was still working on getting used to long climbs. We finally reached the summit of the climb around mile 96 and then descended 16 miles with only the slightest incline the last few miles.

At our stop, holding with a tradition we had begun the day before, Larry had a couple ice cold beers waiting for us. Those barley pops tasted exquisite after 112 miles of riding through mountain passes and skin burning heat. Thanks for the beers Larry, they were greatly appreciated!