In Memory of Warmer Summers

Cambridge, Idaho to Halfway, Oregon

Miles: 58

Total miles so far: 4,135

Trip Update: We’ve entered Oregon, and we have projected a completion date for this journey, arriving in Astoria, Oregon on July 19!  That’s only eleven more days of riding.

Our 13th and final state!

In the game of paper, rock, scissors, if I have the order correct, I  believe the game goes, paper takes rock, rock takes scissors, and scissors takes paper.  In touring cycling there are maybe four main elements to riding.  Heat, takes cold, rain takes heat, but wind trumps them all.

We woke to a stiff northwesterly wind this morning on a day predicted to have only 5 to 10 mph winds.  Instead it was blowing 25 mph plus.  Wind is the ultimate nemesis for cycling.  The majority of resistance to forward movement of a cyclist is air drag, and any amount of wind is felt immediately in terms of increased needed effort and decreased speed.   Wind is such a factor in cycling that drafting other cyclists has been measured to decrease effort by as much as 40 percent.  The panniers we carry on our bikes are a big wind catcher too.  We routinely draft for one another, taking turns when it’s windy.

Brownlee Resevoir, Hell's Canyon

Today was to be a difficult day, as we had to ride through the Snake River canyon, otherwise known as Hell’s Canyon.  Every person we met seemed to shake their heads and tell us how hot it gets in Hell’s Canyon.  We met two cyclists yesterday that said they nearly didn’t make it out of there without serious dehydration problems.  Now we had wind to contend with.

Fortunately, an after-effect of some thunderstorms that hit the area last evening, cooler temperatures prevailed, so as it turned out, temperatures were not an issue.  But we had wind.  Direct headwinds.

The Snake River behind Oxbow Dam, Hell's Canyon. Oregon shore to the left, Idaho to the right.

Most of the morning was spent climbing the hills and ridges that surround Hell’s Canyon, and if there is some saving grace in going uphill during headwinds, it is the physics of the effects of that same wind.  Traveling on a level surface where a cyclist with panniers can normally maintain say, 14 miles per hour, with a 25 mile an hour wind, the cyclist may be reduced to 8 miles per hour.    That’s about a 43% drop in speed.

Climbing steep hills, where a cyclist with loaded panniers may only maintain 6 miles per hour, the cyclist encountering a 25 mph wind may move at 5.4 miles per hour.  That only a 10% drop in speed.

Oregon...the beauty continues.

The real problems are the psychological stress the winds place on the cyclist.  It’s just not an enjoyable experience, and climbing long grades with a seventy five pound bike and load is something that only demented people enjoy anyway.

We cannot control things like the wind, and we made it through the day in good humor despite the conditions.  Predictions for tomorrow are better, but they were that way last night too.

It is what it is, and we go on.

Dedications:  If you have a dedication you would like posted, or know someone who may want one in the remaining days we have left, please consider e-mailing them to me at carl2ride@gmail(dot)com.  A picture is preferred in jpeg format, and a short paragraph of how the dedication could be worded is helpful.

Please include the date of the collision, hometown, or other pertinent information.  I may do some editing for continuity, but I am happy to help any way I can.

Our home for the night...tents in a horse corral with showers available; $5 each person.

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Tomorrow’s ride is dedicated to Robvina Marie Anderson

Robvina Anderson

Robvina Anderson of Grants Pass, Oregon was injured in a drunk driving collision on October 28, 2006.  She was 17 years old at the time of the crash.