Day 13, John Day, OR

Miles – 0

Ave Riding Speed – 0 mph

Hours Start to Finish –  

Weather – Partly Sunny 66

Today was a rest day, in John Day…, but we were both up by 6am and automatically thinking about coffee, so we put on our cleanest warm biking clothes for a walk to the Squeeze Inn, just across the street.  The weather outside was a partly sunny, breezeless, Fall smelling and refreshing 48 degree morning. The small town of John Day, population around 2,300, was up and at it, with a quiet bustle through main street (Hwy 26).  Kim and I both ordered my go-to breakfast; 2 eggs, hash browns, bacon and toast. Add some hot sauce on everything, to go with a hot cup of coffee, and you’ve got the makings of a good day. We struck up a conversation with Larry, a fellow patron having breakfast with his wife, as we were closing out our tab.  Come to find out he was raised in Dawson, MN, close to the South Dakota border, and moved to Oregon in the early 60’s. Just a nice guy interested in our journey and wished us well.

I haven’t talked much about what we’ve been eating. The short answer is that we try to get all the protein and water we can manage throughout the day, then mix in some carbohydrates and try to end the day with something substantial. On top of that we’re doing a supplement regiment/routine provided by Eniva Health. We have both commented that we are feeling stronger as the days go by and those summit rides, though still difficult, are becoming more manageable and don’t wipe us out.

Here is a typical day of what we’ve been getting in our stomachs. Morning is a protein bar and maybe a banana along with our supplements.  Lunch is previously made peanut butter sandwiches with carrots and chips.  Dinner we try to eat something substantial from either a sit-down diner for a burger, vegetables and potato or pick up something from the grocery store. We have a budget of $60 a day for food and try to fit our selections into that. We’ve shied away from alcohol for the most part as it dehydrates us and provides for a sluggish next day, plus it’s not in the budget. We have caved a couple time for a hard cider. A hard cider seems to have become our refresher of choice for the ride so far, given the chance to have one when we have a rest day. Throughout the day we’ll mix in an Eniva Vibe and ultra Shot. We also add electrolytes tablets to one or two water bottle each. Of course, water, water, water.

Today we’re going through our gear, recharging the front lights and taillights, searching for a “real” bicycle tire pump and getting reorganized. I’m carrying a small, gauge-less, tire pump with me but I try to take advantage of using one with a gauge and get an accurate 70-73lbs of pressure in our tires. We walked to the Post Office to mail a few post cards and, by chance, stopped at the Grant County Chamber of Commerce to see if they had a tire pump. Sure enough, they had one! Karen, the volunteer is retired from the Forestry Service and her husband is a hydrologist who grew up in Windom, MN, also retired from the Forestry Service. Karen said they are at about 60% of their normal water levels in the area. She handed me the pump and said to return it when we’re finished. Pretty cool. We walked back to the motel, pumped up our tires and returned it. Then I made a small donation for the use of the pump and Karen’s help.

Kim has set up shop at our motel room coffee table to catch up on social media, banking and managing our hotels booking app.  We touched base with some family to catch up with their lives and things back home. Then the planning started for the next couple days as we’ll hit a big milestone, the Oregon/Idaho border. But first, there are three, 1,000-2,000 feet up, summits, in succession, to conquer. We are currently at 3,300 feet. We finished up the day with burgers at the 1188 Brewing pub down the street a few blocks. Tough to pass up the freshly brewed beer, but we did.

We are so enjoying all the messages of encouragement we’ve received on the Blog, Facebook, Instagram and via e-mail. It’s been a lot of fun to connect us all from all over the country.  The fundraiser is up over $7,000 in these early stages of this journey and we are well on our way to $100,000 for the Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance (LCBA). Keep sharing our sites and posts with friends and family. The very worst case is we have some fun and get the word out to just that one person, that would otherwise not be informed and make a difference in their life.

The picture is from our current motel room front door looking to the back door. Most places are cool with bringing our bikes into our rooms.