40 miles. 938 feet up, 816 feet down.
We had a short ride ahead of us today, so no need to get away at the crack of dawn. Snack table at 9am. We were staying next to a big park - Timber Linn Memorial Park. Apparently there is a big balloon fest going on there this weekend, and there was supposed to be a big launch at 6:45 this morning. I don't know whether or not it happened; I had completely forgotten about it and did not stick my head outside until much later. Judging by the lack of activity in the park when we went by a few hours later, I'm guessing it didn't happen. But - saw some nice flowers at the far end of the park.
It seems the launch did actually happen. Several of our gals were up to see it. These three pictures are courtesy of Carol.
Pretty quickly we were out of the city. Since this was to be one of our flattest days, just about anything counted as a hill. I like a little bit of hilly terrain - for the challenge of climbing and for the enhanced views that generally ensue.
Today seemed to offer a bit more variety in types of crops and orchards. I stopped to take a picture of this apple tree in someone's yard and immediately four barking dogs came out to "greet" me. Although not tied up, they seemed to know where their boundaries were and they didn't come out onto the road.
Continuing down the road...........
Blueberries?
Hazelnut / filbert?
Walnut?
Dill?
Something just started to come up............
Grapes........
Lots of other orchards and veggies, as well as hay, etc. Where's a farmer/botanist when I need them??? Oh - and also lots of stops today (again) to sample the roadside blackberries. In return I donated blood to one bush; those things have nasty thorns!
At about 29 miles we crossed the Willamette River. That would have been a nice picture, but the skies opened just moments before that. So - away went the phone and on went the jacket. I managed to ride a fraction of a mile further just into the town of Independence as the downpour began. I passed some other riders taking refuge under some trees, but knew town was just a few hundred metres further on. I immediately found a floral shop and a nick nack shop with a wrap-around patio. The patio had a bunch of cute little table/chair combos, so I broke out my lunch bucket and had a comfortable break. The proprietress came out to chat and welcomed me to come in to warm up. But - I was fine where I was, watching a deluge come down for I'm guessing about 10 or 15 minutes. Independence was founded in the 1840s by pioneers who migrated on the Oregon Trail from Independence, Missouri.
The camera stayed tucked away for the rest of the day. We travelled through Independence (population about 10,000) and through Monmouth (population 11,000) a few miles later. Most of the roads were pretty quiet today until we turned onto Clow Corner Road at mile 35.7. The last 10 km was not very pleasant, with little to no shoulder and lots of traffic. Oh well - just a few more drops of rain since Independence and I think most people arrived fairly dry.
The unique challenge today was that when the guides called today's BW hotel to see if rooms would be ready early since it was such a short ride, they found out that BW didn't have a reservation for us (despite WT having confirmation and having prepaid in full). Hmmmm...... The local BW secured what rooms they could for us here and arranged for the rest of our group to be housed at the Riverside Inn. I was one of the lucky ones who landed in the BW, and in fact our room is quite luxurious (for a BW). It sounds like the Riverside is a bit of a Bates Motel, but the gals are making the best of it. And - the BW has been very kind to us - letting us use the breakfast room for dinner, baking cookies for us, letting the Riverside folks store their bikes here, etc., etc.
Another shortish day tomorrow, so our latest start yet....... snack table at 9:30!
The Ride:
Garmin: 66.55 km. 1509 feet up. 1244 feet down. The ascent is certainly incorrect. The last few miles into Dallas, the Garmin was registering about a 10% grade. It clearly wasn't, even though with the headwind it might have felt like it. Not sure what was going on..........
RWGPS: 67.1 km. 365 m up, 328 m down.
Temperature range: 12C - 20C. Started at 13, gradually up to 20, down to 12 during the rain, and then gradually back up again.
The Route:
Dallas OR. Population 16,854
Willamette Industries was founded in Dallas in 1906. At that time the company name was Willamette Valley Lumber Company. In the early 21st century, this and other local businesses were taken over by others from outside, which eventually affected the local economy. In March 2002, Willamette Industries was officially acquired by Weyerhaeuser Company in a hostile takeover. In 2009 the Dallas operation was formally closed. In 2000 about 10% of the population lived below the poverty line.
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