Day 4 - August 3: Biggs Junction OR - Hermiston OR

92 miles.  3753 feet up, 3535 feet down.

Another beautiful (and hot!) day in the neighbourhood.  We had a long day ahead of us and we were staying at a mom & pop hotel so Emily cooked breakfast for us.  Breakfast at 6:15 and departure at 7am.  Already 22C when we got on the road.  First up was a crossing of the Sam Hill Memorial Bridge over the Columbia River, and into Washington.  The bridge was narrow and carried a lot of truck traffic, so Cy drove in the SAG van behind us and we rode across as a group.  Then almost right away we had the hill de jour.  Once again lots of sections in double digits, and up to 14% again.  And once again I was very happy to have my new climbing gear.  Our first stop was at "Stonehenge" at about 3 miles.  No need to go back to England to visit the original, apparently!









Nice views from up there.  I guess maybe it was worth the hill climb.  The bridge in the first photo is the one we crossed first thing this morning.




You've probably heard a saying such as "What the Sam Hill!!!"  Well, my trusted source Wikipedia says that our friend Sam "allegedly used such foul language that his name became a euphemism for swear words."

As you can see, there was a little more cloud cover today.  Lucky for us.......  It didn't hit 30C until around 10am, so three hours of cycling in sub-30C temps.  And we had a pretty good tailwind until about 100 km.  The clouds never did amount to any rain, but it was nice to have a little relief from the sun.




 Continuing views from the road, and a view of the John Day Dam.  The scale really is deceiving.  I need to look, for example, at the trucks on the highway on the other side of the river to realize just how vast the landscape is.  A bonus to being on the Washington side of the river is that State Route 14/Lewis and Clark Highway was very quiet in comparison to I-84.  





We started to see a change in the ditch vegetation.  Pretty mini-sunflowers (I have no idea what they really are) and bad, bad goat-head bushes.  Those things are very happy to puncture bike tires, and there were at least two flats that I know of today.  Oh - and some marshes as well. 




More random views from the road.




Railroad tracks on this side of the river as well.  We were beside the tracks for quite a while, and did see lots of trains pass by.  Mostly freight trains, but one Amtrak as well.  





The sides of gorge are gradually fading away.............



More evidence of agriculture as the day went on.  Orchards, vineyards, corn & other veggies.  I thought that if I were doing a self-supported ride I wouldn't have to shop for food today.  Lots of stuff has obviously fallen off trucks - corn, onions, potatoes.  Makes me glad I didn't follow any of those trucks too closely on the interstate coming over from Montana.  A single cob of corn would make quick work of a windshield (and potentially a driver behind the windshield).  Oh - and trees (although not naturally occurring).




And lots of powerlines all day............


Shortly before our second SAG stop at about 65 miles, the temperature topped out at over 42C.  For the last 25 miles or so, the tailwind died down but so did the temperature.  It actually got below 30C for a brief time and then climbed back up to about 35C.  That last 25 miles weren't particularly scenic, and perhaps I was just ready to be done.  Not many pictures along that stretch.  With about eight miles to go we crossed back over the Columbia River and into Oregon again.  Seems the margaritas don't come out until we sleep in a different state...........



The guides were pretty busy all day making sure everyone had enough food and water all day, so we had pizza and DQ for dinner.........  Lots of tired bodies tonight.


The Ride:

Garmin:  149.9 km.  3114 feet up, 2941 feet down.
RWGPS:  151.0 km.  1483 metres up, 1414 metres down.
Temperature: 22C - 42.1C
Calories Burned (according to Garmin with heart rate monitor):  1168


The Route:


Hermiston OR:  Population 20,322

Hermiston sits near the junction of I82 and I84, and is 7 miles south of the Columbia River, Lake Wallula, and the McNary Dam.  The Hermiston area has become a hub for logistics and data center activity due to the proximity of the interstates, the Pacific Northwest fibre optic backbone, and low power costs.  

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