Living Well With Diabetes

This entry is a day late because I stayed in Mitchell, Oregon last night and Mitchell didn’t have internet access or cellphone service. In fact, it didn’t have much of anything except some very friendly people and a city park with a designated camping area.

I arrived in Mitchell early afternoon after a mostly flat ride from John Day. During my ride, there was one long ascent as the road wound its way through a canyon. Just past the summit, I met the very first touring cyclist I’ve seen on my tour. He was sitting on a rock at the side of the road, eyeing the stream. He had a water filter in hand and he was debating whether or not to venture into the weeds and down a steep slope so he could filter some water. I advised him to wait, if he could, until past the summit where access to the stream was better.

Strangely, it wasn’t but two or three miles later that I saw another tourist, heading the opposite direction I was. He tipped his hat (no helmet!) and I raised a water bottle to him as greeting.

The ride to Mitchell finished up with a very long and steep descent into Mitchell (that’s another rule of bicycle touring: it’s always downhill into town). After a short nap in the shade while I waited for the park’s sprinklers to finish their cycle, I set up my tent and went to the country store for dinner supplies.

I had just finished cleaning up after dinner (about 7 PM) when two bicycle tourists rolled into the park. Wow, feast or famine, I guess. I haven’t seen any touring cyclists at all and then I see four in one day!

They were delightful people, Liz and Scott, from Kangaroo Island in Australia. They called themselves “Wallies on Wheels!” and we spent the rest of the evening exchanging bike touring stories (they’ve toured nearly everywhere in the world).

Below are some photos I took during my ride on this day: