Living Well With Diabetes

The last two nights, I’ve been camping. As a result, I haven’t had internet access. Tonight, in Caldwell, I checked in to a motel for some relief from the heat (it reached 103 in Caldwell, Idaho today). It also is a chance to catch up on posts to the web site.

Besides the heat I’ve been experiencing for the past week of riding (ever since I left Leavenworth, Washington), I’ve had a headwind on my ride yesterday and today. I think this is a good thing. Actually, while I was riding in it, it wasn’t such a good thing, but the 15-25 mile per hour winds from the south today is a sign that the weather is about to change. Sure enough, they’re saying tomorrow (August 19), the high temperatures in the Boise, Idaho area will be about 15 degrees cooler than today and the winds will be from the northwest. Both of those are very good news to me.

Last night, I stayed at the Farewell Bend State Park in Oregon. I stayed in the “Hiker/Biker” campsites which was $5 a night instead of $15 and up for a full service campsite. I woke up several times at night to see a full moon and to hear coyotes howling and yipping in the hills around the campground. It was worth the $5 admission.

As I was unpacking in the motel today, I found half a dozen or so moths had stowed away in my panniers. I hope they like Caldwell, Idaho better than they liked their old home at the Farewell Bend State Park.

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Today’s ride was mercifully flat. Only a thousand feet of up and down over the course of 58 miles instead of the 4400 feet of climbing over the same distance yesterday when I rode from Pendleton over Cabbage Mountain to La Grande.

Today, with the flat roads, I was able to pull into Baker City at about noon. With it being so hot, I was tempted by the sight of several major chain motels, but I felt it was still early enough that I could spare 30 minutes or so to explore camping possibilities.

There ended up being two options. The second one I never checked out because the first one, the Trails West RV Park, had an ample supply of cool shade. I picked out one of the completely shaded spots — perfect for a hot, tired bicyclist. Then I went inside to register. There, I filled out the necessary form, paid my money, and then they told me I was assigned to tent site number 1. I told them about the wonderful spot I picked out myself and they told me that was “overflow” for RV guests. I didn’t think too much about it until I saw the meager shade offered in tent site number 1. Holy crap. You’d think tent site 1 would be “overflow.” It certainly made clear who their customer really is: it’s an RV park.

Still, I managed to make it work. I didn’t put up my tent until late afternoon after I had had a chance to observe the way the shade was moving as the sun moved. While I waited, I found myself a temporary spot in some shade and took a nap.

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In between Pendleton and La Grande sits Cabbage Mountain. It starts just outside of Pendleton and rises from about 1000 feet in elevation to about 4200 feet. I elected not to take the Interstate, instead opting for County Road 937 and later something called the “Scenic Frontage Road.” It wasn’t as steep, but it was about 10 miles longer than taking the interstate.

But either way I went, it was hot. High temperatures today in Pendleton were 102. By the time I reached the summit, I was running short of water … and energy. I picked up water at the campground at the summit. I would have stayed if I had had groceries for dinner. I didn’t so my only option was to continue on to the Hilgard Junction State Park twenty miles further. Except there was no store there either. The camp host there offered me a can of beans, but after a long day of riding, I was looking for a bit more in the way of dinner. I ended up in La Grande where, once again, I could not find a campground. There were a couple of RV Parks, neither of which had any facilities for tenters. So, I stayed at the “Mr. Sandman” Motel near the center of town. I wasn’t that disappointed about not being able to camp — it was very hot outside.

I should mention that my plan for many days leading up to Pendleton was to turn south there on Highway 395, rejoining in two days time the route I took on the way up to Alaska. Well, to make a long story short, I realized I could save two days of riding and see some new terrain by following I-84 the rest of the way into Idaho. Oregon has a wonderful state map made specifically for bicyclists that helped me make this decision. It showed a green (low traffic volume) road paralleling I-84 most of the rest of the way to Idaho. Plus, except for today’s sufferfest on Cabbage Mountain, it looks to be relatively flat.

I’m afraid I don’t have many photos to show from today’s ride. The heat has made the riding difficult for me. When I climb on the bike at 6 AM, my focus is entirely on getting to my destination as quickly as possible so as to avoid the ugliness of riding in the afternoon heat. Still, here are a couple of my favorites from today’s ride:

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