Day 6 - Powers to Riddle (September 16, 2011)   

    It was another cold and cloudy morning.  Someone said it was 46 degrees.  However, the pond-side view with the mist hanging over it was very pleasant.  Oh, and at 3:30am, the civil defense alarm went off waking everyone up in camp. Though we did eat next to a guy who said he didn't hear anything.  I heard later in the day that someone had run into it, and it happens quite often.  I tried to get Ellen moving at 5:15am since it was going to be a long climbing day.

    We eventually got out of camp at 7:30am.  It was cold, but since we were climbing all morning, I was still working up a sweat.  The first ODS rest stop was at 15 miles.  They had a nice little camp fire going in the back where we stood for a little bit to warm up a bit.  We made it up the first climb of the day which was a tough, but not impossible, 4 mile climb.  Then we some gentle rollers along a forested lane and a half road that passed quickly while we chatted with Diana from Salt Lake, UT.  She was giving us some good info on Zion National Park for when we go visit some day, and Ellen told her about how much she enjoyed Arches. 

    At lunch, Ellen saw her friend briefly at lunch before they set off again.  Lunch was Turkey sandwiches, but they also had a peanutbutter and jelly option which Ellen partook of.  There was another camp fire at this location where Ellen warmed up again before we took off again.  We also ran into the Cowboy again before we left along with Jerry Nordquist who is the ride director for Cycle Oregon.  After lunch was the steeper, and slightly longer climb.  We did pretty well on the climb.  We stopped a couple times to strip off layers as the sun came out, and it warmed up.  Then just under a mile from the summit, our timing chain snapped.  I carry a spare chain to use for parts for just such an occasion.  Sadly, the chain I carry is a 9-speed chain for our drive side, and I discovered that my timing chain was created from 8-speed chains that I'm sure I bought because they're slightly cheaper.  So, I admitted defeat, and we had just turned to start pushing the bike uphill when a Bike Gallery van just happened to be driving by.  I gave him the thumb's-down sign to let him know I needed assistance.  He must have been sent by angels because he just happened to have a SRAM 8-speed quick connect link that I could use to make my chain whole again.  We said our many thank you's, offered him a moist hand wipe that we carry in our trunk, and set off for the top where we hit the blue rooms.  Then it was a 7 mile bomb downhill.  We took it very slowly running the drum brake and alternating front and rear brakes all the way down.  There was another tandem that would pass, and then we'd pass them as they stood by the side of the road waiting for their brakes to cool.  Tandems are a lot like trucks in that regard.  The road surface wasn't great either, so I didn't let it open up much after we reach the lower sections either.  I made the quip as we hit the bottom, and climbed a small rise that I descend like a married guy riding with his 10 year old daughter on the back of his bike.  (for those of you who don't watch bike racing or ride with fast riders regularly, "you ride downhill like a married guy" is a favorite insult for people who don't descend well or don't take many risks downhill)  After the hill tapered off, we still had a headwind and chipseal to contend with which made it not feel like a downhill at all.  I basically put us at 16.5 mph, and kept it there all the way to the next water stop where we stopped so Ellen could use the blue rooms.  From there it was only 7 miles to the finish line, and we pulled in just before 4pm.  The only camp site left was on the dirt infield of the baseball diamond so we took it since it was right near Ellen's friend's tent.  The girls went and showered together after carrying Ellen's bag over to our camp site together.  I finished my shower, and Ellen still wasn't done.  I went down and waited outside the truck where I found her shoes.  We eventually had to ask one of the ladies who was there to tell them to come out.  It was time for dinner. 

    After dinner, we stayed up for announcements.  Ellen played on the playground with a new friend she made with a girl who lives in Riddle.  The playground was right behind the main stage.  Then we went to bed.

Continue to day 7.