Day 7, Joseph --> Elgin

The fastest 60 miles ever.

Smooth roads and a slight downgrade for the first 45 miles made this the fastest ride we've ever done. Among the last to leave camp that morning (there were literally just a handful of tents still up when we left) we felt the need to "catch up" a bit that day. We also knew we didn't have to save any energy for any more rides so we hit it about as hard as felt safe. We paused at the lunch stop, but it was pretty early, we weren't that hungry, the line was extremely long and we were so tired of the food (not Cycle Oregon's strong suit) that I had no desire to partake. Instead we continued our rapid windings down and out of the Wallowa Valley. In addition to the lake in the morning we had high-country meadows & farmland, skirted the Wallowa River through a narrow nine-mile canyon and after the one climb of the day bombed back down into Elgin where chocolate milk and showers were waiting. And despite being among the last to leave camp, our quick ride and skipping of lunch made us among the first to Elgin.

The only drawback to the day's ride was a narrow road with a bit of traffic and the most reckless riding we saw during the whole trip. I think people were focused on getting home (as opposed to the riding they were doing) and everyone was going about twice as fast as usual, which leads to stronger consequences in cases of poor judgment or inattention. A woman in front of me veered sharply to the left (I guess she was trying to pull off the road on the opposite side?) without signaling and did so at the exact moment someone else was trying to pass her on the left (the person trying to pass also did not call out her intention.) The woman who was attempting to pass was nearly run off the road and both could have been severely injured. We also had a very aggressive pace-line attempt to zip around us when we slowed down. Not paying any attention to anything except the wheel in front of them, they'd failed to notice the reason we were slowing down was a cluster of cars that were going very slowly around riders that were much slower than us. It was not advisable to try and pass anyone in that situation, so we slowed down. Obviously the pace line that passed us made the situation worse and nearly caused a great big bike wreck. We then were stuck behind this group of maniacs until there was a long enough stretch to safely pass them.

But we made it to the car safe & sound, grabbed our luggage and a quick shower, and hit the road home. We stopped off for an early diner at Full Sail in Hood River (with many other Cycle Oregon riders - identified by their Cycle Oregon t-shirts and/or lingering ID wrist bands) and we were home by 7. It was a phenomenal vacation, a perfect honeymoon and we had a blast. I do say it was nice to be back home though. The tempurpedic bed was particularly lovely.