Sunday I left Bend on US 20 sharing the road w/ almost nobody. The further east I got the stronger the winds, like I was catching up w/ the tail of the storm yesterday in Bend. The van is a handful to drive in winds of almost anything above calm. Then the road was not always down wind and the topography shaped the wind. 2 hands on the wheel and overcome the self medication. Bend sits right on the western edge of the sage desert to where I am now which extends further east. Volcanic past is front and foremost:
Boise has trails to the N of town. I checked out public land for camping and found nothing that was close which caused me to skip town. I was going to camp and ride today or maybe yesterday. Worked out OK as I watched s very black storm front almost on top of where I would have ridden.
I texted Steve in Bellevue that I would be riding Indian Springs today and invited him. He, being retired now for a year, said yes. I camped @ the TH. Windy. Propex didn’t start but the Olympian did. I slept under double down and medium setting. Mountain time zone lost an hour. Sunset is 6:25, sunrise 7:59.
This AM I turned on Propex and it caught and ran during our ride until it reached the high temp then shut off. Back after the ride I manually attempted to start it to no performance. Go westy called me back. Problem Propex says is in the fuel valve which needs to be removed and cleaned out. He tells me it is simple that the heater doesn’t have to be dismounted. I will find an RV repair service and make an appointment then coordinate the service w/ the tech. Till the I turn the dial occasionally as I am rewarded w/ heat maybe 5% of the time. No start this evening.
Steve arrived. Windy, chilly, and slightly cloudy. Warm clothing, not full cold gear. We rode the front side as i have heard from several riders that the back side is horribly eroded. We rode up Dry Gulch to the top where Steve showed me a new to me trail that we rode across the top then back down to Dry Gulch. We spooked a herd of mule deer. And rode thru lots of cow shit.
Further up
Descent was on almost a cow path leaving the sage brush grabbing @ my handlebar ends. Back down to Dry Gulch where the sage is brushed back then the climb out on Matts to descend down Brennans which is chunky technical on basalt rocks. My bike just is nimble. Wide handlebar levered me around corners.
Back @ the TH my heater has been told about. Steve bid adieu however he discovered he left his lights on and a dead battery. I have jumper cables from a Boeing Spokane award from years ago. Steve was able to drive away.
My next stop will be Ogden, UT to ride Bonneville trail Jen told me about. I thought about driving there this afternoon then decided to stay here. I drove up the road a ways and found a flat spot.
Sun is going down.
I am 457 miles away from 20,000 miles on my odyssey. Math tells me if I ride 5 days a week for at least 12 miles for the remaining 10 weeks on 2014 I can make the milestone.