Baker City, OR

Today was I think the hardest day on a bike so far (and I hope for the whole trip!). There was no cool of the early morning, it was uncomfortably hot by 6:30. Not a cloud in the sky all day.

It started well with a 5 mile climb and another super fun 7 mile descent down to Richland for second breakfasts. It was a typical small town diner so I've included a picture of it. After that it was 40 miles through an arid landscape with no shade or buildings plus another long hill to climb. At 35C I was really struggling and overheating. Thanks to George who waited for me on the climbs to check I was ok. water in our bottles turned to warm water very quickly.

Lots of dead rattlesnakes on the road. The snakes are all smaller than I imagined rattlesnakes to be. We rode by a pretty stream at one point and saw a few deer. We also passed by some wagon ruts left over from the Oregon trail. Made by thousands of wagons passing through to seek a new life in the west it was pretty exciting to see, though doesn't make such an exciting photo.

At 6 miles to go we came across construction and the man holding the stop sign told us it may be a 20min wait. Still no shade anywhere and baking sun. I was pretty much in tears from heat exhaustion at this point. So I got a ride in a pickup truck for the final 6 miles. I was so grateful. There is always someone to help if you just ask for it.

The new tent still hasn't been used as I needed to get indoors. Even if I had been feeling ok it would have been hard to resist a bunk in the Baker City bike hostel. It has everything a cyclist needs including free ice pops (or popsicles in American). To my great delight it also has a kettle, proper tea bags and milk. It may now be 37C out now and I may be suffering from heat stroke but I'm English dammit, I want my tea! The owner Kim is pictured holding a chicken. George and Alex are also staying here. It's a 20min walk from town and too knackered to face it we ordered in takeaway pizza.

4th July - Halfway, OR

Still unclear as to what we are Halfway between I enjoyed an international 4th July celebration with fellow cyclists George (American), Alex (Belgian), Freddie (Swedish) and Ecaterina (Moldovan).

It was nice to be in a typical American small town and experience their celebration. There was no parade this year but live music and a BBQ at the fairground with a charity pie auction and some games for the kids. There was also a 'pub' so the yanks haven't thrown out all British traditions with independence. The fairground is like the English village playing fields but it sees less cricket and more rodeo.

After getting up at 5am, cycling 60miles over hills and looking at doing the same the next day it was a big ask for any of us to stay up till the fireworks (10pm). We all wimped out but I popped out of the motel to see the fireworks later. Didn't get any photos of them as I was inept at using the phone camera.

Halfway, OR

Hello from Oregon! My 7th cycling state and 5th time zone change.

58 miles today with George and Alex through Hell's Canyon, started with a 17mile climb in the cool of the early morning then a fast 7 mile descent into the canyon. I can't tell you how fun the long descents are out here.... they make all the climbing worth while. Stopped for 2nd breakfast at a cafe and then on through the canyon and into Oregon.

The canyon itself was not as hot as forecast thank goodness. We had some cloud cover and a bit of a breeze. The scenery reminded me a bit of the Scottish highlands (although the weather didn't!). There were a lot of deer running about which surprised us as it looked so barren. Climbed out of the canyon to Halfway. Halfway between what and what I have no idea.

We gained an extra hour so a bit of time to chillax before the 4th July BBQ and fireworks.

Enforced Rest Day in Cambridge, ID

It took Amazon 48hours to let me know a delivery date for my new tent which would be July 7th. Well I've got time on my side but not that much time, or willingness to wait in Cambridge which is very small. I cancelled the delivery and mentally prepared for a hot and busy 100mile round trip to Ontario. Luckily I found Brandy who works for Hell's Canyon Tours. She gave me a lift to the outdoor shop for which I am so grateful. I forgot to get a photo of Brandy, I meet so many helpful people and keep forgetting to get a picture.

Brandy had two young girls so I passed on the play tent and hope they get some fun out of it.

I tried to cycle on the local cycle path by the river but it is too gravelly for my road tires so I did a short walk along it instead. I also swam and visited the local craft shop. They had lots of lovely things but I don't need more to carry.

Some pictures from Cambridge are below including the British telephone box (outside another closed business sadly) and the 'before I die' board. I thought of what I would write and realised my number one ambition was to procure a new tent and cycle across Oregon to the Pacific. That's my dream for the minute, it's hard to think beyond this fantastic trip. Although I also would not mind beating Graeme at halo.

I met some old friends in the afternoon. Well 5 weeks old anyway. I have a odd time perspective on this trip - England seems another lifetime away. They are George from Virginia and Alex from Belgium who I met back in Illinois/ Missouri. The three of us agreed to roll out at 6 tomorrow and go through Hell's Canyon to Halfway. Temperatures are forecast at 39C so I am expecting the canyon to live up to its name. We will be rewarded by crossing into another state and by a traditional small town America 4th July celebration with parade, BBQ, live music and of course fireworks. The thought of that will keep me going!

Cambridge, ID

A fairly uneventful 48miles to Cambridge, mainly through farmland. Got to Cambridge just after noon and it was 100F/38C. After 10am it became too hot to be pleasent cycling. It's annoying that cycling in the afternoons at the moment is not a sensible option (for me) as I'm feeling fit and would like to get more miles done to get to the coast and the lovely Oregon beaches!

I wouldn't have been able to go further today in any case as I need to wait here for my tent to be delivered. I got a free Amazon Prime trial in an attempt to hurry delivery up but am still waiting for a delivery date. I find the uncertainty tough to deal with and am not impressed with American Amazon!

I'll also need a stop in Baker City to give my bike a little TLC so the delay here is frustrating.

Still, an enforced rest gives me a chance to sleep in and I'm looking forward to not being woken at a silly hour by an alarm tomorrow. I've got a very nice and affordable motel and 38C is better for sitting in the shade than cycling in the sun - so I will try to relax and enjoy the rest days.

New Meadows, ID

I was expecting a steep climb this morning but it was gentle. I did it in the cool of the morning which makes a huge difference. It was a busy highway and not much of a view. I snapped a waterfall.

Got to New Meadows before noon and headed to the library to use Internet and explore tent options. I am staying at a motel. To some of you the word 'motel' may counjure up dreadful images. Countryside motels though can be lovely. They are quiet and usually have some outdoor space with chairs for relaxing in the shade, I've put a picture of this one below - it's quite typical.

Onto the tent saga........ (you may want to stop reading now)
I had two real options
a) divert south from Cambridge to Ontario, OR. Here there is a big enough outdoor shop to stock a suitable tent. There will not be another such shop near the route for a very long time (that I could see - not at all knowing the geography). This would be 50miles there plus 50miles back, along a probably busy highway and then navigating round a city which may or may not be bike friendly.

b) order a tent online and get it posted to me somewhere.

There were pros and cons of both but I went for option b. The first job was to book somewhere to stay for the next couple of nights. It being the Independence Day holiday. I decided to stay at the Frontier Motel & Camping in Cambridge for the next 3 nights to get me past July 4th. I also decided I did not want to cycle to Ontario in holiday traffic so either option would take some time. With that in mind it would be potentially the same amount of time lost, and much more pleasent, to wait in Cambridge and get the tent posted to the motel which they were happy to support. I could also take time and chose a suitable tent.

So the tent is ordered. It may turn out to be a bad decision as Amazon originally quoted delivery date of July 5th and now say they will be in touch with a date. Hmmm. Anyway I don't have to be in Astoria until the beginning of August so I have time and waiting in Cambridge sounds nicer than a horrible long highway ride. There is a bike path through Cambridge on a deserted railway line so I can do some nice day rides out of there.

I'm sure there were options I didn't think of, such as trying to get a pole repair kit and fix, but a lot of the poles had cracks and I was not convinced this would work. It's hard sometimes being abroad and having to make choices on my own. I felt under pressure to sort something quickly (although there was no real time pressure). I'm sure there are lots of things on this trip which I could do differently and or better but you live and learn!

PS - If I was doing a South Pole to North Pole cycle ride I would be 3/4 of the way there now (see below)

Pollock, ID

Today was not one of the best days on the trip. Firstly it was hot, even in the morning. It took me all day to make 40miles (although I did stop for a couple of hours at midday). The last 10miles were against a strong headwind.

I followed the Salmon River gently upstream along the floor of the aptly named Salmon River Canyon. I saw my first rafters, it looked more fun than cycling in the heat. There was little shade. When I reached Pollock campground at 5:00 it was 34C in the shade.

I changed time zones again today. I was in a Pacific time, now back in mountain time. When I get to Oregon I will go back to Pacific time. It must be confusing to live round here!

I woke up to a loud crack. One of my back tent poles had snapped. When I put the tent up at the campsite in the evening I thought I could manage but then one of the front ones snapped, I guess from the extra weight. The tent was unusable. This was quite a blow - my tent has began to feel like my home and I felt lost and alone without it. I was also concerned as it is July 4th weekend and so many motels etc may be booked up. I started to think about options.

Here are some good things about the day:-

Around 11 I can across an unexpected farm shop. The owner let me eat as many cherries, peaches and nectarines as I could as they were going off faster than he could sell them. I was tempted by huckleberry pie but the heat made me go for a lovely fresh strawberry sundae instead.


I stopped in a town called Riggins for lunch and a huckleberry iced tea to get my huckleberry fix. For those uninitiated in the way of the huckleberry this is the state fruit of Idaho! It is like a blueberry but more purple and tastes (to me) like a blueberry/raspberry cross. It is part of the bilberry family.


I also spent a long time in the library at Riggins enjoying the wifi and air-con. I've popped into a few small town libraries now. They are invariably staffed by kind people, who usually want to hear all about my trip, and have free internet.

The campsite owners kindly lent me their 4 person tent to stay in. I had more room than I knew what to do with and could even stand up in it! They also gave me a children's 'play tent' they had won in a raffle and never used. It was kind of them but will be a last resort as it won't stand up to any wind or rain!