Entries For: June 2009

Geoff will be home tomorrow!  Here's his next to last installment.  Go Geoff!

Hey! Today we rode from Juniper Resort, 10 miles west of Lakeview to Olene, 9 miles east of Kfalls. It was a total of about 80 miles today with some summits along the way. We are now driving to our campsite somewhere along Green Springs Highway 66. Tomorrow we will ride back home.

Geoff has provided two more updates. The weather's better.  His legs are better.  And he's closing in on his wild ride.  What an achievement.  Personally for Geoff and for knowing his strength and doing it all for good!  Geoff's ride benefits HOPE Chest.  Here are his late Friday night and Saturday updates.

Friday’s update:

Hey!  So we just rode from John Day to Burns today. It was about 70 miles total. I started off with some sore legs from the hill climbs yesterday. We had a 14 mile hill right off the start and it was gradual for awhile and them just really steep. It climbs about 2000 ft. I will include a picture from the top of one small part. Then it was really level for a long way and one more climb that was not too bad led us into Burns. There is quite a bit of wind here in Burns. We are probably gonna drive about 20 miles west to our campground near riley. The other picture is of me just when we were 9 miles out of Burns.

Saturday’s update:

Hey!  Just updating you on how things are looking out here. So today we rode from Riley to Valley Falls. It was about 90 miles of rolling hills with just one smaller summit. We lucked out by avoiding any serious wind and the temperature was about 85. It was a pretty relaxed day but tiring near the end when we hit the terrible smells of Abert Lake that went on for over 20 miles. I got a picture of me out in the sands of the desert somewhere before Alkali Lake. We had to drive down to Lakeview and west 10 miles to find the nearest campground. It was a nice surprise with hot showers, free firewood, and a computer with internet. It is by far the best campground so far. We lucked out.

I think a bonus blog today from Geoff says it all.  Onward to Burns!

Hey!  So day 3 went pretty well. It was probably the most difficult yet but I am starting to get in better shape so it wasn't as bad as expected. I rode all the way to Clyde Holiday State Park. It's the same place we stayed on the way out and it is 6 miles out of the way. But it will help make up for the few lost miles yesterday. There were 3 major summits today, all over 5000 ft. Once again we had about 20 miles left we hit some headwinds. But we made it the whole way today. The things I thought of most were food and finally taking a shower since I hadn't the whole trip so far. Tomorrow will start out tough with a 2000 ft. climb almost right away. I will try and keep you updated but service might be sketchy till Burns.

Go Geoff Go!

Did you know headwind literally means wind blowing in a direction opposite to a course.  Geoff does.  It's what he hit yesterday.  Headwinds happen to lots of people everyday in this community and that's why HOPE Chest is important.  Here's Geoff...

Hey, it's Geoff. So day 2 was quite a bit tougher than day 1.  We started the day off with a hill that climbed about 1000 ft. in about 6 miles. Then we had a long progressive hill for about 13 miles. Once we got into the Baker Valley it was pretty nice and flat but we were hammered by a 10-15 mph headwind, not to mention the fact that we could have been in Baker City in about 6 miles but we took the most out of the way route and made it 15 by accident. Plus those ride roads were cracked every 5 feet from the heat and that was pretty uncomfortable on my already sore butt. We made it about 5 miles outside Baker before we called it a day because the headwind had increased to at least 20 mph. Then my dad drove us about 13 miles to Union Creek campground at Phillips Reservoir. I am sending you a picture of the reservoir and of our journey so far today. Today we have made it to Austin Junction so far. We have climbed two summits that got above 5000 feet. We stopped and visited the ghost town of Whitney and that is the other picture I am sending you. I will keep you updated when I have better service.

Until Geoff's next text, hold the HOPE!

I'll be posting Geoff Jensen's text messages on my blog this week as he rides across Oregon for HOPE (Helping Out People Everyday) Chest.  But before his first message, here's a little meandering.

According to Webster's, hope means to cherish a desire accompanied by expectation of fulfillment.  When we named HOPE Chest, I spent time figuring out the acronym HOPE would mean.  And, of course, no surprise here, hope means HOPE Chest.  We offer hope, share hope, expect hope and hold hope for those who are helped.  And this week, we hope Geoff's ride is safe.  We want you to hope that too.  Here's Geoff's first text....

Hey, it’s Geoff.  Sorry I haven't been able to update you because there is no service at a lot of the campgrounds. The first day of riding was pretty tough. We changed our route before we left and decided to turn on Alice Street and head toward the town of Union rather than La Grande.  However once getting about 5 miles down Alice Street the road turned to dirt. So we turned around and headed back to the highway where we met my dad and then just drove to our campsite at Catherine Creek State Park. The distance we rode was equivalent to what we had originally planned. So we are right on track right now but taking a little different course to Baker City. We were the only people at the campsite that night and a big cottonwood tree fell across the rode. We called 911 and cleared one lane for traffic to get through. Overall it was a pretty eventful day and pretty tiring.

I am mostly thinking about getting done for the day and getting some food. I just took a picture of myself outside baker city somewhere. Here it is.

Dee Anne off to a meeting and Geoff off on lots more miles.