This morning I slow played it a little and enjoyed two delicious cups of coffee made by Nossa Familia. They have been supporting these events for numerous years and the owner seen in the photo is originally from Brazil and started this successful company based in Portland with his business partner twenty years ago. They both had only about $400 each when starting their business adventure. Luckily, his family has been in the coffee business in Brazil for multiple generations and he was able to get the business up and running with the family knowledge passed down to him. I will definitely be buying more once back home!

I then ate breakfast with Jonathan and we had a wonderful conversation. He is a Canine Trainer Behavior Specialist that spends more time teaching families how to be better dog owners and less time training dogs it seems. Wish I would have ran into him before finding myself around the likes of Max in Eastern Kentucky. He did give me a few extra pointers on my techniques with dealing with the dogs I encounter along the way.

I started the ride in a little bit of a drizzle this morning and had on many layers again because Fall may be knocking loudly at the front door around these parts. I even saw a snow dusting up in them there hills overlooking Enterprise.

About three miles into the route, I could have turned around and considered the day a success because that is when I saw two bald eagles sharing a tree branch near their huge nest. It was so appropriate a day after 9/11 to see these two symbols of America looking over our land. Another drop to add to the gratitude bucket.

I get on my soap box and talk about the early bird getting the worm often. Today, the early bird almost got more than just the worm. Just after seeing the eagles, I start hearing something clicking every revolution of my front tire. I see an intersection up ahead with a volunteer helping cyclists across, so I decided to wait to get there to remove what I assumed was a pebble out of my tread.

As I roll up to the intersection, I see a brand new shiny thumbtack in my tire. Interesting. I pull it out and after a little hiss, my sealant seals the small hole. Good thing I have a tubeless tire setup.

Once at the first water stop, I mention it to a couple of my new cycling buddies and they mentioned that others had gotten flats from these thumbtacks. I went and mentioned it to the Support And Gear (SAG) volunteers and they said they have someone already cleaning up the location of all these abandoned thumbtacks.

At this point, one may be wondering just how I would react to this situation. Well, I would love to simply meet the upset local that saw our route signs nearby and left us some nice door gifts. I would to tell this human thank you because it actually helped me out as I would need that tire to be at a lower pressure for the epic gravel and large boulders coming up. Thank you to the human that took the time to diligently spread thumbtacks out in such a generous amount. My other cycling friends with tubes punctured may not be as happy.

I think I actually fell asleep on my bike leaving the water stop and when I woke up I was having a dream that I was back on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. This time I was riding without all the extra gear. Is this a dream or did I die and go to cycling heaven?

We were told last night that the gravel option would not be for the faint of heart during the nightly announcements. This obviously discouraged many road bike riders from attempting the gravel option and left many gravel riders reconsidering. I was excited and simply told people worse case, I would just hike-a-bike. No worries.

At first, I thought perhaps her claims were not valid and felt bad for those that chose not to ride this portion. The SAG truck soon passes me and the volunteers inside said it should be getting a little more dicey up ahead. The driver of the SAG truck claimed that when he drove this section of the route the other day he got 15,000 steps. He was wearing his watch and it calculated these steps from all the steering wheel corrections being made. Now I am getting really excited.

I soon ran into the communications relay van and the volunteers inside told me the next eight miles will be sporty and if I did not enjoy it up until now to go ahead and turn around. I told them I have a great dental plan and one kidney that is already about a third of the size it should be, so I will continue on down the road and take my chances.

They were correct, it got more sporty and the lady giving the announcements was also correct in discouraging all but about twenty of us from attempting this section. I was prepared with my tires used on the GDMBR and had no problems, but would not have attempted it on any smaller tire.

I was in heaven and living a dream. Along the GDMBR, I often wondered how it would be to ride those conditions without all the extra gear, now I know. It was fantastic. I had a huge smile the entire time.

How did this come to be? Why did Cycle Oregon throw such a small population of cyclists this bone? When the man that finds the gravel routes took a look at this route, it had about four inches of snow covering it making it impossible to actually see the conditions of the road. The plans were made and routes were soon established. The other day when they took another look at this segment, they realized this route is filled with larger rocks and small boulders. They found out then that after a fire had swept through the area in the past, these large rocks were put in place to help support the large pieces of fire fighting equipment. Lucky me!

Once through the gravel portion, I took the extended route through the Hells Canyon Recreation Area and it was amazing as it sounds. I then descended down the hill that the main route riders took up to Salt Creek Summit. It was a little chilly as sleet fell later in the afternoon.

Coming back into Enterprise involved riding into a tailwind that just happens to be in my face. I soon see a group of three rapidly approaching from behind and one of the ladies says to jump on. Two of the bikes were e-bikes and they were serving as a great wind block. I happily jumped in behind the wind blockers and started up a great conversation with the one lady that was benefiting from their special delivery service.

This lady was the same one I chatted up at the end of the ride yesterday and come to find out, she is one of the higher ups in the Cycle Oregon organization. I found this out after she asked what I thought about the new Cycle Oregon Rally format. Guess my answer was kind enough for her to reveal her true identity. Such a great organization, how could anyone not accept the changes that were forced to be made after the pandemic?

Today was the climax of the event as tomorrow we make our way back to Elgin for the conclusion of this epic five day event. Where does the time go?