One Month of Loaded Touring on the Bromptons, or ‘No, it’s not a Bike Friday’

I walked out of the supermarket the other day, pushing my folded and grocery-laden Brompton in front of me. Wheeling it around on the casters, I maneuvered it around the soda machine and the shopping cart return. As I started to put on my helmet and unfold the bike, I heard a now-familiar sound behind me, “Whoa… Is that a bike? That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Riding a Brompton is an invitation to repetitively answer this one question, and to continually blow people’s minds. There’s a moment, when we’re rolling the folded Bromptons through a store or a restaurant, when it’ll click in the head of an onlooker that this funny contraption is actually a bicycle. The tilted head and squinty expression (that betray the confusion and desperate attempt to understand what they’re seeing) fade into a look of awe and amazement. I can honestly say that I love this moment.

Of course, that mind-blowing moment isn’t always followed by a meaningful connection. Sometimes, we get to endure the inane comments and heckling of folks who’ve decided that we must be some sort of fantastic freaks for riding these circus contraptions. Or we have to hand over the bike to some random stranger who absolutely has to pick it up to see how much it weighs (hint: Bromptons are made of metal, just like most other bikes). And then there’s the automatic assumption that they’re Bike Fridays (which is a little maddening – not because we have anything against Bike Fridays, we just wish they hadn’t cornered the US folding bike market).

These random frustrations aside, after a month of traveling on the Bromptons, we’re pretty much pleased as pie. And if you’ve been wondering if they’ve actually lived up to our hopes and expectations, read on.

The first thing we can say about loaded touring on the Bromptons is that we are continually impressed with how well they handle the stress and strain that we heap on them. We are constantly asked about touring on the small wheels and if it makes life more difficult or sluggish – and we can honestly respond in the negative, because they’ve proved themselves to be much more rugged than we imagined.

We’ve lost track of how many mountain passes we’ve climbed up and over. But we haven’t lost track of how many of those we were able to pedal every inch – all of them. We may only have six gears, but it turns out that they’re the right six. Sure, there are times when we wish that we had another gear in the in-between, but we knew about this limitation when we chose the Bromptons, so we’ve learned to work with what we have.

The load capacity is, obviously, much less than our Surlys. In theory, we were thrilled by the need to lighten our load. In practice, we’re still thrilled that we can’t load them up any heavier – and, in fact, we’re continually wishing that we could cull our gear even further.

Rigging the backpack to the back of the saddle has turned out to be a brilliant way to carry gear. Because of the small wheels, the weight of the backpack is low to the ground, keeping the center of gravity low. The backpacks hold a fair amount of stuff, in a streamlined fashion, without getting in the way of our pedal strokes or posture on the saddle. Which all adds up to us hardly noticing that there’s that much weight on the back (except when I load my backpack with food!). Plus, the ability to break everything down into just three pieces (bike, front bag, backpack) has been invaluable for the transit connections we’ve made.

In all, we estimate that we’re each carrying about 50 pounds of gear on the bikes. Like I said, we wish that we could lighten this load a bit – but mainly because we’re just tired of schlepping around a world of stuff, not because we don’t think the Bromptons can handle it. That said, though, 50 pounds of gear is probably at the upper limit of what a Brompton can appropriately handle.

One of the biggest downsides to riding the Bromptons is having to be more careful about road surfaces. They handle fine on smooth gravel or dirt (including most fire roads), but we have to be really cautious of bumps and a washboard surface. We have certainly pushed the Bromptons beyond what might seem prudent (including riding through a 4-mile stretch of highway yesterday that had been torn up to third world conditions), and they have performed admirably so far. But the small wheels don’t roll over obstacles as well as larger wheels do, so vigilance is key. The same goes for railroad crossings!

Oh, and did we mention that it’s really hard to change a tire on a small wheel?!

We both firmly believe that there is no such thing as a perfect bicycle, for touring or anything. What works for us may not work for someone else. After a month on the road, we feel like the Bromptons fit our style of touring really well – which is a slow, meandering style. We like the challenge of being minimalist, and we have no need to be super fast. We like to roll into a town and explore for a few days – and the folding nature of the Bromptons means that they translate beautifully into a city bike. As we look forward to, hopefully, heading overseas in the near future, we’re convinced that the Bromptons are about as perfect (for us) as we could hope to find.

If you’re interested in the particular specs of our Bromptons, read this previous post. If you have any questions we haven’t answered, feel free to comment here or shoot us an email.

The Tallest Hobbit I Know

In this video, we make it out of the Wallowa mountains and land in Joseph, OR. While there, we have the opportunity to spend a day with Dan Price, author of Radical Simplicity and The Moonlight Chronicles. Dan has been living the “simple life” for decades before minimalist bloggers (heck, before blogs!) and 100 thing challenges. True to his word, he lives simply in Hobbit home and gives us a tour of the meadow.

Hell’s Gate, Idaho to Missoula, Montana

From Hell’s Gate State Park, we headed down the road a few short miles to the town of Lewiston, Idaho. We decided to have a rest day indoors and catch up on some work and video editing. As the afternoon progressed, I put my shoes on to wander into town… and then, turning the corner to get to the elevator, I ran right into some friends from Portland! Paul and Caroline got married over the 4th of July weekend and are riding across the country for their honeymoon! Steph and Bonnie are riding with them as far as Glacier. We all had a good laugh that we’d wound up in the same hotel, and then we went out to dinner, and enjoyed our free drink in the smoke- and karaoke-filled hotel bar (yes, that’s right, they gave us each a free drink ticket when we checked in!).

Leaving Lewiston, we hopped on the ACA Lewis & Clark Route, and followed Hwy 12 east. Hwy 12 is a terrible road for cycling. Far too much traffic and no shoulder. We took as many detours as we could, including riding a stretch of the old highway by the Nez Perce National Historic Park. We rolled into the small town of Orofino that afternoon, tired and hot, and checked into the Clearwater Crossing RV park. As we were checking in, we met two cyclists who had left Canada a few weeks before and were headed to Mexico and Cuba. They were ecstatic to see other tourists, and we told them they’d get more than their fill now that they were on an ACA route. Clearwater Crossing turned out to be one of the nicest RV parks we’ve camped at. Brand new, so the trees were still too small to provide shade, but the bathrooms were luxurious and pristine, the tent price was really reasonable, and there was a wonderful pavilion with electricity, all situated along the Clearwater River (and within walking distance of downtown). (Recommend!) That evening, a series of thunderstorms rumbled through, and we got to put our new tent through the paces and give it some good weather testing (it passed!).

From Orofino, we continued on Hwy 12 through the small towns of Kamiah and Kooskia. On the side of the highway between the two towns, we passed a woman selling salmon. At the sight of the hand-painted sign, I pulled off the road to scope out her offerings. She had both fresh and smoked salmon, recently caught and smoked locally by her husband, and we picked up a small package of smoked salmon. Later, we pulled off the highway to sit by the river and enjoy the salmon with some crackers. Absolute perfection! That evening, we camped at Three Rivers Resort, located at the confluence of the Clearwater, Lochsa and Selway Rivers. It’s an older property that was showing its age, but the location was spectacular, and we happily made use of the wifi in their restaurant.

The next morning, we were up super early, to beat the traffic. Hwy 12 slowly winds its way upward toward Lolo Pass, following the Clearwater and Lochsa Rivers. It’s an incredible road, flanked by national forest and wilderness areas. When there’s no traffic, it’s peaceful and an incredible experience to be so far-removed from civilization (there’s no cell service for 150 miles). Unfortunately, cars and trucks are allowed on Hwy 12, and we saw all sorts of evidence that drivers couldn’t handle the road: a mini-van nose-down in the river, a jack-knifed big rig, enormous rolls of toilet paper left-over from a big rig crash. I couldn’t help but think that the road should just be closed to vehicular traffic and open only to those of us who could handle it: cyclists and hikers. That day, even though it was further than we wanted to ride, we decided to push ourselves all the way up to the Lochsa Lodge, especially after we passed a cycle tourist going the opposite direction who flagged us down to sing praises about the food and cabins. We were dead-tired when we rolled in, but the $45 cabin and phenomenal food made it all worthwhile. (The promise of good food will usually put enough wind in Russ’ sails to go further or harder than expected, especially when it’s the choice between a long day or chicken-out-a-can.)

From Lochsa Lodge, it was a short 14 miles to the summit of Lolo Pass. Ironically, we had gained more elevation the day before than we did actually reaching the summit. In other words, staying at Lochsa was a great way to make Lolo Pass seem really easy! At the top, we took a break at the visitors center and ranger station. They had a fantastic exhibit about the area, as well as free coffee and wifi! I had seen an image of a moose walking in front of the visitors center sign, and kept my eyes peeled in hopes of seeing one myself… but, alas, no moose appeared. The rangers also had the weather report posted, with promises of a very large thunderstorm that afternoon and evening, so we didn’t dawdle too long at the top. Coasting downhill to Lolo Hot Springs, we passed several other cycle tourists, members of an ACA-led TransAm group – and had a chance to meet and chat with a few of the group, who were obviously having a blast on their trip! That night, we decided to pony up for another small cabin ($42, including entry to the hot springs), and we were glad we did when it stormed all afternoon and evening. The hot springs were fairly anti-climactic, not at all the romantic idea you have of mineral water seeping out of a pile of rocks (it’s a swimming pool with the mineral water piped in), but it was delightfully soothing to all those exhausted muscles!

From Lolo Hot Springs, we had a quick morning ride, coasting downhill with a bit of a tailwind, into the small town of Lolo. All morning, we kept passing signs for ‘Moose Crossing,’ and I kept hoping and wishing for some moose to wander out into view (given that I’ve never seen one in person and think they look so fascinating in photos). ‘It’s okay, mooses, come out and say hi,’ we called as we rolled down the road. And, then, just as I’d given up hope, something very large moved in the bushes to the right. I gasped, “it’s a moose, no wait, it’s an elk, no wait… what is it?!” I’ve only ever seen images of moose with antlers, so I never imagined that a she moose wouldn’t have antlers (hello, city girl!). But, there she was, way too big to be an elk, and with a much different face. She ran off into the bushes before we could think to snap a photo, and I squealed with delight at finally seeing a moose. And then we headed the rest of the way into Missoula, stunned to actually roll into this city that we’ve so long thought about visiting.

Video: Mountain Sojourn to Joseph, OR

Whereupon we leave Baker City, check out the wonderful Oregon Trail Interpretive Center then head for the hills. Seriously. Up and over the Wallowas, but not before discovering a brand new cafe in Halfway, OR and MacGuyvering Russ’ unscrewing bottom bracket with a rock and screwdriver. (YouTube/mobile friendly version)

Video: Man Vs. Tire

I got a flat just as we rolled into Missoula and we decided to make a little instructional video out of it. I share some tube patching secrets and wrestle on the TIGHT Brompton tire on and win….just barely : )

Video: Backpacks on Bromptons

We’ve been getting a ton of questions about how we’ve attached backpacks to the the Bromptons. We’re using a pretty lo-fi solution, a dowel and some leather toe straps but it seems to work pretty well. We had some down time at Lolo hot springs so we made a short little video there and uploaded it from a little motel in Missoula, a few blocks away from Adventure Cycling HQ. Enjoy!

Phillips Lake, Oregon to Hell’s Gate, Idaho

Waking up at Phillips Lake, we were still grateful that they had found space for us. We were headed into Baker City for a few days, just a short 20 mile ride from the lake, so we were able to take our time getting out of camp and enjoy the beautiful spot. Baker City was just waking up when we rolled into town, and we poked around the few places that were open that Sunday morning of 4th of July weekend. Ice cream, coffee, and then we set off to find our warmshowers hosts for the night. We pitched our tent in their beautiful backyard, cleaned off for the first time in a few days, and then found our way to Paizano’s (a local pizza spot, recommended by a reader). We polished off an entire (delicious!) pizza and a few beers while catching up online and enjoying the air conditioning. After pizza, we went in search of a rumored Airstream rally, and found a dozen or so gleaming trailers parked in a circle in the city park. We chatted with a few Airstreamers (who were there celebrating Wally Byam’s birthday, the inventor of the Airstream), and even got a tour of a few trailers. That night, we went to sleep to the sound of fireworks being shot off around the neighborhood.

Since we rolled into Baker City on the holiday, we decided to stay around town for a few days until the city returned to “normal” hours and we could actually explore some of the shops and restaurants. So, the next few days were filled with coffee at Bella, singing Happy Birthday to Wally Byam with the Airstreamers, interviewing folks about bike advocacy in Baker City, attempting to watch fireworks from the hotel balcony, drinking local brews at Barley Brown’s, and checking out the many shops in the historic downtown.

Leaving Baker City, we headed east on Hwy 86. About 6 miles out of town, we stopped at the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. It had been highly recommended that we stop, although we were wary of the steep steep climb up to the museum. As it turned out, it was one of the best educational centers we’ve been to, and full of fascinating information about the Oregon Trail (from the perspective of the pioneers, as well as the Native Americans). One of our favorite parts was learning that most pioneers considered bacon to be an essential part of their pantry, and would plan for roughly 100 pounds per person! From the Oregon Trail Center, we rambled onward through the sweltering heat, thankful that we weren’t roughing it as much as the pioneers. In Richland, we stopped for ice cream and burgers, and then hid out in the library for a few hours, enjoying their free Internet and air conditioning. We decided to camp at the county park just outside of town. Their showers were crazy expensive, but the location was beautiful.

The next morning, we woke up to cloudy skies, which meant that we would have some reprieve from the sweltering heat during all the climbing that was ahead of us. We had decided that we really wanted to see the town of Joseph and Wallowa Lake, so we departed the TransAm after the small town of Halfway, and we headed up Rte 39. But, first, we had to stop in Halfway. We stumbled into Levi’s (on their first day!) and devoured the most delicious plates of brisket hash. Rte 39 turned out to be one of the most fantastic roads for cycling, although almost all of the elevation information we had beforehand was wrong. It’s a narrow road, so there’s very little traffic, and the scenery is spectacular. From the south side, you climb almost 3000 feet to a summit of roughly 5300 feet, over a distance that feels like practically forever. As we pedaled our way uphill, a thunderstorm slowly rumbled its way across the sky and brought some moisture and cooler temperatures. And, eventually, we reached the top (a very unassuming summit, with no signs), and suddenly started screaming downhill. We had hoped to get out to the Hell’s Canyon overlook, but we were exhausted when we reached the turnoff and nearly out of water, so we just couldn’t bring ourselves to log an extra 6 miles and several hundred feet of climbing. Instead, we enjoyed the downhill, and pulled into Ollicott campground, along the Imnaha River. We chose it because it was the only campground along the whole route with a well and drinking water. And once we figured out the strange well and tasted the water (full of minerals!), we ended up just getting water from our very generous neighbors. The Imnaha was absolutely raging, full of snow melt, and provided a lovely soundtrack to fall asleep to.

From the campground, we expected a few rolling hills into Joseph. Man, were we wrong! You go down, then you go up, and up, and up, to almost 6000 feet. Then you go down just a little, ramble around a ridge, and go up to almost 6100 feet. Exhausted and almost out of snacks, we finally reached the summit (thankfully, there was a sign this time, indicating we had actually found the top). The road wound around the north side of the snow-capped mountains, giving us the most breathtaking descent. At the bottom, there was one final hill to climb and then a headwind to fight to get into Joseph. By the time we rolled into town, we were thoroughly worn out. But we were also ever-so-glad that we had decided to take the detour. Rte 39 was a fantastic experience and Joseph and surrounding areas were proving to be worth the effort. We devoured a delicious lunch and some beers at Mutiny Brewing and then walked around town a little before heading to Wallowa Lake. We had stumbled onto the little visitor information booth and discovered that there’s a shuttle that runs between Wallowa Lake-Joseph-Enterprise… so we took it! The folded-up Bromptons sat in the back of the bus, which left the bike rack open for the other folks who took the bus to the lake. We staked our little patch of ground in the hiker-biker site (thankful that it was there, because the whole park was full!), and enjoyed a restful evening with a campfire and a couple of beers.

We were so enamored of Joseph and Wallowa Lake that we decided to stay for a few days. I quickly decided that Joseph is my “perfect” small town – great food, lots of art, an independent hardware store, farmers market, all set against an incredible backdrop of snow-covered mountains. Russ reveled in the fishing, catching four trout in one day. We explored and got a bit lost trying to take the “back” way from town to the park. And we were “adopted” by a baby bird that had fallen out of the tree and kept hopping over to our campfire.

After a restful few days in Joseph (and a perpetual quest for decent Internet service), we headed just a few miles north to Enterprise, to meet Dan & Lynne Price. We had a wonderful time with them, talking about travel and simplicity. Dan graciously welcomed us into the Meadow and gave us a tour of his incredible little homestead, all built by hand from reclaimed materials, in a way that the buildings entirely blend into the landscape. The visit inspired us both, so stay tuned for more stories in a little bit. The other thing had to do in Enterprise, of course, was check out the Terminal Gravity brewery. We enjoyed some beers and food in their delightful garden, and met two guys (on vacation to the area) who were checking out all the local watering holes by bicycle.

We headed north from Enterprise on Hwy 3. It slowly winds up a gentle grade through ranch land and forest, giving you a few glimpses of Joseph Canyon, until you come to the edge of a very large canyon with the Grand Ronde River at the bottom. We soared down the 10-mile descent, winding around all its twists and turns. At the bottom, we pulled into Boggan’s Oasis, a small restaurant with RV park and cabins. We had heard about Boggan’s many times before reaching it, as tales of their milkshakes have spread far and wide. We stayed in one of their cute little cabins and spent the evening at the river – Russ fishing and me watching.

The next morning, we slowly psyched ourselves up for the climb up Rattlesnake Grade. 13 miles to the top, we heard, and 110 turns. We filled up on a hearty breakfast at Boggan’s and then began the climb. As it turned out, it was not nearly as bad as we were expecting. The grade was quite gentle, the traffic was low, and the scenery was amazing. At the top, a black bear ambled across the road, maybe 200 feet ahead of us. And then, around the corner, a coyote trotted across the road as well, making us laugh and joke about a wildlife highway. At the top of the climb, the road straightens out and runs through a high-elevation prairie, dotted with farms. The change in the landscape was so drastic that it startled us and made us, again, glad that we were on bike and able to experiences these changes so fully. Just before the small town of Asotin, the road suddenly pitched downward, and we enjoyed a surprise descent on a smooth and recently re-paved road. After coffee in Asotin, we found our way to Hell’s Gate State Park in Lewiston, Idaho, and enjoyed a quiet evening overlooking the Snake River.

VIDEO: Baker City Biking

Updating from a hotel room in Lewiston, ID. We’ve FINALLY left Oregon but I’m still editing footage from there. It has been a challenge the last few days to find an ideal environment to edit videos (ie. electricity, WiFi and shade). We’ve been doing a lot of climbing and sometimes there’s barely enough energy to eat dinner and set up the tent, much less piece a narrative together. That said, I’m really pleased with our video on Baker City. We happened to be in the right place at the right time with some fun and interesting things going on! From here, we’re pushing into the mountains again with Lolo Pass looming ahead of us. We hope to be in Missoula next week and will take a few days off to catch up on videos and posts.

Back on the Road: The First Week, Bend – Phillips Lake

As we sit at a small diner on Wallowa Lake, sipping some NW microbrews and patiently surfing the slow internet, we’ve been realizing that two whole weeks have quietly slipped by and we are getting back into the groove of traveling. After a rainy winter and an ankle injury that served to keep us off our bikes, we’ve discovered that our legs are a bit stiff and have lost some of that strength that we built up over the last trip. The first few days saw us going to bed way before sunset, because we were just so tired. But the route we have taken has been spectacular, and we are so glad we chose to explore Eastern Oregon.

Our first day back out on the road took us from Bend, Oregon to the Crooked River. It was a swelteringly hot day that involved a lot of climbing. We weren’t entirely sure it was all going to be worth it, and then we turned onto Hwy 27 and soared downhill, into an ever-expanding canyon, to the Prineville Reservoir and Crooked River. Russ spent the afternoon fishing (and even catching!), and we enjoyed our first night on the road in a beautiful campsite beside the river.

From the Crooked River, we headed north into Prineville. It was a Monday morning, and the evidence was all around us of a successful rodeo that weekend. We stopped for groceries and found a great little coffeeshop with wifi. As it turned out, the owners had recently moved out from Ohio, found themselves surprisingly pleased with life in Prineville, and bought and expanded the business. In a small world turn, we discovered that our friend Matt (who is also cycling across the US) stopped there a few weeks before us, and the wife of the couple is the sister of one of our readers! (Which is one of many reasons why we love traveling – the world continually shrinks and we remember how connected we all actually are!) Prineville was also the point at which we joined the TransAm route. That night, we camped at the county park at the Ochoco Reservoir, and met the three TransAm cyclists that we would leapfrog and camp with over the next few days. Sally & Patsy had decided, on a whim, to ride the TransAm in sections, as a way to add some adventure and fun to their lives. Mark had always wanted to ride the TransAm and took advantage of being job-free this summer.

Day 3 saw the first of many mountain passes. Lucky for us, it was an easy grade with gorgeous scenery. About halfway up the climb, the forest opened to a gorgeous meadow, and we couldn’t help thinking how surprising it seemed to find such a lush green landscape in the high desert. The other side of the pass gave us an incredible screaming downhill, easily one of the best descents we’ve even been privileged to experience. At the bottom of the hill (and a slight tick up again), we reached the small of town of Mitchell. We enjoyed an iced coffee and wifi at the coffee cart at the south end of town, then stopped for a burger. Mitchell is only about 150 people these days, although one resident told us it used to be a booming town with several bars (and the place that everyone wanted to stop on their way through the area). These days, Mitchell allows camping in their city park (free, donations graciously accepted), and there’s one bar and a small market. Since we got in so early that afternoon, we picked up a few beers and some snacks at the market, and enjoyed cycle tourist happy hour in the park. That evening, we were joined by Jeff, a lymphoma survivor who had vowed to ride across the country to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

From Mitchell, we headed uphill once again. The summit was the only place in the area that had good cell phone reception, so we had a silly 21st-century moment at the top of the climb, with five cycle tourists checking email and phone messages. After the summit, we rambled through ranch land and the Painted Hills. Just outside of Dayville, we ran into three women on bike tour around the area. When Sally & Patsy caught up with us all, we took a moment to recognize the fact that there were six women on bikes, the largest grouping of female bike tourists I have ever seen! In Dayville, we decided to call it a day. We stopped for ice cream at the mercantile, ate some pizza and corn dogs at the mini mart, and set up camp at the Fish House Inn (which had the most glorious lawn of any RV park we’ve stayed in).

From Dayville, we had a relatively flat and meandering ride into Mt Vernon. The countryside was glorious and peaceful – and not a bad place to ride my bike on my birthday! We stopped in Mt Vernon to poke around the little outdoors-ammo-hardware-pharmacy-tourist-misscelanea shop, enjoy a hearty breakfast with Patsy & Sally, and check out the Bike Inn. We had looked all over the internet for information about the Bike Inn and didn’t really find anything concrete, but it sounded like an incredible resource. So, fellow cycle tourists, if you’re headed through Eastern Oregon and want to stay in Mt Vernon, yes, the Bike Inn does exist and, yes, it’s lovey. A separate little guest house with a futon, small kitchen, bathroom, tv, and gorgeous outdoor patio. Since it was only 11am and we had only ridden 20 miles, we decided to keep going, and pushed on to the town of Prairie City, another delightful small town. We poked into the visitors center, and then settled into Oxbow Bar, a bar/restaurant with wonderful food and ice cream and microbrews on tap. After a few hours on the internet, we made our way down to Depot Park, a small city park that offers camping (tent and RV). The showers are crazy expensive, but the park is lovely, situated next to a river and with a large pavilion with electricity. After cleaning up and resting, we set off to celebrate my birthday! Sally & Patsy joined us for dinner and wine and ice cream and we laughed until they closed the doors and it was time to crash out in our tents. It was a fantastic birthday celebration and a great last evening with Patsy & Sally, who we had spent so much time with over the previous few days, and whose company and spirit we enjoyed so much!

The following day, we decided to take a rest day in Prairie City. My ankle had been bothering me a bit, and I wanted a day off the bike. We had hoped to migrate into a hotel room for the night, to take a proper shower and do some internet-ing, but we were foiled by the 4th of July weekend! Instead, we explored town a bit and ended up back at Oxbow and Depot Park.

Day 7 was the day of the three summits. Good grief, we were not looking forward to all of this climbing! The first one out of Prairie City is the longest, but it is also the one that ends in a diner with fantastic burgers and milkshakes (which we enjoyed at 10am!). Just outside of Austin Junction, we stopped at a small spring to fill up our water bottles. As we were finishing up, the owner of the property where the spring originates came out to lightly hassle us. He told us a bit about the spring and that he was allowed to charge whatever he wanted for it. The catch, he said, is that, as soon as he starts charging, he has to have the water tested on a weekly basis. Not wanting the hassle, he leaves it running from a pipe the ends by the side of the road, just like it’s been for the last 40 years, he said. The water was cold and crisp and delicious, and we were thrilled to have it as we started up the second climb. By the time we finished the third climb (3800 feet over the course of the day!), we were absolutely exhausted. We hemmed and hawed at the turn off to Sumpter, wanting to see the old town, not wanted to ride any more miles than necessary. We thought about just trying to stay in Sumpter, instead of heading to the campground, but again, we were foiled by the holiday. We waved to Sumpter from the highway and headed to the Union Creek campground. With not a drop of energy left in our legs, we rolled in and had the volunteer at the entrance tell us the campground was full. I could hear Russ groan and slump over his handlebars as I begged and pleaded. Finally, he sent us down the hill to fill up our water bottles and find his supervisor. I was expecting to have to beg for a small corner of grass by the ranger house, but he smiled and said that he had one tent space left! We handed over some money and happily trotted down to the smallest campsite known to man (it must be the one they always leave open for the poor souls who show up on bikes, because there’s no way that a tent any larger than ours would fit there). Needless to say, we were in bed way before dark, which is how we heard a group of kids wander by and proclaim, ‘whoa, that’s the smallest tent I’ve ever seen!’

VIDEO: Small Towns. Big Hearts.

Like a string of pearls, we pass through small town after small town in Eastern Oregon, each with its own unique personality. We camp on a perfectly manicured lawn of an RV park, we find the Bike Inn in Mt. Vernon, we camp behind an old train depot and celebrate Laura’s birthday with new friends. The magic of bike touring!