Pendleton

Today, we arrived in Pendleton. The ride was hot and moderately uphill. However, the scenery was amazing. At first we were in a canyon with strong headwinds, but eventually climbed out of it. All around you up top were wheat fields stretching out into the vast horizon. Talk about amber waves of grain. In Pendleton, we beat the gear truck and so I (Mark)and a friend, Peter, took a ride into town. Eric was still biking and my dad was fixing his first flat tire of the tour. He then went to a local coffee shop. In town I got some postcards at Walmart, went for a underground historic tour (free because they liked Sea to Sea), and visited the Pendleton Woolen Mills. The blankets at the mills were gorgeous, but expensive. And anyway, I had to stick to my sixty pound weight limit. Tonight we had spaghetti for supper, definitely high in carbs and preparing us for our next day, a 2500ft climb into La Grande. Our Pendleton meeting covered the same topics as usual - flats, accidents, banana peels alongside the road, etc. We then had a devotion speaking about the intricacies of a bike wheel, how all the parts must function and fit together in order for the wheel to spin true. If Paul were a biker, he would have used the bike wheel analogy versus the body perhaps. After small groups we watched the sun set quickly. The red glow is amazing over the hills. Now is time for sleep, a very essential part of biking. Perhaps I can get them to let me sleep in a little to 6:30. We'll see.