This is what I look like at most of our breaks. I hang my head down while I catch my breath so I can stretch my neck muscles that are usually hurting. I put my forearms on my upper handlebars that are wrapped with foam and are quite soft. I put my feet apart and get my weight balanced on the bike, and I close my eyes and take a 30 second nap. People laugh when I tell them that I can take a nap standing up, but I can. I don’t sleep at night very well any more so I am always sleepy and I have learned how to take a short nap any place, any time, any posture, all I have to do is close my eyes. It is a very handy skill.

Tonight we are camped at Maupin at the Campground right on the Deschutes River where all those who are rafting camp camp, and being a Friday evening and right before school starts up there are a ton of people here, very crowded and very noisy. Oh well, just one night and if the noise keeps us awake I can take a few extra naps tomorrow. We rode 82 miles today with a lot of hills. There are hills every where so there always lots of hills. We went down one hill today where we started down it at 2,300 feet elevation and in 4 miles we were at 800 feet, a 1,500 foot drop in that distance is very STEEP, and the road had lots of curves and switch backs, no guard rails, and very narrow. John went fast and when he got to the bottom he waited several minutes for me because I was braking most of the way down and was still over 30 mph much of the way down anyway. I kept hoping and praying that my brakes were in good shape.