Day 1: John Day to Middle Fork Campground

It had been four years since I last toured the Old West Scenic Bikeway, and I felt the itch to do it again. Because there are so many amenities along the way and Travel Oregon provides great intel on where to camp, get food, water, and everything in between, it also makes for a great "Level 2" bike tour for newer folks getting into bike touring. With the pandemic still in full swing, I curated a small group of vaccinated badass lady cyclists who were hankering for something a little bigger! We would slowly earn our touring names... me (Jet Pack), Nicole (Cokes), Elisa (Big Bang), and Natalie (Road Soda (fka Poke)).

Ready to head out to John Day... all clean and full of stoke!

The Kam Wah Heritage Site was not open, but we checked it out anyway.

Just seconds after this photo was taken, Elisa earned her touring name Big Bang when the seal on one of her tubeless tires blew. We tried to take it to the local bike shop in John Day, but it is only open on Saturdays and turns out the guy who works there just does it as a side gig. We decided to throw a tube in it and hope for the best. The weather was HOT and we got started off right in the heat of the day. 

It was a hot, slow, sweaty climb to the Big Wagon overlook... but at least we got these amazing views of the Strawberries!

Working my way towards the summit.

Still some snow patches up here... great for cooling off.

Refilling water from a glorious stream by the side of the road...

Natalie also earned her first touring name early on after a poke bowl gone slightly bad caused some digestive issues... she had a great attitude about it, but had to stop and dig a hole every so often. While I had originally had planned us to do a bigger day of 50+ miles and get to campground slightly off route, we ended up biking 30+ miles and shifting our plan... in part because the primitive BLM campgrounds along the Middle Fork were just too damn inviting! There was not a soul in sight and we had the entire campground to ourselves, complete with a perfect stack of firewood and kindling that we were able to start with just a single paper towel! 

Sometimes it's worth it to stop early when you find the perfect campsite.

Happy hour with... crowns!? Poke likes to get a lil fancy.

Seriously, these perfect stumps and a campfire just topped off the day. 

A few notes for bike tourists:

• If you do this route early in the season, the Kam Wah Heritage Site will not be open, but I called the number on the site and confirmed we could park in the empty lot next door as it is open year round.
• The Austin Junction store was also not open this early in the season, so you cannot depend on it for water or huckleberry ice cream. The Bates Campground was also not open yet either. Just before the turnoff to the Bates Campground though, on the right hand side of the road, is a random pipe sticking out with luscious spring water gushing out for your drinking pleasure.