It was all fun and games until we descended into the final gorge that connected us to the Columbia River Gorge West of The Dalles. We pacelined and pedaled hard to go an embarassingly slow speed downhill due to how much headwind was pushing at us as we descended.

Once we arrived at the Gorge, though, it was smooth sailing. We were pushing 20 mph speeds without even trying due to the incredible tailwinds.

We crossed over the gorge into Oregon at The Dalles for our lunch and grocery stop for the day. I think it was a combo of having spent so much time together and the growing need amongst the group to do their own thing that we scattered in The Dalles to an assortment of food establishments and supply stops with nothing but a vague meetup plan. I was exhausted and incredibly hungry. Having split up in The Dalles, I walked my dirty bike and self straight into the Safeway and grabbed the first Gatorade I could find and started chugging. I didn't even have the energy to move to a park so I sat in the shade in front of the grocery store and ate a large helping of baguette with roast beef, harvarti and a mystery creamy horseradish sauce the deli squeezed into a container for me until I started to feel more myself. I ended up shopping at least one more time and bought a little too much food for dinner but really is there such a thing?