Biggs was only a few miles from my Deschutes River campsite, and my map warned me to expect limited services for at least 82 miles after Biggs. I wrote a thank-you note for Joel and headed out, expecting to make it to Biggs and spend a while stocking for a long trip. Mainly, I wanted to buy a pump water filter so I could drink straight from the Columbia if I needed. I rolled up to the only food joint in town and saw a couple other touring bikes outside, both loaded to the gills with panniers -- fronts, rears, trunk bags, handlebar bags, the whole kit, mounted on Surly (that's a brand, not an adjective) Long Haul Truckers, which are icons of the touring bike world. All in all, very professional compared to my setup with everything thrown onto a rear rack, mostly wrapped in a tarp, and mounted on a mountain bike that only qualified as a touring bike because I threw some smooth tires on it. They said they were headed east. To Umatilla? Yep. Going to Walla Walla afterward? Yep. What about the Rockies, are you going to Clarkston/Lewiston and crossing Lolo Pass, then going to Missoula and heading south through Yellowstone? Yep. Sounds like we're going to be together for a while then, huh? Yep.
While they were trying to introduce themselves as Ethan and Jon from Long Island, I interrupted them by yelling something incoherent about their tires. As it turned out, they made the tracks I had been following the day before, because they had the same bright idea about Google Maps. Their excuse for being off-route wasn't SOAK, though, it was that a passing driver had invited Ethan and Jon to stay at their house instead of stealth camping like I did.
After recovering from having my mind blown by this discovery, Ethan gave me some iodine water purification tablets and I bought some groceries, cancelled my plans for a lazy day, and set off with the New Yorkers. We crossed the Columbia, got some tips from a woman selling delicious peaches, and let a strong tailwind carry us surprisingly far through some very sparse landscapes. Partway through, Ethan pointed out that another traveler was gaining on us. Caleb caught us when we stopped for lunch, and we all revealed that we have no idea what we're doing, as none of us had ever done a long tour before. The four of us continued on, signed bike journals at the one service stop (no gas) at Roosevelt, and made it all the way to Crow Butte. Once there, we shared a campsite and talked about physics before going to sleep. As it turns out, Jon is an aspiring physics major, and Caleb used to work at Intel as a UI/UX designer. I can now say that I have ridden 60+ miles and given a brief lecture on semiconductor physics and photovoltaics in the same day.
I didn't take any pictures because Jon is carrying 10+ lbs of camera equipment. That's his job now. He also keeps calling this place Crow Butt. I guess they don't have buttes out east. I won't correct him.
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