Rides

Day 13  - Day 7 ST1 - Out of Roseburg via Garden Valley. Then over some big hills and gravel roads, and finnaly London Hill before dropping down to London Springs and then on to Cottage Grove Lake.

Day 12 - Day 6 ST1 - Layover day in Roseburg. Nice ride out to the confluence of the North and South Umpqua.

Day 11 - Day 5 ST1 - On down to Roesburg, Very nice route in on Roberts Creek Road.

Day 10 - Day 4 ST1 - Down the North Umpqua. Lots of waterfalls.

Day 9 - Day 3 ST1 - Up the Rogue to Diamond Lake.

Day 8 - Day 2 ST1 -  From Lake of the Woods we rode down 140 to Rocky Point and then the familiar route to Fort Klamath. Then the climbing started as we worked our way up 62 into Crater Lake National Park. After a quick stop at the top it was a fast downhill to Union Creek.

Day 7 - Day 1 of ST1

Day 6   Nice route off of 97 from Chilloquin to Modoc Point  Hot in KF  

Day 5 - Nice cold morning. Got a good start but got a flat in the most perfect place to change a flat. Wide paved pull off with a very scenic view. 

Highway 58 to Chemult then all 97. Much farther than I had intended. Mostly flat or downhill. 

Day 4. Navigate Bend then 97, then Sunriver. Finally getting somewhere when I got to the fork in the road. One way to La Pine, the other to Cascade Lakes Scenic Highway. I took the fork. So delightfully cook up in the mountain lakes. 

Day 3 - Over McKenzie Pass. Hung out in Sisters for a bit. 

Up early to finish the climb in the morning coolness. There was actually just 4 more miles of the climb until it leveled out and then a few ups and downs before the top. Traffic was picking up, mostly from the Sisters side. At the top I ran into a number of cyclists riding from Bend. They started even earlier than I did, and rode a lot faster. It was clear and beautiful at the top, with lots of snow still on the mountains.

Took lots of pictures on the way down. The view is mostly to the north, so I could see Jefferson as well as the closer peaks. This descent has got to be one of the best in the state. The really fast part is over pretty quick but then it goes on and on at a grade where you can be pedaling at 30 mph. I rode around Sisters a few times before finding a nice quiet cafe on a side street. This town has long ago become a bug tourist destination, but there still are a few local places here and there. I also got a few groceries at their nice, but way over priced, natural food store.

Leaving Sisters I expected to find a side road that would get me off of the highway, but it never really materialized. The one road that looked promising was very nice but looped back to the highway after a couple of miles. The views were great though. In my mind I though highway 20 to Bend would be mostly east and the mountains would be at my back. It's actually mostly south and the mountains were in clear view to my right. I stopped at a view point and met a young cyclist who was touring on a lightly loaded road bike, even doing gravel roads. We started out together but he was out of sight in no time. I guess you can cover a lot more ground when you can ride fast, but I was quite content to continue my snails pace across the state.

Some businesses have started to spring up along the highway at the exit to Tumalo SP. I stopped at a convenience store and had an ice cream and made note of a pizza parlor that I would return to for dinner. The wind was picking up as a rode the last couple of miles to the park. The hiker/biker site was empty except for me and there was some good shade. This is probably the least attractive hiker/biker site in all the state parks I've stayed in, but it was perfectly adequate for the night. Shade, some privacy, toilets close, and excellent showers not too far away. Plus it is a short walk down to the Deschutes River. In the evening I rode back to the Pizza place, into the wind now, which had really good pizza and okay beer. Then back to camp and a walk down to the river to play my flute.

Day 2 - Stopped at Limberlost CG to escape the heat. Did the last 10 miles after 6:00 PM.

The day started riding through familiar places like Vida, and Blue River. Stopped at the Goodpasture Bridge remembering when I bought my tractor from Bill Goodpasture back in 1976. The bridge hasn't changed much, but I guess I have. I never could have imagined then that I'd be passing this way on a bicycle some day.

The route took the side road to McKenzie Bridge, by the old Belknap Bridge and the place we camped on Loop Tour 2014. It was a nice break from 126 which had a lot of traffic and not always a good shoulder. The McKenzie Bridge store is the last store before Sisters so I stopped and stocked up. I stopped again at the ranger station to fill my water bottles. Then it was on to the old highway. Today was the first day it was opened to cars so I expected some traffic. I only saw a car every 15 minutes or so.

It was still early in the day when I pulled in to Limberlost Campground. I found another beautiful spot right on the river and setup my hammock. I had already decided I would stay here until evening and then ride on to Alder Creek CG, which was another 11 miles. It was hot and there would be some hard climbing. This being just 2 days shy of the summer solstice I knew daylight would not be an issue. So I relaxed by the river all afternoon. There was no one else around. I tried to get in the river but it was too icy cold, so I just rinsed off. I ate, layed in my hammock. played my flute, and enjoyed a glorious summer day.

By late afternoon I was getting antsy to ride. I had planned on waiting until 7, but instead left at 6. This was a good thing. The road was totally in the shade now and the air was cooling. The climbing started right away and had me in my lowest gear, so I realized it would probably take me close to 3 hours to go the 11 miles to the next campground. The grade was dead steady at about 7% or 8% and my lowest gear was just adequate to keep me moving along. I arrived at Alder Creek CG and got the last spot, right next to a couple on touring bikes. They were from California and were riding to Bend. We had some good conversation and turned in. At this elevation it was nice and cool and sleeping would be good.

Day 1. It got hot today. Familiar route though Peoria, Harrisburg, and Coburg. Then McKenzie View which led to 126 completely bypassing Eugene and Springfield. 

Met a cyclist from Boulder, CO riding with his daughter. The started in Bend and came over the pass. 

I would have stopped sooner had there been a campground. I really got lucky finding a Lane County park across the river and away from the highway. There were lots of people at the park but I saw a nice trail so I just rode right through. The trail followed the river and a little way in I saw a picnic table so I stopped. They hadn't been maintaining it and there were nettles and blackberries growing up all around it. But it was in the shade so I cleard a path and made myself at home. I was thinking maybe I'd sleep on the picnic table if no one kicked me out. I assumed there was no camping in this park. I had some food and then decided to take a walk and see the river. Not more then 30' from the picnic table I found a narrow trail leading to the river, and a perfect tent spot under some huge old cedars. So I moved my bike and set up camp. No one came. I don't even think anyone knew I was there. It was perfect. Right on the river.

In the morning I looked and didn't really see any "no camping" signs, so maybe I wasn't even stealth camping. I was feeling really good and ready for day 2.

The sun came out! Really nice day. Took it easy. Big ride starts tomorrow. 

LBCC and garden. 

LBCC and garden. 

Mini loop tour practice ride. Rain stopped. Partial clearing and warm enough for a good ride. Lots of kids with parents on tandems. 

Rain. Rain when we started and rain when we finished. But some clearing in between. I was not fully recovered from last week's brevet. It was a hard ride. But we made it. Very scenic. They change the first part of the ride each year making it more interesting.

LBCC, garden, and with January to school. 

My second ACP brevet with the Oregon Randonneurs. Even got Rick and Tracy to join me. 

Drizzly wet morning but dried up by afternoon. Similar route to the first one I did but more hills. 

Stew and the Sacramento gang are back for another tour. I joined them for the start. 

Saved the miles all month. A lot of these are with J on the Piccolo to and from school and to the garden. Most are to and from LBCC. 

Met the Tracys at Buena Vista. Took the ferry and then Talbot road to Jefferson. Had an early lunch, then back trough the Ankeny Wildlife Refuge to Independence brige. Stapelton to Monmouth, then back on Helmick, 99W, Arboretum, Mountain View, and Highland.

Couldy in the morning but mostly sunny by the end of the ride. Nice day, great ride.  

Clockwise. Bellfountain - Alpine - Alsea Falls - Alsea - Alsea Summit. Sunny hot day, perfect in the woods, hot in the sun.

Clockwise. Bellfountain - Alpine - Alsea Falls - Alsea - Alsea Summit. Sunny hot day, perfect in the woods, hot in the sun.

Nice turnout. Nice evening. 

Short but brisk ride. Trying to ramp up the intensity on short rides. 

Adair, Metge, Oak Grove, Palestine, Scenic, Spring Hill and back. Nice day v

Oregon Randonneurs brevet. My first. Beautiful day, great people. Wilsonville to Scio then Salem and back. 

I got up at 3:30 and drove up to Wilsonville. I got to the Starbucks early but there was already a group of riders getting ready to go. Turn out they were doing a 400k ride. Glad I didn't go with them. Pretty soon people started showing up for the 200k ride. Right away I meet Narayan, Keith, and Susan, and it turned out they would be my companions for the rest of the day. I also met Lynne whom I have been working with online on the RUSA website.

There was a mass start at 7:00 of about 12-15 riders. The pace was swift from the start making me thing I would soon get dropped. The route started on the freeway of all things. It was the only way across the Willamette. Once we got across the river and off the freeway the group started splitting. The fast riders were off the front in no time. At first everyone else stayed together but soon the slower riders started falling back. I managed to stay with the middle group thinking I would fall back to the slower group later. I never did. The group I was with set the perfect pace for me the entire day.

We were soon on Meridian road riding long rollers for many miles. In fact the hills continued all the way to Scio. At one point I left the group behind as they were waiting for one rider to get up a hill. I rode on slowly expecting them to catch up but it turns out one of them had a flat. So I had about 12-15 miles of solo riding at a very mellow pace before they caught back up. I think this really helped my overall day.

The first bridge was Gallon House. It was the only one on this route that was not also on the CBBT. The rollers continued until not far from Scio there was one serious hill. I had to get off and push it was that bad. Then the fast downhill to the Shimenek Bridge and I was now in familiar territory.

We stopped at the Covered Bridge Cafe in Scio which was our first open control and had our cards initialed. We were well within the time so we sat down ate and rested a little. From Scio we followed familiar roads to the Hoffman and Gilky bridges and then headed towards Jefferson and turned on Green Bridge road. But instead of heading in to Jefferson we followed roads directly north over more hills and on in to Salem for our second control where we stopped at a Starbucks.

After Salem the route followed the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway on and off for quite a while but then broke off and headed east through Donald and eventually back to Wilsonville, once again crossing the river on the freeway. Our finishing time was 11:40, almost 2 hours ahead of the cutoff.

It was amazing for me to be fairly effortlessly keeping up with riders for whom 200k was just a warm up ride. Both Narayan and Susan have completed Paris-Brest-Paris in both 2011 and 2015, and have done other 1200k Grand Brevets. This means they had to first complete a series of 200k, 400k, and 600k in the same year. I still cannot wrap my mind about that. While I felt good after 200k I was a wreck the next day and 3 days later am still not recovered. Still I want to do more. There is a 300k at the end of June but it conflicts with the Loop Tour which I'm doing. So I might just do another 200k in early June and see how that goes.

New tires

Over the past 2 weeks.

Out Peoria, Tangent, Green Valley, Fayetteville and Peoria to Menanite bakery with a bunch of Tenners. Warm and sunny! John and I then continued to Harrisburg and then Gap Road to Brownsville. Lunch at Main Street Cafe and then home via Seven Mile, Robert's Road, etc. Great ride!

No rain! Albany back Riverside, then out to garden. Mounted front panniers and had a little weight in them. Definitely adds some stability having more weigh up front.

Drizzle and wind. And yesterday was so nice. 

Via Buena Vista and Jefferson. Back through Tangent. 

Really nice day. Almost 70. Light wind. About time. 

Quick trip to town to checkout a Soma Wolverine.

It didn't rain today!

Rain won't quit. One ride to LBCC. Some to garden and town. 

My birthday ride. Rain at first but then it stopped. No wind. Independence Hwy, then WVSB. then Talbot to Jefferson. Mostly flat ride in the valley. Took it slow. Stopped twice.