First Three Days

Day 1, 24 May

The trip began wonderfully. We took a short ride to the bus station using Portland's fantastic system of bike routes. I picked up subs from Subway for lunch while Louis held a spot in the line I feared but never formed. We loaded the bikes on the racks on the front of the bus and travelled to Tillamook. There we changed buses and went to Lincoln City. Three wonderful events occurred. First, we were able to store our bikes on the trip to Lincoln City in the luggage area at the back of the bipus because one of the racks was broken. Second, we changed our ultimate destination from Pacific City to Lincoln City based on the advice of a worker at Tillamook. She wanted us to avoid a narrow road used by logging trucks. Third, the worker gave us tokens to cover the extra cost.

It was a beautiful day of riding. Western Oregon is lush and verdant. 

We rode from Lincoln City to Salem, a total 59.84 miles, at 13.2 mph. Here is a map that shows our general route: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/246146523. Our starting elevation was 91 ft and our finishing elevation was 234 ft. We climbed 1,846 vertical ft. Our maximum elevation was 938 ft. We had 2 class-5 climbs.

We stayed with Jon Steiner, a couch surfer. You can learn more about him at Jon.a.steiner@facebook.com.

Day 2, Sat 25 May

54.95 miles @ 11.8 mph. The mileage is a little short because my odometer acted badly. Louis had 56 miles. Lovely ride from Salem to Detroit State Park. Jon sent us off w great oat bran blueberry pancakes. We have talked about them repeatedly.

Here is a map of the general route we followed: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/246156735. Some of the details in Salem may be incorrect. It shows we started at an elevation of 234 ft. and stopped at 1,619 ft, after climbing 2,392 vertical feet. We had 5 class-5 climbs. The maximum elevation was 1,900 ft.

Here are pictures in the ride of where we were and where we are going.

Here is a shot of Mount Jefferson from just west of our campsite. It is the white snow-capped peak in the center.

Day 3, 26 May

Detroit State Park to Bend. 83.6 miles @ 11.5 mph.

The day started rainy and varied between warm sunshine, cold drizzle, and all combinations. I think we hit sleet as we came down the backside of the Cascades. We broke camp in drizzle around 8 and road for almost two hours before reaching Marion Forks restaurant where we had a grand breakfast. The first 40 miles was mostly uphill, with the last 4 or so of them being the most intense. The reward was a series of spectacular views and a nice 6 mile descent after Santiam Pass. My maximum speed was over 31 mph.

The topology changed dramatically after crossing the mountain. Sagebrush replaced green moss and Ponderosa pine replaced cypress. Dry replaced wet.

We saw a bald eagle.

Here is a map of the route: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/246161683. It shows that we started at an elevation of 1,619 ft. and ended at 3,636 ft after climbing 4,547 vertical feet. We had 2 class-3 climbs, and 5 class-5 climbs. The maximum elevation was 4,856 ft.

We dined at the Deschutes brew house.