Up at 4:45 this morning. Got a big ride today—95 miles—with a big, steep climb at the start. Supposed to get up to 95 again today so want to get that climb done and as many miles behind me as I can before the heat moves in. It actually got over 100 by the time I made it to Sisters.
Went out last night to pick up something for breakfast this morning….forgot it was Sunday and everything was closed. So, broke out the emergency cans of Beanee Weenees I’ve been carrying in my panniers for a few weeks. Have 50 miles before first store this morning so they’ll have to do me 🙂 On the road at 5:35 am.
Topped Ochoco Pass at 4,720 feet at 8am. It’s still cool out….getting an early start this morning was the right thing to do.
Made it to Prineville at 10:10 with 49 miles in for the day. After the climb to Ochoco Pass it was just a long gradual downhill to here. Having an early lunch at Subway then back on the road….still a lot of miles to go, but I’m making good time today and feeling good.
12:30 pulled into Terrebonne at 68 miles. Getting hot. Stopped at the Thriftway grocery store and picked up a bottle of cold Pure Leaf tea, Perrier, and a cold jar of red grapefruit….sat outside and downed them all 🙂
Getting my first glimpse of the snow covered mountain range I’ll be going over tomorrow, but don’t let that snow fool you…it’s hotter than heck here. That’ll be my last big climb of the trip tomorrow….then it’s pretty much downhill to the Pacific.
For about the last 25 miles or so into Sisters I was riding on fresh paved road. It was so hot—my garmin read 101 degrees—tar was bubbling up from the road and as my tires rolled over it it sounded like I was rolling over bubble wrap—have a video of it I’ll post once the trip is over. I was expecting to have flats anytime from my tires just melting away. For some reason, in my mind I pictured Oregon being sort of like England…cool temps, green, etc. But from what I’ve ridden through so far it’s more like Tucson AZ….hot and brown.
Pulled into Sisters at 3:45 very thankful that I had started a little early this morning…finishing 95 miles before 4 pm is good. Not only was it hot but the wind started picking up coming out of the west directly into my face…and even the wind was hot.
Sisters seems like the typical tourist trap sort of town. I found a motel just out from the touristy area and checked in. Next door is a pizza place—went there and ate a 12” veggie pizza and drank about 4 large glasses of ice tea and three glasses of ice water. Then went across the street to the Dairy Queen and had a hot fudge Sunday. Then stopped at the super market next door and picked up a 52 oz bottle of orange juice with high pulp—because I like to chew my juice :-)—a large bottle of Perrier, some plumbs and a plastic tub of pealed and ready to eat pineapple. It’ll all be gone by the time I leave tomorrow….I just can’t seem to get enough fluids.
Last night had a thunderstorm move through and got some cool pics of the sky posted below. Also, there were bathroom scales in the hostel so I stepped on them this morning and I weigh 166 pounds…I weighed 182 when I started. So, as a sample of one, I can verify this is a great weight loss program while at the same time eating as much of anything you want 🙂
Tomorrow in the first 15 miles I’ll be climbing over McKenzie Pass—5,325 feet—within the first 15 miles of the day. That’ll be the only big climb of the day and my last big climb of the trip. I’ll be doing about 100 miles tomorrow so will be very similar to today—big climb early followed by a lot of miles. I like the way today turned out, so will be hitting the road early tomorrow as well to get the climb done while it’s still cool…should be in Eugene by end of day tomorrow.
Looks like I’m on track to finish on Friday or maybe early Saturday morning. I bought my plane ticket for Monday morning to give me a day of flexibility…once I get to Astoria, I’ll need to take pics at the finish in the Pacific then find the bike shop and ship my bike home. Then I’ll need to figure out how to get to Portland—about 100 miles…I thought about riding my bike there and shipping it from Portland, but then I woke up and it was just a bad dream 🙂
Feeling strong and good…ready to knock out a mountain and another 100 tomorrow 🙂
