Earlier this year, knowing that I was turning forty this summer, I decided to take the plunge and commit myself to riding Cycle Oregon for the first time. I have wanted to do this ride for years. I signed up, knowing that if I paid the money, I would have to do it, and that the longer I thought about it, the more excuses I could find why I shouldn't.
This year marked the 20th Anniversary of Cycle Oregon, which began in 1988 when Oregonian writer Jonathon Nicholas told people about a ride across Oregon. He thought a couple hundred people might show up. Instead, more than 1,000 were at the starting point that day. They foraged their way across the state.
This year's ride was limited to 2,000 riders (as it is tough to support more than this) and covered 481 miles, starting in Sisters.
I didn't train for the event the way I should have (meaning I didn't put in nearly enough miles by the beginning of September.) Of course we had vacation and what not this summer, which makes training tough. So I figured that somewhere during the week I would blow-up and the SAG wagon would have to bring me in.
We started on the morning of September 9th with a 60 mile ride from Sisters to La Pine. The Three sisters are pictured below. This was just some of the gorgeous scenery we had during the week.
I didn't sleep well the first night, in Sisters, between the Coyote song around 2am and all the noise from my neighbors in their tents. Once we got out on the road to La Pine, I realized I packed my sun screen in my over-night bag! So, trying to stay out of the sun, I made my stops down to La Pine very brief. My nose was nicely burnt by the time I reached La Pine.
On day two, we put in a lot of miles. Officially, it was 92.5 miles from La Pine to Diamond Lake, but my odometer said I was closer to 95 miles by day's end. We awoke in La Pine to a brisk 28 degrees and ice covering out tents! Brrr. This was my least favorite day of the trip, mainly because we spent a lot of time on Highways 58 and 97 heading south. There was a long stretch along 97 that was straight and hot and boring. I made good time, and other than getting a bit saddle sore near the end of the day, I made it through without trouble, which was surprising, since the longest ride I had done that year was the day before!
Early in the day, there was some good scenery before we hit Highway 58. This odd looking tree in the middle of this lava flow, for example.
This photo below shows a rather typical scene at one of the rest stops. This was just above Davis Lake on day two.
The run in to Diamond Lake was gorgeous, at the end of day two, and the whole set-up at Diamond Lake was stunning. They had the main stage set-up right next to the Lake where we gathered every evening for different entertainment. I realized later that I didn't take a single photo at Diamond Lake. I guess I was enjoying myself too much.
The other nice thing about our time at Diamond Lake, was that it was a lay-over day. We spent two nights at the Lake so we didn't have to pack up our tents the next morning. Instead, we got the option of doing nothing, or riding up to Crater Lake. We also had the option of riding all the way around the rim of Crater Lake. I took option number two, and just rode up to the rim and back.
This shot was a couple of miles from the rim of the Crater, looking back to Mount Thielsen at Diamond Lake.
The last couple miles to the rim were tough, and I'm glad I didn't ride the rim, otherwise I would have been worthless the rest of the ride.
I was born and raised in Oregon, but this was the very first time I have been to Crater Lake. The last time Cycle Oregon came to Crater Lake, there was snow and sleet and they had to bring the riders off the Mountain in buses. Our weather was a little bit better ...
After Crater Lake, we packed up our travelling show and headed for Dorena Lake / Cottage Grove. This was an 88 mile day, marked by a tough 10 mile climb, followed by an incredibly steep descent down a rough, narrow road.
I left Diamond Lake a little late, and by the time I reached the summit, at mile 60, there was a huge line waiting to descend. The road was so steep that they were only letting 10 riders at a time go down. I found out later that the course had been closed for over an hour due to crashes. A woman was unable to hold her brakes, crashed in the ditch and probably broke her hip.
As I stood in line, waiting to head down the hill, a State Trooper brought a rider back up who blew a tire on the way down because his brakes over-heated. Before we were allowed to descend, they told us that we were NOT allowed to pass, which also stinks because I tend to descend fast because of my weight. So there I was, stuck behind five very slow descenders, riding my brakes the whole way. I finally stopped and let my rims cool, about half way down, mostly because I was tired of the slow pace. Once I got going again, I passed two accidents with the ambulance on scene. I passed a third accident later on a flat that was apparently the result of a pace line gone awry.
From Dorena Lake, we meandered our way along Brice Creek, 55.5 miles to Oakridge. This was a tough day with nearly twenty miles of tough climbing. I felt really good, however, and made it over the double summit at a fairly fast pace.
The road into Oakridge was much smoother, though almost as steep in spots, but there was less traffic and I was able to open it up and had a blast on the descent. I passed everyone that I could see, then once I hit the flat, turned to cross the river and ran smack into a nasty head wind. Those last few miles were painful.
A couple of hours later the thunder began and it rained on us for about an hour. Luckily my tent was already up and we took refuge in the High school football stadium bleachers.
That evening, my legs were very sore. While I felt good climbing that day, I expended far too much energy and the next day I was a very unhappy camper.
On day six, we left Oakridge and headed back into the Cascades. We followed the North fork of the Willamette River, through the small town of West Fir (the longest covered Bridge in Oregon resides there,) and then descended along the McKenzie River to the postal stop of Rainbow, for a total of 65 miles for the day. I felt terrible through lunch, but got the adrenaline going on the descent.
This is the cougar reservoir, just above Rainbow. In the picture below, the little specs of color in the middle left are cyclists.
When we arrived in Rainbow, the locals had erected an archway of multi-colored balloons for us to ride through, just inside the big bumpy field where we were spending the night. As I rode into the field, I unclipped my left foot, preparing to dismount, then I hit a big bump next to the arch and tipped over to my right. Unable to unclip my foot, I fell over on my right side and dumped over a big pot of gold at the end of the Rainbow. I should have gone all out and taken out the rainbow all together. The woman at the arch helped me up and another rider brushed off all the straw on my backside.
"Are you alright?" she kept asking. I assured her that the only thing wounded was my pride.
On the final day, we rode a short 44 miles from Rainbow back to Sisters. Of course, there were some big mountains in our way. We went over the top of McKenzie pass. My legs were tired, but I took it slow and made it to the top.
I have never been over this pass before, and it was stunning. The picture below is from the Dee Wright Observatory at the top looking south toward the North and Middle Sister.
On day two of the ride, they had to move our lunch location, so we had to walk over a mile down a gravel road for lunch and then back. At the end of that day, my cleats were looking pretty bad, and by day six my left cleat would occasionally pop out of my pedal. I tried to get some new cleats that night, but they had run out.
Near the top of the climb on the final day, my cleat started coming out again. I managed to get it seated on the descent, but about six miles from Sisters it finally came out for good. I limped on in, but I made it the whole way. I never had a flat and I never had to catch a ride from the SAG wagon.
What a terrific week. I'd do it again, but give me a few months to recover.
UPDATE: 09/20/07
They posted photos of the event today. Look here, if you want to see some photos of me suffering during the week.
