Eagle Crest - Sisters - Tumalo

Distance: 68.8 miles
Elevation Gain: 2189 feet
Average Moving Speed: 17.01 mph

Well, I got in trouble on this one. We went on a portion of the Tour des Chutes route, and while I knew some of that ride was very bumpy, I was hoping today's route was a "bump free" portion, but I was wrong. So it was very hard riding with freeze-thaw pavement cracks every 10 or 20 yards on quite a few of the miles today. Amy's version of a good scolding: "Didn't we ride on some great roads earlier this week?" Translation: "Why in the world did you take me on these roads?"

If any roadie ever reads this (including me! ;) avoid Lower River Road, Holmes, Fryrear, Innes Market Road, and for that matter Elm Street from Sisters toward Three Creek was pretty cruddy too. Basically we've learned that the Old Bend-Redmond Highway and Cline Falls Highway are excellent biking routes, and we will likely use them almost exclusively for future stays at Eagle Crest.

I was hoping to ride up to Three Creeks from Sisters but the road didn't have a shoulder AND there was a lot of traffic (since it is Labor Day weekend). We could handle one or the other, but not both. The fact that the road was also bumpy made it a no-brainer to turn around after about a mile, instead of doing the whole 13 mile grade.

We did get in some good miles though, at a decent moving speed, so all is not lost. :)