Newberry Crater and Crane Prairie

QUICK STATS	This Ride	2010 Cumulative
Distance	78.93 miles	1,784 miles
Elevation Gain	4073 feet	17.84 miles
Average Moving Speed	14.9 mph	14.8 mph
Dog Bites	0	1

This ride started out quite cold. My iBike gave a low of 45 degrees but with the initial headwind it felt much cooler. The climb up to Newberry Crater warmed us up though. We started seeing snow next to the road about half way up, and slush on the road near the top.

We had planned to ride the 5 miles across the flat top of the crater to the east side and back, but it was so cold and wet up there we decided to head straight back down. Before that, though, I rode just a bit into the driveway of the west lodge, or whatever the driveway went to, so I could see the lake. Saw it, and noticed a pickup wanting to exit the driveway, which meant I needed to step onto the inch of snow so he could drive by me. Big mistake. I wasn't able to clip in to my pedals as snow had caked onto my cleats. Amy spent a couple minutes digging the snow/slush out of my cleats with her tire levers and then we started going back down.

That's when it got really cold. The first stretch of the descent was wet, and without fenders my shoes and lower legs got quite wet. Amy couldn't feel her hands. I couldn't feel my feet. Towards the end of the descent the sun actually came out, and I think I actually heard the angels singing glory hallelujah. Or maybe that was Amy. Could have even been me. Whatever the case, it was quite nice.

Maps showing all rides: 2010 Rides • 2009 Rides • All Rides

The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful. The sun was out for most of it, although my arm and leg warmers never came off. The section of South Century Drive between La Pine and the Crane Prairie turnoff had those nasty freeze/thaw cracks that produce the bone jarring bumps we love so much. Thankfully we weren't on that stretch too long.

Oh, the higher altitude was most definitely noticeable to this "sea level" cyclist. Either that or my cardio condition is worse than I thought due to the lack of riding with all the rain in April and May. Probably both. The average elevation over the entire ride was 4850 feet, ranging from 4150 to 6425.