| All 4 Eagle Crest Rides Ride Distance: 303 miles Elevation Gain: 15,600 feet Average Moving Speed: 15.88 mph |
Sunday arrival
Left at 6 a.m. caravanning with Mike and Sue intending to meet Greg and Janette in Sisters and ride the McKenzie Pass. Poor forecast led us to call an audible and change our starting point to Eagle Crest itself in the hopes that we could ride out to Smith Rock and maybe Bend. Rained most of the drive over, including the last several miles through Redmond. Upon arrival it stopped raining and the clouds looked like they might be moving away so by the time we got ready to ride the pavement was mostly dry.
| Smith Rock OB Ride Distance: 35 miles Elevation Gain: 1,322 feet Average Moving Speed: 16.05 mph |
The five of us rode out to Smith Rock and back. Saw one coyote and lots of rock chucks (aka yellow-bellied marmots). Got back to Eagle Crest during the noon hour and decided to see if we could check in early, and we could, so we did. We successfully avoided riding in the rain.
Monday, rainy
We successfully avoided riding in the rain.
Tuesday, cloudy with a chance of rain
Greg and Janette had to leave around noon so they did their own ride to Bend and back. Mike and Amy and I opted for the Prineville Loop in the hopes of avoiding some of the wind and particularly the rain that would likely occur in the mountains (our other ride options).
| Prineville Loop (CCW) Ride Distance: 109 miles Elevation Gain: 3,471 feet Average Moving Speed: 17.03 mph |
The forecast called for a westerly wind. Hutch's Pre-Season Century, which is very similar to our Prineville Loop, had a nasty westerly wind to make the last 30 miles miserable. We decided to do the loop in the opposite direction (hence the CCW, for "clockwise"). It was a very good decision. Not only was the portion riding east from Bend to Prineville fast with the tailwind, but the portion from Prineville riding west back to Redmond was somewhat protected from the wind with a ridgeline.
| PHOTOS (IN FLASH PLAYER): |
Even though it was a relatively flat ride it was still a long ride so by the end it was hard, but we all made it back, in spite of the surprise detour, known detour, and all the incorrect ride distance prognostications. (Nobody likes it when a tough ride is a little longer than expected!)
I don't know how he did it but Mike drove home to Vancouver after the ride and got up the next morning to teach a spin class. Animal!
We successfully avoided riding in the rain.
Wednesday, extremely windy
We were quite happy to take a day off the bikes. The Bend Bulletin reported that the wind speed was measured at a peak of 149 mph at the summit of Mt. Bachelor, with periods of sustained wind speeds more than 100 mph between 5 a.m. and 11 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Thursday, clear but cold
We got up early to ride, and this was the first day you had a nice clear view of all the mountains.
| Mt. Bachelor OB Ride Distance: 80.52 miles Elevation Gain: 4,711 feet Average Moving Speed: 15.41 mph |
It was nice to finally see the mountains, like a carrot on a stick since that was where we were headed. The only problem was we weren't used to doing big rides with only a day off between them. So our grandiose plans of riding around Bachelor were whittled down some. In the end it was for the best as it was very cold up there, especially factoring in wind chill, so we were quite happy to take a couple photos and turn right back around to head down the mountain, in spite of being well prepared with the proper attire.
Speaking of heading down the mountain, this descent became my new favorite descent. We've done it before, but it has been a while since we usually continue on around Bachelor. Plus, it is basically brand new smooth pavement, so that along with nice wide shoulders and no sharp curves to deal with, you can just let her rip. It isn't all that steep, but I did average a wind-aided 40 mph for the first couple miles near the top. This is a study in contrasts compared to all the TUC descents, which are absolutely miserable due to the condition of the pavement.
Friday and Saturday, beautiful sunny days
We had originally intended to ride Saturday, but changed it to Sunday in order to get more off-the-bike recovery time.
Sunday, sunny
We left Eagle Crest early and did the McKenzie Pass ride starting from Sisters, effectively on our way home.
| McKenzie Pass OB Ride Distance: 78.34 miles Elevation Gain: 6,070 feet Average Moving Speed: 14.87 mph |
We've ridden our bikes up to the high point on McKenzie Pass before, Dee Wright Observatory, from the Sisters side, but hadn't ever ridden on the other side (toward Eugene), so this was new territory for us.
Plus, this was our first time riding up there while the pass is still closed to motorized vehicles. We absolutely loved it.
My favorite descent has changed again. Even though there are quite a few sharp curves and switchbacks, the descent was, well, awesome. I think part of the joy was the car-free-ness of it all. But also the scenery. And the slope wasn't so steep that you couldn't quickly slow down for a sharp corner, which of course are all marked with signs for the thankfully absent automobiles. It is really just the right combination of a nice high speed to zoom down curve after curve without having to hit the brakes too often. Very fun.
Of course, on an out-and-back ride if you go down on the way out you have to come up on the way back. While a relatively big climb of almost 4,000 feet, the steepest part was an average of only 5% for about 2,600 feet. In other words, perfect.
As we approached the top we were both passing and getting passed by lots of other riders. The ones passing us were going quite fast and had team jerseys. I would guess we saw at least 100 cyclists up there, if not more. I think ODOT should consider keeping it closed to motorized traffic a tad longer, like into July (perhaps the 4th?), and actually advertise it as such. What is already apparently a relatively localized ride destination could become a nation-wide ride mecca. The key is keeping it bicycle only just a little longer into the season because if most cyclists are like me they aren't reaching their peak fitness until July, and this ride requires fitness on the big climb. But first they need to get a potable water source somewhere besides each endpoint.
We got our second set of pictures on the second pass over the top (along with snapping some shots of two other couples) and then headed down toward Sisters with a nice tailwind.
It was a very enjoyable week, particularly since the weather improved so much after an atypical (for Central Oregon) rainy/cloudy start.
| RIDE MAP IN GOOGLE EARTH: |
| Maps showing all rides: 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010 • 2009 • All Rides |
No comments:
Post a Comment