Bachelor Sunriver OB

Today we started our ride with good friend Janette. The plan was to ride from Eagle Crest to Sunriver, and if Janette felt up to it we would do the 4-mile side excursion to get the rest of the way up to Mt. Bachelor on the way there.

Quick Stats Ride Distance: 111.76 miles   Elevation Gain: 6474 feet   Average Moving Speed: 15.39 mph

Since her previous longest ride was 32 miles with us back in Vancouver on our flat Past Frenchman OB training ride we suggested she have her husband Greg pick her up at Sunriver.

Not feeling like doing the full 140-mile super century route we usually do, we opted out of riding all the way around the back side of Mt. Bachelor and went straight to Sunriver instead. This gave the added advantage of skipping the worst stretch of road between Crane Prairie Reservoir and Sunriver. But at the expense of missing out on the great road and spectacular scenery between Mt. Bachelor and Crane Prairie. Life is full of trade-offs, eh?

On the way up to Bachelor Janette did great, particularly for her first big ride. When we got to the Sunriver turnoff she was game to go up to the top instead of turning. We got some pictures for "proof" of her accomplishment and then headed down. The downhill stretch after the turnoff to Sunriver is one of my favorite descents. It isn't particularly steep, it is just excellent pavement surface and big road curves making for a very enjoyable descent.

We got to Sunriver and Greg was waiting there to pick up Janette as planned. She did 60 miles and over 4,000 feet of elevation gain.

I filled all 4 of my water bottles with ice and water. We knew it was going to be hot and the climb back up to the Cascade Lakes Highway (that we had just descended) had given me troubles in the past, mostly due to the sun directly on your back the entire time.

I was also trying out arm sun shades, which are basically white arm warmers, but very thin. On this climb I kept my plain ice water bottle handy (on the front cage instead of behind my seat) so that I would not be tempted to skip using it. I'm not sure how well the arm shades worked as intended, but I did like how I could pour ice water on them, leaving them quite moist and my arms feeling cool while it evaporated. The water also went on my back and shoulders, and every other time on my head as well. I never did have to stop, so the cooling effort, and maybe even the arm sun shades, apparently paid off.

While descending toward Bend I caught up to Amy before we reached the Inn at the Seventh Mountain. She had floated away as usual on the climb, and was out of sight at times, but I could see her on longer straight stretches.

RIDE DATA:

I was almost out of water when we reached Tumalo, only having a partial bottle of Perpetuem mix. Nothing wrong with Perpetuem, but in the heat of the day with the sun on your back you really want plain ice water or Gatorade. So I stopped at the little Tumalo mini-mart type store and filled one bottle with ice water. That bottle was emptied as we finished the last nine miles and rolled into Eagle Crest.

RIDE MAP IN GOOGLE EARTH:

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