Cycle Oregon Day 7.

I didn't take any riding pictures on the last day.  The route had some narrow trails with 2200 riders that didn't make for good places to try to pull out the camera.  These were followed by 10 miles of screaming (40 mph) winding, downhill....also not good to take the hands off the bars!

A downhill bonanza!

I also figured you were tired of the usual rest stop photos after a week of Cycle Oregon posts....so instead I captured this image of some of the wildlife.

Smokey the Bear was out in support!

And then, suddenly we were back at the start location for celebration, beer, and bands!

End of day celebrations!

All smiles at the end!

A detour on the way home put us in Bend (visiting the Preacher in this new town) for the night....and enjoying a beer at Crux brewery!

Cycle Oregon. Day 6.

Huh....looks like we might be doing some climbing today!

The goat heads from yesterday still played a factor early on.  My buddy (aka shopping girls CFO) was one victim.

 Ok, I didn't take a lot of pictures on this day.  Not sure if it was because we were busy climbing or if riding a bike all day every day was just getting routine.  The real climbing on this ride came late in the day after some nice downhills on forest service roads.  The last trick....1.6 miles of gravel.  Not a big deal for me (or wifey) with wider tires, but most of these poor saps had foo foo carbon road bikes with 23 mm tires.  Not their favorite section for sure!

Here comes the gravel.  Some folks who really love their carbon bikes actually carried them!!

The town of Seneca offered a fabulous sunset while we sipped beers and watched the band!

A little note here....Seneca is another tiny town (maybe a couple hundred people).  They definitely get a heads up that Cycle Oregon is coming because it can be a real boon to their economy.  In this case....Cycle Oregon riders hit the local restaurant so hard they closed after 2 hours......because they ran out of food!  The local convenience market was also hit hard and didn't have much left on the shelves by the end of the day.  The mayor gave a quick thanks letting the riders know that they had brought the entire town out of the red and into the black (budget wise) for the rest of the year!!

So don't count out bicycles as a local economic factor!!

Cycle Oregon Day 5.

I'm going with just photos and captions today.  We opted for the shorter 40 miles plus some local riding to the store.  Goats heads were everywhere around here and I'll bet at least a 100+ people had flats (including your truly)!  Overall, it was a super easy ride and we got in to camp early.  We used the extra time to utilize the beer garden and check out the traveling city.

The route....mostly flat again.

The first rest stop....I don't even think anyone was even tired, so obviously a bike pyramid on the hay bails was mandatory!

Mobile coffee guy was back in action as well.

Add a singing cowboy and I'd call this more of a social hour than a bike ride!

Since it was so arduous today, we decided to stop by the local hot spring before heading to camp.

We camped at Crane High School.  It's the only public boarding school in the US.  Mostly because....it's in the middle of nowhere and you have to drive two hours from most ranches to the nearest town!

Sunset panorama of the camping.

The evening music session.

There's even a bike detailing booth.  Yep, for $100 these guys work through the night (literally) to give you a bike that looks like it just came off the showroom floor!

Cycle Oregon Day 4 - Rest Day!

Rest day.....meaning you could opt for an 80 mile ride (out and back) or turn around at any point and set the ride to the distance you wanted....or you could hang out at camp all day!

We opted for a modified route heading out the "planned" path about 4-5 miles and then doubling back past the turn off for our city / camp.

Motivational signs found along the route!

Mandatory photo op!

The turn off to camp.

The reason for bypassing the turn off was a tiny little hotel / bed and breakfast called the Diamond Motel was hosting a BBQ lunch (that ended up running from 10am to 8 pm).  The line for food never ceased the entire 10 hours!

Bacon wrapped Corn on the Cob....say no more!

The Cowboy Chefs in action

After food and beer....this was the plan for the day!

It's a little hard to read...but the population in Diamond is normally 5, yep....5.  They probably served about 1500 people at the BBQ.

Our "route" gave us about 22 miles today.  However, there were alternate means of transportation between camp and the BBQ!

This was the finish entrance from the day before.  Somehow riding down a shady glen lined with victory banners just never got old.  P.S.  When we finished yesterday they had Popsicle waiting for us.  Very nice on a 90 degree day!

Sunset across the meadow.

Sunset and home for the night!

Cycle Oregon Day 3.

Ah.....almost perfectly flat!  Only two "bumps" in the road for the whole day really. 

The crest of the first "bump"...the "bumps" were way steeper than they looked!

One of our friends on the ride cresting the top of the hill.  I haven't thought about her blog name....I think we'll call her "the shopper"!

One of the SAG wagons ready to help out any struggling riders....notice there are no takers!

Cycle Car anyone....slow on the uphills but ridiculously fast on the descents.  It must be the afterburners!

The second hill looming in the distance.

Photo op at the Malheur Wildlife Sanctuary.

A much better photo op at the Wildlife Refuge.

Wifey cresting the second "bump"!

 

Arriving at camp...retrieving bags, and juicing up the cell phones.

The city being constructed.

Cycle Oregon Day 2.

Route Overview:

Only 70.7 miles and 3200 feet of climbing today.....no problem!  Looks like we get most of the "work" done in the morning and then it's just another pleasure cruise.

One of the early morning water stops.

The morning pace line for the steep climb!

The reverse shot.

Wifey wasn't minding the challenge!

Posing for the picture at the top of the climb.

Lunch stop at the picturesque Silvies Ranch...which extends for an entire 35 mile valley!  This was the old schoolhouse for the valley back in the day.

They even had some on sight "rangeland goats" that make better use of the valley pasture than cattle.  They eat the grass and the weeds and produce more meat in the process.

 After the days ride, we ended up in the town of Burns, Oregon.  A cute little place where Cycle Oregon officially took over the town.  Closing most every street, setting up our main stage in the center of town, and pretty much every establishment had special things going on....including a BBQ dinner at the local Elks Lodge where we ended up!

The BBQ line up at the elks lodge.

Their excellent outdoor dinning room.

Complete with microbrew beer from Worthy Brewery!

While we were there we sat next to two random guys....who turned out to be the crew that my buddy the Preacher usually rides with.  He was supposed to ride, but a move to Bend threw a wrench in the plans.  What are the odds of meeting his buddies!  As you can see....there were very friendly once introductions were made!

It also happened to be Wifey's birthday and word got around (to the band playing) and announcements were made on the PA.  Soon one of the local Elks members was at our table with a special brownie complete with a candle!  Now that's local hospitality!

The main stage in the middle of the town's 4-way intersection and the end to a good day.