Smooth Sailing

After Saturday’s rather brutal ride up the 5000 plus foot McKenzie Pass, I decided to make Sunday’s ride into something of a Sunday drive. It was a 48 mile journey into the town of Prineville and would be relatively flat the whole way, with just a few stretches of uphill.

I didn’t even get out of camp until almost eleven, which was fine with me.  After stopping by the convenience store to get some supplies, I headed out of the town of Sisters on highway 126.  Sisters is  a fantastic little place and I’d like to go back one day when I have more time.

Highway 126 is lightly traveled in this area and has a very wide shoulder.  I had a nice tailwind and was cruising along effortlessly at 17 miles per hour, but shortly into the ride the map gave directions to go off the highway to a back road. I wasn’t exactly happy about this since I was enjoying the current rate of speed.

I had mentioned in a previous post that the Adventure Cycling maps will often take you on a longer route to avoid heavily traveled roads or to take  you on a more scenic route.  This particular route was a bit winding and brought me into a headwind at times, but it was amazing as far as the calmness and the scenery. It rolled through farmland,  a few horse and small cattle ranches, and even an alpaca ranch. And this was on another day of absolutely perfect weather.  I can’t imagine being in better conditions for weather and scenery for the remainder of this trip. It was a perfect day.

Along one section about halfway to Prineville, I saw a couple of cyclists heading my way. They pulled over to my side of the road to introduce themselves.  They were Peter and Marijke, from Holland.  As with all the cyclists I’ve met so far, they were quite friendly and offered some good advice on where to stay.  That’s one nice thing about talking to people heading west.  They give me good information about what lies ahead.

In talking with Marijke, she mentioned that Peter was 67 years old and they wanted to get out and do a cross country trip while they still could. 67 years old?! I never would have guessed by looking at him. Those Dutch take care of themselves.

The two told me of a nice place to stay in the town of Mitchell, which is where I’m heading today (as I write this from Prineville).  It will make it another relatively short day of riding, but with a rather heavy climb up Ochoco Pass. They said a guy there has set up a place specifically for cyclists and that his hospitality is fantastic.  So it’s off to Mitchell.