This day we nicknamed the "day of extremes". It
started with waking to 27 degree temperatures.
During the night Randy became a sleeping bag mummy and
Julie found a hat, wool gloves, long johns, sweats and
any article of clothing to put on to fight the cold.
The morning was cool and cold! Stars were still out
and we found Orion's belt. That and the two dippers
are about the extent of our ability to identify with
accuracy the stars.
Our strategy was to eat breakfast: hot oatmeal, hot
coffee, hot eggs, hot water, hot anything and warm up.
Then it was back to pack the bags and tent.
Normally this would not have been too bad of a task
but there was frost on the grass and frost on the
tent. This made for starting the with cold hands and
feet. Since the weather was forecasted to be in the
90s, we didn't want to leave wearing a ton of clothing
that later would need to be removed. Looking back,
that was a mistake. We left LaPine with the
temperature most likely in the 30s but did not have
the wool gloves with us. We had Julie's biking
gloves which we ended sharing. Randy had the left and
Julie the right. At least one hand could be warm.
It was only super cold until the first water break and
then the temperature started to rise and we were
warming up.
The ride for the first 70 miles was pleasant: cool
mountain clean air with pine trees off on the sides of
the road. The scenery was not as spectacular as the
first day which was the Cascade Range and Descutes
River. However, it was better than biking in the
city. We did note that there was a lot of busy
traffic including semi-trucks and large pick-ups as we
pedaled on the side of Highways 97 and 136. The
safety bumps along the white line of the hwy made
passing other bikes a difficult task. The bumps
could easily make a bike tire turn out of control so
we had to be careful when we tried to pass.
A touching story from this ride actually took place at
one of the rest stops. We noticed a group of riders
that had "Candlelighters" printed on their jerseys and
then names velcroed on the back. I asked one man the
story behind the group. He told me they were a group
who were riding as a fund raiser for children with
cancer. The names they wore were the individual
children they were representing. This brought tears
to my eyes as the story hit home for us and our
concern for our friends' son, age 4, who has been
undergoing surgery and chemo and radiation treatments
all summer. We talked with the group about Josh and
they added him to their list of names to pray for
recovery. For the rest of the trip I marveled at
this group who was using their love of biking to serve
others.
On a funny note, when we reached Chemult we posed by a
sign to have our picture taken. As Randy looked at
the photo on the digital screen, he noticed a man in
the background in bright yellow. (You guessed
it...the line to the blue rooms were VERY LONG!)
Anyhow, we caught him on film!
At the last rest stop we were super hot so we dumped
water on our jerseys and applied sunscreen. It was
only about 12 miles from Diamond Lake, but in this
weather, drinking water and staying cool were key.
About ten of the last miles were uphill along the
Crater Lake/ Diamond Lake Highway. It was a mental
game against the hill. We were tired and kept on
pedaling up, up, up... WE MADE IT...not so
fast...false summit...keep pedaling up, up, up...WE
MADE IT....not so fast...false summit! This happened
five or so times that we just had change our thinking
to we will at the top when we actually start going
down.
After 92.5 miles, we were ready for the time to get
off the bike. We pulled in on the south side of
Diamond Lake and found a little spot tucked between
trees, far but close to the blue rooms and far away
from other tents. Trees prevented anyone from
pitching a tent next to us so we thought we would be
able to sleep. This would be home for two night.
The main stage and dining areas were set up on the
boat ramp of Diamond Lake. It was beautiful and
after our showers we enjoyed the scenery of the lake
and Mt. Thielson. (however, the bugs were a little
thick.) When we finally went back to the tent, I
think both of us were out as soon as our heads hit the
pillow.
Fun facts: We rode 92.5 miles in distance and gained
1,036 ft. Our average speed was around 12 miles per
hour. The temperature was warmer at Diamond Lake than
at LaPine over night! Yeah!
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