To be honest, what was a strong draw to go on Cycle
Oregon was the chance to be on the North Umpquq River
again. This river over the years had become a place
of hiking, fishing, and friendship for me (Julie) and
I wanted to share that with Randy.
We started the morning with eating hot food since it
was another cold morning. Packing up and loading our
gear was not bad as the truck had parked right across
the street from our tent! Bonus!
Our ride along the North Umpqua was a chilly one.
Randy wore my wool gloves and still we found ourselves
stopping a few times to get heat back into our arms
and hands. The temperature was not bad in the sun,
but in the shade we noticed frost along the side of
the road. Our morning chant was "Love the Sun".
We coasted pretty much the entire 45 miles to lunch.
Along the way, we stopped at White Horse Falls. Due
to the shade and water, we did not stay long. We did
agree that this is an area worth returning to in the
future on a camping trip during the summer when it is
warm.
After lunch we followed Canton Creek on an old forest
service road. The scenery was nice in the forest and
the creeks we past added a nice soothing atmosphere
for our ride. Toward the highest part of our climb
the pavement turned into a chip seal. Since this is
basically gravel stabilized by a little asphalt, the
sharp edges were murder on tires. We ended up having
a slow leak in our rear tire that we had to change.
After the ride was done, we contributed our tube
change to the safety of getting us down the backside
of the pass. Several people got flats as they were
descending down the 10% grade. This was a dangerous
stretch where several people were hurt. At the time
we reached the top, riders were allowed down in groups
of ten. The road was steep and windy, so it was a
slow process to stay safe. The other obstacle was
breaks would overheat. We stopped to cool our
breaks. Not cooling them could result in a tire
blowing...not good on any bike but especially a tandem
which has more weight with the two riders.
As the road flattened a little we found ourselves
drafting with another rider. He would lead us and
block the wind resistance and then we would trade
positions. We kept this fast pace for about ten
miles when we stopped for water. After the water
stop, we found another group and road in to the Dorena
Lake Camp together.
As we were heading for the line with the chocolate
milk near the finish, I heard a lady yelling at Randy
that his brother-in-law was looking for him. John
and his son, Arthur, came to greet us and help us set
up camp. We found a perfect flat spot for the tent
and the tree next to it was a perfect spot for John
and Arthur to place a blanket for the dinner picnic.
Randy had a little helper as he worked on the bike.
Arthur was so interested in the bike pump and tools.
He watch his Uncle Randy with large blue eyes. The
conversation and the music playing helped make setting
up camp a lighter task.
Statistics for the day: Our ride was 87.9 miles and
our elevation gain was 1,048 feet. Our average speed
was about 12 miles per hour.
All the racing and drafting drained us. We slept
soundly in our tent.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Looking for a deal? Find great prices on flights and hotels with Yahoo! FareChase.
http://farechase.yahoo.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment