The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

Bend and Central Oregon

September 23rd to October 3rd

Ride Director: Loretta Goetsch
Ride Co-Director: Yvonne Starkey
Report by: Brian Aldrich

Haikus

From Sue:             Ride past stately pines
                             Metolius springs forth bold
                             Mt. Jefferson too

From Doug:                   Climb up to lava
                             now the McKenzie descent
                             Swoop like a swallow

Every good trip starts with a happy hour, on that note, we met, had a couple of drinks, introduced ourselves, discussed safety, and went to a delightful group dinner at the St Francis School McMenamin’s.  The meal was fantastic, the company delightful.

Monday’s ride was stunning, featuring beautiful views of the Cascade Range.  You could see every major peak from Bachelor to Mt Jefferson.  The route had many river crossings with mellow climbs, flat miles, and ranches with lots of stunning scenery.  In many spots you could see the cliff lined Deschutes River Canyon.  Along the roads there was easy to interpret roadside geology, with exposed lava flows overhanging weaker sedimentary layers. 

Tuesday’s route was Roadside Geology on steroids!  In the Crooked River Canyon there was one spot where there was nearly perfect hexagonal basalt overlayed by a thick layer of pillowy lava.  In another spot a series of about six geologic sequences were exposed, all having cooled differently with different results.  The riding was incredible also, with a 20-mile section of gentle climbing, then a plunge into the Crooked River Canyon where we got schooled in Geology all the way to Prineville.

Wednesday’s route took us out of Prineville, along flattish roads, generally following the Crooked River to Smith Rock.  Smith Rock was stunning, there were some great views of the Cascades.  After Smith Rock we wound through Terrebonne area and out into the Deschutes River Valley on our way to Sisters.  Two sightings that were quite interesting were a large herd of Alpacas, and a large field of marijuana ready for harvesting.  The only thing to protect the crop were signs that said “rattlesnakes in field” (yah right).  A little research showed that this was probably Industrial Hemp, grown for medical use.

Thursday, we did an out and back from the Sisters, at first taking in very bucolic country roads.  There was a short section on Highway 20 which was not so nice but had an adequate bike lane.  We had an awesome visit to the Headwaters of the Metolius; there was an incredible volume of water coming out of a hillside, that suddenly became a river which headed north with fantastic views. 

On Friday we saddled up and headed for McKenzie Pass; which was an incredibly scenic mellow climb.  Although we passed through a large recent burn area, the views of Mt Washington and Three Fingered Jack to the north were awesome.  Soon we were among massive lava flows, where the last mile had to be cut through to allow the road to go through.  At the pass, the views were even better, but after the pass, the downhill was the best ever!  The road was silky smooth, the corners just perfect, probably over 100 corners and each one went well, while the scenery was doing its best to distract you.  The reds and yellows of the deciduous foliage were incredible.  Soon we arrived at our log cabin in the woods by the McKenzie River.

Every trip needs a low point, so from here at 1500’ elevation we woke up to cloudy skies for our shuttle ride around the Aufderheide Parkway due to a forest fire still burning.  As we got to Oakridge things cleared up and we got to ride into the southern end of the Aufderheide.  Up until 16 miles into the ride the gradient was mellow and the scenery beautiful.  Some went on to Constitution Grove.  We stopped at a beautiful covered bridge and rode back and forth across it several times and took pictures.

Today, a planned shuttle took us up to Willamette Pass where we  could have ridden into Waldo Lake, but as it had started raining a bit more heavily, most of us took a quick hop over the pass and descended to the Odell Lake Resort.  The Odell Lake Resort was quite quaint and rustic.  The day turned up not all we had hoped; the people who rode up the pass instead of taking the shuttle had a rough time.  However, we had a lively happy hour and a good dinner!

On Monday we woke up and started in 33-degree temps; Highway 58 was not pleasant, but soon we were off of it on far more remote roads.  We did see many scenic lakes, although it remained cloudy and cold.  There were many long straight sections, the temp stayed cold, eventually we were in La Pine.

The next and last day it warmed up, but never much above 50 degrees.  Cascade Lakes Byway was more scenic than the previous day, but cloudy with some rain.  The descent into Bend was exhilarating, but at first too cold to enjoy.  Whiskey tasting in Bend (just me) was a nice payback!  We did have a very nice happy hour at Greg’s Grill and a lovely goodbye dinner at Anthony’s; both in the Old Mill district just a quick walk across a footbridge from our hotel. 

Loretta and Yvonne did a great job with this trip!  The GPS files were right on; just a few minor problems with cue sheets.  The trip was true to its rating.  They may not lead this trip again and have asked Janet and I if we would like to.  I am evaluating what changes I would make and do have a plan that would eliminate some of the southern portion of the route.  If you don’t see me list this to lead in 2020, and you would want to, I would be happy to share my thoughts with you.