May 5, 2014
Last training weekend
Testing ourselves against McKenzie Pass
With under two weeks until we leave, this is our last free weekend to get out of town with our bikes before we start gearing up for departure. We have been watching the situation on McKenzie Pass, hoping it would be plowed before we leave - we learned last spring that it is open to bicycles for about a month each spring before the gates are unlocked for the summer to allow the cars in. The road crews are not done yet so we will have to wait for some other year to make the full ride, but the east side is cleared to the summit and we decide to drive down to Sisters and check out what we can.
On the way there we took in a 55 mile loop ride along the Calapooia River in Linn and northern Lane counties. We have never ridden this part of the valley, and it is always a surprise to come across some great new cycling destination so close to home. Our loop passed through a string of small towns and villages: Brownsville, Crawfordsvillle, Waterloo, Sweet Home, Sodaville. It is an interesting area with a surprising amount to see. I was as much surprised by Sodaville as anything else. The town was established after a soda spring was discovered here in 1847 and soon came into use as a therapeutic spa. There is very little here now beyond a postage stamp sized state park, but in the late 1800's it was one of the larger places in the region, with a college and two hotels. Looking at what remains now, it takes a lot of imagination to picture it in its heyday.
The climb from Sisters to McKenzie pass wasn't much of a challenge, as it turned out - a fairly gradual 2000' climb, mostly in the final 10 miles. The western approach, from McKenzie Bridge, looks like a more serious workout. The ride was certainly interesting though, and it was great to have the highway to ourselves and a number of other cyclists as it climbed into the snow zone. Mostly though, it was cold! It sprinkled intermittently near the summit, and there was a brisk west wind. Climbing to the summit wasn't bad at all, but we about froze on the way down without the exertion to keep us warmed.
The best moment of the weekend though came this morning, on a loop through the ranch lands east of Sisters. At one point we came alongside a doe in the field just to our right, and were delighted as she sprinted along beside and in front of us and then leaped effortlessly over a five foot fence. Then, even better - she took a sharp left turn and dashed across the road about 20 feet in front of us and then went airborne - turning herself into a missile, she stretched out her head and neck, collapsed her legs against her torso, and propelled herself between the strands of a barbed wire fence before disappearing into the woods. Awesome.
Overall it's been a good training week for us. In spite of mediocre weather (we even got caught in a small hailstorm one day) and our half-time jobs we managed to get out on five days and logged about 230 miles. Feels like we're ready.
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