After three days of climbing (extreme, but not necessarily to the max), the inclines have taken a toll on my body.
I have always thought that no matter how much one trains, that the first three or four days of touring are hard. I am here to tell you that in the past I have trained a lot, and the first days were hard ... but this year I did not train as much, and the hurt is "to the max"!
We left the Portland area on Wednesday, riding south on the Cascading River Bikeway, and covered the 45 miles to the Ripplebrook Campground ... lots of rain during the ride and during the camping (oh, joy). The following day we rode the 45 miles into Detroit (Oregon, not Michigan). Lots of climbing both days, but the ride into Detroit was almost a dry ride. I say "almost" because about nine miles outside of Detroit I made the mistake of thinking it might just be a dry-ride day. In the past I have also thought, "Gee, I haven't had a flat tire in a long time". Drenched ... to the max ... in a five minute downpour. Damn.
The following day we rode the 57 miles to Sisters. While not overly wet, it was coolish and chock full of continuous gradual climbs. The high point of the day (pun intended) was riding up-and-over Santium Pass. This climb (for me), was a "3.6 MPH" grind, and took a little over an hour.
Side note: Up until about three years ago there was a professional bike racer by the name of Jens Voight. He raced at the top levels of bike racing into his early 40s. When asked how he coped with leg pain in the latter stages of races, he replied that he said, "Shut up legs!" I tried that on the Satium Pass climb, but my legs shouted louder than my brain.
Yesterday was to be an easier day. 20 miles to Bend (where Kim stopped so as to spend time exploring around Bend), then (for me) an additional 20 miles to my friend Bill's house south of Bend. Easy-peasy. Ah, but if there is an opportunity for me to screw-up an easy day, then I am all over that opportunity like flies on ... I took a look at Google Maps, and saw an alternate route that would get me off of the main highway, and was only 7 minutes longer than staying on the main highway.
There is a vacation/recreation community south of Bend called Sunriver. Whoever designed the community's roads and multi-use paths must have been well into what ever legal or illegal substances they chose to abuse. I had some very creative adjectives and adverbs to modify this seemingly endless maze. The people I encountered walking around were most likely short-term vacationers. When asking these folks directions, the directions were usually preceded by, "I think ...". Usually they thought wrong! Frustrating, to the max. That 7 miinutes turned into 90 minutes.
So today is a rest day. Bill and I will be driving up to Bend to pickup Kim and make a stop at the R.E.I. store. Tomorrow Kim and I will be heading south to Crater Lake and Ashland.
Weather patterns have changed, so instead of clouds, rain and cold (ergo, I Must Be In Oregon) ... blue skies, to the max!
Oh, by the way, the adjacent photo was taken last year about 10 miles east of Sisters.
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