Due to damage to the road as a result of last year's forest fires, Oregon DOT has been doing a lot of repairs to the road on the east side of the Pass. Typically, when a road is closed due to construction, cyclists can walk their bike around or through the construction zone with the okay from the construction crew. I spoke with people in the two Sisters bike shops, and they all indicated that the construction crews were not at all civil to cyclists who bypassed the "road closed to cars and CYCLISTS" signs.
So here I sit, awaiting word if the road will be open today ... I have been assured that it will be open to cyclists tomorrow. We shall see.
Many a day has gone by since my last post. Since I have pedaled this route several times before, there really isn't much new for me to write about. The snow covered mountains are amazing, and the deep-green forests certainly are not akin to the Sonoran Desert. The route taken includes Portland, Detroit, (Santiam Pass ... ouch!), Sisters, Bend and then to Bill Burk's place south of Bend ... then back to Sisters.
My visit to Bill's place, along with subsequent tours around the area, have shown me why Bend is quickly becoming a favored destination for living and/or vacationing. When Bill was a wee lad, he grew-up in Culver, which is a (very) small town about 35 miles north of Bend. In the 1950s, the population of Bend was around 10,000 people. Currently approximately 100,000 people reside in the area, plus another 20,000 vacationers during the summer. This population boom causes old Mr. Burk to become quite grumpy regarding these recent interlopers. At the risk of being "unfriended" by Bill, I must say I find Bend to be a very attractive place for those looking for a new place to live.
Anyway, not a lot to say about the days since leaving Portland, other than a pretty amazing happening that occurred on my first day of riding.
I left Portland that first day by taking the MAX rail system out to Gresham, then riding the 45 miles to Ripple Creek Campground. About three miles short of the Ripple Creek Ranger Station/store, it started raining. Prior to leaving Portland I had been monitoring the weather reports for the area, so was not surprised by the rain. What I was, though, I was deeply dreading the thought of camping in the rain that night and awaking in the rain, then riding all day on the the way to Detroit (50 miles) in the rain on the next day.
Prior to reaching the camp ground, I stopped at the Ranger Station/store to get water and a few food items. When getting ready to pay for the items, I asked (with much hope in my heart), if possibly the owner of one of the two pickups out front might be so kind as to haul me into Detroit that afternoon. Peggy, the cashier, said she would ask her husband (Ray) ... he said yes!!
Peggy and Ray are retired and work in the Northwest during the summer, and head to a RV park in Apache Junction, AZ for the winters. We shared a very enjoyable conversation during this 50 mile drive to Detroit. At one point I asked as to where they park their 5th-wheel trailer, thinking the RV park was somewhere in the Detroit area ... "Oh, we have a space back behind the Ranger station."
To suggest that I was flabbergasted that they would drive 100 miles just to help me out would be a gross understatement. There really are angels on this Earth!! An amazing act of generosity on their part. Oh, and by the way, it rained all that night and all the next day, but I was tucked into an inexpensive motel for the duration.
So here I sit awaiting a probable day of idleness filled with not much to do. Sisters is a town of around 2,000 people, so it won't take long to see the sights ... oh, but I did see a bookstore on the way through town yesterday, so that is promising.
Sometimes boring and quite is good.
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