Day 77: 26 Miles

Redmond, OR to Bend, OR

I had a late start to the day this morning, which was a nice change of pace. It was only 20 miles from Redmond to Bend and I was in no rush to get to Bend early. Although I covered 26 miles today, the day was really a rest day.

The ride to Bend was on a nice road with a wide bike lane. It was slightly uphill, but nothing too hard. I left Redmond around 9:00 and got to Bend by 10:30. Once I got to Bend I stopped through the downtown area and grabbed an iced coffee and breakfast sandwich. Bend is a cool little town with a bunch of breweries and the Deschutes River flowing through it. After my quick breakfast, I took a ride along the river and saw a bunch of people on stand up paddle boards and kayaks.

By 11:30 there were a few breweries open and I started my self guided beer tour of the city. I started at Bend Brewing Company, then headed to 10 Barrel Brewing, followed by GoodLife Brewing Company and finally Crux Fermentation Project. I had a good day trying some new beers and meeting some locals.

I’m sure I could have found some other things to do in town other than drinking beer, but I had a good rest day. Tomorrow I’ll head over the last major climb of the trip. It will be about 25 miles to Sisters, OR followed by a climb over McKenzie Pass. Once I’m over the pass it will be all downhill to Eugene. I’m not sure how far I’ll get tomorrow, but the plan is to get to Eugene by Friday. From Eugene it’s only 75 miles to the coast.