Day 78: 72 Miles

Bend, OR to Blue River, OR

My plan for today was to get over McKenzie Pass and then determine the best place to stop. It is about 125 miles from Bend to Eugene and I wanted to get as close as possible to Eugene today. The ride started out with 24 miles from Bend to Sisters. My trip into Bend was off route, so the 24 miles to Sisters just got me back on route. Luckily the ride from Bend to Sisters was mostly downhill on smooth, freshly paved road. I had a nice view of the snow covered mountains on my left the whole morning.

There was a nice main street in Sisters with a few shops and restaurants. It looked a bit touristy, but I found a good place to grab some food. There were no places to stop for about 40 miles after Sisters, so I grabbed a sandwich to pack in my bag for when I got to the top of McKenzie Pass and some snacks to last me the rest of the day. I got back on the road quickly to get through the 15 mile climb up to McKenzie Pass. McKenzie pass is at 5,325 feet, so it was a decent climb from Sisters at 3,182 feet. It was a beautiful winding road through the woods and I didn’t really mind the climbing. I took a break for lunch a few miles from the top at a lookout area. I didn’t really know what the top of the pass would look like, but was surprised to see all of the rock from lava flow.

I got to the top of the pass and had a nice downhill the rest of the day. From the top of the pass at 5,325 feet I dropped all the way down under 1,200 feet over 30 miles. The downhill riding was amazing. There wasn’t much pedaling required and the route took several switchbacks through dense tree coverage. I’m finally out of the eastern Oregon desert. I didn’t really have a plan for a stopping point, but got a text from Stephen during my descent. He had stopped at a campground and had been joined by Charlie, Mike, and Pat. I thought I was going to be riding solo the rest of the trip and was happy to meet up with these guys one last time.

There wasn’t anywhere to get food near the campground, so I made a quick stop to pick up some food for dinner and breakfast tomorrow morning, along with a 6-pack to share with everyone at the campsite. The campsite that Stephen picked out was awesome. There was space for all 5 of our tents and we were right on the river. Someone had taken the time to build up a rock wall in the river to create a good spot to take a dip in the water. After a full day of riding, I took a river bath to clean myself off. We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out before everyone headed to their tents for the night.

Tomorrow I will head to Eugene and then it will be one more day until I arrive in Florence and take a swim in the Pacific Ocean. I can’t believe this trip is coming to an end so soon.