June 19
6/19 Tues.
Kah-Nee-Ta Resort at Warm Springs, OR
66.65 miles 5,280 ft. of
climb 6 hrs 36 minutes
How Great Thou Art! Unbelievable, just awesome beauty. What a day. From where we started out and
where we ended up it was like a 360 degree turn in scenery. The first mountains behind us we descended
10 miles into a canyon and we are staying on Indian land at a resort in the
desert hills. I thought the desert of
Tucson was incredible but this beauty here is big competition. It just doesn’t seem possible that in the
morning we were riding in a forest of mammoth tall pine trees and rushing water
streams high in around Mount Hood. In the afternoon we entered the eastern
slopes that are barren with open cattle ranges ( a coyote ran across in front
of one of the cyclists ), sagebrush and horse farms. The soil turned deep red.
We saw rock formations that take your breath away.
Loaded my luggage on the
truck at 5:45 AM and had a great breakfast bar in one of the lovely dining
rooms of this mountain resort. I was
off on the way east on Rte 26 by 6:30AM. Immediately we climbed for 11 miles at
6% grade for 2,500 feet. Not once did
the road dip down. After that long
climb we had a break for power food at the SAG wagon (Support and Gear). It was very cold starting out after 11 miles
of climbing. We were all sweating! The scenery was out of this world. We were climbing a ledge and if you don’t
like heights this wasn’t the place to be on your bike. Every blink of the eye was a “Kodak Moment”, I didn’t bring my digital camera with me
today, I brought a point and shoot panorama camera. Only because it weighed less.
With all the climbing we had before us, I was determined to make my bike
as light as possible. For the first
time I took off my back rear rack bike bag.
I wore my hydration on my back ( Camelback 70 oz water bag ) and 1 water
bottle with Gatorade. After we made it
up that 11 mile climb, we had a thrilling descent of 4 miles. Only after that,
it was a 1000 ft climb for 3 miles.
Another reward for the steady climb, we plunged down for the next 10
miles. It only took minutes to go down
10 miles but 1 3/4 hours to go up 11 miles. In the rear view mirror the snow
capped mountain of Mt Hood, Mt. Jefferson and other snow-capped mountains began
to disappear.
When we turned off route 26
onto the road to Kah-Nee-Ta a short way up the road was the SAG wagon. Water
and goodies. It was very hot, near 90 I
think. The next 20 miles were another
feast for the eyes. The cliffs and rock
cuts and climbs were more challenging than any other of the day. We were way down in a box canyon and the
winds were strong. The final switch
back descent was hard to do. I’ve never
descended so far and so fast – miles and miles. I was going near 30 mph.
We are staying at a very
very luxurious resort. All the
employees are American Indian. Dinner
was pasta, cold and hot and mixed green salad.
You ought to see the plates of food these bikers consume!
Thank you all, who are
praying for me. I’m making it just fine.
I can hardly believe it!! The day after
tomorrow will be 3 mountain passes and 112 miles. We are advised to take it slow and easy tomorrow. Major climbing right away in the morning
getting back out of this Canyon. I wish
you could see the view from our patio windows.
I am impressed with the
adventures a lot of these cyclists have had.
So many are experienced riders having many years of cycling. Some have a spouse who is on bicycling adventure
elsewhere right now or will be at times through out the summer.