Day 4, Kah-Nee-Ta, OR to Prineville, OR, 60 miles and 3300
feet of climbing. Each morning I give my bike the “once over” to
make sure that it is ready for the day.
This morning I discovered a small bulge In my rear tire and the inner
tube was just beginning to peak thru. So
while everyone else was saddling up and heading out into the desert I was left
having to get a new tire installed.
Fortunately one of my fellow riders volunteered to assist and in 15
minutes I was ready to go. As I exited
the resort I was glad that I had discovered my tire problem as the “driveway”
out to the road was a 2 mile, very steep decline. Had my tire blown out on that screaming decent
I stood a good chance of being turned into 195 lbs of hamburger meat! The ride out of the reservation/resort was a
long tedious climb. It took forever for
my legs to start working properly and I was fearful that they never would. But the incredible scenery of Mt. Hood, Mt.
Jefferson and the Three Sisters Peaks sitting on the horizon behind the
desert landscape kept my mind off the pain and I made it out to Highway 26. At the corner I found the resorts
casino. I have been feeling so lucky
with being able to do this trip that I was tempted to go in and win big. However, after reading the night before,
about how the white man abused and mistreated the local native population I
decided to ride on and let them keep their money! Shortly after, I found an Espresso shop and
from there my day continued to improve with each pedal stroke. About midway through the day we entered a
large agricultural area. Being In the
desert, everything is dependent on irrigation. There were irrigation canals all
over the place. . I am constantly amazed at the ingenuity of
our farmers. The weather continues to
cooperate. It was 61 degrees at blast
off and 81 at the landing, sunny, with
favorable winds and low humidity. What a
charmed life I am having!!
View of desert landscape leaving the resort.
Mt. Hood sitting at the edge of the desert.
My trusty mount waiting patiently while I down a double shot.
Mt. Jefferson in the background.
I wanted to take this road all the way to and over Mt. Jefferson but the cue sheet told me to turn left.
Glad you got to eat hamburger instead of becoming one! You keep checking those tires until you make it home. We had an exciting evening here. Had tornado warnings, sirens, and pelting rain. When I heard the alert I ran outside to tell Jack to stop mowing the lawn and come in (he had his earphones on and was oblivious as usual). By the time we both ran to the house we were soaking wet. It wind brought the rain that fast. Maybe I could send some of that water to the areas you biked through today, they look rather brown & dusty.
ReplyDeleteLooking good keep it up. -jc.
ReplyDeleteThat would have been some old tough Hamburg meat!
ReplyDeleteC grade ground round dog meat
DeleteLove all the pictures Jay. Way to go!!!😎
ReplyDelete