Bend Ride Report
By Ann Morrow
I have found it to be a lot of fun to head out to other parts of the Northwest to ride. Just like any other travel, it’s exciting to see new places, eat good food, hang with cycling buddies and get to know them better, and relax more since there’s no house/yard/errands to hurry home for. Since I was born and raised in Bend, Oregon, I enjoy looking it over and marveling at the changes.
A few of us did some central Oregon exploring the weekend of July 17-19:
My Friday ride started in Prineville so we could ride along the Crooked River. This route is part of an Oregon Scenic Bikeway and a creation of Bud Rice. It is an out-and-back ride, so riders can cruise at their own speeds and stop when they want to. It’s scenic and radically different than our side of the mountains with some alfalfa fields and juniper and sagebrush. About 19 miles in we stopped for lunch at Big Bend Campground. A couple of riders headed up to the dam, adding another couple of miles. One rider all but submerged herself in the river to cool off! The trip back to Prineville inevitably includes a headwind, and so it was on this trip. We all agreed it wasn’t as bad as it could be and appreciated that bit of luck.
Bud sustained a flat tire—rear, on his e-bike, so no quick releases! It was hot with no shade but there was no choice but to fix it. Scott came along and assisted. No sooner did we pull onto the roadway to continue but Scott called out “flat!” Seriously, we weren’t even clipped in or shifted down. That was the extent of flat tires for the weekend, so that was good.
Saturday’s ride was a route I used when I led my “Cycle Oregon Lite” rides several years ago. We started in SunRiver, south of Bend, and headed out to the high lakes to Twin Lakes Resort. These days, with our current President owning a resort called Mar-a-Lago, one might envision that sort of splendor when hearing the term “resort.” Twin Lakes Resort is pretty much the opposite and looks much as it did when I grew up in Central Oregon. It was a delightful stop for lunch on our regroup ride. Most of the road was smooth and wide-shouldered. We all enjoyed the ride with more Ponderosa pines and manzanita bushes. There was more traffic—paddleboarders, kayakers, families—but the majority were rider friendly. Our lunch was out on the patio at South Twin Lakes where there is a restaurant and store. The view was timeless in many ways. The weather and terrain allowed us to spin along for miles, but I think most of us chose to stop in the shade for a moment or two on the way back just to get off the bike and stretch and get out of the sun.
Finally, Sunday’s route was designed to be shorter and Bend-focused. We started at a park east of town (where a regional La Crosse tournament was taking place) and headed further east on our bikes, then wound south and west into the Old Mill District, where we enjoyed iced coffee (another warm day). We took the bike/ped bridge across the Deschutes River and stopped to look at the surfers in the river having fun on the “Green Wave,” a man-made surfing wave in a whitewater channel. We reluctantly pulled ourselves away and headed for downtown Bend. Bud had been enjoying walking in town in the evenings and had found some amazing river views on the Deschutes River Trail and shared that with us for a short detour. One casualty—Ashley got stung on the leg by a bee. But she was able to climb Pilot Butte later in the ride! We rode east and were heading back to the start. Climbing Pilot Butte was an option. Only two of the five of us chose that option.
All in all, a very fun weekend, a small core group and hot weather but “good” air quality.
