chickenmonkey

Super winding in Sisters-Bend area today. Thought about going to McKenzie Summit, but not today, probably 40 mph winds at the pass. Hopefully things will calm down before I go back home. Would really like to ride up there.

Anyway, I felt like a hero going out only to be humbled on the way back in. Photo is of a horse ranch with the Sisters peaks in the background. Sorry about the camera pic, my small digicam died last week.

55/Rad

I've been to Sunriver several times and keep meaning to take the bike. Beautiful area.

55/Rad

Jakey

I love riding out there. The century drive/cascade lakes hwy loop from bend is great. Its about 100 miles with 7000ft of elevation gain, but the scenery is amazing the whole way.

chickenmonkey

We are staying at Black Butte Ranch, which is a lot like Sunriver. Resorty. We flew up here last year and I wished I had my bike the entire time, so we drove up this year:>

Jakey, I've been reading your ride reports, and I would love to do that big loop, but it would be too much of a stretch w/o knowing the area. I'm looking for about 50 miles and 4000ft of elevation...I'll post pix of the Summit if I get there on Thursday or Friday. Hope the wind dies down. It's brutal.

gpelpel

I was in the area, for work, last week but had the time to drive the Cascades Lakes Hwy. I wish I could stay longer and had a bike. I read in a recent Bicycling magazine about a superb ride around Sister, although it looked quite a ride in regards to climbing. The Cascade Lakes loop didn't seem too hard but has nice scenics.

dtrain

We'll have to do a Bike Forums ride around the Cascade Lakes loop sometime. My in-laws bought a cabin just south of Sunriver (a mile or two off South Century Drive) a couple months ago. I've poked around a little on my roadie, and like what I see a lot. But I tend to do more mountain biking when I'm over there. My brother-in-law only rides a MTB and the trails are really sweet.

dtrain

Chickenmonkey,

Just a heads up if you need any jerseys or what-not. There's a Pearl Izumi store at the outlet mall in Bend. I've had decent luck there (got some half-priced bids last time). If you are a medium (their 'sample' size), you'll have a really wide selection of cheap jerseys.

HWS

That's it...I'm moving to Oregon......I wish..

sbornia

That area is so beautiful...I'm trying to figure out how to move from SF to Bend and still pay the mortgage.

Mariner Fan

Me too, and we are going again next summer. I wish I could bring my bike but it's cost prohibitive with the airlines. I did find a great bike rental place there so all was well. Yes, the area is beautiful.

cuda2k

+1 dude. It's been a while since I've been up in the Sister's area. My Uncle used to live in Portland, then near Bend. Always enjoyed visiting up there, but the peaceful scenery was quite often interupted by my dad and uncle's arguments (they are twins you see, far too simular and far too opposite for their own good).

Piuma

Man, what a timely thread. I'll be in Bend next week for vacation. I'm thinking of renting a road bike and then finding a good route, maybe around 80 miles. If anybody knows of a good recomendation for either the rental or the route, I'd appreciate it.

Mariner Fan

Hutches in Bend rents bikes. I rented a Cannondale from them for three or four days then I rented a Lemond from another shop in Sunriver for the rest of the vacation. It's great to be able to put some real miles on a bike to get a feel for what you really like. That experience prompted me to buy my Lemond. Have fun in Bend. I'm already booked to go to Sunriver next summer, can't wait!

sbornia

Not sure if WebCyclery.com rents road bikes, as they're more of a mountain bike-oriented shop. But they are super nice people and know the Bend area very well, so at a mininum they can give you some decent route suggestions. If I remember correctly, the shop is near the "Old Mill" district.

BillyD

That's purty!

One of these days . . .

chickenmonkey

dtrain,

We drove to McKenzie Summit this morning (it was 44 degrees and sprinkling) to check out the lava flows and have a picnic with the kids. On the way back the kids fell asleep, so to extend their nap, we went to the Bend outlet mall. I bought a long-sleve jersey (I may wear it this week if it doesn't warm up), gloves, and socks. Thanks for the tip. We have Pearl Izumi outlets in CA as well, but not tax free:>

I saw a few bikers up there. One group of four going cross country or something, had full racks, etc. One dude riding by himself (in shorts and a cotton long sleve t-shirt - can you say cold?) on a folding road bike pulling a trailor.

Piuma,

Eurosports in Sisters also rents/demos bikes, but I think you may want something closer to you in Bend.

Mariner Fan

I've seen those guys with the touring bikes chugging up the McKenzie pass. Those bikes were loaded down like you wouldn't believe. Very impressive.

dtrain

Don't worry, the rest of your stay will be much warmer (although still cool overnight and into the morning hours). Glad you found some stuff at P.I. I'm actually heading over that way late this afternoon from Salem to stay a few nights.

Those Sunriver shops sell off their rental bikes around this time each year (well, just after Labor Day). They do the same with their fleet of rental skis in April. I'm going to swing by a few and check out what they're offering. I know one place had Felt F75's...and we'll see what else might be available. I just completed my first century on a 6 year-old Trek 1000, so I think I've 'earned' an upgrade. (Will someone please explain that to my wife? And why I would still need the Trek around for commutes and rainy weather.)

chickenmonkey

So, I did the ride, it was great! A little easier than I thought it would be and the weather was perfect for riding.

Wind was about 5-10 mph and it was about 65 degrees when I left and 75 when I got back. It was about 5 degrees cooler at the summit which makes sense. I'm was happy to have my windbreaker for the decent.

I only saw three other bikers out today. One riding out when I was coming in and a couple trekers on the side of the road taking a break.

Here are the pics, again from my cell phone. Couple are blurry, I should have just stopped so not to shake the camera.


Just getting started on the climb.


First vista stop, "Windy Point." I think that is Mt. Jefferson, oh, and a big field of lava. Miles and miles of lava.


Road from "Windy Point." The trees grow like crazy, right up to the lava, then stop.


This pic shows the incline, this is pretty typical, I'd say about 5% on average with spots of 7% but nothing much more.


The last bunch of trees before the summit.


The road snakes through the lava at the top and in some places they cut down into it to make the road. That is about 30 feet high on the back of the turn. Blurry...sorry.


The summit. Blurry again.


The Sisters mountains.


The bottom of the decent. There were spots in the road where there were no turns for 2-3 miles. We don't have that in the Bay Area.

Jakey

That descent from the top back to sisters is awesome. A fun ride to do it start in sisters, and ride over santiam pass, then come back over mckenzie from the other side. But this time of year there would be alot of traffic to deal with.. But its about 85 miles with ~7000ft of gain I think.

SEAtrain

Wow! I gotta do this ride!