Distance: 50 miles (of 230 total)
Elevation Gain: 2,800 feet (of 19,500 total)
It got cold last night. Weather report says it got down to 43°. I wore long underwear, knee warmers, a long sleeve Capilene shirt, my cycling undershirt, and my socks. That was enough to keep me warm and comfortable. It was a morning like any other, except that we woke with lots of condensation on the tents and had to dry them in the sun before we left.
We bought a few delicious pastries for breakfast (ham and cheese croissants and an apple fritter) at Sisters Bakery and then headed out of town, opting for paved roads to Bend since we'd be singletrack to Sun River. It's possible to ride from Sisters to Bend on Forest Service Road 4606, but our host in Sisters recommended against it because of traffic and road quality.
Ryan's on a repaired seatpost now so w'ere able to make good time. Went straight through Bend and onto the singletrack of the Deschutes River Trail, minus getting lost in Bend for a while. The trail was techincal in parts and required a little hike a bike, but the further south we went the more flowy and fast the trail became. We paused every few miles to take pictures, even braving a swarm of mosquitos that surely made Ryan, who's from Minnesota, think me a wimp.
Our triumphant arrival in Sun River was thwarted by a wrong address, but when we finally got where we were going it was hard to deny a small sense of pride at what we'd done. Five days, 230 miles, and 19,500 feet of climbing, but most importantly we'd set ourselves to a goal and completed it.
I hugged and kissed Rachael, who I haven't seen nearly enough this summer, and she returned the favor by hosing the mud and dirt off of me with a garden house. It felt great.
This post is part of a series on my bikepacking trip from Eugene to Sun River. You can find my other posts here.