54 miles, 1680 feet of climb (200 ft/division)
It was freezing last night. There was frost when we poked our heads
out of the tent around 6 AM. Even so, people had already been stirring long
before, despite that Vin had announced the night before that the food for
people to make their lunch would not be ready until 7 AM and breakfast at 7:30.
The group has a brand-new stove this year to supplement the ancient Coleman
stoves repaired and modified by Dave Allen years ago. The cook crew broke in
the new stove with a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs, along with cereal,
fresh fruit, etc. After breakfast, we packed essential items in the van and
everyone was ready for the obligatory group photo (thanks Alfred for
this copy) at 9 AM. We were ready to
go a few minutes thereafter.
We car-pooled to the town of Sunriver about 10 miles away to avoid the bad road
near the park. By then it had warmed up and we had pleasant riding weather all
day. About mile 31, we found a wonderful wooden patio by a steam to eat our
lunch. The ride was out around Crane Prairie reservoir and back. Although
there were a number of possible short-cuts I think everyone rode the entire 54
miles.
Cooking duty for Sue, Alfred, Elsa and me is tomorrow night. When we returned
to the Sunriver Business Park where we had left the cars, Sue and I bought some
chicken at the Country Store market so we can pre-cook it tonight. Dinner tonight
is taco soup. We have to clean up after dinner since tomorrow is our cook day.
The showers here at LaPine State Park are a 4 or 5-minute walk from camp, but are
quite nice. They don't charge for the hot water and there is plenty of it.
