The coolest thing about Shaniko happened last night about 4 AM. I awoke to the sound of coyotes howling. It’s been years since I’ve heard that while I’ve been out camping. Pat heard it too and she agreed it was pretty cool…as long as they’re not too close.

We got up about 6:30 and made some coffee. That’s become one of our favorite features of camping while we’ve been out on our tour of 48 states: having a couple cups of good, strong coffee. As a result, we got started a bit later than we usually do, but it was worth it and I was still back on Highway 97 by 9 AM and it was still cool with calm winds.

Our destination today is Bend, Oregon. This is actually one day earlier than we had originally planned. Well, actually, we didn’t originally plan on coming to Bend at all. We originally planned to go across Oregon on Highway 395 which basically parallels Highway 97 about 100 miles to the east. We decided against Highway 395 for two reasons. First, lack of services along that route. Towns are few and far between and some aren’t large enough to offer food, gas and, most importantly, lodging. Second, the terrain along Highway 395 is much more severe than that of Highway 97 and I was concerned about weather conditions at the higher elevations and whether my legs would stand for the extra climbing.

So, here we are on Highway 97 instead, headed for Bend. By doing the Shaniko to Bend leg (85 miles) in one day, we end up in Bend a day early. We’re going to take that extra day and make a short side trip into Crater Lake National Park. It’s a place that neither Pat nor I have ever visited, but I’ve been wanting to visit for years. Since Highway 97 will take us to within 15 miles of the park entrance, it seemed like the perfect time for us to visit.

Total distance:	85.84 miles
Time:	6:08:35
Average speed:	14.0 mph
Maximum speed:	39.7 mph
Total calories:	5892
Average heart rate:	116 bpm
Maximum heart rate:	165 bpm
Total ascent:	3737 feet
Total descent:	3468 feet
Ride profile:	(click on image to view a larger version)
Ride comments: We heard coyotes howling at about 4 AM. Pretty cool! Got on the road by 9 AM. It was sunny and calm. Not as cool as the day before though, despite the elevation. A slight headwind kicked in by 10 AM, but by noon, it had switched around to the north, so I enjoyed a tailwind for the rest of the day. Highway 97 was up and down all day and got busier the closer I got to Bend. I finally pulled the GPS out of my rear pocket and found myself an alternate route. It added a few miles, but it was a lot more enjoyable.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 27th, 2006 at 8:58 pm and is filed under The Dream Tour, Bicycling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.