Oregon Outback - Day 4

Previous: Oregon Outback - Day 3

We rode together across chaparral plains, among free range cattle to highway 20.

I tore a big gash in one of my knee warmers as I dismounted at the road intersection. We rode right, east for a bit on 20 before turning left, north on the Crooked River Highway, which is a dirt road, despite the name.

We climbed, then descended an amazing gravel road, passing a waterfall on a creek and some pretty ranches and country, eventually arriving at a paved section.

There were creeks where we could have filtered water. We climbed again, then began a fast descent toward the Prineville Reservoir. We saw many runners coming up the climb; there was a running race happening. I gave each of them a thumbs-up as we rocketed down the paved descent to the reservoir. The canyon walls here were amazing, I think it's columnar basalt, like the Devil's Postpile, stacked and folded in high cliffs, with a beautiful river running downhill from the dam. There were fly fisherman and excellent camp sites along the river, and plenty of opportunities to filter water.

The long carry of heavy water from Fort Rock could have been reduced, but it would have cost us more time to stop and filter. Something to consider.

If it wasn't so early in the afternoon, we would have camped on one of the main camp sites along the gorgeous Crooked River. We continued dropping all the way to Prineville, our first big town on the trip.

Adam guided us to the Good Bike Co, where we arrived in a bit of a daze. James and Dwayne were glad to see us, and local legend Swami was also in the shop. Swami, 70, had just completed the Tour Divide a month before. They were great guys. James poured us beers and ciders, we bought souvenirs, told and listened to stories, and just enjoyed the moment.

A few of us wrote entries in their guest book. Dwayne and I discovered common friends and places; he'd lived in Fairfax, worked for Marin Bikes “back in the Bob days,” and also had Baja stories to tell. He's got a house down there, and told me I should consider doing the seven-day Cape Loop bikepacking route. Sign me up! They really appreciate bikepackers at Good Bike Co. I appreciate them. Thanks, James and Dwayne.

Dwayne, James and Swami

Me and Dwayne

I added a RandiJo Fab / Good Bike Co coozie to my collection

We remembered that we needed to get some food, with a serious beer buzzes in our brains. James recommended the sandwich place next door, we remembered that we needed to charge our electronics and quickly stuffed a bunch of adapters and devices in the outlets behind the shop, as they were closing up. We got sandwiches both to go and for the moment, got some groceries, shopping in a daze and remembering half of what we needed and buying things we didn't.

Some jerk in a Dodge pickup “rolled coal” on me in town. I gave him a thumbs up. Andreas left early, getting a big head start. The rest of us took off in a hurry up the beginning of the climb out of Prineville, looking for a national Forest campsite anywhere starting 12 mi from town. This is where people were really hurting, the pace was a bit uneven, and a few riders were starting to doubt themselves. We'd done a long day to Prineville, and some were having various physical problems. We caught Andreas and gently climbed the remaining, uphill miles out of town. It was getting cold and dark and late, and we finally arrived at the National Forest boundary, immediately picking the first flat spot we saw, carrying our bikes over a low gap in a rail fence and putting down tents for the night.

We were in a damp, dry creek canyon with steep sides that caused an early sunset, and we knew it would be a very cold night. We ate leftover sandwiches and continued consuming our heavy load of Fort Rock water, most of us having neglected to fill any in Prineville.

Previous: Oregon Outback - Day 5