Rain fell off & on @ Hood River. Trails in temperate forest would take several days to dry out. Decision was to point south for Bend environs. Drove over shoulder of MT Hood, thru the deep wet forests. So much lichen streaming from the trees. I had forgotten what the wet Cascades are like. I spent 10 years wandering around the Cascades & Olympics when I lived in Gig Harbor. Today it was from inside an environmentally sealed vessel propelled by diesel up the mountain sides.

The rain ceased as I went further south and a bit east. This part of Oregon is like a huge volcanic plateau punctured by the Three Sisters, Broken Top, and the smaller vent volcanoes scattered about. Woods soil is hardly any duff onto of volcanic dirt. Any rain here will sucked up.

Years b4 I rode up above Sisters. I remember reading something about another trail system closer into town. I drove towards Sisters stopping for a shower @ a KOA along the way. $6.50 for a shower. I found the small bike shop, Eurosports,  in town. Years ago when I visited I remarked how the for sale bikes on the front porch were not locked, with the shop being just a block of the main drag. Today they were locked. I asked the owner about the lock and he said that years earlier someone stole 2 bikes. They lost their trust as a result. They did get the bikes back after they had been chop shopped. I asked about local riding and he emphasized the Peterson ridge trail system, the one I previously read about.

I drove south out of town into Ponderosa pine desert and no cell phone coverage. I drove out along a wide right of way for an underground h2o canal. Picked a flat spot and settled in. As the sun moved deep into the west the temp dropped. Too cold to stay outside or leave side door open. Inside. I started the heater b4 the sky darkened. temp dropped to 22 degrees the next morning.

Monday I eased out from under the double down blanket testing the cold. i turned the heater to full, turned on Bob Edwards, and crawled back under the covers. Today I will be riding directly from camp spot so I can take my time getting out of bed.

The temp rode as the sun warmed the ground. Still it was 50 degrees when i pedaled off wearing knee warmers, light weight wool long underwear top, and figured gloves. Thawed frost wetted the manzanita leaves close to the trail. I rode the western leg going up. The trail appeared to have been laid out by a stumbling drunk as wiggly as it was. After awhile the continuous turning got old. The trail climbed to a high spot out in an old clear cut view. Volcanic land.  I turned downhill as much as it was. the trail would ride well in each direction. Downhill the twisting was not as bothersome. The trail system is for hillers & bikers only. A separate horse trail exists that works its way most directly.

The trail is essentially 2 paralell legs w/ many connectors linking the legs.

Made it back to van in the heat of the day. I decided to stay here again for the night. I performed maintenance on my bike. The DW pivots suck up the grease. I set up  my chair in the sunshine and read more of The Big Burn. Again, the sun lost its warmth before it went behind the trees. Heater on again early. The temp read 22 degrees again in the AM.

Today I drive into Bend. I stop @ Tumalo SP 6 miles out of town to check on showers. $2.00 and available to non campers. Warm.

Made Bend. Plan is for short loop out @ Phil’s TH. Lower section is not very technical climbing up thru very old cuts. I remembered the tech spots, I rode more this time helped by better bike and time in Larry’s box. Made the helispot where the trail dropped. Played on the Whoops on the way down. This trail section has man made table tops & berms.  I kept my speed under control and wheels on the ground. Big chain ring descent carving off the raised edge of the trail angulating from the hips. Smooth tread but sandy. My handlebar is 26″ wide, the trail threaded between trees just a bit wider. So much fun.

Back @ TH life was pleasant w/ blue skies and 60 degrees. I had tasks in Bend to attend to. I found the county parks fitness center for a $5.50 shower. Then on to Whole Foods for their prepared food for dinner. Then to filling station for diesel: $72.22 for 21.5 gallons for 525 miles; 24.4 mpg. Both thirsts have been slaked I drove out to camp spot near Phil’s TH. Clear skies and forecast cold temps again

Forecast for this weekend is for clear skies, highs in low 60s. Ride time might find freezing temp. Wear warm clothes then take them off and pack them for rest of ride. perhaps they will be needed b4 finishing the 70 miles.

My right SI joint is barking @ me again in spite of chiro treatment. It will be a factor on Sat’s 70 mile ride.

Friday AM I said goodbye to Bill and my old neighborhood.

Rode Riverside from 7 mile including Sharp stick in the Eye. The nastiest climb on rain packed sand showed 28% grade, a real lung buster. Recent rain made for a fresh trail, me getting first tracks. After horses & other bikes have churned it up & dried out it is a wheel sucker to boot. As I was finishing the last feet of the climb I saw 2 horse riders waiting for me to finish so they could go down. If I would have been 1 minute later in starting up the hill I would have been riding over horse hoof divots. Trails out @ 9 mile are more basalt chunks w/ sharp faces buried in the ground. I run 23 to 25 psi in my ghetto tubeless tires. The rocks & low tire pressure combination @ speed could damage my rims & possibly burping the tire off the rim. I carefully danced when i needed to be light on my wheels and made  it out undamaged. I stuck to my known trails which allowed for error free navigation. One last Riverside ride.

Drove to Bicycle Butler for a shower. Had the propane tank filled, the spitter valve really spat. Hooray.

I have an evening date w/ Andy & Jen in Coeur d’Alene @ 5:00PM. Made it and a wonderful visit ensued. Jen gave m3 3 bars of soap and increased my education on soap making. Basically lye is added to a non ranciding oil and a process produces a saponified soap. Add other goodies like fragrance, or dried fruit. reported elsewhere mice scratched off the strawberry seeds from a few bars. No report of what mouse squirts look like. New smells to van masks ridden in ride clothes. Now the van smells like a fragrant locker room.

We shared b-fast and some more world solving conversation until i needed to leave for Hood River. Andy posted up pictures of our visit on facebook.

Headed out of Spokane west bound on I-90. GPS routed me west on WA 14 to US 97 south. My kind of road I could drive at less than 60mph and no traffic to pass me. Rain fell along the way. I made Hood River and parked in a motel parking lot @ the bridge crossing the Columbia. Its still raining off & on and forecast for Sun is more precip. Bend’s forecast is for less precip. I might just move on to Bend skipping HR.

I like people and most return the compliment. Visiting my former home of 18 years brings history and friends to the fore. So many to see, such a small amount of time to spend w/ each, and keeping some for myself. For those that i missed there is next year. And for the adventurous ones, join me somewhere on the road.

On Monday i spent a parking ticket’s worth of time w/ Dennis making money plans. For the lack of a quarter it cost me a $15 parking ticket on a downtown Spokane street. Don’t send cash. I have no checks. I will pay cash b4 I leave town. Today is a rest day. I catch Bill & Jennifer early in the evening. I volunteer to let their dogs out of the house and put them in the pen after daylight.

Tuesday AM I walk up to their door and Jennifer is home sick w/ mondo cold. The dogs are under her control.

Tuesday I plan a monster Riverside ride in preparation for Bend 70 mile ride. I parked @ 7 mile and stitched a 35 mile 4 hr ride in the park w/ just a few repeated pieces of trail. I rode all but several nasty switch backs under Sharp stick in the eye trail. Good preparation. Riverside SP is a Ponderosa forest which is open and free of underbrush. Big sight lines. Trails can almost be ridden in. Part of the ride goes thru a military reservation left over from WWll training. It was also the site of a CCC camp, many of the trails were built by those guys. Few structures remain from their work. Building material was basalt. Finished the day w/ a chilled beer, a shower @ Bill & Jennifer’s, and sleep in their driveway.

Wed. Les put together an after work  ride group, only he and I were the only ones. Plan is to meet up on High Drive & Bernard intersection. Trails here run across a long steep side hill made of sand left over from glacial floods 12,000 to 8,000 years ago.

B4 riding I went downtown to pay my ticket and check out Aunties bookstore. I plugged all my change into a meter and walked to Spokane City hall. Problem w/ that location was the fines are collected on Mallon st, not Post. Back to Aunties where i have store credit from selling all my old books there b4 I left town. A window display was on forest fires. Displayed was Timothy Egan’s The Big Burn about the 3 million acres fire east of here back in August 1910 mostly on the ST Joe drainage. It is still known as the big burn today. I bought it. Turns out he is giving a lecture in Spokane tonight which i will attend w/ old friend Tom.

Drove to city court to pay my fine. Mingled w/ cast of characters you find in the under belly of America, the ones that burst the bounds of social  control that The Man knocks down w/ criminal fines. I was told to remove my watch for the metal detector, at least I kept my shoes on. The clerk knocked $5.00 off my fine because I had no priors. I need to be clean for 2 years to either receive the same discount or maybe assessed the discounted $5.00. I didn’t ask which one applied.

I made the ride location b4 Les was to arrive. I gave him the intersection and told him to look for my van. I hung in my van just around a bend in the road S of said intersection ready The Big Burn. At our agreed upon meeting time I rode around the bend and there was Les waiting for me. Ever an engineer, he held to the actual intersection. He wondered why i was late. We rode the trails from top to bottom and climbed back up. Skinny side hill trails. The session in Larry’s box proved successful as I rode the side cut trails like they should and not out of fear. The side slope is easily a black diamond ski run and aver the years during deep snow falls these slopes are great for yo-yo skiing down to a waiting car ride back to top.

I invited Randy to join us and act as a guide. he called back bummed out he needed to keep his nose to the work grind stone. He arived after work catching Les and I just finishing. We adjourned to 27th street Public House up on South Hill for beers and stories. Randy previously said he would invite me over for a fish dinner, feasting on fish he caught on his Alaskan fishing trip 2 weeks prior. Oh, and a shower. Good dinner and conversation.

I split back to Bill’s as today was chore day to let out the dogs. Quiet night. Just about sunup I heard rain drops on the roof and my bikes were uncovered. I pulled my merino wool poncho over my head and stepped out into the cold and sprinkles to put the cover over the bikes. Then I crawled back under the covers putting off getting up in the chill. I executed my assignment securing the dogs in their pen.

My primary health care DR wrote a script for Albuterol. I stopped @ a pharmacy I used over the years hoping to visit w/ this wonderful sweet pharmacist. She was on duty and recognized me after 2 years absence. Ah, be still my heart, she is spoken for.

Rain fell most of the day, just fine for rest, reading, and doing my wash. My damp riding clothes are hung on my clothes line at the back of my van, inside of course.

Caught up. Sat I am off to Oregon where the filling station attendants pump your fuel and there is no sales tax.