Yesterday I rode from where I camped, out Surveyors to cut thru to Cooks meadow climbing to High Prairie down the east side, jumped on the road until cut thru to Surveyors. Windy van rocking gusts. Waited for increasing sun warmth. As it was garb was wool long underwear top, jersey, then wind shell, long finger gloves, baggie shorts, and knee socks. The trails are just so darn dry and consequently dusty. I do like gravity propelling me. The tree cover was wet side trees and dense. Mixed in was lodge pole pine which seems to negate the first tree cover. I left 15 mile creek on the table. I might have ridden it if I hadn’t decided to have the van serviced.

Catch this view from where I camp:

Tell me about the view from your living room.

I encountered 1 rider riding up and a group of perhaps 10. On a Beautiful riding weather Sunday early noon. It doesn’t get much better than this. OK, some past recently dried out rain would up the rating.

I packed up then headed SE to Bend. Several nights ago I sat looking at the calendar. An epiphany smacked me on the bald spot: winter is coming on. Places to ride up high and /  or north had better get planned on. Hence my drive to Bend for a visit. This Sat and Sun I ride in Bend’s Big Fat Tour (BBFT). I will do several rides this week to accustom myself to the trails. Too late to train myself for maybe 10 hours of riding so close to my Sat 62 mile route. Let the free beer pull me to the finish. Wait, I could cut to the chase and just be waiting for the party place to open.

Over the years I have spent the second longest days here. Bend has an advantage because I have known this town since 1982. Relearning how to get around. Last night I wandered until I found 10 Barrels for dinner and a pint of their beer. Lots of customers. Well after dark I drove out past Phils to the place I have stayed. Just inside forest service land on the edge of a partial cut and gravel banks. No water in the sinks for the motor crowd to spin around in. Just dust and cast in tracks from when it was last wet enough.

30 degrees when I awoke @ 7:00. Today I decided to make a rest day and run down errands and shopping. I stopped first @ Hutch’s because it is across the street from the bakery where I ate a sticky bun and read the paper. At Hutch’s I asked about shoes. I learned that pearl izumi makes a foot bed that is like the Specialized designed foot bed. I drove to local PI store and bought the foot beds. I returned to Hutch’s and made a fitting appointment for tomorrow.

A section front page in the paper printed an article about bicycle helmets, a local shop was mentioned. I have 3 helmets, one fits the way it should and the other 2 miss the mark. I carried all 3 into the bike shop. A salesman shared knowledge: it’s all in the head shape. The Feature meets my noggin fit and cost the least. My green POC is the worst and the most expensive. It must be voted off the bus.

Verified locations of rec center for shower and Whole Foods (whole paycheck) where I shopped while rubbing elbows w/ a different group of people. Very healthy and tempting the food also. I bought house brands of fish oil and skin moisturizer.

I drove by a brew pub and spotted a happy hour, 2 hours long and it is calledHappy Hour ?. I stopped in for a pint of Monkey Face porter, I have their 6 pack artwork on my under the bed art collection.

Dinner was out @ camp spot. Forecast is for continuing dry and cooler temps. 6% humidity in Bend this evening.

My fridge is holding @ 40 instead of 35 degrees even after I defrosted it Sat. Time for service consultation. I found 3 shops on the web.

Tomorrow @ 9:30 I have foot bed fitting for my Pearl Izumi bike shoes. These have a soft foot forefront making them better hike -a- bike shoes than the fully rigid Specialized which have the foot bed correction for pronating while pedaling that makes the knee track vertically as it should. The rigidity of the Specialized makes for more efficient energy transfer. With the new foot beds I will have easier choices for riding shoe, a luxury. Then I will ride maybe 40 miles tomorrow.

yesterday I rode Knebal springs big loop connecting 5 Mile lookout and finishing on 5 mile creek. Windy, chilly, and sunny. The downhill at the end was chilly in the shade but sweet on a mostly buff single track on good dirt. Just a smiling ride as I finished on a resting downhill eradicated the pain of the uphills. Trails are just so dusty, fortunately I was riding by myself and mostly the wind was at my back blowing dust away from my lungs.

Back @ the van I decided to check on my hide a key which is magnetically attached on the frame. I crawled under the van. I found the key still there. What else I noticed was the transmission cover was wetted. Concern: I was leaking transmission fluid. I searched the van manual and found no info on checking the level or refilling it. This is a Mercedes Sprinter that very few shops in the US can service. I am not dead in the water and I wanted to stay afloat. Now began the search for a repair shop. I drove back to Hood River where I got cell phone coverage. And I started calling. Then following recommendations. I finally ended up finding a Dodge shop outside Portland that works on Sprinters. And they are opened on Sat. At first I asked just to checked and top off the fluid thinking that this is what I could expect on Sat. This would get me to Bend where I could schedule and appointment. The service attendant said they could replace the gasket on Sat. Bingo, I’m down for that. 10:30 appointment.

Next was creating a travel plan to stage me for my outside Portland appointment. State of OR has great campgrounds. I read my map and selected Ainsworth XG. Plan was to score a campsite w/ electric hookup and a shower. I scored one of the few open sites. I needed to defrost my fridge which is what I needed electric for because it cools faster than the propane energy source.

I noticed a man pedaling a touring bike loaded w/ camping equipment. I decided to pay forward or back courtesies paid to me so I offered to share my campsite. Glenn accepted. 60yo from Calgary pedaling to S CA. I shared moonshine and coffee. We told stories and solved problems till my late bed time of 11:00.

This morning I fixed bfast and stowed stuff away. I bid Glenn adieu and headed to shop repair. Very windy in the Columbia River gorge driving on I-84. Van is like an empty box of Kleenex on a roller skate ( my definition). GPS led me to the service door. The shop will replace 2 gaskets and flush the transmission. Oh well, it is only lots of money. I should be good to go about lunch time. I need to research and plan my back on the road travel.

Day 3 of fly population. The light weight dustbuster lacks sufficient sucking power to sweep the flies out of the air. No noticeable food for them to eat, how they survive is unknown.

Yesterday I continued my drive to Hood River attempting to beat the strong head wind. Last night I slept w/o the heater on. The flies were almost comatose, if I had a vacuum I am sure that the population would have been reduced sufficiently. Alas, no sucking. I drove to Hood River. I drove to Walmart and shopped for a battery powered  vacuum to either suck up the living or the dead bodies. As long as the temp was warm they flew. And no dead ones.

Found Dirty Finger Bike shop owned by Michell. I visited here last year. Great rapport. New location almost on main drag. The power of reconnection of a road traveler. Hopping shop.

I drove out to Surveyor’s ridge road 44 to a camp spot where I previously stayed. After dark but the timber harvest debris was visible in my headlights. I found my spot which is just off the ridge trail. Chilly night so I burned the heater. The warmth kept the flies active. I chased what i could until the battery played out. The vacuum is not strong enough to pluck an escaping fly. Just incredible in the fact that they have not eaten in 2 days but are still alive. Frost warning for tonight. I will remain warm w/ the heater and the flies will be active. Pretty soon they have  to starve to death.

Hood River is about 500′ elevation. Surveyors ridge is 4200′. Big climb out of gorge.

Windy during the night: if the van’s rocking, don’t bother knocking. Only the wind created the motion. No internet access on the ridge.

Woke up this AM w/ MT Hood right out my front window. The joy of wheel estate.

I dallied waiting for sun warmth b4 starting. As it was it was long fingered gloves and long underwear top and windbreaker and knee socks. I rode out to S TH and back past my van then out to N end @ the power lines. Dusty conditions. And wind. I am cramming some conditioning for Bend’s Big Fat Tour and my 62 mile rec ride on Sat. 25 miles was my ride today. The bike is soooo quiet, all the skritches are gone. A timber harvest along the ridge used the trail as a boundary. To the left is treeded, to the right has been abused during thinning.

Drove back to HR for grocery shopping, wash, a shower @ Snap Fitness, visiting @ Dirty Finger, and dinner. The shop has 3 beer taps and sells beer. Great mtn biker hang out.

Clean sheets  & clean body w/ sleeping temps @ 4200′ is ahead. I have 6 days of riding shorts. Every week on Thurs I do my wash. I have a dry pair of shorts for tomorrow’s ride while the other 5 days of shorts dry.

Back out to ridge for the night. Will ride tomorrow and Sat up on ridge then on Sun drive to Bend. Sleeping high causes my body to adjust to elevation. 4,200 is better than nothing but Bend is higher.

Can see South Spur of MT Adams melted out. I skied that face many times, great spring corn snow. Once I skied it Super Bowl weekend after skiing 1 day approach to normal parking lot.

Off to get high