Climbing

"Ain't no mountain high enough".  ----Diana Ross

Well, maybe so. But I think we're getting close. We started the day with a 13-mile climb which ended somewhere near the Mt. Hood Ski Resort. There were no flat spots to catch your breath--just up and up and up. We had to work so hard to get to the top that we were quickly chilled when we stopped at the SAG. Freezing, we climbed back onto our bikes and froze through the couple mile descent, then another long, hard climb. Sweating, freezing. Sweating, freezing. We had some awesome descents today, but we sure earned them. Total mileage today: 66.1 with lots of climbing (5,150 ft). No real rain today just overcast and cold, but in the afternoon we got our first glimpse of....wait, what's that?...Blue sky! It's crazy how quickly the landscape of Oregon has changed. We started the day in a rainy, drizzly forest and now we're in Kah-nee-ta, a very dry, mostly treeless area. The gal at the convenience store told me Kah-nee-tah is a Native American woman's name which means root-digger.

The start of the day looked like this: wet and green.

The end of the day look like this: dry and brown.

By the way, this was an awesome descent. So fun!

Start of the day, shortly after leaving Welches, Oregon.

Finally, the mountain we've been hearing so much about these last few days.

So exciting to see her.

Hello Miss Hood.

This sign was flashing. What?!

Yesterday was record cold in Portland.

They have had snow this time of year.

Glad we didn't see any.

I love a good forest.

Wild horses on the way to our 2nd SAG.

Check out how dry it already is.

2nd SAG. A very welcome sight. Always.

I could have take lots more photos of snowy mountain tops.

This one, I think they said, is Mount Jefferson.

Oregon has at least one awesome Cowboy Canyon.

One last beautiful view before we make the last half-mile,

hot, dry climb to our hotel.

On to Prineville, Oregon tomorrow. 60 miles. 3300 feet climbing. Today's was 5,150.

Mike has started counting banana peels in the bike lanes. So far he's up to eight. I've heard of other cyclists counting bungee cords or dead animals. We've got a lot of time to fill :)   If you have a suggestion for something else to count, let us know.

Would you mind leaving a comment if you stop by my blog? It's more fun to keep writing when I know someone's reading it.