My cyclocross bikes get a lot of use this time of year and Saturday was no exception. We went for somewhere over 60 miles of riding on mostly back dirt roads out east of Bend. The temps were in the low 60's and I was in short sleeves! This was the longest ride either of us had done probably since our trip to Switzerland and France back in August since we have mostly been skate skiing in the winter.
I love my titanium cyclocross bike, it makes rides like this pretty darn comfy.
We started from our house and road out a paved road about 15 miles till it turned to gravel. We took that forever and wound through the desert floor. It's "high desert" so the vegetation is all low scrub brush with the occasional tree and plenty of lava rock formations. There was little to no mud, just miles and miles of open space. We eventually reached a winter riding area called Horse Ridge and continued on another fireroad out around the ridge and past more of nothing till we reached the "highway" we hit that for another three miles and then hooked back up to a dirt road. Our goal was to climb up to the top of the Pine Mountain Observatory but the winds were too high and daylight would start to be a factor so we headed back before getting to the top. Some other day I guess.
It's nice to be able to just ride like that for hours and be on your own without any distractions. THe whole ride was probably about 2000 of climbing so not much, just some long good weather miles to enjoy my bicycle.
Just a few simple pictures:
I love my titanium cyclocross bike, it makes rides like this pretty darn comfy.
We started from our house and road out a paved road about 15 miles till it turned to gravel. We took that forever and wound through the desert floor. It's "high desert" so the vegetation is all low scrub brush with the occasional tree and plenty of lava rock formations. There was little to no mud, just miles and miles of open space. We eventually reached a winter riding area called Horse Ridge and continued on another fireroad out around the ridge and past more of nothing till we reached the "highway" we hit that for another three miles and then hooked back up to a dirt road. Our goal was to climb up to the top of the Pine Mountain Observatory but the winds were too high and daylight would start to be a factor so we headed back before getting to the top. Some other day I guess.
It's nice to be able to just ride like that for hours and be on your own without any distractions. THe whole ride was probably about 2000 of climbing so not much, just some long good weather miles to enjoy my bicycle.
Just a few simple pictures:
