[ORRando] The Spine

[Michael Wolfe]

So, I've figured out how I'm going to ride this thing.  I'm going to take a
high summer weekend, maybe the last weekend of July or the first weekend of
August.  I want the days to still be long, but I want to be sure that the
snow's all melted from the little forest service roads, and there's enough
shade, elevation, and nearby rivers on the course that I'm not at all
worried about heat.  I'll catch the Coast Starlight at around 2:30 on a
Friday afternoon from Portland, arrive Klamath Falls around 10.  Put my
bike together, and leave Klamath Falls at midnight.  That works really
well, because with a ride distance of 711k, the time limit is about 53
hours, meaning that I have until 5 am Monday morning to finish.

Even accounting for the climb and slower riding at night, a midnight
start will put me at the Crater Lake summit at around sunrise.  Then it's a
100k to Steamboat, and it's downhill the whole way -- 2 hours and change on
the recumbent.  Eat some breakfast at the resort.  A couple steep, tough
climbs between there and Oakridge (including that incredibly steep bit of
NF 22 that was on the Willamette Headwaters 600) -- 125 kilometers,
probably 6 hours or so, for an early afternoon lunch in Oakridge.  That
section is a scenic highlight -- the stretch along Brice Creek up to the
top of NF 22 is gorgeous, and the BLM roads from Steamboat to Culp Creek
look jaw-droppingly beautiful from the Google Streetview images.  Leaving
Oakridge, I should be able to clear Aufderheide to McKenzie Bridge in
daylight, and overnight at one of the motels there.  Get up early early the
next morning, and hit the road with the first light, to try to do as much
of OR 126 and OR 22 as possible before the traffic picks up.  Then it's
just one pretty good climb out of Detroit, and if the wind doesn't pick up
too much, a long easy downhill to Estacada, and the usual roads back to
Union Station.  Figure I can make it back by dinner on Sunday.

Michael Wolfe
RUSA 3519

On Fri, Dec 27, 2013 at 10:01 AM, Michael Wolfe <cyclotouriste at gmail.com>wrote:

> Alas, there's no tourist provision for riding RUSA permanents for credit,
> and the route is not quite climbing-dense enough to make it a SR 600 (which
> can be ridden as a tourist.)  However, if you just want to go out and ride
> it for no "credit" (if you do this ride at any pace, I'll give you plenty
> of credit) over the course of a week (say), I'll be happy to give you the
> cue sheet.
>
> I did try to get this route to work out as an SR 600 (by, say, starting in
> Estacada, routing it over Santiam and McKenzie Passes, and finishing up at
> Crater Lake), but I still couldn't get the mileage and elevation to quite
> work out.  It just goes to show how challenging the criteria for that
> format are.
>
> I am submitting it as a reversable route, so you can start at either end.
> Gluttons for punishment can do it as an out-and-back.
>
> -Michael
>
>  On Fri, Dec 27, 2013 at 9:41 AM, Scott Peterson <
> scott_peterson54 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>  I second that.  And it looks like it's almost exactly 600k from
>> Portland to the Crater Lake Lodge. Hmmm....
>>
>>
>>   On Thursday, December 26, 2013 10:44 PM, Ray Ogilvie <lochmond at msn.com>
>> wrote:
>>    Looks like a great route, Michael. Will it be available in tourist
>> mode?
>>
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