Sisters, Oregon to Ochoco Lake County Park, Oregon -- 40 miles

We had breakfast with Jane in the morning. We hung out in town for a little while and hit the road at 12:20 pm. We biked past many ranches - the mountains and valleys were spectacular, the kind of views we had only seen before in Wild West movies! We arrived at the Ochoco Lake county park at 6:30 pm. Lorraine made a campstove dinner of butter & herb rice and teriyaki “I can't believe it's not chicken.”

McKenzie Bridge, Oregon to Sisters, Oregon -- 40 miles

We broke camp and started biking at 8:30 am. Noticed a ticking sound on Lorraine’s bike and stopped to check, but couldn't find anything - we are overly cautious now! Our starting elevation was approximately 1300 ft. It took 4.5 hours to climb the 28 miles over McKenzie Pass - elevation 5,325 feet - and 1/2 hour to descend! The average grade was 3%, and as high as 5% in some places. We rode past rocky lava fields - the last volcanic eruption from Belknap Crater was 2700 years ago.

At the top of pass, we enjoyed the view and took photos of the mountains from Dee Wright Observatory, a fort-like structure built from lava rock in 1933. In the town of Sisters, Jane Green offered to let us camp in her yard. She used to cycle tour, and was crossing the U.S. one section at a time before she hurt her knee. We talked to Jane, her carpenter Fred, and her friends Joanne and Ron about vertebral subluxation. We had barbecue ribs and chicken for dinner at Bronco Billy's (formerly the Sisters Hotel).

Eugene, Oregon to McKenzie Bridge, Oregon -- 61 miles

We enjoyed the motel’s continental breakfast and hit the road by 7:45 am. The bike route left Eugene and followed the McKenzie River, increasing gradually in elevation. We were nervous about the climb ahead, but the grade was steady and manageable. Saw newborn colts and incredibly beautiful scenery along the river - enormous trees, well-kept farms, and lush green valleys. An irate truck driver yelled at us to “Get out of the road! You're going to get yourselves killed!” 

We met up with some Adventure Cyclists in Walterville, where we stopped at the post office. Continued the comedy of errors by mailing a package which contained the wrong case for our sunglasses - now, Lorraine has 2 yellow lenses and no tinted sunglass lens. We debated staying in Blue River, but decided to get a jump-start on McKenzie Pass by continuing another 10 miles to the town of McKenzie Bridge, where we camped in the National Forest. The forest was thick and shady, and we could hear the rushing river from our campsite. However, there were no showers here - just one outhouse. A little too primitive! Lorraine cooked a gourmet campstove dinner of cheese quesadillas & salsa, and Spanish rice.

Rest day in Eugene, Oregon

We decided to spend a rest day in Eugene, so we packed our stuff, biked 6 miles into town, and checked into the Timbers Motel. Met William Watson in the parking lot, who just moved to town from Texas and will be biking in Europe in 2 weeks. Talked to him about the Ride for Chiropractic, vertebral subluxation, and becoming a chiropractor. It was raining and overcast today, but our bikes were unloaded, so it was a breeze to run errands, and Eugene is very bike-friendly. 

Ate lunch at “The Downtown Lounge,” then picked up equipment at REI and had the bike cranks tightened and front derailer adjusted. Met Amy from the Adventure Cycling group. Went to the hardware store, grocery store, and a couple more bike shops. Walked around for a while looking for a restaurant for dinner. Ended up at the Pearl Street Ice Cream Parlour & Restaurant, a neat old-fashioned place that has been serving hot fudge sundaes since the 1950s - we were the biking couple amid 5 or 6 kids’ birthday parties!

Monmouth, Oregon to Coburg, Oregon -- 57 miles

We left the motel at 11 am - Lorraine was not feeling well after eating peanut butter and a bagel. The terrain was fairly flat, and the new gearing worked well - Lorraine said that she hardly broke a sweat. We stopped to eat lunch in Corvallis, and met Erik Hawzah and Christina Hurst. They are biking the Great Divide Trail, from Montana to New Mexico, in two weeks. He works in a bike shop in Corvallis. When we reached Coburg, just outside of Eugene, it was 6:30 pm. We stayed in Kamping World RV Park.

Grand Ronde, Oregon to Monmouth, Oregon -- 28 miles

We got on the road around 8 am, with a mission of reaching the bike shop today. After biking 20 miles, 2 more spokes broke on Lenny's bike; several Adventure Cycling people helped us with the repair. We were able to ride the last 8 miles to the bike shop in Monmouth. John's Bike Shop rebuilt all 4 wheels, changed the cranks and chainrings, tuned up the bikes, and changed the bottom bracket. We bought a new air pump & spokes. He gave us a chain whip & cassette tool. The atmosphere in the store was like that in the movie "High Fidelity" - except, here bike dudes John Anthony and Ross hung out, read magazines, talked about bikes, and helped John sell bikes and do minor repairs. We spent 6.5 hours there, until 7:30 pm. It was too late to reach Corvallis, so we stayed at the Courtesy Inn motel in town and ate dinner at J's Restaurant.

Pacific City, Oregon to Grand Ronde, Oregon -- 40 miles

Kids were screaming and chasing rabbits in the campground until 10 or 11 pm last night. We woke up at 5:20 am, and broke camp by 7 am. We discovered that Lenny had lost his sunglasses. We didn't cook breakfast this morning, and had a misunderstanding about the groceries, so we stopped at a small place called Grateful Bread to eat. Lorraine says it was the best omelet she's ever had. We met Richard and Eve, and told them about the ride and vertebral subluxation. They surprised us by treating us to breakfast! Hit the road by 9 am and biked to Grande Ronde, where we stayed at the Wandering Spirit RV Park & Campground. We joined the Adventure Cycling group for a fantastic and inexpensive dinner at the Spirit Mountain Casino buffet.