Another sunny day

Today was another sunny day in north central Oregon. I took advantage of some free time (and the reports of cloudy cool weather at home) and went for a bike ride.  I took off from Maupin and rode an 84 mile loop up Bakeoven Rd to Shaniko, then north on US 97 to Grass Valley, then down to Shearer's Falls and back to Maupin.  Though I've ridden this route many times, it was the first time I did it in the counter-clockwise direction. I did it that way because I noted gravel in the turns on Bakeoven Rd yesterday as I followed Mick Walsh as he biked the Ring of Fire 24 hrTime Trial. I'd rather be pedaling slowly up the hill with gravel than streaking 45mph down the hill with gravel!

The wind today was a bit gusty, probably in the 20-25 mph range at times.  It was generally out of the southwest.  An unexpected benefit of a counter-clockwise ride was that I had a tail wind on the run northward on US 97 to Grass Valley, add that to the already slightly downhill slope, and I was having fun!

I was getting blown around a bit by the swirling winds as I rode down the hill to Shearer's Falls but not so much as to make me feel unsafe.

 When I got to the Deschutes River I took a little detour to get a closer look at Shearer's Falls.

 I closed the loop by riding back to the Imperial River Company where I loaded my bike into my pickup, changed out of my bike clothes, and grabbed a bite to eat before driving back to the Willamette Valley.  I was met with cloudy skies that almost looked like they might produce some rain. I was glad I had a chance to ride in the sun today!

........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today..........84..............0.............0..........0...........84 Jan...........105.............34.............0..........0..........139 Feb...........428............108.............0.........24..........536 March.........809..............0.............0.........22..........831 April........1010..............0.............0..........0.........1010 May..........1000..............0............20..........0.........1020 June.........1500..............0.............0..........0.........1500 July.........1558..............0.............0..........0.........1558 Aug...........531..............0.............0..........0..........531
Sept...........217...............0.............0...........0..........217
YTD..........7144............142............20.........46.........7313