OTT Take 2: Day 4: Soda Creek Campground to Bend
Yes, we ended up in Bend. Bend is not on the OTT route. Bend is great. We didn’t want to go to Bend. Mother Nature had a different plan in mind. We were expecting a really tough day so we woke up a early to get a good start on the day. The plan was to ride up and through the pass over Broken Top to get over to Three Creek CG area and down into Sisters. Not only was there a significant amount of elevation gain to cover, but we were also in a time crunch because we expected to run into storms and wanted to be off of the peak by then.
This climb was not fun: two miles on the road and then up a dirt climb. The beginning of the ascent was really steep and rutted out. We started to run into snow patches at around 6k ft - most of which we could ride through or around. After two hours of climbing, we stopped too deliberate. We decided to keep pushing on and if it got really bad, we could turn around and go back to the highway. Eventually, the snow pack got the best of us and we were hiking our bikes on slippery, slushy and unpredictable snow for miles. Eventually we lost the road and decided that for many reasons, including the impending storm, we should turn around. I felt defeated but it was a smart choice.
ME! Feeling defeated… It was about time to turn around…(Photos above and below by: Deann Garcia, Bill Garcia, and Myself!)
After an adventurous descent back down the way we came, we got back to the highway and with a little bit more labored climbing (on my part), we hit Mt Bachelor resort and descended on the road from there. We hopped on the trail at the pump track area about 16 miles from Bend and zipped down an ribbon of trails headed into town.
We took the paved bike path and it all led right to a hotel called Loge, which is a bike-themed hotel run by Evo brand. We coined this hotel Hipster-ville USA, BUT! It had everything we needed and it was right off the trail, so it was very convenient. We were able to wash our bikes and do some maintenance at the bike wash area they have there right there at the hotel. There were even bike racks in the rooms (though we didn’t bother cause we had loaded bikes). This lodge was a much needed reprieve from the difficult of the trail that we had in the first few days. We showered, headed into town to wash our clothes, and lounged by the fire pits outside. The next day, we routed ourselves back towards Sisters to get back on track. All things considered, we ended up in a good place at a good time and couldn’t really complain at all!
If it fits, it sits! This is what 4 people and 4 people’s bike packing stuff looks like in a hotel room!
Photos by Myself, Aliza Richman and Deann Garcia