Day 2 - Salem to Detroit

Day 2

Monday, March 31, 2008

Salem to Mill City (kids)
Salem to Detroit (parents)

Quote of the Day

Gus to Alison: “Mom, pedal faster, there are two vultures circling overhead.”

Well, we after waking up to beautiful weather we decided not to sag today. And we were rewarded with a wonderful day of biking!

We didn’t leave Salem until about 11:00 (we are definitely going to have to get going earlier in the summer). The traffic out of Salem was heavy and constant for about five miles. There was, however, a wide shoulder mostly cleared of the winter traction gravel we encountered in the coast range.

Our lunch/dinner stop was at Giovanni’s Mountain Pizza in Mill City. The food was good here; better than much of the road fare we have had in the past. Alison raved about the homemade stew in a bread bowl.

It was getting pretty cold at this point and we decided to let the kids sag (a decision that we regretted later because of the gorgeous views). Alison and I rode the recumbent. I had never ridden on a recumbent before, let alone a tandem recumbent. It was an amazingly comfortable ride. Before I got on the bike I told Jim (Alison’s dad) that this may be an expensive mistake if I really like the bike! Well, I loved it (although I’m not sure we will get another one for the cross country trip). Alison and I rode from Mill City to Detroit. There was very little traffic as we made our way up the pass to Detroit dam. There were waterfalls cascading beside the road and beautiful views of the Cascades and Detroit Lake. It was cold, however. We were glad for all our winter cycling gear (including the balaclavas). I can’t think of a more beautiful ride we have taken, except maybe in the west of Ireland. And riding behind Alison as she deftly piloted the recumbent was great -- I was even able to take video and look at the scenery!

When we got to Detroit it was late and getting very dark. This would be the evening that we needed to make up our one-day late start to this trip (due to the snow on the Oregon Coast!). We put the bikes on the car and rode over Santiam Pass to Sisters. There was no snow on the road over the pass but the shoulders were covered with over five feet of snow. That, in addition to all the lava rock traction gravel, would have made this part impossible to ride.

We arrived in Sisters late – nearly 9 o’clock. The Ponderosa Best Western was our abode for the evening. Unfortunately, the only dinner option was McDonalds! I guess when we are on the trip this summer we will be stuck with whatever we can find, so getting used to it now is probably a good thing!

Tomorrow it is on to Prineville, Oregon.

Salem to Mill City (kids): 32 miles
Salem to Detroit (D and A): 62 miles
Time on Bike (kids): 3 hours
Time on Bike (D and A): 5 hours
Average Speed: 11.1 mph
Fastest Speed: 35 mph