Rode hard and put away wet! Over McKenzie Pass

/ Dave & Nancy

Written by Dave

Day 6 – June 3 – 52 Miles, 4,539 feet climbing (Belknap Hot Springs to near Redmond)

Wow, what a day. This will be brief. Today was epic.

We left camp in the rain at 9:15-9:30 – we left in shifts to try making it to the top of McKenzie Pass at the same time.

It was misting and 47 degrees at the bottom, 35 degrees at the top 4,000 feet later.

We rode through no fewer than 2 road closed signs and one roadblock to reach the top, and one road closed roadblock at the bottom on the other side.

We reached the top more or less together +- 3 minutes.

We were all freezing at the top, in a raging west wind blowing over the top. Chris may have been a little hypothermic as he was shaking the worst.

We passed multiple ODOT trucks without issue until the top when we were scolded for being on a closed road. We bowed our heads, apologized and rode down the back side before they had a chance to ask us to turn around (we wouldn’t have!).

Downhill wind gusts approached 40 MPH. We had a ripper decent all the way to Sisters.

Lunch at Sisters Coffee was surreal – as we thawed out and recapped our ride so far.

13 miles more in smashing tailwinds to Andy and Jenny’s house for a wonderful dinner, lots of stories and more reliving what was really a great day on the road.

I made it this far, can’t type anymore. Photos to follow.

Two tailenders – Pete and Nancy at the start
We had snow – about 2 feet on the roadsides at the top
First of many indications that this made not be a good idea
Slightly stronger indication that this is a bad idea.
As they say, a rolling stone gathers no moss – we kept rolling
Nearing the top, not so amazing views of Three Sisters mountains
Curtis and Chris at the top – Chris had to be seriously convinced that this photo was worth it. Yes, they both should had had rain riding pants on but were too cold to put them on.
Extreme Danger – at the bottom – now back on a legal road. Chris is still shaking. He got down first and jumped into the car of a complete stranger to warm up.
Couple photos of what a nice day looks like up there from down in the valley – it felt surreal to be here after the drama of the high pass.
Close up – yes, it looks windy up there – we came over just to the right of the previous photo.

10 thoughts on “Rode hard and put away wet! Over McKenzie Pass”

  4. Wow, what a day, climb, ride. I hope a warm bed and good night’s rest for all was had at Andy and Jenny’s. The Cascade’s are behind you, Rocky’s ahead, am sure all are getting stronger by the day. Best of luck!

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