We tried to outrun the rain today. But the rain won.

We had two route options prepared for today. One was essentially the ride we did last time, relatively short and to the point. The other was a longer way around, hitting some new (to us) roads. We decided to go for the longer ride.

The morning had us weaving through many roundabouts through Bend. One intersection was closed for construction, so we had to find a detour. Cities always take longer to navigate.

Finally we made it out of the city, and descended down into a valley. It was a mix of farms and ranches, fancy pants houses, and gravel quarries.

We were riding around one of Oregon’s scenic bikeways. But this one at least was only signed in one direction of the loop, making it clear transportation/touring isn’t a goal of the bikeway.

We paused for lunch just after passing highway 126. This was one of our bail out options. 126 would lead directly to Sisters, shaving some 20 miles from the route. The morning had already been long. The weather was nice, if a bit chilly, but we knew there was a chance of rain in the mid-afternoon. We decided to take the direct, if less scenic and busier, option.

126 was much like 58, but straighter and with a consistent shoulder. It was a shallow climb much of the way, with a few dips along the way to keep it interesting. Since this was off our prepared route, we had no cuesheet (just keep going) or elevation profile to watch. Anne’s bike computer kept trying to reroute us back to the prepared route. We had to navigate Daddy style, by watching mile markers.

We could see grey clouds ahead. It grew cooler and darker. The mountains disappeared in the clouds. More of the oncoming traffic had their headlights on.

On the climb out of the last dip, with seven miles to go, it started to rain. Just a few drops, at first. We decided to finish the climb then gear up.

By the time we got there, it was properly raining. As we raced to get the kids in rain mode it got even more intense. My pile of gloves and booties blew off my bike, but Ruth rescued me. Max was quickly safe in the green torpedo, but Ruth had a harder time. She’s exposed on the tandem, and no amount of gear really keeps you totally dry. I ended up giving her my arm warmers to use as bonus gloves.

By the time we were good to go, the rain had died down. But we weren’t about to stop again. Until we heard a scraping coming from the rear of the tandem, that is.

After a brief investigation, we determined it was a wire that had become embedded in the tire, scraping against the fender. Anne pulled it out, didn’t see any bubbles suggesting a leak, and we continued on. I watched the tire for the rest of the ride, and it’s still good. Score another for Schwalbe Marathon Plus.

As we rode the last few miles, the rain intensified again. I could hear Ruth cackling ahead of me, so I knew she was in good spirits, or at least the right kind of crazy. Passing cards occasionally splashed us, but we managed to avoid any walls of water.

As we rolled through downtown Sisters, the rain slowed again. By the time we stopped at the motel, it had stopped. The bikes had mostly dried by the time we were checked in, though I still wiped them down with the rags packed for that purpose.

Fortunately, the room has a lot of hooks we can hang the rain gear on. We picked up pizza from down the street with no jackets, even though it was really too cold for that, since the jackets were still too wet to be useful.

Our plan had been to take tomorrow as a rest day, before concluding the tour over McKenzie Pass. The road is technically still closed, but cyclists can ride it. Rumor has it construction crews operate Monday through Thursday, so we were going to wait until Friday. Plus a day of rest would do everybody good.

But, the weather looks much better tomorrow than Friday. It’ll be warmer and much less likely to rain. So we’re probably going to skip the rest day. Hopefully we can get the rain gear dry enough so it can keep us warm again.

Today’s challenge was snow. And hail. And rain.

We knew the day’s route would be pretty short. 1500 feet of climbing over 12 miles, then a 4000 foot descent. We also knew the weather would make things interesting. It was chilly at the start, and would be colder at the summit. There was also a chance of snow.

With the climbing start, the grownups would generate their own heat. Rain jackets, arm warmers, and waterproof socks would be enough. The kids got layered up in just about every piece of clothing we had with us, including pajamas.

There was scattered light rain from the beginning. As we climbed, it got colder and there got to be more and larger patches of snow at the sides of the road.

And then it started hailing. Small, like table salt, but still hail. It didn’t last long or get larger, but returned from time to time.

Unfortunately, the weather meant we didn’t get the nice views of the mountains we were looking forward to. Though there’s something to the mountain disappearing into the clouds.

We decided to stop for lunch at the summit. We would need to stop to gear up anyways, so it made sense. As we were there, the rain turned to hail and then snow. Real, heavy, snow. It didn’t get to whiteout conditions, but it got quite thick for a time. Today is Max’s birthday, so we called it a birthday miracle.

Anne and I shared a look and burst out laughing. What else could we do? We were at the top of a mountain pass, next to a closed ski resort. In a snowstorm.

Lunch pace quickened, as we were already cold, and it wasn’t going to get better. We suited up ourselves and the kids as best we could. Anne scored some chemical hand warmers from the resort office this morning, so everybody got those in their gloves. The green torpedo actually keeps it’s occupant pretty warm, but we convinced Max to sit on his rain jacket (that he refused to wear), to give some extra insulation than just the mesh seat. Ruth got bonus chemical foot warmers in her shoes. She also put her arm warmers, which didn’t fit over her long-sleeved street shirt, over her gloves and wrists.

Then it was time to descend. The ground was too warm for the snow to stick, but was still wet and potentially slippery. We used the brakes judiciously to manage speed – no overheating concerns today. The snow stuck to my glasses, then melted leaving water drops to still reduce visibility.

As we descended, the snow turned back to rain, and the temperature increased. The sun even came out eventually. Before long, the road was completely dry.

We finished the descent into Bend, cutting through on an extremely bumpy multiuse trail, and checked into the hotel.

While we were walking to forage for supplies, we heard thunder rumbling and it started to drizzle. While we were in a game shop to pick up another Exit game for the next rest day, it started to pour. Soak-yourself-in-minutes pour. Enough that water started running into the store.

I asked the shopkeeper whether he thought this would just be a few minutes or stick around. He thought it might be awhile, and suggested a nearby department store might have umbrellas.

While we considered calling a cab, the rain slowed down. We made a break for the grocery store a few blocks away. By the time we were done, the rain had mostly stopped, and we made the walk back to the hotel.

Tomorrow there’s more thunderstorms in the forecast in the afternoon here, but it looks clearer along the route to Sisters. Though I think we might be due for a plague of frogs.

Today was a rest day. We had hoped to rent kayaks and go out on the lake. But, as I may have mentioned, it was too cold.

We explored around the lake a bit before heading across the highway to the Elk Lake Trailhead for the Three Sisters Wilderness. We didn’t really plan for anything, but figured there would be some hiking trails.

After filling out the permit (including listing where we’d be for search and rescue purposes), we headed on the path, planning on a loop including part of the Pacific Crest Trail.

There were patches of snow along the trail. As we got higher, the patches grew more frequent, including some blocking the path. They were mostly hard, though some parts you could still crunch through. It’s possible my sandals were not ideal footwear for this particular adventure.

We reached the intersection with the PCT, and the snow blocked the path for as far as we could see. Anne scouted ahead and reported it cleared up, so we tromped through. After a bit further, another patch of snow for as far as we could see. Anne scouted again, out of sight but still seeing no end to the snow. We decided it was time to turn back.

As we hiked, Max played a game we’ve done in various hikes and rides. He acts as game master in a freeform RPG, going between us to advance the sometimes hard to follow story. Last time we were all deer joined by Chitchat, an NPC rabbit the size of a bear. I had led the party to a radish field, and somehow Ruth had transformed into the Queen of Radishes. By the end of the hike Anne and I were in Chitchat’s burrow being attacked by a pack of arctic wolves, and Ruth was frozen on Mars.

We got back in time for lunch at the resort restaurant, followed by an afternoon in the cabin. We played an Exit escape room board game and I taught the kids how to play Crazy Eights.

We explored the lake a bit again before dinner, including some fish heads that had been dumped near the boat launch.

There’s not really any services between here and Bend, so we ordered a double dinner – one to eat now, one to pack for lunch tomorrow. We already bought pastries from the resort office for breakfast.

Tomorrow should be exciting. It’ll be cold again, with rain and possibly snow in the forecast. We should have enough gear, though it might make the long descent less fun.