Day 7 of 9 completed. Departed Prineville, OR at 8:30 am
heading to Crescent, OR 131 miles through open country and woods. We arrived in
Crescent at 1:00 at a great motel named The Woodsman Country Lodge. I can’t say
enough about this place. It is beautiful, clean and the owner is a great young
guy that could not do enough to make our stay an enjoyable experience. I
included several pics of the motel. You should stay here if at all possible.
Expected this to be a fast ride so we decided to still run
two groups but keep close for support. I was in the 3 group in the back because
I have the SAT phone that would be used for breakdowns or emergency. We’re too
close to the finish to take any chances with delays so we are trying to provide
as much support as possible. The 4 group took off first and because they are
faster, soon were a mile or two in front of us. We met up several times during
the ride, so I think this worked good for our style of riding.
The weather is perfect. Although it was very cold as we
loaded the bikes this morning, we walked a short distance to have breakfast at
a local spot before finally hitting the road. The temperature was in the low 50’s
by the time we started.
The terrain in the first half was open country and we made
really good time. Our progress slowed as we came into the woods, but the ride
was pleasant except towards the end. At La Pine the TAT route came to a gate that
said “road closed”. This meant we had to backtrack a few miles and work around
this section. Not a big problem but it is something to look for. The road after
the closed area that went into Crescent was terrible; sand, dust, ruts, etc.
This road then took us into an area by a saw mill that had no trespassing signs
everywhere. We drove on through and no one stopped us, but you may have to find
a way around this place.
Miscellaneous events:
While getting ready to depart the motel at Prineville, we
started having hot air balloons lift off right next to the motel. There was a
dozen or more by the time we rode off.
We rode through several stretches that had red dirt that
stuck to everything. It was very lite and made the bike a bit squirrely at
speed.
One more note on The Woodsman Country Lodge. This is really
a neat place. I even liked the toilet seat which I included a picture.
Woodrow had a close encounter with a cow yesterday that I
forgot to mention in my last post. It crossed just in front of him at the last
moment. Those things a really dumb and we have had to deal with them many times
since entering Oregon.
I included a picture of Jason checking the spring on his
kick stand yesterday, at least that’s the excuse he’s giving for giving his WR
a nap.
We walked across the Street for some of the best Prime Rib
any of us have ever had at the Big Foot Tavern. Can you pick out the real Big
Foot in the close-up?
We also think we found the wolf that Terry said he saw a few
days ago; picture included.
Finally, as we returned from dinner to lock up the bikes
Terry found oil on the ground under his bike. It appears to be coming from the
clutch case seal. After lots of discussion he decided to just top off the oil (took
1/8 quart) and carry the rest of the quart tomorrow in case he needs to do it
again. Woodrow had to photo bomb Terry as he dealt with this crisis; picture
included.
Tomorrow is a long day of 196 miles, all in the woods. We
all plan on leaving around 5:30 am so we have plenty of time to get to our
destination of Glendale, OR. Because of the distance and short range of several
of the bikes we plan on the support truck meeting us at two different spots
along the route.
325 miles left to go, and we are getting very excited about
completing this adventure that we started in 2016.
I’ll try to get a post out tomorrow if I am not completely exhausted.
Ride Safe!
Look like great times ! Have fun guys!
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