Bob on Cycle Oregon 2009

Day 3 Route

“Up and Over”
"Delve deeper into Jefferson, continuing on the Scenic Byway. After a gradual warm-up through tranquil woods, we climb nine miles – very steep near the top – to a panoramic view over receding rows of treed ridges, including rare weeping Brewer’s spruce and Port Orford cedar. Then we’ll wind down 11 miles of great road with vistas to the north. Later we’ll have one very short, very steep climb, and a last up-and-over to Lake Selmac".

A lot of people were worried about today's ride because we could see the first part of the climb as we rode into Happy Camp the day before. It was a teaser, though, because this first blip was very short. After that, however, we began nearly 4,000 feet of climbing in 20 miles. It was mostly gradual with a couple of bumps of 8-10%. We were climbing over the Siskiyou Mountains and back into Oregon. The border was at the summit. There was no border sign because we were on a very sparsely travelled and narrow mountain road.

We reached the summit and then had an 18-mile downhill to lunch. There were sections on the downhill where it got pretty steep, but we couldn't go very fast because of bumps and holes in the road. We saw one rider on the side of the road who had crashed and was waiting along with several other riders for emergency help.

Bicycle Parking

(Photo By Chris Broderick/The Oregonian)

Lunch was at the Bridgeview Winery in Cave Junction. We had to walk our bicycles along the winery's driveway because of its gravel road. Bicycle parking was unique. Many bicycles were snuggled up to the vines next to the winery. After getting our lunch, we sat on a small pier jutting out into a large pond being joined by our Valley Spokesmen friends. There were ducks on the water, huge trout in the water and geese flying over the water.

After lunch we toodled along for 10 miles or so and came upon the steepest climb on the tour. It was similar to the top of Mt. Diablo both in distance and in grade. This meant that our low gears had to get us up an 18-20% grade for 100 yards or so. Some riders were stunned, staring at it from the side of the road. Others were walking. Still others, including us, were trudging up it. After soft peddling for a couple of miles, we came upon a longer, but not as steep, hill. As we were slogging up, we could hear rythmic sounds around the last turn. There was a drum circle at the summit motivating riders to finsh the climb. This was a real CO Moment.

Finally, we had a gradual descent into the Lake Selmac camp. Our tents were in a huge field near the lake. The beer garden, dining area and entertainment area were right next to the lake. It was the most picturesque campground of the tour.

We did our normal after-ride routine. For our shower, though, Jeff and I rented towels because our bags had not been delivered yet. It felt odd to put on our sweaty cycling shorts. This didn't last very long because our bags were some of the first delivered.

It was another brilliant starry night.

Please visit Day 3 slide show from BikePortland.

You can take a simulated tour of today's route by clicking here.