| Crater Lake Bike Tour |
This morning we waited around to meet the van shuttle from Bicycle Adventures. The University had a home football game that day, and the opposing team and fans were staying in our hotel. We observed numerous husky lads eating breakfast and lunch and watched their adoring fans hanging out in the lobby. The Bicycle Adventures van arrived as scheduled around 11:30.
To our surprise two of the other guests turned out to be Jaz and Mark, a couple that we met on our Utah trip last year. We met our guides for the week - Pete and Beth, a husband and wife team from Washington state who had cycled around the world - and were introduced to the other guests (14 guests in all): Marco and Judith (Bermuda), Lynn and Dan (CT), Deb and Bill (MN), Tim (NC), Mitch (CO), Brian (Australia, now living in CA), Mike (IN), Jaz and Mark (CA).
Most people piled into the van, but four of us got to ride in a white
stretch limo for the shuttle to Greenwater Park in nearby Oakridge because the van seats only 15. We ate the first of many delicious
lunches on the Willamette River river bank where two weddings were
being held that day. People thought we were part of a wedding party
when our limo pulled up, but quickly thought otherwise when they saw
we were dressed in lycra bike clothes (The wedding can be seen in the left part of the image of Kerie, Marco and Mitch eating lunch on the right). Our mouths dropped open when
Pete and Beth got out real silverware and plates and spread
tablecloths for us to eat on. We feasted on fresh fruit and salads as
we visited with our fellow travelers. On bike trips, we often must
root around in the grubby van for granola bars. This was a real meal
with actual eating utensils!
After lunch, we rode a short 30 mile route mostly out and back along a
Forest Service road. 
This gave the leaders a chance to see what they
would have to deal with for the next week and those renting bikes an
opportunity to get the bugs out before we left civilization. Just outside
the lunch spot a passing pickup truck lost a tool box from its cargo bed. We saw various
tools strewn along the road. We were glad that the flying hammer hadn't knocked one of
us on the head. There
was an optional 6 mile climb and most of the guys shot off that way to
show off their climbing abilities and to sort out the pecking order.
The gals opted for the regular route. I didn't want to blow out my
knees on the first day and was saving myself for the several mountain
passes coming up. We rode back into Oakridge on our way to Westfir.
Here we encountered a very short steep, gut-busting climb that the
guides had neglected to mention during the route rap. After that it
was mostly downhill to our lodgings at the Westfir Lodge, where we were met with a cooler of beer and snacks.
The B&B sits at the foot of the Office Bridge, the longest covered
bridge in Oregon and the only one with a separate passageway for
people. The B&B used to be the office building for the local lumber
mill, which burned down. Three days after we left, the bridge was nearly burned down in the Office Bridge fire.
Bruce and I stayed in the room that had
served as the payroll office. We barely had enough room for our
duffel bags. Thankfully we didn't spend much time in the room. Ken
and Jerry, the Inn keepers, filled us in on the history of the Inn and
fed us a great dinner, which included a special vegetarian meal
prepared just for us. They had two corgi dogs. After dinner we
walked across the Office Bridge in the pitch black (hoping that no
planks were missing from the bridge) and looked at the stars in the
crystal clear night.