Day 3: Entering the reservation

Welches to Kah-Nee-Ta, OR
66 miles with 5,150' of climbing

Well, the weather Gods are still with us! We woke up this morning at 5:00 our new “normal time” fully expecting the rain that we saw when we retired last night.  While the roads were still wet, the precipitation had stopped, but the temperature was chilly.  We loaded our luggage in the van and rode about 2 miles to a great breakfast spot called The Whistle Stop. After a huge breakfast of pancakes, eggs and fruit we began our 13-mile ascent up the mountain.  Today, we were able to show our fellow cyclists that although Delaware is a flat state, we can climb!! I think that some of the guys were surprised when they heard “on your left” as we climbed past them.  By the time that we arrived at the top where there was a SAG stop, the temperature was 31 degrees and windy. We were severely underdressed and the deep, teeth shattering chill never subsided until we reached the bottom. The most interesting thing about today’s ride was the change of vegetation. We left a temperate rain forest and entered the high desert complete with sagebrush.  After an awesome tail wind for the last 16 miles, we arrived at our resort, which is part of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. Relatively speaking tomorrow should be a light day with only 60 miles. The first stop upon arrival will be the Laundromat! 

We've just descended about 6 miles, cruising at 38 mph. Note the desert background and interesting 

rock formations.