May 27th - Eugene to McKenzie Bridge

Day 4 - Sue Gerber Blogger

We met promptly at 6:30am – which was not so easy after such a great meal the night before at Chez Bill. The four riders - Gloria, Eric, Michael and Sue started the ride at 7:00 and wove their way through Eugene. The route followed a river from the start to the finish and the views were fantastic.  Having such a great dinner at the New Day Bakery the night before – our SAG Hector decided to return to see Bill Mahoney to gather  breakfast supplies (super scones, bread and a few cookies) Hector set off about 8am to catch the riders and although he was armed with a Garmin, the official adventure cycling Transamerica map of the route, 2 Oregon maps and 2 cell phones equipped with google maps he missed the route—oh my - the all riders really missed him and were glad that he caught up with us at mile 17.  The route had gentle rolling hills and we had a picnic lunch at Ben and Kay Dorris County Park.  A total of 57 miles were ridden today with an average speed of 15 mph – and although it was only may it did get hot in the afternoon.

The ride ended at the Harbicks Country Inn and we were joined by Bob’s brothers, Tim  and  Tom  Keegan and Tom’s son Sean and also Deb Cannon and Brent Burkholder.  We had a great dinner at Takoda’s restaurant across from the hotel and then were treated classical guitar concert by Sean. A great day – tomorrow the Santiam pass (because we hear the McKenzie pass is closed because of snow). Pictures from today will be posted later