Trish & Phill's Tandem TransAmerican

Tour 2003 

Jul 25 Sisters - Eugene 110mi

We have an option today of climbing either the Santium Pass or McKenzie Pass. The Santium Pass is about 12 miles longer but is not quite as high (550 feet less) and the other side is slower to loose height. We opted for Santium Pass in the end.

As we left Sisters the smoke from nearby bush fires clouded our view of the Cascade mountain ranges. The ride to the top of the Pass was about 19 miles and was a reasonably slow grade. A couple of months ago we would have struggled up it but this morning it was just another stretch of road we have to travel. I guess over the last few months we have certainly got into reasonable condition for these hills.

The weather was warm around mid nineties I'd guess but after the last week or so it was reasonably cool to us. We set off with the intention of tonight in Eugene and tomorrow we finish in Florence. It would be a big ride to get there - over 100 miles but the road followed a river that obviously runs down to the sea so we hoped to get to our destination but had alternative accommodation planned if we could not get there.

The Hwy 126 we were on was seriously busy and got worse the closer to our destination. It appears to me that every third vehicle or so is a Truck (Ute) such as a Dodge Ram that has 450 Horses under the hood with 10 cylinders making a whole lot of noise as it roars past.

Tonight we are staying at the International Biker Hostel in Eugene. It's a house that is used as a sort of cheap accommodation. It cost us $40 for the night. (we can get a good motel room using a coupon for $36) so I use the term cheap reservedly. The house has seen better days to put it politely the Ritz it isn't. We stayed in a room with a nice soft bed, had a warm shower, and the people were friendly so that was good. 

Page owned & maintained by Trish Collins email to  trishphill@aapt.net.au.  Last Updated 28/07/2003