Alcohol kills germs, right? Since I don't want to get an infection in my elbow, we rode down to happy hour last night. There is really only one place in town that serves good nachos so we headed there and then to "The Downtowner". It's is my favorite sandwich/soup place in Bend because it's owned by two mountain bikers. We decided that if my arm wasn't any less swollen or painful, we would skip the race and ride McKenzie Pass. It's a nice long road ride that climbs from Sisters up to McKenzie Pass, and then switchbacks down the backside forever! Last time I did this ride was in the Cascade Cycling Classic Stage race, but we were going the opposite way. Photo blog time

The view from Sisters where we started the ride.




Not very far up the climb. this little guy was running around the roadside making all sorts of noise. He was pissed off and when I tried to take his picture he came and gave my shoe a giant peck.



The views don't disappoint the entire ride, there are massive lava flows everywhere once you get a little higher up.



The road gets covered in deep snow during the winter and is used for xc skiing.



Once at the summit you can see the same mountains from the side/back.


More snowmelt


Mt Washington (I think). There are SO MANY peaks around here.


It was a perfect day - mid seventies and so clear that you could see Mt Hood up North


Tomorrow I might try a mountain bike ride, I'm itching for some dirt.