I never understood eclipse chasers until I saw the eclipse on August 21, 2017. Despite the media frenzy that led all of us in Central Oregon to believe that the world would end when a million eclipse chasers would descend upon us, our bike tour to the epicenter of the dark side of the moon was lovely, mostly sans traffic, and otherwise just a good time. My good friend Michelle and I braved the predictions, spent time with some of the finest scientists in the land, and experienced the ephemeral dream of fire and darkness with a 360 sunset highlighting Mount Jefferson and Mount Hood. We refused to drive, so why not bike? I was even
interviewed by The Oregonian for choosing an alternate mode of transportation for the eclipse.
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| The backroads to Madras were soooo crowded... |
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| My dad is the best... I arrived to Madras to a cooler full of cold beverages! |
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| A little corner of paradise, full of scientists a la Harvey Mudd and CalTech. |
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| Sunset over Mount Jefferson. |
In an abundance of caution, we left Bend at 8 am and made it to Madras by 2 pm. We had plenty of time to relax, socialize, and prepare for the big event. We relished a catered dinner put on by the folks organizing this private eclipse festival, and ate an inordinate amount of watermelon. Shortly after sunset, I crawled into the tent and passed out. I slept a solid 9 hours before stirring the next morning.
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| My Dad decided to make a pinhole eclipse viewer... recently, he showed some kiddos how to make viewers at a reservation in Yakima so they could enjoy the eclipse. |
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| Oh wait, you'll let us look at the sun through your solar lens? So cool to see sun spots! |
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| The sun... (photo credit: Joel Naumann's dad... our gracious neighbors with the solar lens for their camera!) |
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| Just a couple of cycling dorks waiting for the eclipse. |
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| The world's most innovative pinhole eclipse viewer... |
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| This solar telescope is a little more high tech... my dad checks it out. |
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| Aaaaand, the eclipse finally started! |
I highly recommend surrounding yourself with astrophysicists and other science PhDs for celestial events such as this one. Not only do you get access to the best telescopes, binoculars, and other knowledge, but you get to know lovely folks such as Joel and his father, who traveled from San Jose, California to grace us with their presence. Joel's father shared images of the solar sun spots as well as his meticulous eclipse "to do" list.
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| Our neighbor had a strict schedule for solar eclipse photography... I'm glad he spared a minute to "look around". |
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| Totality. (photo credit: Judd Rook, father of my dear friend Erin Rook, who shot this from Terrebonne.) |
And then, it was done, altogether too fast. We took a minute to bask in the afterglow of the totality of the eclipse, and then off went, to get back to Bend in time for dinner.
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| Detour on the backroads to escape backed up traffic on the Culver highway... would have been fine, but this section didn't have a shoulder. |
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| Highway 97 in all her glory. Traffic was at a standstill and we just trundled along. |
A few tips for cycle tourists:
- This route passes through the towns of Tumalo, Redmond, Terrebonne, Culver, and Metolius... lots of chances for resupply!
- Here is our route... it was lovely, traffic-free, and beautiful!
