Days 2 and 3: Steens Mountain Loop

After luxurious night in our heated M.A.S.H. unit, we peeled ourselves out of bed only to realize that it wasn't *that* cold out. We watched the sun rise over the Alvord desert as we drank our coffee and made breakfast. We knew the second day of riding was going to be the longest with the most climbing, but we couldn't leave the Alvord desert without an obligatory roll out onto the playa.

Breakfast in the morning sun overlooking the Alvord desert.

Morning light on the backside of Steens mountain.

Playa selfie. 

Morning jaunt on the playa.

After playtime on the playa, we set out for what would become known as "the shitty windy day." We finished the last 10 miles of dirt road with no problems and climbed around the south side of Steens mountain. As we turned back north, we were pummeled in the face with a headwind so strong we had to pedal down the steep descent. With 60+ miles left to the ride, we put our heads down, created pace lines, and told long bad jokes to grind it out. There aren't many people who would make it through a day like that and still want to be my friend, but that's why Ani and Ed are the best!

Rolling out for the day and leaving behind the Alvord desert.

Breaktime.

More breaktime. We took turns drafting and slowly but surely made it to Frenchglen.

Ed's happy face... just 2 miles to Frenchglen and its all sweet sweet sweet downhill.

As we rolled into Frenchglen at sunset, high on the sweet descent, we had a decision to make. The Page Springs campground was still a 3-mile ride and we weren't 100% sure if the pump was still on, or if it had been shut down for the off season. The Frenchglen Hotel was full of people sitting down to a buffet dinner and looked so cozy and I felt done for the day. I wanted to ask about the Page Springs campground... and it dawned on me maybe there might be somewhere to camp in town. So we tiptoed in and asked if there was somewhere we could pitch out tent with access to a toilet. The owner said we were welcome to camp in their lawn and use the pit toilet. I asked how much it would cost, and he said "well, not really anything." Done and done.

What happens when you try to sleep three people in a two-person tent. We were surprisingly comfortable and with lows in the 20s, we were happy to snuggle.

Another perk of camping in the hotel lawn was a hot breakfast with all-you-can-drink coffee.

Turns out the hotel was half full of other folks who bike toured. We chatted with a few and got one last group photo before rolling back to Crane hot springs for one last dip.

The last day of riding started off with a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. We soaked in the warmth and drank bottomless cups of coffee and set off with a small cheering squad. Luckily, the wind had calmed down and it was a relatively easy ride back to the Crane hot springs, where we had one last soak before heading home.