Hell and back.... Day One of the iMBC2012

What a fantastic weekend of riding some of the best roads in Oregon accompanied by a few familiar friends and a couple of new friends too. I don't have much to add to what everyone else has already said so here is a day by day write up.

Friday morning started off cool, then as we reached the misty top of Tombstone Summit the temperature dropped even further to 57.2°F (14°C) and we were already praying for the warmth of Hells Canyon. We wanted to pack light (hence the hotels) and we left the winter gear and heated liners at home. Both of us were literally shivering coming down the east side of the mountain and it wasn't long before our shoulders were stiff and sore. No complaints though as we had the shortest distance to travel.

The weather finally warmed up by the time we got to Sisters, but the traffic had not. We stopped for gas and we thawed out in the sun while nibbling at our stash of Clif bars and trail mix like a couple of squirrels.We calculated our first stop to be Redmond but it was nice to stop early to stretch and relax our shoulders. Evidently the tourists got a jump on the weekend and main street Sisters was filling fast, inching through town we were on our way again. We poked along all the way and through Prineville before the traffic let up and we were able to make some time. Beautiful wide roads and sweeping corners with a couple of canyon twisties to keep you awake.

A stop in John Day for gas, some lunch and a failed attempt at a text message revealed we were off the grid. We wanted to send the group our ETA but we had lost cellphone coverage, sorry gang we're on our way. We didn't stop for many photos in favor of covering a few miles of real estate, but found this roadside attraction east of John Day.

Highway 7 lead us into Baker City late Friday afternoon, we found some shade and a Starbucks for something cold to drink before heading over to the hotel. Sonja and Roland greeted us first and had already searched Urban Spoon for a restaurant close by. Richard pulled in next and it wasn't long before the 5 of us were walking down the street for dinner to meet Lady V-Star from Ontario, Erik from Wisconsin and of course, everyone knows the infamous Bobskoot.

I had left my camera in my jacket back at the hotel so no more photos tonight. Dinner was very tasty and the conversation was as if we had all known each other for years. Karen and Erik being new to the group jumped right into the conversation and held their own. Sonja presented us with "official" iMBC 2012 patches and we could have talked all night but the wind had come up and the desert gets cold at night. We quickly dispersed, Bob escorted Karen back to camp while the rest of us headed across the street for coffee before saying goodnight to Erik and walking back to the hotel.

G'nite.

Official iMBC patch member