Final Sweep

Wagontire, OR to Lakeview, OR

This was my last day of sweeping, and I was paired was Brian. Lacy joined us, making us a super sweep. The three of us played word games like Ghost all morning long on our bikes.  The sweep challenge was to make a video game on the road for sweep. At one point there was a Mario Kart game, and then there was a Mortal Combat scene, next Zelda, and finally Slender Man.

The scenery was incredible, and some riders said it was their favorite ride of the whole trip. We started in the desert, but actually saw sand, not just dry dirt! We biked along the Abert Rim on our left side, and the Abert Lake on our right side for most of the day. The Abert Rim is like a 30 mile long plate that juts way above the adjacent plate, so it looks more like a rocky wall than a mountain range. The lake was mostly evaporated, leaving just a large amount of alkali deposits in the lakebed. With a distant forest fire creating smoke, it was impossible to see where this blinding white lakebed ended and the sky began. The colors were unlike anything I’d seen before, just streaks of whites and blues. The temperature was cool, the wind wasn’t bad, and the traffic was light – it was some people’s favorite ride of the trip.

I was suffering from saddle sores pretty badly, so I got in the van at second lunch. Luckily, super sweeping Lacy was there to finish out the ride with Brian. I strongly dislike being in the van, because I’d rather be biking, but it was only 13 miles I was missing. I paid attention to the sights, and realized that I had already seen the best of the day’s views.

That evening the team completed the decision making process for the affordable housing grant applications, and I’m very satisfied with how the team negotiated so democratically.