La Pine is at a higher elevation than Sisters, so we thought morning two might be colder. But 27 degrees? Cold enough that frost crystals from our breathing had formed on the inside of the tent. I asked a local Portland TV station weatherman at breafast about what we should expect the next morning, knowing the elevation of Diamond Lake was higher yet. "You do the math," he said; two degrees colder for every 1000 ft. of elevation gain. Thank God, he was wrong. About the temperature at Diamond Lake, anyway.

The route from La Pine to Diamond Lake took us over a section of Cascades Lakes Highway, which I'd never traveled before. Beautiful country, but some of it dramatically scarred by recent forest fires. Having started the ride in sub-freezing temperatures, it was close to 90 at the end of the day's ride, approximately 95 miles.