Black Rock Shuttle day

The WESTSIDE TRAIL FEDERATION sponsored their 2nd shuttle day at the Black Rock trails located near Falls City Oregon. 7 hours of not riding up hill can't be bad. Transition was there with a full fleet of bikes to demo and a lot of stoked riders ready to rip. Then the rain came. It dumped really hard but hey...this ain't Idaho. So the riders kept riding and the drivers kept driving. Fat Larry was keeping it loose, Flying J hit 30 mph up the hill, and I drove the BIG box truck and managed to turn it around and back it down over and over with out getting stuck or going over the edge . I think there was around 150 people and and more counting the volunteers. Oh.. April was there too. Great Oregon riding.

East Mt Hood Epic!!

I've been scoping this route for a few years but since it covers so much ground (for me) I figured it might be too much. turns out it was just enough. When I e-mailed Terry and Debbie about the ride they said "YIKES!" I knew Jeremy would be into it no matter what and I figured I have enough anger left to make it. Tanya was going too and I knew she'd love to do it as an out and back but would do a shuttle if we gave her a prize at the end. The night before I talked to Jeremy and he said his cuz "mumbling Matt " was going to come. hmmm. I wasn't sure about that since it was a ride of unknown mileage, and he’s been on like 1 pedaling ride this year. Oh well. not my cousin.

We met up with Terry , Debbie and Tanya at the Mt Hood store and headed to drop off their car at the end of the Oak Ridge trail. We started the ride at Bennett Pass and went 4.1 miles up to the Gunsight Ridge trail and then up and up. The Gunsight ridge trail was really cool with nice rocky sections and great views. One big long rock garden was really challenging. It was actually more like a land slide that we were riding across. Of course there was the dinner plate section. Slab’s of rocks that clanked like plates when you rode across them.

So we thought we got to the end of the Gunsight ridge trail when it came up to a road and we knew we would have to be on a road for a bit after that but the mileage on Debbie’s computer wasn’t adding up. When we got to the bottom of the lame WAY dusty road we realized that we missed the 2 miles of down hill single track . OOPS. Debbie said “ There’s always next year” but Terry and I knew it had been 5 years since we had tried to ride this trail and ran into mass amounts of snow. So with out too much thought Terry and I decided to ride back up the dust road and ride the single track and then continue on. Debbie said “I’m not waiting” Jeremy and Matt looked like they thought we were crazy and Tanya always wants to climb so it was set. As we pedaled away Jeremy heard Debbie say that this was a bad idea. We did not see them again for nearly 3 hours. She was right.

At the top of the road we celebrated with some dark chocolate and then started climbing on the single track decent. Yay. It didn’t last long then we were flying and the section of trail was pretty fun. I was getting some serious arm pump. Maybe because my rear brake was not really working. Combined with the front brake I could slow down so that was good I guess. We got back to where we left them and started up the road and ended up and a huge Forrest road climb Probably a thousand feet in 2 miles or something. I was realizing why it was hard to get anyone to go on this ride. Good views though and nice and quiet because I couldn't keep up with T ‘n’ T. We got up to the High Prairie parking area and there were a ton of riders resting but not the ones we were looking for. Some of the riders were on a 4 day hut to hut ride from Hood river back to Hood river. I could have used a hut at this point in the ride.

So we were on a dirt road for a bit and then got into some great flowing singletrack. A lot of descending. After linking some trails together we had to ride some black top until we found the connector to the beginning of the surveyors ridge trail. DBL track for a couple of miles then back to single track. We had been riding really fast and were surprised that we hadn’t caught up with our group. ( never split up on a group ride) SO on the dbl track my phone starts ringing but the time I could get it out of my pack I missed the call. It was Jeremy and they were a half a mile ahead of us. Cool. It was good to see them again. Matt looked like he had been done for a long while, pants torn in half etc. etc. Debbie was Chip and Jeremy was in a good mood as usual. Surveyors ridge was as great as I had remembered but a lot of climbing. We got to a section where it was fast and rocky. I was chasing Tanya and she was flying!. I was right on her and then when it would smooth out she would take off and be losing me I would be like Oh no! what gear am I in. Man is she fast. It would have been great helmet cam footage. Next time. We eventually made it to the Oakridge trail which would drop us down to Terry’s car and the end of our long day. Ton’s of switch backs awaited us and more rocks. The switchbacks were tough and I made a lot of them. It was super loose. About a mile from the bottom I wasn’t making a switch back and tried to hop off running I got a cramp in my leg and couldn’t pull it off. ( my leg was bothering me a bit as I had gotten a cramp about 2 hours earlier) So I went off the bike and rolled , landed about 20 feet from my bike and then I heard Jeremy yelling “ Look at your leg” . Got a crazy slice from the rocks I guess. too bad. So after sitting there and bleeding for a while I finished the ride by walking the switchbacks and riding the trail. Great ride and a long day. I’ll do it again next year and be stronger but I’ll skip the blood.

Waldo Lake and the Alpine trail vid/ slide show

Waldo Lake and the Alpine trail

Waldo Lake and I have a bit of a history. About 4 or so years ago I rode waldo in the snow. Unintentionally of course. It was really fun for a while but soon I was wet and cold and 21 miles seemed really long. The next time about half way through I was riding the only real tech section and smashed my knee. Probably could have used a couple stiches and that kind of put a damper of the ride. In fact it was bugging me so much I pulled out 5 miles early. So this year would be the year for more pictures and less cold and less blood. There was probably 30 people invited as this was the 1st annual Pedal Nation Waldo Lake camp out. A week out from the trip Aaron said there would be around 10 riders which meant 16 camping or so. It ended up 4 camping( Aaron,Eric, Reagan and myself) and 5 riding. Calin drove down for the ride but didn't camp because his wife had the swine flu or something. The forecast was for a bit of rain on Sat but when I got up Reagan informed me that there was blue sky and is was not going to rain. About 5 min after we started pedaling it darkened up and cooled down. Me..short sleeved jersey. Aaron..rain jacket. He went to college so he knows when to stay dry.The trail was a bit dusty at the beginning but not too bad. Lot's of rocks and great views of the lake. We twisted and turned and took lot's of pictures and before I knew it we were at the section where I smashed my knee in 07. I had actually tried to ride this section the first time in the snow but ..well....there was snow so it was a little crazy. So I screwed up my first attempt and bent my brake lever about as much as you could bend it with out it snapping. the next few attempts I made it all the way through the bigger rocks but managed to screw up in the easy stuff. Mostly made it but it doesn't count. Eric had me thinking that he might get hurt. His first 2 attempts were not very long before he was jumping down the trail. then out of the blue he stomped it clean. good to see. Down the trail we went and soon it was sprinkling and the sandy dirt had some moisture so traction was great. The rest of the ride was great until about 10 feet from the end of the trail an fascist bug flew into my helmet and bit my head. Man..it hurt for 3 hours and I still have a lump. By the time we got to camp it had started sprinkling. or raining. Either way I was wearing shorts and had no rain gear. Eric made Fire and Reagan made Chilli and everything was ok after that. I found out that my tent is made for summer nights and my sleeping bag has a broke zipper. Once again I was camping dirt bag style. Sitting in the rain in shorts and borrowing a cup for the coffee. The next day Reagan had a sore knee so they opted out of the alpine ride. Eric was nice enough to shuttle us to the top so we could BOMB down the trail. Sun was a beautiful day with blue sky and 65/70 deg. Perfect. Aaron said ' Hardly any climbing " so that meant some climbing. but it was mostly down. Great single track through huge trees. If there were some dangerous rocky sections it might have been the ultimate single track. Maybe it was anyway. Great weekend with great people. Looking forward to more riding camping soon.

Lewis River Trail...again

The first time I rode the Lewis River trail I knew it was a N W Classic. The ride was a nightmare but the trail was great. I've ridden it 7 times now and every time it gets better. This time it was Terry,Debbie, Eric, Reagan, Tanya (all the way from N. Carolina) and Myself. We started at the upper falls. Most people start at the lower falls and miss a whole lot of good trail. Conditions were great after some much needed rain the weekend before. Terry and Debbie were coming off a week of Lot's of rides like Waldo lake and the NUT, so they seemed ready to go. Tanya was a climbing machine, maybe she was thinking of her growler? I think Eric made one of the hardest climbs of the day. Hat almost made it and I was close too. The ride was great with no crashes or mechanicals. I think the next time I go up there I want to go up higher and ride either the quartz creek trail down to the lewis river or something else just as dumb. We stopped by walking man for food and another great ride is in the books.

When a tree hit's a woman

or a woman hits a tree. I've helped a lot of people out of the woods in my short mountain biking career and it's never a good thing. I remember the Red Raja used to have these business cards that said "don't get hurt in the woods alone". He got that one right. So on our usual wed night ride in the Tillamook state Forrest the conditions were perfect for a ride. Barely sprinkling and moist trails. Jeremy,Tammy and I took off in the front and were flying along enjoying the dirt flying up in the air. Jeremy and I get to the first bridge and we were having some serious fun. The mood changed quick when Ned came walking down the trail and said Tammy had maybe broken her arm. not good. So we hiked back up the hill and sure enough she was on the ground and in some serious pain. It looked to me like her shoulder was dislocated or worse. I guess she hit a root,went OTB and shoulder first into a tree. We hiked her up to the road and soon Aaron showed up with a car to get back to the parking lot. Off to the Hospital. She was tough all the way there and while we waited for the doctor and x rays. 6 weeks to heal she Say's. She'll be back soon stronger than ever.

Heal fast Tammy!

Mary's Peak

At 4,097 feet Mary's Peak is the highest point in western Oregon. You can see the ocean to the west and the cascades to the east. So they say. All we saw were clouds in every direction. The day started out with our 6 person ride whittled down to 3. Team Enduro.I rained hard on Sat and sunday morning as I was getting ready it was ..raining. I'm ok with that, not because I have some fancy rain wear but because if I cancelled a ride every time it rained I would not ride a whole lot. So Eric, Aaron and I headed south to a trail that none of us had ridden, driving through every scattered shower in the Willamette valley. This trail has been on my radar for some time. I've read a lot about the hard climb and treacherous decent so I was excited to have my own opinion. I hardly ever state my own opinion. We nearly found the wrong trailhead easy enough but got turned around and headed the 10 miles or so through torrential downpours to another HWY which connected us to the right road which was at the exactly same mile marker, and from there it was easy. Drive to end and get out. We were concerned about the temp a the top so we kinda dressed warm ish. About 10 min into the 3.5 mile gravel road climb I was soaked with sweat and plenty warm . When we got to the East Ridge trail it was sprinkling a bit so we were happy to be in the trees. The hill side was really steep so no going off the trail. It was a little rocky but not too bad. Eric and Aaron rode nearly all of it . A couple of the switchbacks were impossible. Massive roots with tight turns. It was kid of surreal with the clouds moving through the trees. Sometimes I thought we must be in B.C. When we got to the top (aka the FALSE summit) and it was so foggy all you could see was ..... fog. It was really cold , so when some clouds went by and revealed the true peak we agreed that this was OUR summit and to not tell anyone. My hand's were getting numb by the time we found the trail to head down the dangerous decent. It was wet for sure so the roots were unpredictable but that the kind of riding I like. Non stop wet MASSIVE roots and quick turns through huge trees. Eric had a few off the bike moments from the slippery roots but nothing serious. I guess he hit his head on a stump. Aaron almost fell while taking a picture. Dangerous thing, standing along side of a trail. Near the end Eric found a cool log ride and rode it clean 2 times. The downhill was too short (as always) but made me want to go back with the helmet cam. I think next time it'll be a night ride!

Falls Creek, Wa

Riding the Falls Creek trail in Washington is one of those rides where I laugh and cry. Cry when I’m almost at the top of the climbs and laugh on the downhills, where I clip pedals on rocks and brush my shoulder against trees with out getting knocked off the bike. I’ve ridden the trail before but I guess I had forgotten how great it is. This is why I love mountain biking. Climbs that have an end and descents that seem not too. This was a Pedal Nation ride Aaron and Callin set up. I think Callin has ridden this the last 3 weekends. Addict. So we had myself, Jeremy, Louis (my son) Aaron, Andrea, Callin, Cami, Eric, Reagan, Tammy, and?? that’s it I think. We started at Old man pass, which is a xc ski area I think. Within the first mile Aaron get’s stung by a yellow jacket and Cami ride’s over bear uhh droppings. All over her legs and down tube. Once the climbing began it all is a little fuzzy. Seems like Jeremy and Louis and probably Eric and Aaron made the climbs and I stopped for coffee. Once we got to where it was going the right direction I was laughing. I chased Jeremy for a bit and he chased me. I clipped a pedal on a rock and managed to not crash and Jeremy and I both grazed our shoulders on a tree and escaped without a scratch. Reagan had a fall and so did Tammy and Louis. And Andrea. Great ride, with great people as usual. Some of us hit Walking man afterward so that was a plus. Bring on the weekend!

M R T

This was my 4th time riding the McKenzie River Trail. Bike Magazine says It's the #1 trail in America. They may be right. It has everything. Flowing single track, Rooty sections, Rocky lava sections, climb's and descents,, and distance. That's what makes a good trail. Right? So Eric from across the grass wanted to ride this and set up a camping trip for some of his friends and family and I was able to force my way in for the ride. I brought Son #2 and Jeremy. The ride started off with dusty single track with a few climb overs. Tree's ya know. Jamie and Graem were ripping so I figured that would be the last I would see of them for the day but they were always waiting at the end of a good descent. Eric did a fancy trick straight to his shoulder but only Louis saw it. It sounded quite exciting. Eric's broother's shifter fell apart and that was the one mech issue of the day. Apart from my creaking bottom bracket. Ihatebikes.com

The ride was a blast and it was a good group. I can't wait to get back down there and ride that trail again.

Pedal Nation mid week ride #????????

The mid-week is a great way to make it through the week.

This time we hit up the storyburn to gales creek a couple of times. We had Aaron,Donny,Tammy,Louis,Jeff,Jeremy some new people that I don't remember their names. O..and me. Louis crashed 5 times and Jeff once I think. Fast into hard corners can be exciting. It was another great ride and every one had fun and a lot of bug bites. Louis had 26 on one arm. Yikes!