Nick, after trying to rid the West of burrowing rodents
Berry and Bill left early on Monday morning and made it back to the Bay around 4 pm. I dropped Becky off at the airport at 5 am so she could fly to Boston. Nick and I had a later departure than planned due to a hitch malfunction. On the road, we passed an Airstream trailer with a load of mountain bikes heading North, maintaining in the Universe. We made it back shortly before midnight to find little traffic to impede the trailer parking.
Becky
Sunday was the last riding day of the trip. The day began with an inauspicious start as Bill, dressed in a disconcerting blue and brown riding wardrobe, came by the trailer to freely distribute interior design and feminine hygiene advice. We were all hoping the day would improve from this point. We knew for certain that it almost unquestionably would.
Berry and Becky were still worked from the MRT epic the day before, so we headed to Phil’s Trails for a short 1.5-hour or so spin. We climbed Ken’s Trail. Ken’s Trail fits in the Stepford Trails motif of the lower trails in the Phil’s area. The trails are well mannered, gently graded and ridden by courteous bikers, aboard svelte cross country steeds, uniformly clad in Lycra, who (more…)
Berry waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive
Saturday was the Main Event in Oregon, the McKenzie River Trail (MRT). Becky flew in the night before and my truck was transferred to Charles so he could set a shuttle the next day.
The MRT is one of the few trails that everyone seems to be able to agree on. It’s a great ride, following the McKenzie River and Highway 126 for 25+ miles. The trail crosses volcanic rock outcrops in several spots giving it significant technical challenge. As you descend, the challenges lessen and the speed increases as the trail winds its way through the dense forest. (more…)
The crew arrived in Bend around noon. After the epic in Oakridge, they were looking a shorter ride, in the 1 to 2 hour range so we headed up to Bend’s most popular riding area, Phil’s Trails.
Phil’s Trails describes a network of trails to the west of Bend. By some accounts, Phil’s trail system includes up to 300 miles of trails. The singletrack trails were purpose built for mountain biking. If the Phil’s system doesn’t offer enough mileage, you can connect to the Skyliner’s and Cascade Lakes trail system for mega epic possibilities that can reach around Mt. Bachelor.
From Phil’s trailhead, the trails ascend on a well used, middle-ring crankable grade that twists through the Ponderosa pine forest. Farther from the trailhead, the paths (more…)
As the others rode an Alpine Trail initiated epic in Oakridge, Nick and I packed and headed to Bend for the next phase of the journey. Actually, Nick didn’t do much packing. I’m going to have to talk to him about that.
The two-hour drive from Westfir to Bend was over quickly enough when we turned into the Crown Villa RV Resort. As the attendant was guiding me to my spot and working hard to retain some semblance decorum while I struggled to back the rig into a massive parking spot, he mentioned that I was a (more…)
Sean and Charles joined the fray today as the group headed to do two drops today—Lawler and Hardesty. The character of the trails is somewhat similar to those on yesterdays ride, though the drops were longer. To quote from the previous installment “sweet 12-inch wide band of winding singletrack that wove its way through the low, lush forest floor foliage,” fits the description of today’s ride also. The greatest challenge on the trails comes from the tight switchback turns with soft outside edges.
Nigel on Aubrey Trail
In the morning, I put in a call to the rest of the group to find out the scoop on the day’s riding. Berry, Bill, and Leslie planned on leaving Nigel with Nolan (or is it Nolan with Nigel?) and heading out for a ride. They were figuring that I’d ride with Nigel later. Fair enough.
It wasn’t clear when ride time was going to be, so we stood on call waiting for the launch sequence. Nigel was certainly ready to ride when the time came and had arranged a triple shuttle with Randy, the local shuttle guy. The plan was to do three shuttle drops, in short succession that included Aubrey Mountain, Flat Creek, and Larison Rock.
All three drops were similar in character, 1500 feet or so of altitude loss on a sweet (more…)
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