4-hour tour

Early start in the cold. Too frigid to go where I wanted to go - higher up, further - so opted for a 35 to 40 mile loop from my house. For some reason I thought it would take me 3 hours.

Cruising up Mrazek. This trail goes on forever. Don't daydream, the trees can be tight. I woke up from 1 such dream today - flying quickly over the handlebars as I snagged some part of my bike.

View from Farewell trail. Topped out at 6400 feet, where it was 41F. First time on trails on the DosNiner in 6 weeks. Forgotten how fast it slices and dices.

Nothing like an arc-en-ciel to finish your ride.

Of Snow and Ferns

This past weekend enjoyed some microclimate extremes. Was planning a long 40-50 mile ride on Sunday at high altitude - up to almost 7000 ft - but earlier in the week we had a not insignificant dusting of the white stuff, with Bachelor reporting 8" at the base. That's at 6000 ft, but since then it rained and was sunny, so I figured it might have melted away. Just to be sure, headed up that way Saturday on a reconaissance mission.

Started out right at 6000 feet, with sporadic snow on the side of the road. Hit a few inches of snow right away as I climbed up MW (Metolius Windigo), and it got worse with minutes. This was expected, so retraced my tracks back to the road, and dropped down MW going South, expecting as I lost altitude the snow would disappear. It started looking good, with almost no snow at 5800, but then as I kept going down, the snow level increased... some wierd microclimate dumped a whole bunch more in the woods there. At first it was kinda fun, as with only 3-4 inches of snow, it was no problem making progress on a downhill slant, and jumping off little water bars onto snow was novel. But it got rather tiresome after a while. Even down to 5300, still consistent snow patches. And it was rather... unattractive. I was offended by the ugliness of it in some way. Just didn't look right.

After an hour or so of this finally left the snow behind at 5000 ft. Soon was time to turn around and go back. But wait, it's going to be a major pain in the ass going uphill through those snow sections. I check the map, and see if that I keep going, I can exit off another trail much further South, that will require sloggin uphill on the highway for 10 miles or so. All in all about 3 times the distance compared to retracing my steps, and still some unkowns as I've never been that way. But I go for it. And yeah the ride up the highway is extremely painful psychologically and physically. So the lesson we learn is that any trails above 5000 ft will have snow.

Talk to ChrisS that night, and he proposes a ride up King Castle, near the MRT. Much lower altitude, sure I'll go for it, even though it's a 1.5 hour drive. We meet up the next morning, and man what a lush experience - huge ferns towering beside the trail as it wanders through dense wood. Total contrast from my ride the previous day. This tough little trail offers up a 2600 vert ft. ride to a peak with a great view. Mostly uphill, so the downhill is a blast. Verrrrry smooth trail, and we encounter no one else on the way down. Some pretty high speeds, as I'm trying to keep up with Chris's teenage sons.

Then off to MRT to do a section of it up and back : from reservoir to Blue Pool. Lots of fun climbing up the damp lava sections. As we're resting at the Pool before our descent, talk to a guy on a shiny new Giant who's on his way down. He looks familiar... yep it's Adam Craig - World Cup mountain biker - he hangs out in Bend part of the year. Another rabid downhill chase soon ensues and then it's back to the High Desert - may as well give me some more snow, guess I'm ready.

MRT Ride #2

Clear Lake through da trees


Sketchy bridge ride


The standard Blue Pool shot. It's behind there somewhere

YAB [Yet Another Bridge]

Log

Cut Log

Free lessons

Thanks to all the [insert term here, like Redneck Asshole or Stressed Out Office Worker or Cell Phone Yakking Dork] drivers who provided me with free cycling etiquette lessons during my lunch hour ride today.

To the moron in the roundabout who deliberately slowed down when I entered the circle, thinking I was too close to him, then honked his horn to signal his displeasure : screw you - if you'd just kept going at normal speed, my pinpoint timing would have enabled an efficient flow of traffic through the roundabout. But no, you had to ruffle your feathers and puff out your chest in a big display, hoping this would 'teach me a lesson'. I'm sure your driving is perfect - the next time you cutoff a cement truck I hope it T-bones you and drives your vehicle up onto the roundabout sculpture for all to see.

To the idiot who sideswiped me in the bike lane after I'd turned right into the flow of traffic, remaining in the bike lanes the entire time. Were you angry that I didn't come to a complete stop ? Jealous that you can't do the same manoeuvre when you turn right ? So you decided it was a good idea to risk my life by throwing your 4,000 pound vehicle in my general direction ? Sounds like a great way to teach people what to do. I'm sure the little kids on bikes and their parents appreciate it. And I'm sure you always come to a complete stop before turning, and never cut any body off as you turn into traffic. People with glass windows in cars shouldn't throw their cars around. I just might be waiting with a large rock on the next corner, maybe teach you a little lesson my smashing your windshield should you fail to perform a turn to my liking.

Broken Top Ride-By

A nice 25-miler or so, that loops you up near Broken Top. Plenty waterfalls on the way up North Fork.

Happy Valley. Fun wheelie-drop off bridge to get in. Happy logs and streams abound.

Up in the alpine tundra.

Detour up 4WD road to get to the Broken Top trailhead.

No bikes allowed past here. You can only look and drool.

On the trail again - back into the big trees.

Near and far. Before I was near Broken Top. Now I am far.

An amusing incident occured near the end of the ride, as I was cruising back on the last slight downhill. Just finished the high-speed traverse along the Tumalo trail, that switchbacks down the mountain side, with some great views. Was feeling amped and still going at a good pace, when I saw riders approaching. I reduced speed, planning on moving to the right of the wide trail when I got near them, when I heard an insistent ringing noise. Oh god, the guy's got a bell mounted on his handlebar, and is ringing it to save his life. Mayday! Mayday! Maniac coming down the trail at high speed! All hands on deck ! Red alert ! I slow down even more, so as not to panic this guy, feeling like he might fall off his bike if I got too close. And as I drift to the right of the trail, calling out a greeting, and conceding the center line (uphill riders have the right of way), he shouts out in a nasal voice : "Would you mind stopping and letting me go by, rather than riding off the trail!?". I grunt out an "Ok, sure" as I keep going, and wonder at the strangeness of someone who would try on the fly to instruct others on trail etiquette. Can't say I've ever encountered that before. And wait a second, that voice is familiar, I think I know who that is, it's the president or something of the local mountain biking organization - COTA. I've met him a few times before, seemed like a nice guy. But whoa dude, how miserable must your rides be if you spend the whole time worrying about how other people are treating the trails. Hey we're out in here in the wilderness, I don't need anyone telling me where I should or shouldn't point my wheel. Of course he's right in theory, but his method is confrontational and will surely backfire rather than achieve the intended results. Ne prenez pas la vache mon ami!

Urban Biking Terms

Biking through city streets can be a blast, especially when racing against cars, and flouting traffic rules. Here are a few terms and techniques :

Piggybacking : when coming to a crowded 4-way stop intersection, piggybacking involves following beside a car that has already stopped and is now preceeding in the same direction you want to go. When the timing is just right, you can come flying into an intersection where cars are backed up at high speed, and barely slow down as you tag along beside a car that is speeding off in the right direction. This is an advanced technique that demands pin-point timing : follow too far behind, and you might get side-swiped by another car (since they often like to miss each other by inches). And watch out for turn signals, or the lack thereof.

Leapfrogging : when on a long stretch of road with stops and lights, you keep passing the same car over and over again, as they get slowed down by traffic or stops, while you scoot ahead in the bike lane. For added excitement, make obnoxious hand gestures to these drivers when you pass them.

Anticipated Green : Going through a red light when you know it is about to go green. For example the left turn arrows are on, and you are going straight. As soon as the left turn chute is empty in front of you, boot ahead through the red light. Hopefully it will turn green relatively soon, or that cop sitting way back may decide to bust you.

Head Fake and Ram : At a 4-way stop, do a head fake, so the driver thinks its safe to proceed. Once he starts moving, accelerate quickly to ramming speed and... oops, sorry, wrong place for this - see my Redneck Driving Tips blog entry.

The Sneak Across : When confronted with a light that has just gone red, and you need to get across the intersection, wait until traffic going in the other direction gets the left turn arrows and starts moving. Then take a right, proceed along until you're past the left-turners, then cut left through the lanes of stopped traffic, and ride the short distance back to the intersection - now you're on the other side ! Get out of there quick before someone figures it out.

Black Rock Ride

This was a group ride put on by Hutch's bike shop - a social ride around the Paulina Peak / Newberry Crater National Monument thingy.

It's been an 'end-of-season' tradition for many years now.

Lots of people show up - maybe 40-50 ?

It's only a 20 mile ride, but over 3000 ft of climbing.

The high-speed pumice riding was a blast, once you got used to what felt like riding over a carpet of marbles. Note : this pic is not pumice, just regular dusty surface.