Recent Exposures

This weekend I headed to Bend with Chris Holm, Tiffany Gregg and Brent for some mountain biking on the dry east side of the Sisters Range of the Cascades.  Weather for Corvallis looked shitty so we decided to over the Cascades where the clouds can’t reach.  We ended up staying overnight in a "Day-Use" parking area of one of the
Cascade lakes (I think "Flagstaff" was the one).  On the way to Bend Chris and I stopped in at REI for some maps and for me to quickly try on a pair of Asolo boots I’d like to purchase soon for my CTD hike in August.  We then got some dinner at a Red Robbin (gotta love that fried egg on top of the burger). 
    I bought some wood and we stopped at safeway for some booze and snacks for biking the next day.  We had a great fire going by 10:30pm and after drinking the 6-pack I was out by about 1am.  I apparently had a dream about Fragle Rock because I mentioned it in my sleep along with Gonzo… what was I thinkin’..?   
    In the morning we got up to learn we would have to wait 3 more hours as Brent’s friend Dan and his girlfriend Lori drove up from Salem so we could shuttle cars to the
end of the very long downhill ride.  While Chris and Brent shuttled cars Tiffany and I waited in a snow-park parking lot underneath Mt. Bachelor in the sun.  We met some nice old folks collecting butterflies in a nearby field and it brought back memories of my youth (minus all the wrinkles). 
    When they all returned and we started the ride it was a great day.  We got a little lost at first but then we found our way.  For the most part the ride was downhill but on the flat sections I found I was no match for the group of professional bikers  My usual method of standing up out of my seat to peddle up hills using my climbing legs failed because of all the loose sand and dust on the trail providing no grip without weight (sitting down) on the back tire.  On the downhills I kept up just fine but felt a little wobbly (hopefully from my lack of clipless pedals and not my head trauma).  Our trip down lasted 4 hours and was about 24 miles long of sick downhill single track. 
We went through one section named "whoops" because it was just mounds of dirt pilled up for tricks and stuff.  At the end parking lot was also a freeride trail with double-ups and everything that I got to check out while they shuttled the cars again.
    It was a beautiful day in the sun with good people and I can’t wait to head back to that area to explore all the other trails.  Tiffany and Chris are always a riot to hang out with.  And as you can see from the last photo… we all got pretty dirty…

Today I took Tiffany biking up the backside of MacDunn from Soap Creek.  We took the figure-8 loop I had done a few weeks ago with a ton of single track on it.  It was crazy steep but Tiffany rocked it out!  She really is an amazing mountain biker.  I even found out that she won 1st place at the most recent mountain bike race in the area in her class.  That’s nuts!  She’s definitely my new riding partner for Oregon.  Everything the trail threw at her she seemed to just eat up.  We both ate some dirt on the ride and I was pleased to see that she just laughed it off.  It was a great ride and when it gets a little drier out I definitely want to head back to it with tiffany for some helmet shot footage bombing through the trees with her. 

Today I decided it was time to go for a bike ride with Tiffany again and Anna joined us.  I wanted to explore some of the unmarked trails of MacDunn again so we parked on Skillings Road off Oak Creek and road up some forest service roads to about 1700 feet where we followed a ridgeline through forested lands.  It rained pretty hard on the ridge but we had rain jackets and I had brought towels for my truck on the ride home because I knew we’d be covered in mud.  When we got to the end of the ridge a rainbow came out that stretched across all of Corvallis in the Valley below - Beautiful!  Anna’s knee barely held together and both girls were super cold by the end of the ride but we all had a great time and plan to ride again next week.

Today was sunny and 70 degrees so I just went on an afternoon trip to Black Rock with Holm and Tiffany.  We rode all the way to the top and on the way down took a few pics
of two kids from Colorado who were exploring the
apparently famous trails there.   They were jumping off a bridge with a 6 foot drop that looked terrifying!  We took two runs for the day and on the 2nd run down I crashed into a tree and flew off my bike to the amuzement of Holm who was directly behind me and almost ran me over!  It was a great day to go riding and the trails were actually very dry.  Can’t wait until I get some body protection to start trying the big features there. 

After Search and Rescue training today I went for a ride in MacDunn in the rain.  I started the ride at 1:30pm and didn’t get out until 5:15.  I really pushed myself and was able to map a whole bunch of new trails with my GPS.   Slowly but surely I’m making a map of the hidden trails in the forest…  But right now I’m absolutely beat from the ride.  It’s a Saturday night and I’m so wiped I don’t even want to go out… I must be getting old… haha.

Well, since going to the movie this past wednesday I’ve been dying to go biking.  There was wonderful weather all weekend.  After my search and rescue class yesterday morning I decided to pack up my gps and head out to MacDonald Dunn to
log some more unmarked trails on the map I’m working on.  I knew it would be really muddy but it was 65 degrees and the trails were calling.  Tiffany stopped by to borrow my Topeka Alien all-in-one bike tool to work on her bike so I was hoping I wouldn’t need it.  As I had guessed the trails were really muddy but I had a great time exploring them.  I went further than I had gone before in the research forest and
ended up on some really fun downhill unmarked trails.  I even came across some cool looking newts near a stream gap jump.  I then came across a huge section of the trail that had been wiped out by a massive mud slide.  On the way back I tried to take a trail off into the woods I had noticed before that dumped out into a stream
bed where I had started off the day.  The trail turned out to be a stream and I took a huge endo off my bike (one of several during the day) which flipped me through the air and tore the deraileur cable right out of the handlebar.  Without a tool I had to tie the cable in a knot around my frame.  Luckily I was in a perfect gear and headed down from the mountains anyway. 
    When I got back to my truck around 4:45 I was cached in mud!  I didn’t want to get the inside of my truck muddy so I stripped down to just my boxers to drive home… now here’s where it gets embarassing.  When I get home I needed to quickly grab my bike, hose it off and bring it to a bike shop downtown to get fixed so I could ride today (sunday).  As I’m pulling it out hte back of my truck in my boxers (picture me just my boxers without a shirt or socks on and the back side of my boxers looking like I drank I drank a bottle of ex-lax.  Then I hear in a soft voice, "hey, can I ask you a question".  I turn around with the bike in the air (deciding whether to show my dirty, ass, my front with the possiblity of the clydesdale outside the barn or just my side profiel) to see my very attractive next door neighbor who I hadn’t met yet.  Apparently somebody left a lab on her front lawn and never came back and she was asking me if I knew anything (she’s a vet student so somebody must have known).  So there I am in my filthy boxers meeting this girl for the first time… pretty damn embarassing.  What a first impression!?
    I managed to take my bike downtown to get a new cable put in and then stayed in for a relaxing night getting excited to head to Black Rock with Anna and Tiffany this morning to explore the trails! 
    We left around 8:45 this morning in Tiffany’s car to Falls City and the trails at Black Rock.  Immediately upon climbing up the hill I began to see jumps, and wooden bridges throughout the woods.  Anna wouldn’t allow me to wear my headphones (next time I will regardless) so I wasn’t all amped up to do anything stupid, which may have been a good idea actually.  When we got to the top we took an easy (green circle)
route down which still had some pretty decent jumps on it.  I really enjoyed flying off them but I know if I were to do anything bigger
I’d want body protection and a full face helmet.  I also had some energy gel and powdered energy drink with me to keep up with the girls (I’m out of shape a little).  As it turned out I kept up easily and had a blast.  We only took one run because Anna had to get back to help some friends move.  We went over a see-saw and got absolutely covered
in mud on the way down.  Somehow I even managed to cut my leg open.  Maybe I’ll make it a tradition to always leave Black Rock bleeding from someplace.  I came away from the freeride terrain amazed and I can’t wait to go back there, especially when it dries out a bit more later this spring! 

Tonight Chris, Tiffany, and I drove up to Salem to see the Black Rock Mountain Bike movie premiere at Northern Lights Theatre.  There was a huge raffle of over $35,000 worth of gear and BRMBA (Black Rock Mountain Bike Association) raised 10,000 from the event for trail maintenance and building.  Chris got a raffle ticket for $25 bucks but unfortunately didn’t win anything.  The movies were great with a ton of really cool helmet cam footage of the Black Rock area and Pacific Northwest all the way up to Whistler, B.C.  I can’t believe I didn’t know about Black Rock before a week or so
ago.  It is the only place in the country where the Forest Service actually maintains the land strictly for mountain bike use.  There are tons of bridges, see-saws, jumps, gaps, log rides etc there.  It’s a freeride mountain biker’s dreamland and I’ve never been so happy to own an overweight freeride Kona Coiler Dee-lux.  I can’t wait to get out to Black Rock and ride the trails after watching the movies.  All the stuff in my favorite mountain bike films is out there.  Bridges built high up in the air over the forest, big jumps etc, the place has it all.   Their moto, "Build, Ride, Respect" says it all. 
    After the movie and raffle we headed to Chris’ parents to say hi and grab (steal…) some sweedish fish from the kitchen… :)  Great night.. The pic above is just one of the areas in Black Rock….  Click here to check out BRMBA.

We were all supposed to go raft the Deschutes River this weekend but several people got sick and the large amount of rain we’ve been getting lately has made the river a little dangerous so we had to cancel the trip last moment.  Being that my midterms are finally over (some ugly, some ok) I was pretty excited to get away for the weekend and do something active.  Thus, I was really bummed out to hear our trip was cancelled.  Then I found myself sitting in the media lab with my friend Tiffany Gregg who suggested we go biking on Saturday instead.  Tiffany is a strong biker and I’ve wanted to go with her for a while now so I jumped at the chance.  We planned to get an early start around 9am and head to the McKenzie River Trail, a 25 mile long singletrack trail that follows the river and is famous for it’s beauty. 
    I got a call from Tiffany around 9am and she was at my place to pick me up in her Tacoma (girls that drive trucks = mad cool) and I was informed that we had gathered more people to ride with us including Chris Holmes, who had been out last night until 4am and Pam who Chris had walked home before returning home himself.  Pam’s roomate Brett came along too making 5 total.  Brett and Pam live with Ashley Hatfield who has been on several hikes with me in the past and is in previous posts.  Brett, and Pam live in the "biking" house where the captains of the bike team live and Tiffany is also on the girls cross country team here.  That meant that Chris and I were heading off to the woods with a serious crew of strong bikers… And Chris was chugging down gatorade to cure his hangover on the way to the trailhead.
    We got dropped off at Clear Lake Campground and shuttled Tiffany’s truck down river to the Ranger Station near McKenzie Bridge 25 miles away.  We ended up getting started around 1:30 (late start due to a hungover morning for some.. haha) but we didn’t think it would be a problem.
Immediately we took a wrong turn and started to make a loop around the lake but thanks to some quick thinking by Chris and Pam we found our way back to the trail…. nope… we ended up on the scenic waterfall trail meant for pedestrians, not bikes.  This was great for me because I just rocketed down the steps on my
plush suspension freeride Kona, while for the others it was a little more sketchy.  We even got to ride through some spectacular lava fields eraly in the ride.  Even though we were on the wrong trail we knew how to eventually hook back up to the McKenzie River Trail and we got to see some amazing waterfalls for our mistake.  It poured all day so the falls were really kickin’ as well.  We ended up biking around a small resevoir and taking a connector trail to get back onto the McKenzie River Trail. 
    The McKenzie trail is by far the best mountain bike trail I have ever ridden.  It is very well maintained with plenty of bridges over streams and other hazards and besides a few technical sections through some lava outcrops (which I thoroughly enjoyed) it was fairly smooth.  I definitely
plan on heading back to the trail when I get a helmet cam down the road to get some video of it.  I took a bunch of pics throughout the day but since it was pouring my camera was getting pretty wet and I had to pack it away eventually.  Biking through the rainforest with steam coming off us and everything around us was amazing.  I had gore-tex pants on and a waterproof top but was eventually soaked like everyone else.  We stopped at a large bluish green pool of water which caught my
attention because there was  a fairly large stream pouring out of it but no stream pouring into it????  I inquired and was told by Pam and Chris that the McKenzie River actually dives undground in several areas through ancient lava tubes!  Later I asked Jason about what I saw and hes said that it was a giant spring.  Either way it was pretty damn impressive.  It was there that Chris had the quote of the day.  He was sucking on his camelbak tube and got a wierd face.  When I inquired he looked up and said, "shit, I think my tea bag just blew up".  hahaha.  He had put a tea bag in his camelbak for some reason, but it was the way he casually said it that was hilarious.
    I found a new appreciation for my Kona as well.  It ate up any terrain that was thrown my way with the big shocks and biking cross country wasn’t that bad with it. Perhaps down the road in a few years I’ll trade it in for a truly cross country bike but for now I think I’ll keep the heavy rig and continue to build up my leg strength. 
    Towards the end of the ride as it was getting really dark and too hard to see my legs began to really feel it and then painfully cramped up like rocks.  The only thing I had eaten all day was a half
bowl of cereal before Tiffany had picked me up… bad choice.  I was exhausted but thankfully after chugging a ton of water from my camelbak and a tasty powerbar from Brett I was able to finish out the trip without too much trouble and pain.  We had to duck out of the woods a few miles early because it was getting too dark to safely see the trail ahead of us and I was the only one with a headlamp.  As soon as we got on the road the "true" bikers rallied into a pack and left Chris and I in the dust!  Chris and I took our time and met up with the group about 10 minutes later at Tiffany’s truck for the very squished ride back East to Pam’s car.
    We ended up getting dinner at a Mexican joint on the way home at which we all gorged ourselves.  It was a very exhausting ride for me but the best and most beautiful I’ve done in a long, long time.  We were the only ones on the trail all day (odd for it being a Sat), and I can’t wait to go back in the spring with sunny weather to take more photos and the right trail at the beginning.  After worrying that my Saturday would be ruined when rafting was cancelled I actually ended up having the best trip I’ve done yet in Oregon!

I went to my Matrix and Power Series math class today only to find a sign on the door saying that it was cancelled which presented a perfect opportunity for me to jump on my bike and explore more of the MacDonlad-Dunn Research Forest nearby.  After stopping at the house I was able to make it to the Oak Creek parking lot by 3:30pm to start my ride.  Initially I had planned to just bike up the forest service road to the top of the Extendo Mountain Bike trail and head down but I ended up going further…  I had gotten my bike repaired at Hike & Bike downtown over the weekend so it was in great condition and peddling wonderfully with a new chain and fixed back brake.  When I got to the top of Extendo I noticed another singletrack trail coming into it from above so I decided to keep going up the road until I possibly saw the entrance to that trail.  I had heard that there were many more "un-marked" trails in the area that were great for biking so I figured this was probably one of them.  When I got to where I thought the trail started another biker caught up with me (unfortunately I forget his name now).  He told me that it was indeed the trail I was looking for and that the manager of the forest didn’t like Mtn. bikers so had blocked off most of the un-marked trails with downed trees… (He doesn’t like mtn bikers because he thinks they destroy the ecosystem but is willing to cut down 20-30 trees and destroy several acres to prevent the bikers from going down trails that are invisible from the sky above… how does this make any sense?).  I told him I was planning on biking to the top of McCulloch peak and he replied that he was as well.  So we biked together up the remaining 800 feet or so to a rock quarry with great views near the top of the 2,400 foot mountain with his dog running up beside us.  He is a PHD research assistant in the geosciences
at OSU and has lived here for a long time so gave me a lot of good tips on the trails back there.  We hung out at the top for a bit and then went our seperate ways down.  I rode up another quarter mile to the true summit of the mtn (I’m such a peak-bagger) and then bombed down the gravel roads to the top of the un-marked trail which I was told was called "endo".  I had to carry my bike over many cut trees to get to the trail but when I did I was greeted by a seesaw right away which I happily
rode over.  The trail down was steep as hell and pretty technical so I was having a blast on my freeride Kona.  When I got back down to Extendo I followed a guy on his freeride rig down the trail who showed me several cool spots including riding between two trees so tight together that I only had about an inch or so on either side of my handlebars to make it through.  I got back down to my truck about 2 hours after I had left it.  It was a great ride and I can’t wait to explore more of the trails back there.  I plan on bringing my gps on every ride so that I can make a map of the un-marked trails for myself and close friends.

Today Anna and I decided to go on a mountain bike ride in the local MacDonald Research Forest which is known locally for it’s sick mountain bike trails.  The forest is a research forest for OSU and the trails are very well maintained and easy to ride (except for the hills and switchbacks).  Mac heard me talking about the ride and asked if he could tag along which of course was great, more the merrier.  We headed up in my truck around 4:30 to Chip Ross park where we unloaded our bikes and headed up the trail — Snap… 100 feet from the truck my chain snapped… this sucked… no let me say that again… this really sucked because it took all 3 of us helping with my Alien bike tool to re-assemble my chain (now two links short) back together.. resulting in my ability to only utilize a quarter of my gears successfully on the entire ride.  Mac and Anna have great cross-country bikes while my bike is a heavy (40lbs) freeride bike meant mostly for downhill and jumps, which combined with my crappy chain that kept popping slowed me down.  That and the fact that for the past 2 weeks I hadn’t really done much excersize except for the small hike with Kenny in Glacier National Park… so yes, I was out of shape.  The trail was beautiful and the switchbacks took a lot of the difficulty out of the 1000 foot ascent to the top of Dimple Hill at 1495 feet.  On the way up we passed a pear tree where I grabbed a few to much on, and lots of blackberry bushes.  Mac and Anna took off ahead of me leaving me in the dust… man was I going slow… what was going on? 
    At the top we got a great view over the valley and Corvallis below.  There were enormous blackberry bushes everywhere which we took the time to snack on for a bit.  We relaxed for a little
bit on top ( I saw a wierd looking snake when I went to take a piss) and then bombed down the trail we had come up.  I went first because I’m used to downhilling and could go a little bit faster with my full suspension - this time it was my turn to lead :).  But as soon as we hit a hill again my legs were spinning while Mac and Anna toasted me again…. At one point while I was ahead I saw a cool dip onto a logging road that crosses the trail so I decided to jump it… bad idea.  The dip turned into a bump on the other side and I didn’t clear it… I slid with my bike still attached to my foot at the pedal across sharp gravel directly beneath a beautiful blonde on her bike coming up the trail… Why do I always seem to smear myself against the ground in front of beautiful girls… it’s my curse… I did the same thing when I shattered my knee while in Boston skiing in front of a beautiful girl named Rachel, and I broke my collarbone infront of a beautiful girl named Lindsay… why why why why why?  haha.  Anyway, Mac caught up and got a glimpse of the shit show on the ground and chuckled.  I picked myself up and continued to ride down, bleeding from the leg, hip, arm and back and shoulder.  A good bit of road rash always makes for a good ride.  When I got to the bottom I noticed something about my bike finally… the back hydraulic brakes were clamped tight on my wheel to the point that I couldn’t even spin the wheel with a great bit of effort… no wonder I was so slow… my damn back brakes were somehow locked out… time to bring it to the bike shop.  I dropped the two of them off and had a relaxing night at home with McKenzie painfully licking my road rash throughout the evening