Video Stoke: Sea of Rock

Semi-Chubby Lovin'

As the temps warmed back up in Central Oregon, it was time to dust off the mountain bike and move from 4 inch rubber to 2 inch rubber.  I figured the lower trails at the Phil's network were probably in good shape to ride and had some doubts as to whether the 'mid tier' trails were rideable at all.

I rode from the homestead, met Josh at the trailhead and we proceeded to enjoy a super tacky sticky trail day.

Ride details for the Semi-Chubby Lovin' ride that put big smiles on the face:

Chubby Lovin'

A quickie snippet from the Phil's trail system here in Bend on Saturday...gotta' love fat tires and just what they can handle without losing traction.  Bear in mind that the current tires on the setup are some of the least aggressive treads so I am looking forward to upgrading tires to see just what these bad boys can handle

Get some Phat

The seasons are changing and we are in the weird shoulder season where there is some snow around town but not enough yet to get out an play the winter sport game yet.  Saturday lended itself to take the Fatback out on its inaugural ride.

I decided to go out to the Phil's trail system and see what conditions were like.  As it turns out, they were perfect!  The trails were super tacky and the despite the snow accumulation of about 3 inches at the highpoint of the ride (a little over 5,000 ft), I could have gotten away on the regular mtn bike but it was time to break in the Chubby!

I rode from the house and connected into the trail network via Ben's which I took up to Helipad and then back down again - miles and miles of smiles and therapy as I ran into very few people.
The snow was fresh, and in the places where the snow had been either packed or melted, the trails were sticky sweet tacky!  mmm mmm mmm

let the season of snow biking in Bend begin.....

Proof Positive Steep Smith

Below is some proof that steep climbing is around Central Oregon....the area requires one lonnnng, steep (to match the climbing) approach, and the routes definitely require traffic in order to clean up but ahhh - thuggy climbing does exist!

I was a bit frazzled on the first climb as I pulled off 3 handfuls of rock while climbing which led to a couple of interesting falls and a very very tentative climbing mind after.  It was hard to trust your feet for fear of exploding off the cliff side...3 times bitten, many times over shy....  The area definitely needs some traffic in order to clean up and be a little more secure but it was a great day to be out cragging...and most importantly we were where the crowds were NOT.

Steep Climbing Smith?

Yes, it does exist....it is few and far between and in this case the approach was a nice long 1 1/2 hrs to get to the crag but the scenery along the way was worth the long hike in.  Below are some pictures of the approach into/out of the crag.

the return at the end of the day...Josh with their new pup Ainsley who was very well behaved for being a new member of the K family

 Smith....we started from the parking lot in the mid-left part of the picture.

 One of the good things about the approach....it thins out the herd at the crag!

 dropping back down to the river...to be followed with a quick short steep hike to the parking lot.

 Smith Rocks....looking west..

 the fish eye version