MTB Post Work Bliss

The recent moisture in central Oregon has made from some perfect trail conditions.  The area drains really quickly and when it rains, the moisture helps to pack down the moon dust that the local area trails are notorious for.  It had been a crazy and long week over the past seven days and this was just what the mind needed to work out the whackiness that life occasionally throws at you.

It was just about perfect in all aspects.  I ran into one person on the trails while out snaking the dirt trails.  I rode up Ben's in the Phil's complex up towards Whoops and then cutover to Storm King that was riding like magic, then back to COD to finish off back to Phils.  That one person I ran into...he was just getting started at Phils so I pretty much had the woods to myself shortly after the parking lot, which is rare - although not that rare as soon as you get away from the lower Phil's trails.  I hear a lot of people complain about the number of people out on the Phil's trail system but the reality is if you ride a few miles up the system it thins out pretty quickly and you can often times find rides where you run into very very few people.
Thanks Bend for the quick therapy sesh -

Ride details:

MTB Memorial Weekend in COB

The long weekend arrived and the weather forecasters were calling for 'iffy' weather for the duration.  There were still some windows to be able to get out and ride.  Saturday's ride was a good ride with some good time spent in the saddle.  The trails are riding really well right now and they are tacky!  Add the tack to some of my favorite trail side views and it made for a good day.  The legs were feeling heavy and not exactly very snappy but it was not snap ride, more like a saddle time ride.

MTB Upper Phils

I managed to squeak a quick ride in after work yesterday....the dark skies looked ominous but I just ponied up and figured I would take my chances.  Central Oregon has been in a cool-off of sorts lately and I was curious to see what the trail conditions were like.
Mt Bachelor had received some snow recently and the big unknown was just how high the trails were riding.  I rode from home and busted up to Phils and Upper Phils until I hit Sector 16 where I turned around and headed back downhill.

The conditions were AWESOME up to at least 5,500 ft of elevation.  In the distance, it looked like there might be snow starting at around 6,500ft (based on the very scientific guesstimate method).

Summer Singles

I just think both these songs are going to get a lot of attention this year - might just blow up...just in time for Summer!  Mr Pharrell has transition well from his days in the Neptunes - he is everywhere these days...

Stone around Chiloquin

I have driven by this area many a time and never known that this little cropping of rock existed until this past weekend.  It is barely off the beaten path in the Chiloquiin area and just goes to show that we are oblivious to all the goods mother nature has created as we are hung up in driving from point A to point B.

The tuff looks very similar to Smith -

MTB Oakridge Alpine Pix

MTB Oakridge

The week wrapped up early for me as I had Friday planned as a vacation day.  I was ultimately headed to Chiloquin for a weekend of debauchery but with a side journey on the way down for some riding.  Oakridge was sorta' kinda on the way, but not...'kind of on the way' enough to make the trip there though.

The dark clouds hun in the air as I approached Willamette Pass.  There were moments of rain as the clouds moved through the area and the storm that had the area socked in was not just quickly passing through.  I knew that at some point it would be a 'wet' ride.  My reasoning however was that there would be moments of drizzle along the climbs on the forest service roads but that the trails proper would be dry thanks to the thick forest canopy.

I turned out to be a great day on the bike.  There were a few moments towards the top when it was raining and really cold as witnessed by my cold numb hands but that situation quickly remedied itself by ignoring the numbness and anticipating the descent.

The upper upper trails still needed some blow down cleaning as there is still a fair amount of 'stuff' on the trails but everything below Windy Pass is riding tip top.

I did not run into ANY other bikers and it was a day with the forest to myself (and a few critters).  Some pictures of the upper elevation stuff:

MTB Therapy

Things have been rather hectic as of late and unfortunately some of that peripheral damage has been the lack of opportunity to get out and train/ride.  The more hectic things get, the more a person needs their outlet and the irony is that the more hectic things get, the less that outlet exists.

It was time to make a change after work on Tuesday and get out for a ride.  It was a quick ride from the house up Mrazek to around 5,400 ft and then an even quicker descent back.  There was smoke hovering in town from what must have been a burn somewhere.  I was curious to see if the smoke got thicker as the elevation increased.  Fortunately, it was the opposite...the higher you got, the clearer it got.

ahhhh - ride therapy....need more of it!

Chainbreaker GPS

I forgot to turn the Garmin on for the start of the race so the first mile or so is missing but here is the rest of the goods:

Chainbreaker - PHATTIE style

With a little encouragement, I signed up to do the local Chainbreaker race on Saturday...the nuance was that I signed up on the Fatback big O tired phattie!  Webcyclery hosted the Chainbreaker and created a Fatbike category.  It was time get my phatt ON!

The race was really fun - I ended up starting towards the back of the heat because of a late appearance at the starting line.  This meant that if I wanted to move up, I would have to snake up through the crowd and dust.

The first couple miles of trail put you on dirt road and double track in order to help sort and spread out the field.  I immediately could taste the dust in my lungs and tried to find a couple of open slots where it was not quite so crazy.

We hit the first hill and the field started to slow down a little.  I got up out of the saddle and picked a line way left in the loose stuff and passed some peeps.  The big tires ate up the loose stuff....Pacman tires just kept eating and eating with a voracious appetite.

We hit the downhill and I picked a line on the double track where people were avoiding because it was not packed down as much.  The tires spun and we gained a few spots heading downhill with no fear of anything loose.  Pacman ate up the trail.

After a quick 'thin out the herd lap', people pretty much found their rightful places in the pecking order. The fatbikes were lumped in with Cat 2 guys which was good because the pace was solid.

The first lap went by pretty well - the legs felt good, the lungs were not caked with dust yet, but it was starting to heat up.  As we made our way around the starting area the bike got lots of comments....'Go Big Tires', 'Yeah, Phattie', etc...we were a spectacle.

I noticed the additional rotational weight on anything resembling a hill or an area that needed acceleration.  I would watch the wheels in front of me slowly pull away and I would have to work extra hard to reel them back in on the windy singletrack where the bike excelled due to the size of the tires.  I still had to pedal harder to catch up but the tires were like velcro to the dirt (both in a good way and a bad way).  The tires hooked up well and not once did I feel like the tires were sliding in ANYTHING loose.  Amazing traction!

We got to the one little steep hill on the course and I put it in granny and grinded up like a slow sherman tank.  Most people around me were hike a biking and the big O Pacman tires just ate it up.

By this time, the heat had dialed up a notch and it was full on HOT.  I questioned my decision to only take 1 water bottle and suffered dearly for it.  It was a rough 2nd 1/2 half of the second lap.  The tires/wheels felt uber heavy but we trudged along and picked off a few more riders along the way.  I ran out of water early in the second lap and started to get some serious cotton mouth - the moisture sucking dust  caked my mouth and absorbed whatever little moisture in my mouth.  I thought I would try sucking down some honey stingers just for a change of tastes from dirt to some other calories.  It did not work, my mouth did not create any moisture when eating so it was like eating dry little chalk balls.

The last 30 minutes of the race were rough.  I tried to just keep pedaling and reminding myself that the finish was close at hand.  We had 1 last little uphill and the wheels felt like boat anchors.  I passed a guy who I played yo yo with during the 2nd lap and he was dismounted and trying to stretch out a cramp that had pretty much just stopped him.  He looked like he was in pain.  I managed a meager 'hang in there' and kept pedalling.

Soon enough we were at the finish and I immediately went to fill up my water bottle...a little water on the head, a little water on the feet and a bunch of water in the mouth.  I found some shade for a bit and managed to try to gather my wits about me.  After a few minutes I started to feel sorta' kinda' normal again and decided to shoot the shizz with the Bend Velo crew for a little bit and then hit the road to get into my car and crank up some A/C.

I got back home and weighed myself for giggles...I had lost 5% of my body weight from being so dehydrated!  doh!  double DOH DOH!  No wonder the 2nd lap felt so miserable - having those pacman wheels and tires did not help either...man, they felt heavy on the second lap...then again, it could have just been the dehydration too.

All in all, a big thank you and shout out to Kevin and the Webcyclery crew for putting on a great event.  You guys rock!

Somewhere along the way someone told me that I had actually won the fatbike category.  Sweet!  Of course, it helps when the field only consisted of 4 riders.

It was a good day out on the bike and a slap in the face to get some racing in Phattie Sytle - the body got thumped and got a level of intensity that otherwise I would not from a training ride.

Airstream Air Conditioning

When we purchased the tin can and were in the middle of the gut job in Montana, we decided that an air conditioning unit was not of utmost import considering that the neck of the woods of Montana that we were in never got overly-warm.

Fast forward a couple of years.  Since we are now in climes that are a little warmer, it was time to revisit the air conditioning question.  We removed the old unit when doing the overhaul.  It was not working so we ended up replacing the space with a 'fantastic fan' that can push air in or out of the tin can depending on which direction you crank the fan.

We took the tin can down to Coachmasters  to have them move the fantastic fan to the rear vent and install an A/C unit where the original used to be way back when.  It was a bit of an iterative process.  The team at CM installed a Cree unit that they had been raving about.  I went to pick the unit up after install and they showed just how relatively quiet the unit ran - pretty cool (no pun intended).  Unfortunately the unit was skinny and tall and was a bit of an eye sore.  After looking at the Globetrotter as it sat at home, it became evident that it did not really blend in well with the trailer.  I called the boys back at CM and they offered to remove the current unit and install a low profile unit.  They were a pleasure to work with and really took good care of the Globetrotter and us.

Alas,  here is the new and improved set up (a Dometic 13K unit which should be more than ample to turn the little trailer into an icicle box):

Quick Roadie

It is that time of year where it is time to start getting out consistently on the bike and get some saddle time in.  The weather is cooperating, the legs however need to get up to speed.  I have been trying to get out during the week but not as much as I should considering the upcoming High Cascades hundie in July.  I signed up as a singlespeeder again and it will of course mean a long day in the saddle.  These events are usually enough to scare a guy off the couch and into ride and training mode so it is time for me to start getting scared and ride!

I went out for a quickie road ride yesterday and managed to get in a great ride while pushing the legs and aerobic system to do a little work.  Our recent weather is also drying up our local trails and they are riding super well right now.   With a little luck our middle elevation trails will start to open up soon so a guy can start to link up some ridge riding.  We are close!

Mac 'n Back

It was bound to be a hectic weekend and my only hope of getting a good ride in was on Saturday morning.  I woke up debating whether to dust off the roadie or to get back on the mountain bike.  Since my earlier ride up to McKenzie Pass I had been toying with the idea of riding from Bend up to the pass and back.  The only thing I was not thrilled about was having to ride the 2 lane highway (with a narrower than I would like shoulder) for a few miles to get to Sisters...it probably is enough to deter most sane people.

It was a good day in the saddle and I did not dilly dally too long throughout the ride and tried to keep moving (mostly because of a honey do list that was waiting).  I got to the Pass, took enough time to zip up my vest and headed back down...about 10 seconds to take it in and then get going again.  It was pretty windy on the way back down but calmed down once I started to drop in elevation again.

My Garmin decided to take a sabbatical on the return...it did not capture the last 5 miles of the ride so it cheated me out of my full day - doH!  It ended up being an 84 mile ride (adjusted for the Garmin snafu) and about 5 hours of saddle time.  The missus was less than thrilled and amused that I had gone out for such a long ride while she was prepping for a get together we were hosting later in the day.
After the long day in the saddle, it was time to get moving on the to-do list and get the house ready for the gathering...somehow it all came together as it always seems to.
Spring is here!  Now, all I need to do is round the legs back into riding shape....

Missus Mac Pass

yup, you guessed it....the wifer and her bud Amber's recent adventure up the hill:

MTB Hump Day Ride

The weather was downright perfect, the trail was perfect, the legs were OK, the head adjustment was just what the doc ordered...I took the trust singlespeed out yesterday and chased the trail bunnies around Bend and beyond after work.  I did some exploring to determine trail / snow conditions and generally had an all around great day on the bike.

Some pix from the ride therapy:

the usual tree fall this time of year:

 panorama looking from Skyliner ridge over towards the Mrazerk ridge

 towards Bend

 towards Sector 16 - ridge is getting close to opening up to riding!

 pannnoooooorrraaaaaammmmmmaaaaaaa