Dutchman Sno Park Fat Biking

The morning chill still hovered in the air as I made my way up to Dutchman for the fatbike ride.  It was in the low single digits for temps and it was bound to be a wee bit chilly until the body warmed up and started to create its own heat.

The Dutchman Sno Park parking lot was full so the default overflow lot became the main lot at Mt Bachelor.  I parked and started the journey from the parking lot over to gain access to the Dutchman system.  The plan was to follow my backcountry excursion from the week prior but then explore beyond.

As I drove up to the Sno Park area I kept thinking of how cold it was and how the conditions were going to be just about perfect for snowbiking.  As it turns out, the conditions were decent but the snow was a little soft because there was not a ton of moisture in the recent snowfalls and it did not compact well.  The lack of warm up had also prevented it from freezing over and packing down well.

I tried to stay on the groomers as best I could since it was more packed than the high trafficked areas.  I made my way through a couple of junctions to the base of Moon mountain and followed the groomers until the snow became too soft and the bike too squirrely....By this time I had been riding for a little over an hour and decided to head back to the car.

It was a great day to be out and continue to try to get a lay of the land.  There were a couple of steep and shortie hills that got the heart cranked up.  The views were great and the riding about a 6.5 out of 10 in terms of conditions.

Some pictures from the day:
from left to right....South Sister, Broken Top, Moon Mtn in the foreground

 BrokenTop

 Mt Bachelor in the background

Fatbiking Phils' Trail

After a day of skinning and backcountry fun on Saturday, it was time to get out on the chubby tires on Sunday.  The wifer and I decided to hit up Phil's trail to see how rideable that system was.  We had a fair amount of snow recently and I was unsure how rideable the Phil's trail network was.  The variables were how much snow they got, how packed down it was, and what the snow conditions were.

As luck would have it, all three variables were primO.  The trail had been packed down by other fatbikers, as well as hikers, skiers, and snowshoers.  It made for a great day.  We parked over by the highschool by NW Crossing and rode the access trail along skyliners to gain access to the Phil's network.  We rode up to road 300 and then re-traced our steps for a great out and back.

We ran into other fatbikers in the parking lot upon our return to Phils....shhh, the secret is OUT...fatbiking is FUN!

By the time we wrapped up, the temps were warming up and we were talking about how we had perfectly timed our ride for snow conditions, as they snow was now starting to warm up and get soft.

The fatbiking possibilities here are enormous!

Bend Urban Snow Ride

As the snow piled up outside last week, I figured it would be a great opportunity to get out and 'Get me Some' on the snow bike.  Given the 6 + inches on the ground, I figured it would be fun to head out on the Deschutes River Trail (mellow terrain given the snow accumulation) and ride the trail into town and then circle my way back via NW Crossing and the COCC campus.

It snowed consistently throughout my ride and in a way it made for a peaceful ride as most sane people stayed at home while I was out plowing fresh tracks in the snow.  Woohoo!  It was a really good/fun ride that opened up my eyes to the possibilities of urban snow riding (when there is enough of that white stuff).

Ride details:

TWC and Wanoga Snow Bike Video

Video from the winter fun fest in Togwotee Pass, Wyoming and Wanoga Sno Park in Bend, Oregon

Wanoga Sno Park Pix

Pix from the snow bike ride at Wanoga Sno Park outside of Bend, Oregon:

nice groomers....

lots of options....

 which way to go?

Bend Snow Biking - Wanoga

We loaded up the car and drove 11 hrs from Montana to Bend, Oregon....our future Home Sweet Home.  We are only here for a few days and the wifer is working so it leaves me up to my own devices to see what kind of trouble I can get into during the day.

The 9zero7 was loaded up in the rental minivan and the plan was to put it to use here in Bend.  The big question mark revolved around just what kind of opportunities exist for snow biking in the area.  As it turns out, quite a few!  There are many many miles of groomed multi-use trails that are just about perfect for riding the gordita tires.

I ended up at the Wanoga Sno Park area which is about 13 miles from town and has an extensive trail system out there with multiple loops.   Some of the trails look like they are groomed fairly frequently so it makes for some fun, fast riding that occasionally give way to great views of the Cascades, most notably of  Mt Bachelor.  The possibilities are fun to think about and it was a good day to be out running into different trail users who were a little mystified by some silly biker riding a bike in their playground.

Below is the ride summary: