December?

You would never know this was taken the day after Christmas in Cold Springs. I think we were about 6000ft. Eric and I had a great ride. He got to try out some new riding gear. We didn't have much trouble with the snow but the downed trees sent us back a little early. Couldn't have asked for better weather.

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Snow in Paradise?

 I took the family north to a little town called Shelter Cove this last weekend. The BLM has done some amazing work out there for us mountain bikers. 2 years ago they had a 14 mile loop trail called Paradise Royale. Now they have a pump track and freeride park. Wouldn't you know it, the day we rode the loop was the only day it rained. Brad and Eric are trying to look happy in this shot after climbing for an hour and a half (I think this is where Brad said he hated me). You can't tell but it just started to snow on us (Is it supposed to snow on the coast?). Unfortunately the skies opened up and changed the downhill from a super flowy jump run into a freezing rush to the truck.  Eric's lips were still blue 2 hours after his hot shower.

 We took the kids back up the next day and let them play on the jumps. Gage wasn't to thrilled with leaving the ground.

 Brianna was clearing this table before we left.

Ashton was having so much fun he didn't want to leave, even it was dark. He got his first air and can't wait for more.

Good Test

 Finally got a proper "All Mountain" ride in for my new all mountain bike. Chuck at Solstice sent me a loaner set of cranks to fix my shifting problems. What other frame manufacturer is going to do that? This guy has gone so far beyond what would be expected form an owner it crazy. He talked me though setting up the front derailleur from his house on a Saturday!  I was able to use my original front chain rings on his cranks and everything lined up perfectly. 

 The snow did melt enough for Sean and I to get up to Crandle Peak and ride down some lava in perfect weather. 16miles, 3hours, 2064ft gain, 1938 calories, 2 flat tires

The Solstice has some big shoes to fill. My Firebird was the best all around bike I have ever ridden. I think this one might be that good. I need a little more time to know for sure but so far I am very happy with my choice in frames, and certainly in terms of customer service.

Old friend new bike

 I finally got my Solstice and the parts to build it on Friday. I built it on Saturday. It snowed 4 inches here on Saturday night. I was so grumpy I wasn't going to ride it. But the only person I would have bet money would not go riding, (Brandon) set up a ride. We went to Tuttle Town for some easy XC trails after all the rain. 

They conditions were perfect. The Solstice didn't really get a proper test though. The trails are super smooth and easy. This worked out because I had to ride 1X10. It turns out that you can't run a 10 speed set up with old 3 speed cranks, at least not with the front derailleur I am using. So I am going to have to buy a new set of cranks (budget killer). So far I am very impressed with how well the bike climbs though. Because I did the whole ride in the 36 ring I had to stand and climb a lot. It had almost no noticeable pedal bob. Hopefully the snow melts a bit and I can show it some rocks.  

New mistress

My new frame is on its way. The owner of Solstice couldn't have been nicer to deal with. He must have answered 50 questions for me. He was very patient and concerned that I got the right frame and the right parts. It's amazing how different it is to deal with the owner/designer. Thanks Chuck.

One track mind

My wife says I have a one track mind. She might be right. I'm not sure what the problem is. My Jack o lantern has more teeth than anyone else's.

Variety

I love bombing downhill on a big bike. Thats all I have been doing lately. My Uzzi benifited from a little canabalization of the Firebird parts tub. It has full Shimano XTR shadow drive train now and shifts flawlessly. The weather is perfect and the dirt is tacky. Best time of year for mountain bikers. For some reason my single speed has started calling to me though. Every non mountain biker I know can't understand why I have multiple bikes. I rode 42 miles on Friday morning with Bobby and my dog Katie on the SS. About 90% was on fire road. That kind of ride on my Uzzi would have been miserable, but the Lynskey just made me want to go farther. I have tried the one bike to rule them all thing and it just doesn't work for me. Every bike has different capabilitys, they all ride in the dirt but the having the right bike on the right trail is awesome.

Katie and I played around on the shore of Lyons while we waited for Bobby. The view reminds me why I live out here.

2 days of downhilling

The last two days I have been getting out some aggression on some of Pinecrest's finest downhill. I didn't think I would ever enjoy Hemlock. After a second run and with the addition of the lower trail Juniper, I have to admit I had a blast. It is without a doubt the hardest stuff I have ever ridden. After those two extremely demanding trials Lucas and I finished off with Dome and lower PCP. I was so tired I could barely hold on. Katie got to try out her new Intense on the lower stuff with us. After freezing her ass off for an hour waiting for us to stop sliding down granite. She worked that bike on Dome's worst and cleared some new sections. Its amazing what the right bike will do to your confidence.

Today I took Sean and Bobby down Sunrise and PCP. I found out that Sean had only ridden PCP once and never Sunrise. Unfortunately I was still pretty worked from the day before. No speed records today. Killer ride none the less.

I don't think Bobby's wife is going to let him ride with me anymore. He seems to come back bleeding a lot. A simple crash in the sand and he's off to the hospital for 8 stitches. Never slowed him down though.

Lucas and I posing in front of the trails name sake on Juniper.

Lucas is going to be mad at me for this but its not often I get to see him make a mistake, especially on camera. We filled that whole in so maybe next time it wont eat his wheel.

This blog was originally started to track the use and destruction of bike parts, so I have to spew a little about Avid Code disk brakes. I put these brakes on my Uzzi not long after I bought it. When they work they are incredible. Unfortunately it seems like they demand constant attention and bleeding. Now I can't even bleed the front one. There must be something stuck internally. I searched online and I am not the only one having this problem. The rebuild kit retails for $55, Lame. Both levers are now touching the bars so I am out of options.

New Trails

Stoker, Bobby and I set out to find a trail that few have ridden yet. We were told it was built at the very end of last season and only know of one group of guys that have been down it. Unfortunately we had little to go on in the way of finding it. After walking all over the mountain for a good two hours we gave up and headed back to a known trail. As soon as we started getting ready to ride Bobby found "Hemlock". I can't really say this was a good thing because once we were on this new trail we discovered why nobody else has been down it. I'm sure there are people out there that enjoy trails with no flow and zero speed rock fields, but not us. It was cool just to find it and ride something new though. After that we climbed up to Avalanche and took that to Dome and lower PCP. Avalanche was new to Bobby and I. It was also a slow rocky downhill, but it had a certain flow to it and transitioned nicely into Dome. Brutal day for a shuttle. Avalanche was extremely demanding on our depleted energy stores. It is the hardest I've had to work at that low of a heart rate. 1271 calories, 13miles, 4.24hrs, 1408ft gain, 4059ft descent.

It took Stoker longer to get his camera set up than it did for Bobby to eat his lunch and find our trail.

Avalanche wasn't very nice to Bobby. I guess it safe to say Trek's have red blood.

Found the creak

My Firebird has been making a creaking sound that I couldn't find for a while. I greased the headset, pivot linkage, seat post, and every other part I could think of. The only thing I hadn't checked yet was the bottom bracket, so I assumed it had to be there. Fortunately Lucas was riding my bike around the parking lot yesterday. He found 4 frame cracks. If it wasn't for his discovery who knows when I would have "found" them. We were about to ride some serous rock trails. I don't want to imagine what it would have been like if it let go mid drop.

It is a little hard to see in the photo but there are 4 cracks. 2 across the I beam and 2 following the weld.

One in the fore ground one in the back. I guess I should have washed my bike more often, then maybe I would have found them myself. Pivot's web site says all there frames have a 3 year warranty, I guess it's time to test it.

New back yard

Its strange how you can ride in an area all the time and still not know it all. I have been hearing about Moraine trail for a while now but I never got around to it. Riding this trail is a humbling experience. Lucas was right when he said it makes all the other trails look easier. There really isn't anything scary but the effort and concentration it takes to clean a section is intense.

Lucas showing me the line. You can't tell from the photo but that rock is so steep I could barely walk down it to get the shot. I then had to climb back up for my attempt at staying on line. This is one trail that I think would actually be harder on the Uzzi. You need a bike that is very responsive, no slacked out DH sleds here.

We had a little bit of a Stoker moment while we sessioned this super fun baby rock drop for the camera.

If I could only get the other wheel in the air it would look way cooler

Lucas is the master of the slow technical rock trails. I did my best to follow his lines but he didn't make very many mistakes. Every time I botched a line he was gone. I am going to have to ride this trail a lot more. I think it will definitely improve my balance and timing.

As much as I loved Oregon it was still kind of nice to hit some one of the local classics. I set up a shuttle ride for Pinecrest Peak. We decided to hit Willow first and then climb to the top of PCP. the trails were in great condition and the weather was perfect. Cody was very pissed off that we had to climb on a shuttle ride. He should know I aways throw some climbing in there. Its the only way to connect trails and make your ride longer.

This is what Cody thought of the 1500ft of climb in the middle of our "Downhill" run.

After several years of trying I finally rode PCP in the dark. Here you can see Stoker, Lucas and I as we are about to take off. It took us about an hour and was probably the funnest run down that trail so far. I don't think we went any slower than we do in the daylight but we sure didn't do it as smooth. Huge thank you to Jeanie for the shuttle, without her it never would have happened.

Oregon Week 2

After Mt St. Helen's every ride other ride is now smaller. I managed to get some more new trails in though. The BLM is doing amazing work teaming up with the I.M.B.A. to make a trail system in the small town of Sandy OR. They know what flow is and just how steep "climbable" is. The signature trail is called hide and seek. I met up with a couple locals that were nice enough to give me a tour. Its like riding a roller coaster down to the bottom after an easy road climb. It was so much fun we pedaled back up for seconds on the lower trail. There were so many rollers and berms that my legs hurt from the downhill not the climb.

You can see the forest is about as dense as it gets. Mike here is coming down Hide and seek.

Alex pulled up the rear. I didn't get a picture of Dennis. I want to thank all three of them for showing me around.

After leaving the Portland area we stopped over in Ashland. Ashland Mountain Adventures runs a shuttle service to the top of Mt. Ashland. The trails that run back into the town are fast and steep. Gage got going fast enough to have his first serous endo. Once he got his confidence back he was able to ride almost every part of the run.

A little blood just shows that you did something.

Awesome single track.

I don't think Jeanie thought it was as much fun as Gage but she had a good time anyway. The next morning I did a solo run at 7 am (thanks for the shuttle Oldpa) and made it back to the hotel in an hour and twenty minutes not to bad for a 4641ft drop. It would be possible to get several runs in a day as it only takes 30min to get to the top. Over all an amazing trip all over the north west. So many different types of terrain. I am looking forward to my own trails finally being free of snow though.

A week in Bend

I took the family to Bend OR for a week.

Sean ,Dan and His wife Dawn met us for a little bit of Bends awesome single track. This is at the Swampy cabin below Mt. Bachelor. 35.98miles, 3hrs 54min, 2272calories.

This may be the last we see of Dan. It might be a couple months before Dawn lets him out to play after this all day adventure. This is Blue pools on the McKenzie River trail. 3hrs 7min, 27.39miles, 3949calories

Ashton loved the trails at Phil's now that he has handbrakes.

Jeanie got to experience Kent's trail on a 29er.

Same spot as last year. We made the Oldma try out some of the Bend flowyness. Both boys rode way better than last year, almost no whining, and no crashing. Oldma can't make the same claim. 1hr, 18min, 4.25 miles 230 calories.

The family wanted to relax and swim. I took them to Cultis lake. I don't do well with the whole sit at the beach and relax thing, so I rode around that lake at two others to get my relaxation. 1hr 13min, 11.84 miles, 1006 calories.

I drove 5 hours to meet Sean and Keith for our first I.M.B.A. epic ride. This loop is called The Plains of Abraham. We started below a lava flow south of Mt. St. Hellens. This was half way up Ape Canyon trail.

There are a few places on this trail that you really don't want to fall. If you look closely you can see Smith Creek at the bottom of that gap. About 2 hours later we were crawling through that creek bed looking for a trail that had washed out. The views on this ride were impossible to capture on camera.

This was taken as we rode across the Plains of Abraham, which is at the base of the volcano.

This is from the same spot as the picture above but looking 90 degrees rt.

After the Plains we rode down one of the sketchiest ridges I've ever seen.

This ride set a new standard that all other "Epic" rides will be compared to. 5hrs 44min, 28.83 miles, 4081 calories, 10hrs of driving. Worth every bit of it.

Allow time

They say allow time to spend with your kids. What they don't tell you is how long it will take. I talked my wife into tearing away from work for a "quick" ride with the kids. We have been trying to take the kids on South Fork trail for a long time now. It turns out that Stoker had the same plan, so we met at the bridge and started climbing. There was lots of whining from my boys on the way up. On the way down Gage and Christian took lead and started hauling. They had an awesome ride. Ashton was a little over his head in the single track and more than a little tired. He crashed a couple times and cried a lot. In the end he said he had fun and next time we will let him skip the technical section. We ended up having to buy linner out because it took so long we were all starving.

Gage and Christian were tearing it up. Apparently if you stick your tongue out you go faster. Stoker is chasing the boys while I convince Ashton to keep going.

Jeanie was chasing Ashton for a while. Things were still good at this point.

You can see behind Stoker this whole area was logged last year. Thanks to a couple of locals the trail has been fully restored.

PCP

After months of waiting Pincrest Peak Trail is accessible . You have to earn your downhill but it is worth every pedal stroke. 3000 ft of climbing 4 1/2 hrs round trip. I am in love with my new fork. The bike goes through rock gardens and off drops like nothing I have ever ridden.

Finally made to the top. Pedaling the Uzzi all the way up helped Bobby have a leisurely climb. That bike with a Fox 40 rips the downhills though.

We found something scarier than any down hill. Some body already died in this river this year so we weren't taking any chances.

Luckily nature provided us with a safe way tho cross. Bobby was not up for swimming the bikes across.