Bend 3

 I took the whole family out for a ride at Phil's this morning. Gage is here playing on a log ride on Marvin Gardens trail. 

 Ashton was not as impressed with the trail features but he did try them

 He loved the rest of the trail

 Jeanie was lovin the flow

 We even got OldMa out on her first trail ride of the year.

 There are always places to play on the trails in Bend. This is a natural half pipe with big banked turns.

 The boys took several laps through.

 Gage keeps getting braver and braver. It took him three tries but he cleaned this obstacle 

 Our goal for the day. The "Flaming Chicken".

Only in Bend would you have a pedal powered bar.

Bend 2

 We had to go back and play on Funner.

 We even got Eric on the logs today

 Sean is starting to get comfortable on the drops.

 Way too comfortable

Gage and Ashton played on the pump track at the trail head while we did a couple runs don funner.

Bend

 This last couple of weeks has been a blur. Everything in anticipation of our now annual Bend trip. Sean and I are here in front of an old growth redwood at Skeggs.  

 The only other ride I was able to squeeze in before Bend was a Bell Mt. Loop with Nathan and Bobby. It turned out that my definition of "Fun Down Hill" and theirs might not be the same.

 I think they both admitted to liking the trail and having fun after it was all said and done. There was a couple of moments where I was not their favorite trail guide though.

 Finally made it to Bend. I love Bend. Here Gage is playing on one of Bends many obstacles, on Ben's trail. This was the first log ride I felt comfortable doing (3 years ago).

 Katie is on her first MTB vacation. She got to go with Eric, Sean and I on  the Mc Kenzie river trail.

 I have pictures of everybody at Blue Pools. Eric is no exception. The place is too awesome not to take pictures. Where else can you ride along a river that disappears underground and then watch it reappear out of solid rock into a gorgeous blue pool.

 Here Sean is popping out of the lava section on Mc Kenzie

 Eric got to Demo a Yeti or the day. He fell in love with All Mt. bikes.

 Have you ever Canoed in a volcano?

 We have!

 Lake Paulina, Newbery Caldera

 Gage on Kent's trail

 Eric pulling Ahna in the trailer.

 Ashton had a blast

 This log ride is on Funner below Mt. Bachelor. They couldn't have picked a better name. This trail is nothing but a grin fest. You can't help but have fun on it. Here Sean is making me look bad so I will circle around and ride this log pile.

Yes it worked. This is the sketchiest log I have ridden. I was so amped after I couldn't stop shaking. You can see the other "lines". This trail has so many different lines its hard to decide where to go. Did I mention I love Bend?  

Rocks

 Lucas, Katie and I went up the hill to play on some big rocks. Thanks to the local trail master Glacier is much easier to follow. Not easier to ride though. There is some very challenging technical sections.

 Most of the difficulty lies in picking the right line

 Lucas coming across a boulder field

 Katie sizing up the roll in pictured at the top

 Lucas and Katie following the cairns 

 Lucas can clean stuff better than most people I know

 There is actually a certain flow to the whole thing. You just have to try not to endo

 After 3 tries even Lucas couldn't get through this little nightmare

 Apparently there are badgers out there

I am trying out some new tires. The one on the left is a Maxxis High roller. The high roller has proven to be the best compromise in tires for me so far. I've been wanting to try the Schwalbe Hans Dampf (right) for a while. Every magazine review raves about them. Its hard to tell in the photo but the 2.35 Hans Dampf dwarfs the same size Maxxis, in both width and casing. Today they stuck like glue to the granite and shrugged off all the sharp edges. So far so good.

Bell Mt. Loop

 Lucas's grin says it all. Him and I rode the Bell Mt. loop today. First time for me. This trail is equal parts suffering and crazy downhill. Absolute blast to ride. 17 miles, 2874ft gain, 4:28min, 2770 calories. The numbers don't do it justice. The Downhills are just as demanding as the up. 

 I forgot to mention the stunning views. Hear Lucas and Katie are checking it out. This was at the top of a new bonus suffer.

 This is what we saw after the first gnarly bit of climbing and route finding. It was enough to get Lucas to put his pads on. In the end it wasn't as scary as it looked. Its hard to tell in the photo but its steep enough I wouldn't want to walk it.

 This shot is of the next huge piece of granite. You can only see about a quarter of this slab.

 Have to try to slow down enough to make the turn.

Niether one of us made it. He was supposed to turn up the hill. My brakes were maxed out. This loop is awesome I can't wait to do it again. Thanks for the guide work Lucas. 

P.S. I have started to hate Avid Elixer brakes. I have bled them over and over. If I'm lucky I get 3 to 4 rides before they need to be bled again. There was more than a couple puckering moments today when the levers hit the bars and I just had to go along for the ride.