Changing seasons

 The cold has moved in for the year. So have the Bald Eagles at Lyons.

 I'm pretty sure Lucas and I got the last ride on Sand Bar this year. The dirt was perfect. What an awesome ride. 

First time I've ever had to worry about snow at Glory Hole. Surprisingly there were a few other riders to look out for. It was fun making first tracks though. 

2nd most fun

 Jet light says that night riding is the second most fun you could have at night. They might be right. This is on the upper section of the Damn trail Friday night. 

I forgot how much fun it is. The tunnel of vision makes you concentrate on only the stuff that matters. I was able to match my time from the week earlier so I'm going the same speed as I am during the day light. Everybody should ride at night at least once a year.

First snow

I am bummed that the high country is gone for the season, but I'm not giving up riding. Thank god for Gore Tex. I think Katie was colder than I was. It's crazy how much longer it takes to get to anywhere riding in goop. Fun first ride.

October Weekend

 I've been trying to squeeze as much riding in before winter as I can. I took the whole family up to Nevada City Saturday. Jeanie took the boys on the race loop they did last year while Sean and I took the single speeds up Pioneer trail to find out how out of shape we are (Very).

 The boys had a ball!

Today I drug Tom up to PCP for his first full run down the whole thing. Only 2 flats and no blood. 

101 to Dome

 I gave Tom  a rematch on a couple trails he missed last weekend. We hooked up with Stoker and some friends along the way. They pointed us to Granite 101. A fun new way to access Hammell Canyon trail.

 Tom's first time on Dome. I don't think he hates me yet but I think it coming. I think he had fun?

Suffering or not you have to smile at the scenery. Fun ride. 19.5 miles,2198ft gain,2681 cal

6132 ft down

After all the "lack of" riding in the last few months I really wanted to do a big shuttle in Herring Creek to get as many of the excellent trails in as we could in one day. It took three cars and a second shuttle but what a day. Couple big Bummers though. First no Bobby. He is now roaming the world as a retired homeless person (soon to be living in the Caribbean). He lost his "Loafer" status, he is now known as the "Islander". Rides aren't the same without him. Second was Tom's supper short ride. He only made it about 200ft down the first trail of the day before he grenaded his rear derailer into the wheel. After that our day went really smooth though. Started at Eagle Peak (see above) then down Hammell Canyon to Snakedance. Then Lunch and back up to do a full run on PCP. For a total of 6132ft of descent on a fine October Sunday.   

No Time

 Ever sense I got home from Bend my life has been crazy. I've had almost no time to ride. I finally managed to take a short run yesterday with Cody and Tom. They hadn't been down Moraine before.  

 Tom is new to the "flow" of our trails. He's been learning fast and having fun.

 I had to talk them into riding this but after smoothing out a wheel sucking hole in the middle both did it. 

 Its kind of scary when your looking down the drop and have no forward momentum.

I think Tom was more freaked out after he made it.

Bend 2013

Starting out the day after the race with a pedal powered pub crawl may not have been the best plan. We all blame Sean. It was so much fun! Three of us raced the day before but we we're still game. We hit three breweries in two hours and then decided we should go to a fourth for lunch after. It's actually pretty hard to get anywhere fast even with 10 people pedaling.  Nothing else got done that day, but it was a fun celebration. Thank's Sean. Aaron front right got 10th in the single speed class, he beat me by over 3 hours with one gear, INSANE!

So much cool stuff in Bend. Even the trails have MTB art. 

Gage got to play in the "Lair". It's insane, google it, "Lair, Bend OR" 

Gage and Devon on our way to VooDoo. Gage loved the big bike on the black diamond sections. He was riding stuff some of the adults were walking.

We even got Amy out in the dirt. She decided 29ers are the only way to play in the dirt.

Party at the chicken. I think they paint it a different color every year.

Second trip to the chicken. The kids loved the new way back, Storm king to C.O.D. to Marvin's Gardens. New rock gardens and jumps.

High Cascade 100

Sean rolled in to the 57 mile aid station a little before me and started loading up on sugar.

Even though it was just over half way we were very happy to be there and have food waiting. The girls were awesome. they brought ice chests full of goodies. 57 miles and still smiling.

Sean was definitely in better shape than me at the 80 mile. Much faster too.  

I was so hammered when I rolled into the 80 mile aid station. The last 15 miles before this were brutal. I have never pushed my bike so far. Sean was nice enough to make me a sandwich  in my very own Elmo case. What I could struggle down was fantastic, unfortunately at this point eating was very hard. 

Rolling out, only 20 miles left. "Only 500 feet of gain and then its all down hill". LIARS!

Sean is done and drinking his beer.

I'm finished and not all that stable.

The most awesome bottle of water and cold towel I have ever seen. 

100 miles on a mountain bike is really really FAR!

103 miles, 11,060 ft gain, 13hrs 41min,10,764 calories burned.

Running out of time

Sean and I went to Skeggs to try and get some miles in. The original plan was to go to Fairfax, but the heat sent us to the coast. It was 80 degrees and shaded the whole time. This is part of the Virginia mill trail. It's actually quite technical with a huge drop on the low side. Once Sean scoped it out it was not to bad.

This is the exit from the tech section. I have been trying to get as many miles in as possible this last couple weeks. 14 days until The High cascade 100.

Father's Day weekend

 I took the family up to Herring creak to do some Father's Day camping and riding. Gage and Ashton are checking out the "Gargoyles".

 Ashton's first run down Snakedance

 Wouldn't be Father's day without Father Time. You like Biff's custom camo helmet and matching shorts.

 Ashton loves his Kona, it has made his confidence level soar.

 Jeanie got to ride Snakedance for the first time as well. Everybody loved the trail. Thanks to our one man trail designer/builder/maintainer it was better than ever. Gage said it is his favorite trail so far. 

 We hiked the canoe down to the reservoir to paddle around for a while. 

Small lake but worth the hike. Herring creek is always a good trip, close to home, good trails, cooler temps. I wish the keg of home brew would have made it home but it was fun while it lasted. 

Milo's Run

 Despite the look on my face I am very happy to see this sign. I heard about Milo's Run when I first started mountain biking. Every description or story I could find made it sound like it was a super gnarly suffer fest. Any time I mentioned riding it everyone else became really busy all of a sudden. I finally found my victim in Sean. 

 There are more hike a bikes than your average ride, but not out of control.

 The sections we did have to walk gave us a chance to enjoy the amazing views.

 Almost to the top of the hike. The best view of the Dardanells I have seen.

 Huge flowering meadows on the way down to Eagle Meadows. 

Its mostly downhill from here. Unfortunately I ended up taking a dirt sample towards the top of the techy DH section. I swore I wouldn't run the XC tires on my 429 after the last time I rode it. It made for a very painful ride to the bottom. I think I tried to dislocate my shoulder, and ended up with a sprained AC ligament. Despite the pain and the trip to the ER I can't wait to ride Milo's again. Super fun awesome scenery with a side of adventure. It also looks like there might have been some Grizz style trail work done since the last time I rode the DH.  MTB only reroutes down some great big granite slabs.