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.

Grom DH

Today was both of my boys first real downhill experience. The day started with Jeanie shuttling Gage and I to the top of Ridge trail. Gage was a little nervous in the first lava sections but he was soon making good time and starting to flow down the trail. Over all It was a complete success, so much so that I decided it was OK for Ashton as well. We returned with the whole family to have another go. Gage ripped every downhill and wasn't scared of anything. Ashton had a lot of fun until he got to tired. The second run was also a total success. Every one had a ball and only minor cuts and bruises to show for it.

Great way to start a day.

Little punk was going so fast I didn't have time to get a picture before he caught me.

Gage was building confidence every mile. He was much smoother by the time we hit the bottom.

First "Family Shuttled Downhill"

The first drop into the "woods"

Ashton was able to ride about 75% of the trail. I think next time he might hit 85%

Jeanie was loving the flow of the trail, but I don't think she appreciated the fact that Gage was waiting on her.

Ashton had a ball, but there was a point that he decided the trail wasn't made for 6 year olds. He said he'll come back to this trail when he is 8.

This was Jeanie's first real trail of the year. She was having to concentrate on the what she was doing.

This was the last bit of down hill. Gage was so scared the first time he went down it he cried after. It is a lot steeper than it looks. This was the second time. He had so much fun he pushed his bike back up and rode down it again.

Lynskey

After selling a dirt bike and my Niner, and waiting 7 weeks I finally have a true single speed. This is my new Lynskey pro29 titanium frame with sliding dropouts. I got the new Fox Terralogic F29 fork and Chris King headset and bottom bracket. Most of the other parts were left over from my Niner. I have to thank Brad at Bicycles Plus and Dan at Victory Velo for all the help rounding up all the parts and listening to me whine on the phone. Also a huge thank you to Aaron at Victory Velo for helping 2 guys that thought they knew what they were doing.

This was before the first ride. 32 miles of Pioneer Trail in Nevada City

Isn't she purty? This Bike is amazing. I have already set a personal best time on my local loop. If you have the chance to ride a Ti frame I highly recommend it.

This was the fourth time I have ridden the Lynskey in 5 days. My legs are starting to ache. Nathan brought a new guy, Mark along for a ride with Bobby and I up to Frasure flat and back. He did pretty good, never complained once. You can see the river is going crazy in the back ground. 31miles 1917ft gain. Not to bad for a Wednesday afternoon.

I also picked a set of forks for the Uzzi. Fox 40s. Now that looks way better.

Unfortunately Katie is in the "cone of shame" and is stuck on house arrest for a little while.

Another Wednesday goes long

Lucas is between switchbacks. The trail needed some clearing but the dirt was nice and grippy after you slid through the pine needles.

Bobby enjoying the rewards for all the climbing and clearing we did on the way up.

Nathan carving it up

Even Dogs get cool mountain bike scars

Its a little hard to see but this hole is a little over an inch in diamiter. Were guessing she jumped over a log and found a stick that wouldn't give. No wonder she slowed down. I'm amazed that she could walk at all.

Fathers Day Downhill

My wife asked what I would like to do for Father's Day. Gee let me think. So of course the most downhill I could get followed by beer and BBQ was at the top of the list. Unfortunately the highest we could start at was South Fork trail. Crossing Hearing Creek didn't seem like a good idea. We still managed to get a little over 2 hours in. The families had a ball playing at Sand Bar while we came down. Over all It couldn't have gone any better( unless I'd found a bag of "skill" before we came down). 2.5 hrs 12.88 miles 2600 ft of descent

Nathan's first taste of the techie craziness that is everywhere in the Pinecrest area. I think he liked it. Here you can see that the water was so high that the trail was un rideable in some places.

This is the second time my new North Shore rack got to prove itself . It hauled all the bikes up that bouncy road. The bikes didn't seem to move at all. I still haven't fully loaded it yet.

I think the simplicity of this thing is the best part. Virtually no moving parts and solid steel construction, can't beet it.