Unusual Recent Finds While Riding

The last two weekends riding Ft Lewis's single track has yielded some unusual finds.  The first find was running across a number of mammoth concrete weights used by Chinook helicopters to practice maneuverings.  They were located in the middle of a meadow and area that had been closed off for about 6 months. 

The second find was today about 3-4 miles from the nearest road.  I was riding roughed-in single track, turned a corner, and there were two five-dollar bills.  Took a picture (who would believe this?), got on the bike and rode another 20', looked down and saw a twenty- dollar bill!  (Probably horse back riders lost it.) It was a profitable ride today and it paid for a Venti Americano on the way home.

Thinking About Bikes and . . .

Thinking about bikes . . . and the loss of love (my Sting Ray).

There were also the two girls in the area who had "Ray's" that I got excited about having the same type of bike and did they want to go ride around.  They laughed and said to check back in a couple of years.  The nicer of the two is on the left, Cindy I think.  (Always said 'hi" and nice to me through high school.)  Beth on the right was just plain self-centered and mean -- one of the "cool" kids.  Ha.

3 Miles & 3 Hours Hard Day's Work

Went to clean off a portion of  5 miles of cross-country single-track at Fort Lewis area #21 today.  This area has been closed for the majority of the summer due to helicopter maneuvers. I only made it through 3 miles of somewhat overgrown trail today.  Most of the overgrown vegetation was from blackberry shooters,  scotch broom, and fallen trees left from last winter's ice storm. I only lasted for 3 hours before running out out energy from sawing, riding, sawing, snipping and [repeat].  Took out 6 small to medium logs that were laying across the trail.  There are only 7 large diameter logs remaining that will need a chain saw.  Speaking of saw.  I saw no one today on the trail.

Solo at Kennedy Creek Double-Track

There was imbalance between work and outside life this week.  So, I set out and did the following two-wheel therapy route Saturday (shown on attached map).  I ended up very much surprising two illegal hunters (made 'em jump I did) in a closed off area when I came busting up a steep hill.  They were drinking their beers and trying to spot deer through their binoculars looking up towards a ridge when I came up directly behind them. Gotcha!

Swampy Lakes

The question out of the gate was long pants or shorts?  It was 34 degrees at 7:30 AM as I left the house.  I opted for the long pants, which was not too bad a choice, though I quickly shed my warm top as the sun found the trail.  The first ride around swampy lakes found a not so swampy lake which looked like Mars with trees.


A realatively gentle climb with some nice downhill swoops took me to the Swampy Lakes Shelter.   A nice cozy place to warm up while cross-country sking.  A big barrel warming stove in the middle and wood stacked up in the lean-to on the side.  Hope to be back in the winter as I pick up that sport. 

The biggest surprise of the day was fresh bear tracks which turned me around and shortend up the ride consderably.  The tracks were just at the start of the Swede Ridge Loop, so I skipped it, losing a good five miles of riding (rats!).  Hope the bear was having as good a morning as I was.

Happy Trails.

First Report: Bend, Oregon

The lead has to be Thanks to Steve and Micha for joining me on a ride while visiting Bend.  We had a great ride up Ben's trail to the helicopter pad and then a joyous, riotous, rockin' ride down Storm King and Grand Slam.  A good time had by all and no injuries.

The basic Bend report is simply "wow." Still getting used to the dry, sandy soil, but the sight distances, open trail, and banked corners are already a lock.  The bike is in need of a new drive train  which was scheduled for today, but the small front ring is out of stock.  Substitute due in next week.  A short ride with Suzanne tonight was good until I had trouble clicking in to the right pedal.  I looked down and saw this:  ok, can't get a photo to load from the I-pad.  Visualize looking down T shoe with pedal attached - to the shoe, not the bike.  Managed to limp around fornthe rest of the ride, but now need to add pedals to the repair list.

More than anyone cares to hear about I am sure.  Loving Bend and the trials.   Missing my riding buddy(s).  Give a shout if you are headed this way and we'll dial in a ride.

"Epic" Ride and Friendship

An "epic" mountain bike ride is considered as 20 miles.

Today's ride = 19.8 miles from Capitol Peak area to Margaret McKinney. 

Oops, sorry, that's not quite "Epic".

No way, it's got to be epic.  It felt epic.  My body says it's friggin' "EPIC".

It was long - 3.9 hours long.

It had down-hills and a startling amount of steep up-hills (Sherman Valley).

It was so muddy in places that bikes stubbornly stuck /stopped on their own (without the rider).

Rode this with Jeff H. today who recently moved from Oly, WA to Bend, OR.  I know it is likely one, if not the last rides we'll do together in this area.  To you Jeff, and 5 years of riding together!  Thanks for the partnership.

"Mommy, may I move to Bend, OR please and stay with my best friend forever and ever, please"? 

Sun Valley Experience Brings Rewards & A Fractured Relationship

Collaboratively planned a trip with my best friend (and spouse) to Sun Valley ID for mountain biking.  She came up with the location and it was certainly intended to be different than Sun River / Bend OR -- a usual routine for the summer. 

Driving to Sun Valley takes a long time, about 2 days for a more relaxed mode.  We planned our trip to occur at the tail end of the USA Mountain Bike National Championships and intentionally rented and stayed at a beautiful house located in Hailey, ID; a short 10 miles apart.  Hailey was nearly half the cost of housing as Sun Valley rentals.

Our first mountain bike ride was at the Croy Creek Trails network of 14 miles of newly built trails within 1-2 miles of Hailey. The altitude of the area is 5,000 up to 6,220 feet which makes the ride makes one feel like you're out of shape.  Summary:  A great "Best Date Ride" and local favorite.  (Although we only saw three other people there for the 2.5 hours of riding.)

The second and next day's ride was more difficult (or "Gonzo") at the Adams Gulch Area rated as "Strenuous" and "More Advanced".  This is one of the classic trail systems in the area with some more technical climbing pitches for 3 miles then quick roller coaster of a ride winding through trees (read roots and baby-head rocks).  This started out great but at 1.4 miles up, Naomi hit a root or rock on a steep and slanting trail that pitched the bike with her over a 8-10' steep embankment.  She hit hard. Two riders on a parallel trail across a river and line of trees heard her yell out "help".  They raced up to another trail head, met me (because I was ahead waiting for her) and the three of us rocketed down a quarter mile.  Spouse was trying to crawl up 40-50 degree embankment -- left arm hanging loose, bloody knees, dripping bloody elbow, dirtied face, and bloodied lip. She was nauseous with spells of fainting yet "Woman'd up" and hobbled out 1.4 miles and quasi-collapsed in a shade of white.  I immediately drove her to the hospital where she was X-rayed, scrubbed with a surgical brush to remove dirt and rock particles, stitched up at the elbow, and received news and consultation on fracturing her "humerus" bone (not a funny name for this break) just below the shoulder joint.  They gave her a pain shot plus pain pills and an initial consultation that immobilization for 3-5 weeks is far likely better than surgery -- unless the fracture and a bone chip shifts in the next few days.

She rested up the next three days, and I was able to get a few rides in.

Came home a day early, driving 13 hours straight back to Oly, WA.  Purpose: Get injured spouse back to comfort, doctor's care, and additional icing of bruised and damaged body parts. She sees the local Orthopedic Monday. This is what my marriage means to me. I love my best friend . . . and, wife.

Summary: 

She stated a number of times that she wants (as well as I) to go back to Sun Valley area next year.  It's very quaint, and manageable, has rivers meandering all over the place, and miles and miles of single track through wilderness areas.  The people we came upon were extremely hospitable and reached out. One even provided dinner and lunches for us. 

Recommendation:

A definite place to go back to again and one is better off flying from SeaTac and renting bikes than driving the 2 days.  We will both return again.  Next:  Two very strenuous rides while the significant other recovered.

"Race Track" and Rider . . . Have Nice Curves

Military Assault Squirrel (MAS)

Tomorrow is an opportunity to ride Fort Lewis single-track again. The trail planned to be ridden is referred to as "RaceTrack" (area 21). It's about 11 miles out and back, is fast, swoopy, and it's got nice curves and turns to it. One time riding it we were stopped and threatened by "Military Assault Squirrels" (MAS's). We gave 'em some nuts and they got to become "friendlies." Here's a photo one of the friendlier ones.  

What's With The Sign

Speaking of trails with nice curves reminds me that one of my best friends (okay, I'm married to her too) started taking riding more than just casual -- on her own motivation. She's taking riding serious (and seriously fun) and has increased her fitness level and satisfaction in being able to "stay on my tail" more often now. I was surprised recently when she showed me her new little notebook (it's not black and it doesn't have men's names and numbers in it . . . yet), to keep track of the dates of her rides with a goal of 100 rides within the year. (Jeff Hall raised the idea!) New math says that's an average of two (2) rides a week. I offered up some incentive stating I'd give her something special on ride #'s 25, 50, and 75. Any ideas?

Thumper Turns 100

Today was a good ride - pushed it on the RaceTrack at Ft. Lewis, Area 21, setting a new personal best at just under 45 minutes.  Ran into Ken and had a nice introduction and chat.  Agreed to hook up for a ride when he comes through Bend, my soon-to-be new home.

But the real reason for this post is that I got home and decided to catch up (several months behind) on logging my rides off the Garmin.  Turns out today was the "century" ride - # 100 - on Thumper, my Specialized StumpJumper.  I am pretty much just a week-end rider, so it has taken almost two years (a month shy) to hit 100 rides (Gee, I guess that adds up at 52 weeks in a year.  Duh!).

Total stats are 100 rides, 155 hours in the saddle (moving time), 1,078 miles traveled, 91,000 feet in elevation gain (at least that sounds impressive), all at an average speed of 7.0 mph.

What those numbers don't convey is the amount of joy captured, stress unloaded, and companionship enjoyed.

All thanks to my riding buddy John Specht  (aka Girlfriend, as my wife calls him), who introduced me to MTB and very patiently rode with me as I improved over the years.  The Garmin does not capture it, but I would bet that 800 of those 1,000+ miles were ridden with John.

Thank you, John.  Happy trials and looking forward to sharing my new "home trails" with you when you come to visit me in Bend (soon and often, hint, hint).

Adam conquers Kennedy Creek

Adam's introduction to Kennedy Creek, a fair "mountian" bike ride compared to his flat Kansas home, was a success. While a bit of a slog through intermittent rain, steady determination got Adam up the hills to the top. The seat on his bike was being a real pain in the a#$, so we swapped saddles at the Y before the long climb to Windy Gap. Picture is from the top near Windy Gap.

Noticed a signed horse trail between the top of the climb and Windy Gap - off to the right, going down the side of the hill. Did not attempt it today. Exepect it may be quite steep, but look forward to seeing if it is rideable and where it dumps out the next time I get a chance to spin around Kennedy Creek.

Race Track Takes On Don & Val

Another day of bliss of single-track riding, oh so close to Olympia. Only 8 miles out of Oly! This time around Don and Val join in on the fun!

Bloggers, meet Don & Val. Don and Val, meet your fellow Bloggers.

Here's the trail we did today (it's mapped from an earlier trip yet still accurate) -- http://connect.garmin.com/activity/101548384
Best,

New Trail & New Riders @ Fort Lewis (Rainier Road) = Horses & Bikes Collaborate 4.5 miles of trail survey tape marked and punched in by Nisqually Chapter of Back Country Horsemen (equestrians) who did an awesome job. Swoopy, swerving, roller-coastering through the trees and meadow! Maximum FUN factor for mountain bikers and 4 hoofs! Mountain bikers cleared logs, spoke-breakers, and treacherous derailleur-detachers.  Mountain-bikers recently bush-wacked ~2.5 miles of the trail.  While bush-wacking, ran into two (2) Black-Faced hornet nests -- at a cost (4 stings and swelling factors -- ankle, back areas, groin area ). Next day = Heavily sprayed the areas and put signs up to warn all trail-users of areas that were sprayed. Happy riding for all now!  Met two awesome stewards of the area, on the trails today. Riding totally awesome 
Tennessee Walkers (horses, NOT a bike type). Very respectful of bikers, can outrun wasps too: Carrie & Barry
Also joining us today -- a totally new rider to mountain-biking. Bloggers meet Jacques. Jacques meet your audience/readers. 
We've been having a totally awesome times on the "Race Track". Contact us if you want a neat experience of a ride just 8 miles outside of Olympia. Johnspecht1@comcast.net

Stottlemeyer 30

It was clear within the first mile that I was way out of my league and the goal would be to simply finish this race/ride. Notwithstanding all of my "I've been sick and have not ridden in over a week" excuses, the field of riders was obviously more fit and way into the racing scene. Get past all of that and what you have was a truly epic ride on a great, challenging course.

A couple miles of road to string out the pack and then we hit it: tight, twisty, rooty, uppy-downy, muddy, don't catch a handle bar on that tree or a pedal on that stump single track. In smaller doses, this would be downright fun to ride. A couple of miles later it opened back up for a stretch of gravel road and then REALLY FUN sweet, swoopy, slightly downhill and fast single track. This was definitely the best part of the ride - even on the second lap where things were really starting to drag. Then it was back into the tight track with some pretty good climbs to complete lap one.

Felt okay at the end of the first lap (see pic), but began to worry that if my legs held out, my upper body would not and I'd be in trouble trying to muscle through the tight track. In the end, the arms held up, but severe leg cramps at mile 24 put me off the bike and walking the final climbs. Took a wrong turn and lost a few minutes and a couple of riders I had been in intermittent contact with. Rats on that! Was able to get back in the saddle for the last push home, feeling like my own little version of "Bert the Conqueror" as I crossed the line.
For the record, finished in 4:11:53, 24th out of 32 riders in the old guys division. My GPS put the route at closer to 27.5 miles.
Don't think I'll follow up with the Echo Valley race - this definitely showed that you need to train for a ride like this, let alone race. And, with only 4 weeks to go, don't think I can make enough improvement to justify the expense. But, I may be back next year to race against the clock and see if Jeff.12 can beat Jeff.11

Final comment: what fun to watch the real racers race - incredible how fast they could move through that single track. A testament to their skills and fitness.

Race Day

Thanks to BuDuRacing for introducing Thumper to race day. Nine miles of realtively tame trail, mostly doubletrack, around Ft. Steilacoom. Rode the 40-49 yr old virgin (beginner) class. Finished dead center - 6th out of 12 riders, clocking a time of 55:28. Happy to note that only 1 of the 9 riders between the ages of 19 and 39 was faster. As for the race itself? Well, lost contact with a group of three about mid-way through the first lap and by then had also gapped the guys behind. So after that it was just me and Thumper riding alone to the finish line. I think that probably took some of the fun out of it, but it also presented it's own mental challenges with no one there to help pull or push me along. Shout out to my wife Suzanne, who buzzed down from the kids volleyball tourney in time to yell some encouragement as lap one was completed and was there to give a kiss at the end!

Osborne Affair

Thought: an 11 mile uphill ride to 4,000' to obtain 11 miles of swooping single-track all back down.
The reality: 11 miles up to ~3,340' -- the last 2 miles in 3-4" of snow and getting deeper every minute. The legs finally said "enough." Stats: Time: 4:07:54 hrs. Distance: 24.33 mi. Calories 2,505

Here's the map from yesterday's ride. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/56521259
(Click on “Terrain” to get a better perspective.)

Getting Healing

Over the last couple of months I’ve being going to physical therapy for my knee. I hit it on a rock a year ago in December. The accident wasn't due to biking though. It happened while trying to remove snow off Arborvitaes in our yard. I was standing on a rock wall, slipped and came down full force on the knee cap on a sharp rock. Felt a sharp stabbing sensation and was about to puke yet held it together.

There's a tendon (line #5 on the photo) that stretches down the side of the leg and across the knee cap (where it got hit) that had never healed and had become very agitated with some liquid in the tissue. I could ride and everything but if I knelt down or went down stairs the wrong way or did squats, it felt like jabbing an ice pick into the knee. Fortunately, the ultra sound, deep tissue massage, ice massage, and stretching the muscle and tendons out has done tremendous wonders. It’s nearly back to normal. (And, I’ve been riding with mountain bike knee pads now for protection.)
Knees are one of the areas that take the longest to heal (besides torn rotator cuffs!) Here's to YOUR health in the weeks and year ahead!

Newberry Caldera

Ride No. 2 on the Stumpjumper was the epic Newberry Caldera Rim Trail. Bagged Paulina Peak, climbing 1,500 feet to a final altitude of 7,915 over four miles of access road. A mile back down the road to the Rim Trail trail head and a bit of nice single track took me to the lovely view of the bike overlooking Paulina Lake. A bit further along encountered a bit of snow still on the trail in mid-July. Did not see a soul for the 20+ miles of single/double track around the caldera rim. Definately appreciated all facets of the Stumpjumper - climbing for sure, but also a couple of realatively steep and technical descents. Can't wait to get back to Central Oregon, but in the meantime will look forward to introducing the Stumpjumper to our home trails.

Goodbye Pinky, Hello ?????

After the demise of my first ride - Pinky - A Trek Liquid 25, had an opportunity to try out three replacements for full rides - a Trek Fuel EX 8, Santa Cruz Blur LT and Specialized Stumpjumper Elite. Short answer is the Trek was too stiff and did not hold a line going down, Blur flowed like an angel going down, but was a real push to get to the top of the route. The Stumpy was "just right." Climbed like a goat and descended with just as much confidence as the Blur, though not quite as plush. The Stumpy was the hands down winner on all fronts - climbing, descending, components, weight and price was right there given the component set.

First ride on my bike this AM - Sunriver up to Lava Lands Visitor Center, topped off with a ride up to the top of Lava Butte. What a complete screaming joy! After three days of good hard test rides with some pretty good climbs, did not think I would have the legs today, but a combination of excitement and the qualities of the Stumpy went for another 21 miles.

Pictures are "just off the showroom floor" clean and pretty and the bike and I at the top of Lava Butte.

Happy Trails My Dear Friend

How do you say good-bye to your first ride, the one who has faithfully carried you through the ups and downs, the twists and turns? Happy Trails, Pinky and thank you. You've been a great friend. After four years, Pinky's rear triangle gave out - a broken frame, not to be repaired. But not before one last spectacular ride - 15 miles of single track - total ride of 19 - with the lights, getting home just after midnight. What a blast. But, today she gave in.

And so, the return to the dating world begins, with a rented Trek Fuel EX 8 on top of the car right now and plans to do the ride planned for today - a run down the Deschutes from Sunriver into Bend. A Specializd Stumpjumper Elite is reserved for Saturday and will be looking to rent a Giant Trance on Friday. Hopefully, I won't come home from vacation alone.

No memorial service will be held as Pinky wished it to be. She would be happy if you would just oil your chain in her memory before heading out on your next adventure.