Month: August 2006

Wow – WOW – WOW! What an incredible trail. While the other two days of riding were great, this trail was a true gem among gems. The Middle Fork trail is a 25 mile shuttled ride that descends more than 3500′ from top to bottom and includes miles of incredible technical singletrack. The top 15 miles is an incredible serpentine trail that slithers over roots and slides past tree stumps at a lightning pace (well, it seemed that way to me anyhow YMMV). The trail is covered in bark and organic debris making traction questionable from moment to moment and tree branches and the occasional rock made it interesting. Not a big drop/ hucker trail this is the ultimate gravity assisted technical cross country trail.

After the first 15 miles or so the trail flattens out quite a bit and you are shooting through long meadows and zig-zagging over small creek crossings on logs and small bridges. The bottom of the trail is fast and fun with some small climbs thrown in to keep your heart rate up. Overall this is one phenominal trail which you should make every effort to ride if you are anywhere near here. As usual too much chatter, picture count and quality is low due to the addictive nature of this trail. Pics and more yakking about Middle Fork Trail.

More MTB Oregon Action. Our first ride out the gate is the Alpine Loop and starts with a monster 15-18 mile climb up some forest service roads. A second group of riders took a shuttle to the top of the run, skipping the climb up. In total about 150 people rode this trail on Friday with about 100 of them taking the shuttle. After the 15+ mile climb we were rewarded with a brake burning 20 mile downhill run comparable to any of the popular Downieville rides… only the singletrack is 15″ wide. Unfortunately, by the time our group started down the hill about 120 of the 150 people had already been down it so many of the corners were washed out from massive use overall though the trail was in great shape and obviously well taken care of. I would love to see this trail in the pristine condition it is normally in when it gets it’s typical 20 or fewer riders per week. Lots of super fast sections, switchbacks, some steep sections, jumps, and whoop-dee-doos. This downhill has a very high fun factor.

I rode up the hill most of the way with Impy from MTBR and Mark Gee, a Sonora local whom I had ridden with previously. After we started down the hill our group of about 15 riders broke up and when we hit the main downhill we were in a small/ fast group of 6 including Mark and Steve, one of the DoD ride guides. We kept the pace up and our group had no mechanicals so right around the half way mark we started catching the other groups coming down the hill. Mostly people who had either had mechanicals or had crashed or bonked. Overall for such a big group MTB Oregon and the DoD ride guides did an awesome job of keeping things organized and keeping folks together. This is a great ride either shuttled or ridden as a loop and is rideable by any level of rider with the endurance to handle the route.

Enough Chat. On to the Pictures!.

The first of several ride reports I’ll be posting from the MTB Oregon Ride. I apologize for the flood of posts here but lots going on in my riding world!

Waldo Lake was our second day at MTB Oregon and was not an actual sanctioned event. It was just a bunch of guys who got together for a bonus ride. I made a big miscalculation on this ride. Since my bike was having some mechanical problems, I decided to try out a demo bike, a fully rigid Redline Monocog Singlespeed. I’ve played around a little in parking lots and such with singlespeeds but, this was my first full length ride on one. I’d been invited to ride out at Waldo Lake, a “Mostly Flat Trail that circles Waldo Lake”. This was supposed to be a rest day between two challenging rides. When I first started riding, the Monocog and I got along just fine. It is a little harsh but it was also the most responsive bike I’ve ever ridden. The bike just carved up corners. The gearing was a bit high yet seemed rideable. The hills got tougher and tougher as the day progressed and I was really suffering by the end of the day. My legs were shot and I wound up walking quite a few sections I would normally ride. Also, my arms were sore from the constant pounding they were getting from the rigid fork. Ouch! So much for a rest day. This could have turned into a huge problem for the Middle Fork Ride I was doing the next day. Please enjoy the Pictures and Trail Report For Waldo Lake.