Wife and kids gone, no dog, lots of rain followed by lots of sunshine. Hmmm, the perfect June? Maybe. Considering I have nothing to do but wait out my time until I can join my family on vacation, this has been a most outstanding summer. The MTB trails are in excellent shape and I’ve had every opportunity to ride them. Now I’m not saying I’d trade my wife, kids and dog for this life permanently but three weeks a year? Yeah, I can handle that.
Here’s a video to inspire you, riding Lower Whoops trail here in Bend. That ain’t me in the video, these guys get a lot more air than this ‘massive carcass.’ But you get a sense of the trail and what blast it is to ride:
Snow. New snow. We need it so bad here in Bend. This has been one strange winter. Let’s hope the best snow is still ahead of us. I remember many, many March and April powder days. The kind when it snows a foot overnight and opens up bluebird the next morning.
Mt. Bachelor has some great deals right now. Their own economic stimulus plan. And stop by Skjersaa’s for your in repair/maintenance/retail needs. Try not to get in Jeremy’s way, he’s a killer on those crutches. Get out there and bask in mother nature’s goodness. She misses you.
A big Welcome to Clackamas Community College’s ‘Pathways to Sustainability’ class. I’ve known your instructor a long, long time. I even know some secrets. But that’s another post. So, welcome to the site, send me an email, make a comment, come on in and get cozy.
So, the lack of new snow is wearing on me a bit. I usually love to ride on Superbowl Sunday. No crowds, good snow. But this year I headed south instead,
My babydoll’s birthday was Superbowl weekend. I won’t tell you how old she is. But she had a hankerin’ to taste some good, Umpqua wine. Which we did. A lot. Well, I was driving, so I didn’t. But my wife, sister-in-law Sarah and father-in-law Mike tasted enough for all of us.
We even got home in time to watch the Superbowl. It wasn’t a powder day, but it was a good day. Now, let’s getback to winter around here. Please?
We took the family up snowboarding at HooDoo last night. I highly recommend it. Even with the icy conditions around central Oregon, the snow had been groomed and worked to perfection. Great family fun. And if you fill up your tank at a Shell station, ask for the ski-free pass. Night skiing for $10, excellent.
We met up with some friends, had a barbecue in the parking lot. What’s better than a bratwurst after a couple runs? And they run the city ski league races up there on Friday nights. Which brings us to the terror part…
After partaking of the bratwurst and hospitality, Jeremy (you know, Skjersaa’s Jeremy?) went down the course for his second race run and busted up his knee. Bad. He’s not sure how bad yet, but his season is over. Remember him in your prayers to the snow gods tonight. And, be careful out there.
My wife just rolls her eyes, every time that I say it, but we need to get to beautiful eastern Oregon and snowboard at Anthony Lakes. I say it a lot. I grew up about an hour away, but other than a summer drive, I have never been there. Anthony Lakes was the first ski area to show any interest in my wax and as far as I can tell, they are the nicest bunch of people that one will ever meet. So, when I’m standing in a 20 minute line for the privilege of riding Skyliner Lift with 2,000 other people for the tenth time, my mind wanders east, like a Pacific weather system dumping dry, fine snow on the Elkhorn Mountains. Watch this video and you’ll see what I mean (click on the arrows to the right).
Tomorrow is Ski for Schools Day and Mt. Bachelor, so go to a local shop, buy a cheap ticket and get to the mountain.
Friday is also Mt. Bachelor’s birthday. The website calls it “Mount Bachelors Official 50th Anniversary.” There will be free cake at 2 PM. So, come celebrate the mountain’s 50th birthday, just like you would with that creepy co-worker that you avoid at the coffee machine by looking at your watch, grimacing and shaking your head. With free cake in the breakroom at 2 PM. Awesome.
If you need some motivation, or if you want to waste some time at work, check out SkiTiger.com’s webcams. Snow, everywhere. Makes me want to yodel.
And finally, if you are in the Bend area, get over and see ‘Fuel’ at the Pilot Butte Cinemas. Great film, it will challenge you to look for change in your life, your community and your sphere of influence. The film got under my skin and I’m going to make a declaration right now: I am going to try and make a ski wax with algea by-products. There, I said it. Now go see the film and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
I cannot find what the proper mourning period is for a bicycle.
I have to admit, I feel guilty. It’s only been a few weeks since the demise of my 2004 Trek Liquid 25. It was hard there for a bit. But the good folks at Sunnyside Sports helped me through the rough spots. They took me at my word that I did, in fact buy my bike there, even though neither one of us could come up with any concrete proof. I stopped by when they told me that my new frame was in. I felt a twinge of guilt and more than a little excited when they lifted the shiny, new frame out of the box. A 2008 Trek EX-9. But my old friend was gone. I just sat at home, looking at the clear skies and watching every other car drive by with bikes on the rack and smiles on the drivers. What had I done?
I was driving the family through Hampton, Oregon on the way to my parents for Thanksgiving, when I got the call. Barb told me my bike was done. My bike. They had to replace the bottom bracket, a couple other parts, but I was free to pick it up. Suddenly, I started paying attention to the weather. Maybe this mild fall would continue. When I picked up the bike on Sunday night, the whole shop gathered and proclaimed what a deal I’d been given. This frame and rear shock alone retailed for more than my whole bike. The fork and other parts where scavenged from my old Liquid. It was like picking up your wife after breast enhancement surgery, or so I imagine. I don’t remember feeling any guilt.
Well, the weather did hold. No snow meant no snowboarding, no 3DB Wax sales, no interest. But I’ve spent the last couple weeks familiarizing my new frame with the trails around Bend. This would not have been possible last December, or most Decembers. On my first ride, I was riding up Ben’s Trail, on my way to the Heli-Pad and down Lower Whoops. It was awesome. I got off the trail to let some riders pass, then descended a bit, down a couple switchbacks and zoomed towards some riders stopped along the trail. It was Don and Barb from Sunnyside. Don said “Hey, nice bike!”
I yelled “Thanks!” and kept zooming.
“Makes that Liquid look like a piece of crap!” he yelled at me down the trail.
“I know,” I yelled back. At that moment, I felt stabbing pains as I remembered my old Liquid.
That was a good bike. But, for the life of me, I can’t remember what it felt like to ride it.
Welcome to the family Trek EX-9. I shall call you FrakenTrek.
Now, I’ve been in Bend long enough to see a few things. And I don’t want to be accused of any kind of negativity. Of course I want it to snow buckets and buckets, the sooner the better. But when nature (or climate change) brings us a late November weekend with sunny skies and temps in the 70s, well, can you blame me for wanting to get outside? No. We all know that the sun may go away and not be seen for months…Ok that’s probably Post Willamette Stress Disorder (PWSD) speaking. But seriously, how nice was this weekend?
Maybe it was a perfect storm of sorts, a sunny Friday afternoon and no snow on the trails all the way up to Swede Ridge Shelter. Late November and I’ve been drinking Jubelale by the case for over a month. So it should not have been a big surprise when half way to the shelter, on the ridge looking down at Tumalo Creek my frame decided it had had enough. I felt a ‘pop’ and thought I had broken a seat post bolt. When I looked down, I saw this:
Holy God.
Jeffery at Sunnyside Sports assured me that this is precisely why Trek frames have a lifetime warranty, but I think he was being polite. I cannot wait for snow to cover the landscape and the cold north wind to blow, for every time that I looked west this weekend and saw the rolling, timbered hills beckoning to me, with the smooth, hard single track and tourist-free trail heads, I immediately felt a stabbing sensation and pangs of guilt for having ruined the one thing that has been there for every ride that I asked of it, that has never flaked out at the sight of rain or seeping dark. The one thing that was comforting to me during this snowless, warm November. The one thing that I could punish, toss, endo, bounce and not kill. It continued to carry me over certainly painful drops, roots and rocks, right up to the end.
Goodbye and thank you, 2004 Trek Liquid 25. We hardly knew ye.
Psst…Don’t tell anyone but it’s snowing at Mt. Bachelor. In fact it’s snowing all over the west coast. Keep this info on the down-low. We don’t want to get the general public too excited. And if you’re waiting in line to get your snow tires on and the burly dude with the crew cut at Les Schwab just laughed at you when you said you’d be back at noon, take comfort. It’s only six more months until you have to roll back in there and get those snow tires back off. But what a great six months.
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