10 degrees feels like 0

That's what weather.com said the temp was outside for my ride to work this morning. Now, once it's below about 30 it all feels the same to me because I'm covered almost totally from head to foot and can't feel air anyway. But just to be sure, I added an extra glove liner to keep my hands warm, and I wore some windproof tights that are made out of material that feels like a wetsuit almost. Please note though, there is a fine art to breathing while wearing a balaclava. It’s all about snot control. I won't post a picture and gross you out, just close your eyes and picture it.

Oh yah, and people...you do not need your sprinklers on anymore. In fact, chances are you are going to find broken pipes if you don't get those things blown out soon. One poor sap must have had his on early this morning because his entire sidewalk was a thick sheet of ice...as was his entire yard.

I read this morning that the same company that runs Eurobike is talking about bringing a giant bicycle trade show to Portland next year! That is HUGE for Portland and I sure hope it happens.

Trick or Treat

Crater goodness

Paulina Lake one a calm, quiet Saturday morning. We were the only car in the lot, and we didn't see any other mountain bikers all day. Ahhhhhhh.





That's the obsidian lava flow in the distance behind me.



It's unfortunate they were doing controlled burning out along Cascade Lakes Highway because it destroyed the awesome view from the top of Paulina Peak.



Normally you can see every mountain peak imaginable from the top, but not Saturday. I think the ride is around 24 miles if you add on the ride past the trailhead and to the top. The weather was perfect short sleeve weather and although I didn't need them, I wore knee warmers too. I don't know how much longer this great weather is going to last, but I'm sure going to take advantage of it while it does. Skate ski time is just around the corner, but until then I have trails to ride. Get busy!







Derek was practicing with different techniques for this one...turned out neat.



It was a nice afternoon ride and possibly the last time we get out there until next summer, although I've been thinking of getting back up to the top very soon for some sunset photos.

Saturday night we went and heard a local Bend rock band called Hogwash. I really really liked them and will keep an ear out for their next concert.

Just counting down the time until Happy Hour starts. I walked to lunch today and it is soooo nice outside - 68 degrees!

Tomorrow we have a big mountain bike ride planned and I'm looking forward to it.

In case you are as bored as me:

Ride/Shuffle

Soooo nice outside today! I went for a nice road ride at lunch today, and got two flat tires about 5 miles into it. So, with only 1 spare and no patch kit, I decided to jog walk my bike home and swap it out for a new one. I miss running, I used to love the simplicity and ease with which it came to me. All that was before my knee injury though. I shuffled down to the river trail and took the South Crossing Bridge across, then follwed the river trail up the cliff and through my neighborhood. It only took about 30 minutes for the shuffle home but my knee isn't happy with just that.

Still, it was a pretty lunch ride/shuffle

When I ride to the gym at lunch I take the most direct route…the parkway. For those who don’t know, the speed limit is 45 on the parkway but I’m not sure why, because no one is even going close to that speed…except me on my bike. Today in the bike lane there was a little smurf figurine. Remember The Smurfs? When I was little they were huge! I had Smurf sheets, pillowcase, and comforter. I would help me mom make homemade blueberry muffins and then watch Smurf cartoons on Saturday morning. I was too cool

Here is me right before putting my helmet and glasses on and stepping outside for my ride to work yesterday in subfreezing temps.



You know, even though it isn’t legal to drive around with studded tires until November, I heard at least 3 cars with them on yesterday while riding to the pool. Come on people, it’s a little early. Besides, it’s supposed to get up to 70 this weekend I heard!

There is so much weirdness on the internet. This whole site is dedicated to little yellow ducks traveling the world. Duck Travels.

My favorites:






I checked weather.com before riding to work this morning so I'd know what to wear. It showed, "23 feels like 13." WHOA, out came the balaclava. That's the first time this year I've had to wear it and it is for sure earlier than last year. It's supposed to warm up and be mid 60's this weekend so I'll start planning my big rides. Is it Friday yet?

For those of you here in Bend reading this, here is a great deal! I've gone to Karen for massages in the past and will continue to do so in the future. She's been working on my back and shoulders that get tight from rowing and swimming. She is fully licensed now, and practices out of her house over by Newport Market. I recommend her to anyone and everyone. So please, if you take her up on these great offers, tell her I sent you!

Here is and exerpt from the email she sent out:

Last week I received license # 13420 from the state of OR- just in time to head to Hawaii as the massage therapist for the Timex Multi Sport Team competing in the Ironman World Championships.

As a way to say thanks to all those who helped me during school and as a way to welcome new clients, I will be offering some introductory pricing and package deals.

Introductory Prices:
1st massage is only $35 for a 75 min therapeutic massage (regularly $65)
$10 for a 20 min sports recovery massage (regularly $20)

Package Deals:
4 x 20 min sports recovery massage $65
8 x 20 min sports recovery massage $120
Unlimited monthly sports recovery massage $180


Thank you,
I look forward to seeing everyone soon!
Karen Kraus
541-550-0849
circlekay@gmail.com

AWESOME DEAL!

Sunday was the last official group mountain bike ride of the season for the Bend Bella Cyclists. I went out with the spirited group on a nice 3 hour ride from Swampy Sno-park to Pine Mtn Sports. Upper and lower Whoops was in awesome condition, as was all of Phil's. There's nothing like railing those long sweeping corners under tacky conditions. The riding doesn't officially stop for our club, it's just more spontaneous over the winter months.

I borrowed these pics from my friend Chandra who actually was good enough to take some of the ride.

Here is the whole group up at Swampy Sno-Park getting ready to ride.



Chandra and Kim were good enough to take pictures of the conversational ride. Check out Broken Top in the weeee background. SNOW!



Here we are afterwards eating chips and the BEST salsa ever! Some people are drinking beer but I would never do that, it isn't good for you.

Happy Monday

This seems appropriate for today.





With something like 7 hours of riding this weekend, I have no pictures to share. This might be a first. It was ideal riding conditions both days with the trail nice and tacky from the recent rain we had and the freezing nightly temps. I covered a lot of the trails in Bend and only encountered limited mud. The newer section of Mrazek is SWEET and the berms were recently rebuilt/beefed up. It is a GREAT time to get out and ride.

Three bent derailleur hangers in one riding season…is that some sort of record? The one on my cross bike was the most recent. They really are in the way. The ACE was the first victim and it died whoopin it up on Grand Slam. It didn’t go alone though, I was there to comfort it. The second was the 575’s hanger and it died on some rocky switchback in Chamonix, “bashed and bent” should be the title on its gravestone. Unlucky for me, it caused me to ride the most impossible gears all the way up some freakin steep mountains for the rest of the day. The cross bike was the last and it was really just a fluke along the Deschutes River Trail. I loved them all and they served me well. Amen

It was freakin cold the other morning - frost everywhere! I bundled up for my ride to work and took this on my way.



Here is the one from later on that same day on my lunch ride.



It's Friday and the weekend is going to be so nice! All I can think about today is my black bean, rice and cheese burrito. Baby steps.

Patience

How many times can I make the same mistake? I haven't ridden over on the east side for quite some time now. Yesterday was a weird weather day and after finally deciding what to wear on my ride, I took off out east. With my mp3 player pumping out tunes I just rode. I have several loops I generally follow, turning here and there and adding on this or that. I snapped a couple photos but left my camera at work yesterday so they'll have to wait. When I'd had my fun fighting the headwind and trying to allude the raindrops, I headed back into town. I chose Wilson as my route and dammit, why didn't I remember that trains come around 1:00 and block up that intersection? The line of cars backed up was almost comical and as I sat at the crossing guards I began to wonder if I shouldn't turn around and go down to where the road dips under the train tracks. I wonder exactly HOW long is too long to wait? At what point would people turn around? One poor fellow was sitting at the front of the line and I don't know how long he'd been there, but he did about a 70 point turnaround to get out of line and just as he got it facing the right direction, the train started to move! hahahahah

Anyway, I really like this photo. Sometimes black and white is the way to go.

Have you ever heard a deer cry? It's heart wrenching! Yesterday I went for a lunchtime ride and as I was pedaling along the road to the trail I saw a line of cars stopping in the middle of the road. I kept watching, and one by one a group of deer crossed the road. When they were safely across, the cars started up. But, being on a bike closer to the side of the road, I could see down the embankment and there was a little fawn down there crying and wailing looking terrified. So sad.

My spirits quickly picked up when I hit the dirt and was treated to some fun and great views.





It's been chilly out and winter is definitely approaching. Last night I rode home from the pool to find Derek sitting in front of our fireplace...with a fire going! Wow, that's the first one of the year.

The Man Who Couldn't Wave

THis is one of the short films I saw at the film festival this past weekend. IT IS HILARIOUS!

Rain down in town meant SNOW up at the mountain!



I'm pretty glad we got our ride in this past weekend because right now that little shelter I posted a picture of yesterday is in at least 7" of snow! This will do wonders for the trails if it does indeed melt away. I'm already drooling and planning my upcoming rides.

It's FINALLY raining!!! That means I'll be riding the trails FOR SURE tomorrow. No more dustbowl. Woohoo.

Friday we went to BendFilm and watched "Dark Heart". It's about a soldier who returns from Iraq and encounters great hostility at home. A group of guys overhears him talking to a buddy about the gold stashes Saddam had. This group kidnaps him and attempts to coerce him through violence, to tell them where the gold is. It's a very "dark" movie but I enjoyed it still.

Saturday we rode Edison Lava, with a detour up to the top of Kwolh Butte on the way there. So, in the first 8 miles it was around 2300' of climbing. It's sandy and loose in some spots on the way to the Butte, but we'd never been there so we gave it a shot. ATV's have chewed up the trail pretty badly in some places but it was a very pretty ride still.

This is the little Kwolh Butte shelter. It sits out on the point with a great view of the backside of Mt. Bachelor, and then all the various lakes and rings of lava rock that encircle the area.



We went and watched another set of films Saturday night. The short was hilarious...about a man who had to learn to wave at his neighbors and be friendly. The feature was "Modern Love". It was quite possiblty the worst film/movie I've seen. If it wasn't for the fact that I could eat cajun tater tots and drink beer the whole time, I may have walked out. Most people did in the room of 130 seats. Oh well.

Scientists now think that Spider webs could help heal injured knees! I'm going to stop knocking down the ones by our front door then.

We're off to ride Edison Lava...haven't ridden that this year yet believe it or not. We bought some French Bread at the store and made some sandwiches for the ride just like we had every day in France. I don't think it will seem the same though. We'll see.

Friday the 13th!

Happy Friday the 13th! Derek and I went on a night ride last night - started riding about 5:15 and the parkinglot was packed. Ran into two friends but other than that, surprizingly, we didn't see many people out there. We rode through sunset, switched on our lights and kept going. It's such a different sensation riding at night. I have to focus so hard on the trail and really "feel" where I'm going. About halfway down from the helipad I heard a coyote howl. I stopped to listen, there was another, then another, then a bunch of yipping and howling. It was truly spooky. If you've never heard a pack of them hunting AND CATCHING their prey, you're missing out on raw life. Anyway, I snapped this before my camera ran out of battery.



Two hours later we arrived back at the trail head to find not one car there...deserted!

Tonight we're heading to the BendFilm Festival. I'm excited.

Number of riders seen on the trail yesterday at lunch...ZERO!

Lunchtime rides are some of my favorite rides because I usually have the trails to myself. I rode my cross bike again yesterday and did a new loop. If I do a moderate paced ride from work to the Phil's trailhead, then ride up Phil's to the chicken, turn right and head up and over to Kent's, make another right and loop all the way back to the trailhead again and back to work then I can be near the building in one hour 15 minutes. For people not in the know - a cross bike is most easily explained as being a hybrid mountain bike/road bike. It looks mostly like a road bike, but has fatter tires and sturdier wheels with no suspension. So, it's a bit slower on the road but can take mellow trails with no problem. It is a different feeling riding those trails on a cross bike.

Pedal, pedal, pedal leeeeean into the corner
Tires cut through the sand
Will the line hold?
Will I go down?

Bank it off the berm
Shoot through the trees
Hammer up the rise
Coast with the breeze

It's a great feeling to get something out of your surroundings. In my past jobs I have spent far to many lunches sitting at my desk working. No more.

No pictures from the ride, I was lazy and didn't bring my camera. I did snap a SUPER quick picture this morning though. It isn't the best, but hey, it has to do.

I usually ride to the gym at lunch and yesterday was no exception. I came out after my core workout to find some contstruction dude hunched over my bike. At first I was thinking, "What the hell?" Then he sees me, stands up and says, "Nice bike!" He told me he is out here from Virginia for a couple months working on a new store that is going in next door to the gym and he brought his bike out because he heard there was good riding. He wanted me to give him some street names of some good routes. I gave him some rough ideas of some loops and pointed them out on his map and we chatted for a bit. See, bikes bring the world together!

Last night Derek met me and we went for a good after work ride. It gets chilly in the evenings now so I wasn't surprized when it got downright cold by the time we finished. I was on my cross bike so the ride up the backside of Awbrey Butte felt a little more challenging than usual. It's so pretty when you crest that butte and get to see the sun setting over the mountains and see the fields of greens that spread out around the outskirts of town. That's one of my favorite parts of riding...the scenery.

Castle Rock

About 1:20 drive from Bend is a trail called Castle Rock. Again, we were in search of something new to ride, again, we weren't disappointed. The book suggested the route as a 14.5 mile loop of 3-5 hours which would put us climbing a gravel road and then singletrack. I pushed for an out and back on the singeltrack and am really happy we did the ride that way. Even though it turned it into about a 12 mile ride, those miles were packed with climbing (2370'), switchback heaven, heavily forested trails, and panorama views. Some of the picture didn't turn out that great because it's so dark back in the forest.





Don't stop for too long or moss will start growing on you!



The switchbacks got increasingly steep and difficult, the progression was nice.






Those clouds are coming for us!



Upon getting back to our car, we decided to tack on another loop ride in the area. This one was another doozy of a climb (2390') over 6 miles, followed by a 3 mile roaring descent. Rain was threatening for our entire second ride so we kept the pace as high as our legs would allow. The downhill section is a gigantically long straight singletrack that follows the ridge in the forest. It was downright dark in spots! It switchbacked some before popping us back out at the car. Once in the car, it started raining.

Unfortunately, the sign was not kidding at all.









Tired and happy again.

No, it isn't ALL about riding, sometimes I rock climb too.

Busy weekend so far! Yesterday I spent most of the day up at Wanoga Snopark helping COTA to build new trails. We had a giant turnout and finished one entire trail. It's just a baby loop right now, but there will be waaaaaay more out there. It was kind of fun to decide what exactly to do with the surface. Berms went in, a couple log obstacles, a giant log ride...there will be more features but for now it's cleared and ready for rain and snow to pack it down. Work on the higher up stuff can begin after another biologist comes in and does an owl study or something like that. Sure, the snowmobilers can ride out there, but mt bikers might disturn the owls. Huh?

Off for a new ride today, pictures to follow so check back.

Well, still no rain. I rode to they gym and hit the row machine pretty hard for half an hour, then hopped back on my bike and rode down to watch the race. I had hoped cyclocross in the Old Mill would turn into slopfest. Instead, I watched Adam Craig zing around the course in an impressive display of skill and watched the sunset. Tonight is the first offseason meeting of the Bend Bella Cyclists and I'm giving a "Year in Review" slideshow presentation, plus we eat cheese and crackers and drink wine.

Check out this attempt at an artsy riding picture. I took it coming down South Fork just the other day. I definitely should have taken it a split second early to catch his head. I still like it though.

Bobcat!

I rode my bike out to and then around Phil's trail at lunch and had a surprize. I was singing along to some Sevendust enjoying the cooler weather and tearin it up when I rounded a corner and BAM! There was a bobcat trapping a squirrel under it's paws ready to kill. I saw it, it saw me, we both got spooked and he took off....with the squirrel of course. WHOA. I always figured they were out there, but I'd never seen one. It certainly made me ride faster the rest of my ride.

What the hell???

What is wrong with my cross bike, pedaling to work today I noticed some play in the left pedal/crank/cleat. I tried to ignore it because I didn't have a tool with me, just a spare tube and pump. I get to the door, hop off and start assessing things. I reach out to grab the crank and barely turn it and POP, off comes the left crank. That's the second time in a year this has happened despite tightening it down LIKE CRAZY after last time. Luckily the tech guys here at work have full tool sets and I was able to fix it. Note to self, take it easy on the left leg power...hehehe

I rode to the pool after work yesterday and about half an hour into my swim when I was doing the breaststroke, I strained a muscle in my left groin. Anyone else ever done this? I bet it never happens to these guys:



It sucks. I finished up going the regular freestyle for the rest of my workout and then rode home and iced it. Damn I hope it goes away. I feel old.

Tonight is the last night of Thrilla in the Milla. The weather forecasters claim that it's going to rain, I hope it does. I'll probably head down to cheer Derek on. If you're in Bend and have a mountain or cross bike, come on out and race. It's no big deal if you never have before, it will be exciting!

Biketoberfest

Biketoberfest is happening Saturday! I'll be up there helping to build some new trails. These are going to be more "freeride" type trails with some aggressive lines. That sounds good to me! So if you're reading this and weren't planning on going, please come and help...even if it's only for a couple hours. The official work party will be from 9-1. Does beer entice you? Cause it is rumored to be making an appearance there.

Speaking of, yesterday really felt like a Monday. I finished off the day at Deschutes Brewery to celebrate anything. I had a tough day at work, and while I was riding my bike to complete some errands I almost got hit. I was turning into a parkinglot and some really old lady was attempting to pull out. I have ridden thousands of miles and hours on the roads and am extremely defensive so I had a slight inkling that she was going to pull some stupid move so I slowed a bit to be cautious. Then she looks right at me and lurches forward, realizes she isn't going to make it, and slams on her brakes. I do the same, my back tire locks up, the bike starts a dangerous sideways slide though I'm still upright, and then about 5' from her car I pull it back under control and swerve behind her. She was almost crying.

I'm not anti cars, I drive mine once a week to keep it working in fact. I just like to get some free exercise and fresh air - see more of Bend. Moral of the story, watch out if you're on a bike, watch out if you're in a car, watch out if you're walking. We'll make it.

Saturday we felt like samplng something new and different so we pulled out the maps and books, flipped pages, compared ideas, and loaded up the car. On tap: Surveryor's Epic with Dogfish River. It was described as being 33.2 miles, 5-8 hours, with around 3000'of climbing and the same of descending. The fires from California are causing haze on the horizon so the views weren't as crisp as they could be. This ride gives you at least 5 lookouts where you are across the valley from Mt Hood. The fall colors were representing big time! It starts with a very gradual climb on the road, then slightly steeper on gravel, then you hit some very steep singletrack climbs where you just have to put your head down and grind. The book mentions walking sections because it's so steep and loose. Once at the peak you descend to the starting of Surveryor's. We rode the entire Surveryor's singletrack, turned right on a fireroad for a few miles and hooked up with the Dog River downhill. That trail drops around 3000' in around 5 miles through some really steep switchbacks and very fun traverses.

Here are some pics.

The view of Mt. Hood from where we started.



Lots of Autumn reds and yellows.



Fun little rock sections



The view of Hood after having climbed 2000'



Me coming off a little rock drop section



Almost to the end of the trail.



We ended up taking a tiny bit over 5 hours and were good and ready for some food.