A quick stop at Starbucks for the morning mocha and to tease the mocha mistress that she was a double of Frunk's wife, we were motoring over Mt. Hood to Bend. As always we solved the world's problems, listened to some great tunage and Danno gave us the specifics of how to wire electrical items properly.
We slide into Matt's neighborhood a bit before 9AM and he and his brother, Dave, came out to greet us. Matt's three-legged pooch (I nicknamed 'Tripod' - I will steal him someday!) and Dave's pup also came out to greet us. It was a sunny day and there looked to be storm clouds to the West in the mountains - perfect! We did our prepping, lied to the local neighbor kids that we were professional racers (and them saying they wanted to be freestyle riders when they grow up!) and we were ready. Brad showed up and we were off from downtown Bend.
As you can see from the GPS track log (below), we headed west into the National Forest lands and caught our first single track (after some woman in a Suburban tried to run us off the road!). Up the trail a ways we found the markings for an upcoming mountain bike race, which was to be held the following day. We stopped and talked to the promoters, admired their course and continued our way up the trails - fun stuff, but dusty, so we had to space ourselves out.
We then caught more high-speed road, then turned off on a very old skid road that incorporated a somewhat steep, but VERY loose, climb to get to the top. From there we made our way to the higher elevations, where the Bend Boys said that just a week prior was covered with snow and impassable. We made our way to the panoramic vista of Triangle Hill for the group-grope shot (literally), went back down and continued north towards Sisters. CLICK HERE to watch Dave muscle his way up the hill!
Along the way we paralleled Squaw Creek and caught some great snowmobile trail, which was peppered with a couple, sizeable windfalls that we had to conquer. After building ramps, we made our way over them, but of course Danno thought he could go over one big log without dabbing. Doh! Guess not! He lost a full five points there...
My GPS suddenly turned off, apparently due to vibration, so I had to do a quick stuffing of paper to make sure the batteries were snug - end of problem for the rest of the day. We descended to the lower elevations and would our way to Sisters for lunch. Good chow at some place called the Locomotive Deli (?), but the wind was blowing and it was chilly. We topped off our gas tanks and continued North from Sisters and caught more killer single track - good times! And thank God for GPS's!
After the killer trails we made our way over Squaw Creek and back to civilization, where we went by a huge turf farm. Across one stretch was a massive dust storm that blinded us as we went through - unreal! Even blew dust inside my goggles! We wound our way through Deep Canyon and ended up in Cline Buttes OHV Area, and we zigzagged our way to some power lines and that's when Dave acquired a rear flat. Oof. So it was time for everyone to offer their best tips on changing tires. That's about the time I noticed Danno had stuck a big, yellow sticker on the front of my bike that said, "Out Of Service". Good job Danno! I have no idea how long I'd been riding with THAT thing on the front!
However, since Dave had a ride-stopping flat, I yanked the sticker and put it on the back of his island-sized trunk of his Kawasaki. Later I discovered that Danno had pasted one on the back of my helmet. He's like a snake in the grass - can't trust him!
We suffered a long pavement scratch back to Matt's and we were done. The GPS said right at 130 miles of fun. Both air filters were clogged (the bike's and the booger vault), no doubt. I am still in awe how many times the majority of the guys had to water the trail - weak kidneys? After a couple of cool ones, we headed back home, but not before stopping at Frunk's brother-in-law's, brother's Italian Restaurant in Bend called Ernesto's. Man, we had the entire bar to ourselves and the tequila & OJ commenced, as did the most awesome food! Frunk's kin, Mike and Jackie, had to of course hang with us - good people!
We arrived back home at about 1:30AM tired, but happy. Mad props to the Bend Boys for the nickel tour! It's now our turn and we will reciprocate!
Be sure and view the complete set of pictures I took by CLICKING HERE.
-Tom
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