This weekend calls for bbq, long gravel rides, and more bbq. Next week is the Stampede and I’m almost ready. My legs are feeling it!

Once off the Max in Hillsboro we pedaled through Cornelius, past the trailer park where I used to read meters, through Forest Grove, onto 6 and up over the summit. We took our time, stopped for beers along the way, and worked our asses off. Once in Tillamook we ran errands. Brie from the Blue Heron French Cheese Company, cognac and whiskey from the liquor store. Oysters from the oyster shop. Bread, wine, and other essentials from the market. Finally we arrived at Cape Lookout State Park. We watched the sun set, ate dinner, and passed out.

Not pictured is the brie and cognac. Take a wheel of brie, stab it with a knife a bunch, pour cognac over it, wrap it in two pieces of foil and put near the coals. In about twenty minutes you have amazing cheese for bread.

Knowing that it would be cold in the mountains, and not knowing what the wood situation was, we decided to carry wood for the night. That’s thirty or so pounds of wood on my bike. The Black Star Bags look great too.

Nothing says light camping more than tyvek. Right? Not for me, I prefer the little domicile in the background.

In the morning we made some coffee, ate donuts, and proceeded to get a move on. We crested the big climb right as the sun was putting out full power. We coasted down the mountain to Carlton.

And as all tours go, this one ended. We rode back through Yamhill, and connected to Hwy 47 through Dilley. The weather was perfect, and I for one would have been happy to keep rolling.

So what was it, a couple weeks ago already? We went to Rickreall for Justine’s birthday and there were a ton of metal people I didn’t know. It was kind of cool to be around a bunch strangers. I would estimate around six of us were of the bike persuasion amongst the fifty to sixty metalheads. It was pretty fun and I think we all got along great.

We parked Marv out in between the hazelnut orchard and the wheat field, which is hands down the best spot at the farm. Waking up with the view of the coast range is always a pleasant treat.

Cory showed up a little while after we did and we proceeded to tear up the pump track with Ryan.

It was then that I realized that I had brought a bunch of hot dogs to the grill and forgot all about them until a couple hours later. So I ate a couple clif bars. Not the best way to fuel a night of drinking, but it did the trick.

When the sun went down the bands started turning up the volume. It was pretty wicked watching a metal show in the woods. The only band I watched was Cull who were nothing short of awesome. I believe this was the first show of a multi city tour, so that was even cooler.

That’s what I remember about that weekend. Oh and I rode home on Sunday from the farm. The hangover I built on Saturday gave way after sixty miles and that was it. Summer is almost over though.

It’s been really hot here in Portland. Anything above 80 degrees is when it gets uncomfortable. So when it hits the high 90′s for a couple days in a row, all motivation comes to a halt.

But we’ve been working on a rock wall for the last couple of months and the plan was to finish it this weekend. So heat or not, we started out early on Saturday and Sunday and got it done.

We forgot to take a before picture, so this is from Google Maps.

So, working an hour here and an hour there this took us about two months. Now it’s ready to grow food.

Having accomplished all this, and being done at noon, I started getting antsy. It was really hot, but I needed to get out of the house. So I packed up Marv real quick like and headed to the Sandy Ridge.

If you haven’t been there, or it’s been a while, you’ll be impressed with the new infrastructure. Not only have they finished the bridge over Little Joe Creek, but they’ve installed signage, and built a map kiosk at the top.

I had been wanting to check out the new Three Thirty Eight Loop, and today proved to be a great day for that. Despite the temperature being a good ten degrees cooler than Portland, it was still really hot. After ducking into the woods, I quickly found a good sitting rock and refueled. Chamois heart!

The new loop is still undergoing development, but already shows signs of great design. I’m really anxious to see how this develops. Moving onto Hide n Seek, I found the trail in great shape, at least up top. The bottom section has a lot of pitting, but i think that’s due to the high levels of use and little to no rain to keep things solid. Currently the lower half feels very sandy. But up top still throws great riding. I really like the little root pops they’ve built the trail around. If you hit this one on the left side aiming right, it drops you into a perfect line for the berm coming up. It’s really sweet.

Things like this encourage faster riding and soon after I met my trail nemesis and we battled again.

See, near the bridge there’s a berm that feeds a sharp left turn that hides a large root that sits about two and a half feet high. It doesn’t sound like much, and I’ve cleared it many times, but recently it’s been giving me a hard time. Today it took another pot shot and I went overboard. But I’m not discouraged. I’ll be back soon enough to try it again.

From there I dropped over the bridge and rode the lower half of Hide n Seek a couple times before heading home. Driving home, Marv was running smoothly, the sun was really golden, and that post mountain bike glow was in full effect.

So last Friday Jose, Misia, and I took Marv to Washington. We left on time, and thanks to Marv’s cruising speed, arrived at the Tapeworm around 1pm. (Marv likes to take breaks.) I don’t like getting within 20 miles of the Worm without stopping by, and seeing as how Messman couldn’t make the weekend trip, we felt it was a great compromise. The outer trails are really overgrown, and the majority of the wooden features in the Tapeworm are broken, but the trail was still fun. I think the best thing possible for this trail would be a temporary closure. Close out the trail for a couple months and the vegetation will come back, bringing the twistiness back to the original design. Just sayin.

After a couple laps we headed into Seattle to secure our lodging and prepare for the party. You know, the Dead Baby Downhill? Or as I’m referring to it (sort of) as the “party where I don’t know half these people.” Having left Seattle two years ago, the changes in personnel, styles, and manners are evident. We had a swell time though.

But a visit to Seattle isn’t the same without a stop by the Monorail, and Wa Leg. Being race day, it was a quiet affair. We jetted quickly.

Finally on top of the hill, surrounded by hundreds of like minded people on bikes. And somewhere around 7 we took off. A mad dash down Capitol Hill, through the International District, and finally to Georgetown, on our mountain bikes. We came for the party, but stayed for the dirt riding. I shared a couple beers during the ride and enjoyed a nice pull of scotch as well.

Now if you’re reading this, you probably remember when I broke my foot at the Westside last year. Yeah, that was awesome, and it really served as a wake up call. Not the stop-drinking-in-the-morning kind of wake up call, but more along the you’re-not-21-anymore line. Since then I’ve healed and more importantly I’ve cut down on the drunken showing off. It really does nobody any good. So with that in mind I ate some food upon arrival in Georgetown, and then proceeded to drink the beer out of my bag, as opposed to waterbottles filled with Manny’s. That shit is heavy, for reals. But I still managed to burn the candle at both ends – responsibly.

At some point Ross called me up and told me to join him for some pizza at Stellars, and within a half an hour I was feeling tops. Ready to roll, because I’m not a big fan of large drunken crowds. I must be getting old, or just cranky.

Early the next morning we awoke on the top floor of a beautiful home on the hill. The sky was grey, the wind was cool, and our hangovers gave up after being bullied by coffee, bacon, eggs, potatoes, and toast. Our wonderful hosts took very nice care of us. Such great friends! But they had a camping trip, and we had a camping trip, and well, they were in different places.

So! We went south. It rained. Hard. The driver side windshield wiper fell off on I-5. We fixed it with a ziptie. Yep! And onwards to Enumclaw, a stop for beer, forties, corndogs, and camping food at the Safeway. A stop at the bike shop for a lost disc brake mounting bolt(Misia is a shredder) and we were finally in the woods.

We met up with Todd, Quon, Cory, and Ross, and soon enough we had Mason, Billy, and Lockwood in tow. An “easy” ride came about and we headed out.

A quick ride turned into a race to the end of Skookum Flats. Flat? No. Technical as can be? Yes. Sweet? Yes. Did you bring any food? No. Bummer. But Billy on the rigid Trek with the Ritchey Pro Logic fork killed all of us. Surprised? Nope.

On the way back we bumped into Littel, Meg, and Shu, and due to our low blood sugar induced mental state, didn’t even recognize em. haha. And upon arrival in camp we were greeted by Chuck and Gerg, and Damian. What a great reception. We made chili with bacon and cheese, ala Devlin and the night was amazing.

In the morning we milled about, made breakfast, and prepared the shuttle to the top of Ranger Creek.
Photo by Gerg who was also kind enough to cook all weekend.

A couple thousand feet later, at the tree line, we prepared the bikes for the ride of the weekend. But not until one more group photo.

And finally we rode some bikes on a big trail.

The initial idea of Noble Knob gave way to unbridled speed, and I was the only rider to make the journey. So much for waiting at intersections. Haha. Beautiful views though, even if it was socked in by fog. But that’s always the case on the Knob.

Palisades was ignored on a time-restraint so we went full bore into Ranger Creek. The chase was on, and you wouldn’t believe so many ex messengers could ride so fast. But holy shit, we burned that trail down. Lockwood blowing minds, and Littel off a recent broken thumb. Good stuff!

And eventually we made it back to camp. With the weekend drawing to a close, and a four hour drive in front of us, we packed up Marv and headed home. Over the passes, on the east side of Rainier and finally back to I-5 just in time for Exit 63 chicken. Perfect.
Photo by Misia.

And here I am a week later, remembering the good times. A week has past, but there’s riding on the horizon. Like Sunday. That sounds like a perfect time to get some of that good bacteria in. I’ll take all I can get.

And last but not least, welcome home Cthulhu Seattle!

And tomorrow we’re leaving Seattle early to head south to Ranger Creek. The forecast calls for rain, but by god I’m riding the Palisades and I’m going to stand on the top of the Noble Nob. That is unless there is lightning. In that case I’d have to be a first class idiot to stand on top of an exposed rock formation on the top of a mountain. But hopefully it doesn’t rain so we get a good view of Rainier.

Either way, tomorrow is my four year anniversary with my wife and that is awesome. Best decision I’ve ever made.

Back on Sunday! The first preseason game of football is going on that day. Which means fuck-all, but at least football is back on.