The trail has an altitude drop of 1000m (3000 feet) over ~25km, (16 miles), though it has quite an amount of climbing too. I was driven to the starting point by Dallas from the local shuttle company - I should really have a photo of that and him, shouldn't I?? Next time.
Anyway, after about 45 minutes scaling the mountain in the big v8 van, I was dropped off at the trail head, pictured below. Surprisingly, one has to climb from here...I thought a shuttle would drop one off at the top.
The first sections of trail were beautiful- the soil WAS red!
The next two pics capture an amazing section with red soil and tall timber. The "misty look" is smoke from bush fires.
As the ride progressed I was pleasantly surprised to hurtle out of a dense section of trail in to this open section that even had beautiful flowers. Notice how this dirt is lighter in colour and very, very fine. It was a dusty ride. Pleasantly though the trail never suffered from being too dusty or "chopped-up" where the surface was deep dust.
About 1/3 of the way into the ride, one must travel along a fire-road for about 500m to join the next section of singletrack. I loved the entrance to this next section, a dark, foreboding entrance cut into the foliage
This pic is an example of the singletrack winding its way through tall trees and different kinds of foliage, buy never being too tight or not having enough flow. Come to think of it, this ride had a LOT of flow. This ride was FUN.
This was a small climb - the ride wasn't downhill all the way, there was ~400m of vertical ascent (1200 feet)
And immediately after I took the pic above I burst out into a clear section. The day was overcast, and there was smoke in the background. I can only imagine how stunning the ride would have been if the sky hand been clear.
Let's talk about fun. FUN. The next 5 pics document a 250m section of trail, downhill then uphill, that is etched in my memory - primarily because of 1 corner.
Pic 1, after some downhill twisty and somewhat technical bits (that were fun in their own right), the trail opened up and presented me with the following....which is lovely, but "so what" you say....well...
the trail then gently curved the left, and presented me with the following, a 90 degree RH corner (even though it doesn't look like it in these 2 pics) that is slightly banked/bermed, so it can be taken at a higher speed than normal...SO MUCH FUN :)
pic 2 of the same corner - this view gives you a sense of the steepness of the slope that the trail is cut into.
one then heads up a slight incline on a shale surface, and can take a second to absorb the beauty of the scene...then go back and ride the section again...which I did :) The section reminded me of some of the trails in Rotorua (Split Enz in particular) - that have natural banking that follows the contour of the terrain and somehow feels magical. There were several more sections of the trail that had similar corners, but with even more banking... I was in heaven!
After a little more climbing, one is again spat out into a clear area
Further down the mountain the trail enters a magnificent section of trees with a dense coverage of foliage at ground level. The trees are fascinating.
Unfortunately the ride had to end, here's the end of the trail. This trail is referred to as the "Jewel in the crown" of Oakridge, and I can see why.
This is the longest covered bridge in Oregon (USA), not 100m from the end of the trail.
Here's the view from the covered bridge
Here's a pic from the 5km ride home on paved roads. It's a delightful way to finish the ride.
Here's a sign on the way into town. It's true from an MTB standpoint.
A small town indeed. 3320.
And that would be my hotel, not 250m away on the LHS.
And here's my bike in front of what was my room, 112. It was a good room, though I became endlessly frustrated when the wifi connection dropped out for no good reason for 12 - 24 hours at a time.
I was super happy with how I felt at the end of the ride. It felt like I was finally getting some fitness back.
I'm sure there were some really interesting sections of trail and scenery along the way, but I was having too much fun riding to stop and take photo's or to take a mental snapshot! Riding this trail was one the best MTB rides I've done. I was able to put aside that both my elbows had deteriorated since my last ride, and mentally soak up all that the ride had to offer me. I've been spoilt by being able to do this ride and the Waldo Lake loop the previous Sunday - they're two of the best rides I've done and ride experiences I've had.
I knew that my elbows deteriorating didn't bode well for regularly riding in the future - I'd been religiously sticking to the stretching regime given to me by the physio last week, as well as my recently usual activities of icing + self massage + taking anti-inflams. I did this ride on Wednesday, its now Friday. I was going to ride at Sandy Ridge tomorrow (Sandy Ridge, you know, that place that isn't sandy), but I'm going to forgo this and I'm on my way back to Hamilton in Montana to rest & chill out for a bit and hopefully recover, then head up to Canada. I plan to ride at Sandy Ridge on my way back from Canada, I will not be deterred.
'Til next time.
So jealous
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