TandemHearts

Fresh off Veronica’s crash while riding her mountain bike, we had 5 days lined up for some spectacular difficult single track riding in Oregon. The North Umpqua River trail is a wonderful trail that we’ve ridden parts of in the last couple of years. We planned to stay at Steamboat Inn for a couple of nights and then shift to camping. We fixed the problem on Veronica’s bike that contributed to her crash and figured we would start with an easier section of the trail. None of the trails are completely easy. Any given trail segment varies from easy, smooth, narrow and safe, to steep, rocky, narrow and dangerous. There are sections where the trail is less than 18 inches wide, with a steep – often vertical – drop to one side. The plan was to ride the easy parts and walk the tricky parts for at least the first day. What was that line John Lennon has about plans? (more…)

In early June, Veronica heard about an organized bike ride called the Tour de Blast, that goes up the highway into the Mount St Helens National Volcanic Monument. It sounded like it would have spectacular views and a lot of climbing – right up her alley. We decided we would take ten or twelve days, stopping on the way to Washington to ride in Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, do the ride, then go back as far as Oregon to ride the North Umpqua Trail again and ride around Crater Lake.

So, we loaded 2 road bikes on the roof of the car and 2 mountain bikes into back of the car, along with all our camping gear and set off the Pacific Northwet. Whiskeytown NRA is one of the few parks in the National Park system that allows mountain bikes on trails. We picked up a trail book and headed for a ride that had a lot of climbing and good views. This would be a sort of shake down ride, since Veronica hadn’t done any mountain biking in several months. Thom had been making good use of his time off to ride local trails, so he and his bike were ready. A few miles into the ride, we missed a turn and had to head back down a steep, paved road to get the the trail head.

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” – John Lennon (more…)

While all the major bicycle makers have sent their production overseas, a small industry exists for hand built, custom and semi-custom bikes. The Show gathered some of the best in San Jose to torment anyone who loves bikes and did not win the lottery.

The Gallery is very cool.

We returned to Oregon to ride some great single track along the Umpqua River. This is an area mostly known for its fishing, and is a couple of hours from cities like Eugene and Medford, so there are not many riders out there. We saw no other riders on the trail, and only a few hikers at the trail head. Most of the days were spent in the wilderness by ourselves.

Click on the image to see the gallery.

We joined up wtih some friends and took an organized tour of the Maze. This part of Canyonlands National Park, in Utah, is very remote. The National Park Service issues a limited number of commerical permits, so there are not too many people in the park. You are free to go in on your own, but the roads vary from “not bad dirt” to “I don’t think that Jeep is going to make it”. It’s a few hour drive from Green River, UT and there is nothing out there but natural beauty.

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