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07-20-2008, 01:44 PM
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#1 (permalink) |
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Oregon! The sweetest trails on the west coast!
Finally another road trip to Oregon. It’s hard to believe there could be finer trails in the U.S.
I’ve ridden in many places and I dislike repeating trails on a road trip but Oregon is an exception to this unwritten rule! I can’t get enough of these trails!! It was myself, partner Jeanine, Madame Dabalot AKA Beth, and friend Karen. These are all people I’ve been riding with since the early 90’s so it’s a special trip with old friends that I have not road tripped with for awhile! Madame Dabalot was sporting a brand new Titus Moto Lite purchased by hubby of 30 years, Greg, who decided he didn’t feel like working on her Superlite so he went and bought her a new bike! Thanks Greg!! Beth’s time on bike before road trip? 3 hours! We left L.A. On Friday the 11th. Jeanine and I in one loaded with camp gear Prius with a T2 Thule bike rack and Beth and Karen in another camp gear loaded Prius with a Yakima rack. Oh how terribly California! We drove 12 hours straight to Prairie Creek redwoods state park to do one of my most favorite rides ever. Simply because the diversity of the trail is incredible. It begins with a 6 mile paved road ride through incredible redwoods, cuts onto a beautiful single track and works it’s way down to the rugged NorCal coast and lots of wildlife and prairie grass and ferns. It’s simply beautiful!! It’s about 20 miles of pavement, single track,double track and gravel road. It loops directly back into the campground of Prairie creek redwoods state park. Make reservations early if you go! We spent another night in the redwoods and on Sunday we drove 3 plus hours to Roseberg. Lots of fires in the area from the same lightning storm that hit us while we were in Dville. Some road issues where we had to follow a pilot car but it worked out and got much less smokey as we headed north. We were off to the 72 mile Umpqua trail to do a couple segments. This trail is great for bike packing. You can start at the top after dropping food at certain points as the trail connects across the river to the road in many spots. Some sections do close for trail work and bridge work so check at the ranger station or Oregon on MTBR. Our first ride was a shorty. 5 out, 5 back. We did about a mile of section called ‘Dead and terror’. It’s the wettest section loaded with waterfalls and “weeping walls” of moss dripping water. Beautiful. If you love tough and technical, this is the section for you. We were tired from the drive so no one was up for tech and tough. Besides, Jeanine getting slammed in the face with her handle bar and spewing blood for 10 minutes from her nose was enough for all of us! She slipped WALKING across a moss bridge and kissed her bar with her nose. These rides can be remote and a bad accident might take quite awhile before help arrived. She was OK and rode out after a few minutes of gathering herself. The next day we did the Deer Leap segment. Note to self! If the river flows down, take the trail that direction,stupid! Ever do a trail knowing youre going the wrong way? It was still beautiful and still had some great down hill but the other way had LOTS of great down hill. It was still fantastic though! ( i keep telling myself) We came back on the road for a total of 22 miles. Why not go back the other way? We were tired and the climbs sucked going back. Prairie Creek Redwoods state and national park        Can't get enough of those big trees!    um..Madame Dabalot goes arse over tea kettle about 4 feet over an edge and is just fine. The alternative was a tree with about 10 feet of girth to the left. Tree or fall? Choice was easy!   This trail is shared by large mammals and is always like this in all the times I've done it.  Daddy to the right of us!  Multi-use trail  in the camp ground  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=5007860 history lesson  No I don't know what those are!  5 mile out n back on Umpqua Liz, Jeanine, Karen & Beth   I was scared. The creek was moving very fast.   A local called this a "weeping wall"   Oh man! That's gotta hurt! 
__________________
http://www.bichonsandbuddies.com/ Shannon; "You see the problem is that God gave men a brain and a penis...but only enough blood to run one at a time" |
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92se-r (07-22-2008),
Abui (07-20-2008),
allison (07-20-2008),
art23rockpile (07-20-2008),
bighit8 (07-20-2008),
bigringrider101 (07-22-2008),
Blue Rat (07-20-2008),
bluzrider (07-22-2008),
BrewMaster (07-20-2008),
Burner (07-21-2008),
bvader (07-20-2008),
CalEpic (07-20-2008),
ChariotsOfTires (07-22-2008),
CPATCRASH (07-20-2008),
denmother (07-21-2008),
dstepper (07-20-2008),
dubl_xl (07-22-2008),
Elisheva (07-20-2008),
Esqo (07-20-2008),
genusmtbkr5 (07-21-2008),
Geronimo (07-20-2008),
Good_ol'_slappy (07-20-2008),
GP_pilot (07-20-2008),
grandpa (07-20-2008),
Hanzo (07-20-2008),
Happy_Gilmore (07-21-2008),
jamiek (07-20-2008),
jeffj (07-20-2008),
jfsh (07-20-2008),
JoeTruth (07-20-2008),
KeepsWhatHappens (07-20-2008),
kentonn (07-20-2008),
Letyrides (07-20-2008),
maxwell (07-20-2008),
mp3 (07-20-2008),
MTBBill (07-20-2008),
ODB (07-21-2008),
ohyeah89 (07-20-2008),
OldDogDan (07-20-2008),
OMR (07-20-2008),
PacMan (07-20-2008),
pamela (07-20-2008),
Permagrin (07-20-2008),
Pho'dUp (07-20-2008),
queenwilhelmina (07-20-2008),
reflux (07-23-2008),
Scott V (07-20-2008),
sdyeti (07-20-2008),
Shannon (07-20-2008),
sheclimbs (07-21-2008),
Shu (07-20-2008),
Singletrack Angel (07-20-2008),
speckledtrout (07-22-2008),
strobelite (07-20-2008),
Taco Jack (07-20-2008),
Thrillride (07-24-2008),
TrojanInsomniac (07-20-2008),
VTVic (07-20-2008),
Waldo (07-21-2008),
Zonacat (07-20-2008)
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07-20-2008, 02:44 PM
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#2 (permalink) |
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Dirty Stinky PATH Love
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Oregon IS Heaven!
What a great post!
 We are heading up to Oregon in October to do the Umpqua River trail with Cog Wild. Gonna do the whole 76 miles, in three days, biking & camping. We'll be riding, and the crew from Cog Wild will be hauling our gear. Your stop in Nor Cal look's like a great place for us to hit on the way up. I may PM you for more info. Over the last year or so I've become addicted to Oregon, and am kicking around ideas about property. Your post has gone and made me even more excited about our Oct. trip. THANKS!! 
__________________
"what if I say I'm not like the other's, what if I say, I'm not just another one, who play's the pretender, what if I say I will never surender" Foo Fighters - Pretender |
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| post thanked by: |
dirtmistress (07-20-2008)
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07-20-2008, 02:53 PM
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#3 (permalink) | |
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Quote:
__________________
http://www.bichonsandbuddies.com/ Shannon; "You see the problem is that God gave men a brain and a penis...but only enough blood to run one at a time" |
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maxwell (07-20-2008)
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07-20-2008, 03:10 PM
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#5 (permalink) | |
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Home of the Big Box!
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Things just get better as you cross the grapevine! Sierras, Santa Cruz, Pacifica, and on and on. I lived in Humboldt County and Morro Bay for years and got to ride amongst the Redwoods in between often. The ground is better, the bushes are greener, the dirt is tacky..oh boy. I haven't been into Oregon much to ride, but can only imagine! Great post.
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__________________
My Rides: Geoladders Dashboard My Job: PetDRx I'm moving to Riverside Aug 08...got any suggestions near 15 and 91? email me: classen@petdrx.com |
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07-20-2008, 03:12 PM
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#6 (permalink) | |
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Dirty Stinky PATH Love
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Quote:
My vacation starts at the beging of the week, and the Umpqua tour is at the end of the week. So, I'm planning on hitting some other spots durring the week. As of now I still have room for one, maybe to in my car for the drive up. You're more than welcome to take a spot. Liz, are you guy's still in Oregon?
__________________
"what if I say I'm not like the other's, what if I say, I'm not just another one, who play's the pretender, what if I say I will never surender" Foo Fighters - Pretender |
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07-20-2008, 03:25 PM
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#7 (permalink) | |
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STR Veteran
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Umpqua
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07-20-2008, 03:43 PM
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#8 (permalink) |
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Oregon part 2!
              We left Umpqua area on the 14th and did about a 2 hour drive to Oakridge. Move over Downieville! You have competition! No camping this time! A room at the Oakridge motel was 45 bucks and very cozy. This is where Mountain Bike Oregon has an event twice a year. Go during August if you decide to go. The mosquitoes were still very thick, Waldo Lake was still under snow (an epic I've been trying to do for years) and some trails high up had still not been cleared of blow down. On the other hand, the rhododendrons were in bloom as were these lilys that smelled like easter lily's! So fragrant!! Also, the slugs were especially moist and plump! The Middle Fork of the Willamette,and pronounce it Will- am-ette. Not Willemette. This is a 40 mile trail that we only got to do 22 miles of due to snow high up. They have had a very late winter. It was a 40 dollar shuttle and worth it simply for the hassle factor. There were some hike a bike sections but for the most part, it was a fantastic romp down a gorgeous river trail. Sorry some pics seem blurry! I am returning this camera ASAP. I was very unhappy with the photo's. Kanga take note. Olympus 1030. Maybe it's me.             
__________________
http://www.bichonsandbuddies.com/ Shannon; "You see the problem is that God gave men a brain and a penis...but only enough blood to run one at a time" |
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| post thanked by: |
53-12 (07-21-2008),
abuck55 (07-20-2008),
Abui (07-20-2008),
allison (07-20-2008),
art23rockpile (07-20-2008),
bighit8 (07-20-2008),
bigringrider101 (07-22-2008),
Blue Rat (07-20-2008),
CalEpic (07-21-2008),
denmother (07-21-2008),
dstepper (07-20-2008),
dubl_xl (07-22-2008),
genusmtbkr5 (07-21-2008),
Good_ol'_slappy (07-20-2008),
grandpa (07-20-2008),
jeffj (07-20-2008),
jfsh (07-21-2008),
Letyrides (07-20-2008),
maxwell (07-20-2008),
ohyeah89 (07-20-2008),
OldDogDan (07-20-2008),
Permagrin (07-20-2008),
reflux (07-23-2008),
sdyeti (07-20-2008),
Shannon (07-20-2008),
sheclimbs (07-21-2008),
shudder (07-20-2008),
Singletrack Angel (07-21-2008),
speckledtrout (07-22-2008),
Thrillride (07-24-2008),
VTVic (07-20-2008),
Wrecker (07-20-2008)
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07-20-2008, 03:48 PM
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#10 (permalink) | |||
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Quote:
The rides there are not to be missed. Quote:
 I meant the blue things hanging down but it was a bad joke. As usual.Quote:
__________________
http://www.bichonsandbuddies.com/ Shannon; "You see the problem is that God gave men a brain and a penis...but only enough blood to run one at a time" Last edited by genusmtbkr5; 07-21-2008 at 08:50 PM. Reason: merged post |
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07-20-2008, 03:55 PM
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#11 (permalink) | |
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Dirty Stinky PATH Love
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And here is the post from that trip. Oregon + Bend Big Fat Tour = WOW! Liz is right on. Oregon is freak'n beautiful! We've been talking about stopping in Ashland first, then up to Oakridge, and down to Umpqua for the finally! Hey Liz, you should come along in Oct. since you're becomming the SoCal "Oregon local". You pretty much did your vaca, like we've been planning ours! 
__________________
"what if I say I'm not like the other's, what if I say, I'm not just another one, who play's the pretender, what if I say I will never surender" Foo Fighters - Pretender |
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OldDogDan (07-20-2008)
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07-20-2008, 04:12 PM
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#12 (permalink) | |
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