Spring Break in Oregon, March 15 - 20th, beta and buddies needed

General
1

We’ll be landing in Portland on Weds, March 14th late, looking to ride on Thursday the 15th around Portland or up in Hood River. It looks like rain :smiley:

Well be skiing at Hood Meadows/Timberline for a few days as long as the conditions are decent, then working our way South through Salem, Corvalis, and Eugene. We may stay in Eugene for an extra day depending on the weather.

If it’s nice enough we’ll head to the coast, otherwise we’ll drive up the valley back to Portland.

I am bringing my muni, planning on riding every other day, alternating with skiing, though if the riding is good and I have someone to ride with, well then I’ll ride more than ski :smiley:

Anyone going to be around for some riding, especially down around Eugene, that’s where we’re house scouting.

Any trail tips, ie beta on where’s the good stuff this time of year?

Oh, and if anyone wants to go skiing, well then, bring it!

2

I’m no longer an Oregonian, but having spent my grad school years in Eugene in the 90s, I can say that the best, best, best trail is the McKenzie River Trail. It’s a 25ish mile one-way with epic views (waterfalls galore), glorious singletrack, and nice combinations of fast-rolling and technical terrain. Mind you, I only rode this on a bike–had no uni then, and hadn’t even heard of muni!–so I can’t comment on its muni strengths or weaknesses in particular.

Good pix & vid here: http://mckenzierivertrail.com/

3

im going to be in hood river and maybe portland the 18th 19th and 20th and was wondering if there was any riders down there!

4

I am in Vancouver, WA, right across the river from Portland. I can not ride thursday due to school, but if you head back to Portland, depending on the day, I may be able to ride. If you do head back to Portland, when would it be?

5

We’ll be chasing the weather, so when it’s snowing I’ll be on the hill, then later in the week I’ll be riding. Thursday is looking really wet, so I may leave the wife with the kids and go skiing or I’ll do a wet ride. Fri-Sun we’re heading South, probably ride around Eugene, may go as far as Ashland.

Coming back to Portland? Hmm, probably Tuesday at the earliest, so one last ride on the way; we fly out Weds.

I’ll keep posting where we are day to day, if you want to meet, send me a PM and I’ll forward my contact info.

So, big question: Should I bring the Oregonn Fatty or the 29er? I ride my 29er for nearly everything, only bringing out the Oregon for nasty weather that’s “too much” for a skinny tire, that said, I can ride the 29er in anything but thick snow. How are trails out there when they’re wet? Do you have clay in Oregon?

I’m packing tonight, so I need to pick a muni. The 29er is faster and less work to ride, the Oregon kills everything including my legs :roll_eyes:

6

Tuesday is a maybe for me, my professor may or may not require we go to class that day; I will know for sure on Thursday.

As for what muni to bring, I ride a 29er, but there are guys out here that ride fat tires, so I guess it is all about what you want to try. Yes we have clay. I would say that a 29er is fine, but I bet the Oregon would be just as fun.

Peace!

7

Peter, we rode the Mckenzie trail two years ago in June when we were in Oregon to look at schools. It is an awesome trail, but it is going to be snow covered in its entirety :frowning:

I’m looking at trails near Eugene, Ashland, Portland, Hood River, and maybe out on the coast depending on which way we end up traveling.

8

I’ll be in Hood River over the weekend. I have not been riding a lot since I moved here some months ago, but Hood River has some really nice trails, I am sure they would get very muddy.

I would love to ride with you and/or meet other Portland/Gorge area MUni riders. I spend quite a bit of time in Hood River.

Jorge

9

ASHLAND?!?!?! Ashland did you say?
Come on down! We’ve got miles and miles of trails. Everything from long cross country wilderness rides to stuff like the infamous and appropriately named “Jabberwocky”. :astonished:
If you want to save your legs we could do a car shuttle and drive most of the way up to the start of the descent.
No clay here, just regular mud and consolidated granitic sand. Not only that, but when we’re done riding we end up in downtown Ashland where we’ve got a fine selection of pubs, espresso and tasty treats galore.

I don’t know which muni you brought, but both the 29 and the Oregon will work.
Let me know if you’re interested.

Geoff

10

I was stuck in Portland yesterday, the wife had been sick, turned out to be pneumonia, so I didn’t get on the trails until 5pm, ended up riding Fire Lane #1 and poaching some hiking trails; yeah, yeah, bad kharma…

Anyway, we are holed up in the Hood River Hotel for a couple days until she’s feeling better, in the meantime I’m riding up here and will probably get in a day of skiing at the Meadows.

I just got back from riding across the Gorge in an area out White Salmon, no name, but it’s the XC area at the end of Salt St, near the top of Syncline, lots of climbing, some double track, tons of steep single track, still kinda wet and slimy but it was good for a few hours of riding. At the high point I was a a good 1500’ above the Gorge, on a grassy ridge that was like alpine tundra, very soft and squishy :smiley:

The weather has been wet, but today was a suprise sun day, very little cloud cover, temps in the fifties, really lucky considering all the nasty weather I was expecting. I’m hoping to chase the sunshine…

Jorge might meet me to ride Sat or Sun, then if we are ready to roll outta Hood River, we’ll be heading south to Eugene. Because Karen is sick, I’m not sure we’ll reach Ashland, but we may sprint that way if the weather holds.

Hey Geoff, I’ll send you a PM with my contact info. If we can make it that far by Monday, then maybe we can get in a ride. I have the Pregon with me, so it’s big and slow, but it works :roll_eyes:

11

We’re down Eugene, the wife is still sick so we decided to hole up here for a couple days. I took off a day from riding to go telemark at Hoodoo, fun stuff and all about the down :smiley:

Saturday I rode Skappoose, it’s a privately owned area that bikers have developed with a honeycomb of trails, such a blast and only 15 miles out of Portland. It was still good riding even with it being so wet.

Tomorrow we’re heading to Oak Ridge to check out the trails up there, it’s supposed to be pretty amazing, but the snow level is supposed to drop so I’m not sure what I’ll get to ride. Eugene has some short trails, so I might ride those tomorrow.

Tuesday it’s back to the North for our last full day, might ride on the way or head to Government Camp and stay up there for a ski day at Hood Meadows.

If anyone wants to ride, send me a PM.

12

Well, we’re back in Portland, packing up for the return home. I didn’t get to ride with anyone from the forum, but I did meet up with a rider in Oakridge, his name is Eugene and he’s a long time rider and unicycle advocate. He makes his own frames and is a an exceptional rider. He rarely comes to the forum, but hopefully he’ll get more involved now. If anyone gets out to Oakridge, be sure and check in at the Mercantile/Bike Shop, ask for Eugene, he’s one of the shop techs and managers, if he takes you riding, best have your A game :wink:

It’s been really rainy, some trails were underwater or too soggy to ride, so we heade over to Alpine trail, did an out and back, six miles of single track along the N Fork of the Willamette (I think), the trail was wet, but except for a couple muddy spots and some steep water crossings, it was a great ride. Eugene is a beast, when we started he told me he doesn’t ride trails often, but since he’s been ridig unis for twenty years, his natural skills were more than enough.

Afterwards we had dinner and beer at the local brew pub, then watched Napoleon Dynamite; it was movie night at the pub. Oakridge is a rural, small town, previously dependent on lumber harvesting, still trying to get it’s feet, but the recreation opportunities are fueling the recovery. Oakridge has some amazing riding, possibly the most varied and extensive in Oregon. We’ll be back :smiley:

Next trip: Two weeks on the road in May/June, just the dogs and me, Alex is staying home cuz he’s “lost the spark”, and Karen is in school, so we’ll be camping along the way, probably spit the time between Colorado and Utah.

Days riding: 4 (Portland City, Hood River, Scapoose, Oak Ridge)
Days skiing: 1 (Hoodoo)
Exceptional Eating/Drinking: Thai in Portland, Pizza x 2 in Hood River, Veggie Food and Glenwood Cafe (still there after thirty years!!), Vegetarian cuisine and beer at Sam Bonds Barn in Eugene, Coffee at Wandering Goat in Eugene, “British Pub food” and beer at the Oakridge Brewery, numerous stops for lattes and pastries in White Salmon, Hood River, Portland, Salem, Corvallis, Eugene, Cottage Grove, and places I don’t even remember.

I heart Oregon :slight_smile:

13

Man, I would have loved to ride, but I was too busy with school, what with finals prep/ finals. Sounds like you had a good time, I am glad you were able to enjoy some Northwest riding!

14

Sounds like it was a good trip despite the horrible weather for riding. Sorry my schedule didn’t match up with yours much for a ride.

Let me know if you swing through here again.

Brycer1968

15

Hey Bryce, sorry we didn’t meet up, the trip was kinda ill fated to start with as Karen was sick when we arrived and was ultimately diagnosed with pneumonia. We ended up staying in places longer so she could sleep, she’s still feeling pretty bad, though the constant coughing has subsided.

I might get out this was next summer, just depends on if I get another camper and I have the time to spare; it’s a long drive from TN.