This past Sunday, for my second day in Bend, I did Cogwild's "Bachelor to Bend" tour. I am normally a bit leery (snobby?) about doing paid tours like this, because it seems that often enough you get more rookie riders, so the pace is slow and the guides have to do a lot of work beyond just showing you the cream. Luckily, that was not the case, and we had a killer day! I joined 9 other guys, and two guides (Jeremy and Pia). Seven of those guys were a group down from Washington, and they all rode great. Two of the 9 were a father-son combo, with the son out for only his second mtb ride every! Totally epic for a 2nd ride. It's good he was young, cuz, damn, most people as a second ride wouldn't have survived the 36 miles and 6 hours of riding we did. We did have a few mechanicals (I managed to tighten a cassette lockring using my Leatherman needle nose pliers, worked quite well, so keep that in mind as a field-lockring tool :) Nearly all of us ran out of water, but with just a couple miles of dirt road to go (i.e. after the main riding). So, 125oz of water for me for the day, 1 sandwich (provided by Cog, and they were quite good, from a local bakery), 2 gels, and a bar, and some fruit and such (again provided by Cogwild).
One of the reasons I did the tour was that I wanted to ride Flagline, which opened the same day, and I didn't know the route, etc. Not to mention, I had heard good things about the whole Bachelor to Bend ride/tour. We did indeed hit Flagline, and it was great. At the bottom of Flagline, we did a little side jaunt up to a killer vista, where you could see Bachelor, Tumalo, the Sisters, and more:
After that we hit South Fork, which I loved. Pia led this out, and I jumped on her wheel. The two of us just railed it, leaving the others behind. I was truly loving this trail. It's fast, mildly technical, twisty, and just so much fun. Now that I've been up to the vista, really, the super choice descent would just be from the top of Flagline all the way down to the bottom of South Fork. I think that'd be something like 6 miles(?) of top quality descent. Superb! I should note, Pia probably doesn't even weight 100lbs (seriously), but the woman can rip (and I'm quite sure she wasn't going all out). From there we headed to Tumalo Falls for lunch.
I really love Tumalo Falls, the 97 foot waterfall is truly gorgeous. We stuck our heads in the river/creek, and then it was time to charge on. Back along Tumalo, to Skyliners. Somewhere along Skyliners is where Mark's cassette blew up. Oh, and luckily we noticed his tire bead had started to come off a bit and was filled with a bunch of dirt. A bit of maintenance, and we were on our way again. We hit Whoops; if only I could ride it as well as Voreis and friends:
But, even for a crappy jumper like myself, it is still a blast. I just don't do the doubles :) The berms are awesome, and the smaller jumps are quite workable. Finally it was back along Phil's to the Phil's trailhead and then a backroad/trail to Cogwild HQ for water, beers, and bike wash, completing a killer day! It was time for me to drive back to Eugene, so I stopped for a fish taco and an Ahi burrito at Parilla, and then hit the road. I had a really great weekend in Bend.
Here it is on Monday night now, and my eyes have finally recovered from the very dry weather, and all the dust. That appears to be the only lasting body blow, as my legs amazingly recovered great. I did a 5k trail run this morning, and all felt good. I'm pretty stoked on that, and it renews my belief that I do better with a bit more frequent rides & runs (i.e. it proves I shouldn't have gone so easy the week before the half marathon). Initially on Sunday's ride, maybe at the vista or end of Flagline, my legs were feeling Saturday, but the descent down South Fork and probably then lunch, rejuvenated me, and by the end, I felt even stronger (not that I wasn't pretty knackered at the end of the ride, but felt pretty strong, just thirsty :)
