Dry Canyon Trail Build

Over the past weekend, we hosted the first trail build day in the Dry Canyon recreation area in Redmond. This was the first step towards our overall goal of creating a comprehensive multi-user trail network within the canyon. The section we worked on consisted of rogue trails, which we improved and re-routed through some sections to prevent erosion. The turnout was really good, we had close to 25 people show up (the donuts and Rocket Coffee really helped)! After a quick briefing on the day's goal and trail building technique we all headed out in small groups to tackle the tasks at hand.

The volunteers that came out really did some amazing work, in fact they were so awesome, we were able to build an extra feature trail that was not initially on the docket for our build day! Here are some great pictures of the work!

Echo Red to Red!!

Driving along the Columbia River on I-84.

Three of the five guys representing the team at Echo, Sean, Shane and Bob stayed for the entire weekend camping out while Ian and Brian did the day trip to race in Echo. Here is the report for the weekend!

Rolling into the camp area.

What an awesome time racing and hanging out with a great group of people! The city of Echo, once again, was an incredible host town. There was free camping at the trail head, a newly constructed fire pit stocked with firewood, along with another five foot tall pile of wood (logs) to keep the fire burning for the whole weekend. As we arrived Friday afternoon and saw all of this goodness, we were ecstatic for the weekend ahead.

Following some light off-roading action in the cars, we quickly claimed our spot and set up camp so we could get suited up and take a nice pre-ride into the sunset. The winding trails that have been cut into the rolling hills are so much fun. Full of short punchy climbs and descents with berms on the tight corners, create a fast and smooth flow like riding a roller coaster! Such goodness!

Cooking the pasta up!

Post-ride we cooked up some gourmet dinner. Aside from some slight mechanicals with the cooking apparatus, we were able to enjoy bow tie pasta smothered in an alfredo and chicken/mozarella sausage sauce. Yum! We wrapped up the night with with a little social interaction around the giant fire pit. After last year's freezing nights full of shivering, we came prepared with our new 0 degree down sleeping bags. Man they sure made the difference! There were multiple reports of waking up sweating from being so warm, it was great! Best sleep ever had while camping.

Sean glaring Bob off his pancakes.

We awoke to rumors that Echo Kiwanis was serving a pancake breakfast for $5 in the middle of town, right near the start and registration! Say no more, we were on our way to test the rumors....and they were true! The pancakes tasted better then IHOP and we got lucky, as our servers were super fun and rather good looking! :) Bob personally engulfed 10 of the hand made works of art! Mmmm!







Bob's Race Report

Shane coming across the finishing bridge.

After getting the fuel tank topped off with the pancakes, it was race time! The neutral roll out from down town Echo was packed tight full of racers ready to turn on the heat. We got to the gravel road, the flag dropped and it was on. Everyone opened up their legs to full throttle as we pushed for position at the front of the pack. My plan was to stick with the lead group but found my legs burning fairly fast. I had to slow slightly, which got me boxed out and I had to watch as the leaders broke away. As the gravel road ended, all 100 or so riders had to funnel onto the singletrack. I got lucky and made it through with little congestion. The next 18 miles, I was focused on my body to keep complete control. I kept setting small goals like spin up this hill, stay on this guys wheel to pass him, keep my speed by staying smooth.

Ian utilizing a draft to ease the SS pain.

Sean finishing the race!

With so much action with the trails in Echo, it's very hard to stay fueled during the race, but I took every opportunity to stay hydrated with Nuun that filled my bottles. Near the end of the single track I found myself behind a solid older rider. We had extremely similar riding styles and speed. When we got back to the gravel road and started the 3 mile ride back to town, we began working together and taking turns drafting off of each other, averaging upwards of 23 mph. With the strong finish I was able to finish 7th in my class.

Our results for the weekend were:

Shane     4th
Ian          6th
Bob        7th
Brian     19th
Sean     22nd

Awesome band at the after party in the Koontz Building.

After the hard race we were beat and hungry. Luckily, the Kiwanis set us up with some great food again, this time some awesome baked potatoes filled with chili, cheese and onions. After the good food, we went back to camp and crashed for awhile getting some nice and relaxing nap time. Once we were feeling a bit more refreshed, it was time to head back into town for the race after party. It was a good and relaxing time getting to listen to a local country band while eating some delicious pulled pork sandwiches. Afterwards, we ventured back to camp to find a raging fire surrounded by 20 or so people and a keg. We did some hanging out and then hit the hay a bit earlier then expected. It was funny though, cause the majority of those who raced could be seen fading quickly that night.

Sean bundling up to stay warm from the wind.

For Sunday morning, we got to sleep in... yes! It felt great to get the extra sleep as we were all a bit sore in our legs and arms and back from all the racing. Cooked up a little breakfast then went out to rally the trails with our ridiculously fast buddy, Justin Finn, for a fun recovery ride. This time, we took our sweet time going up the hills and enjoyed every second of getting to shred the fast and flowy trails. Loved it! Sean and Bob ended their ride just in time for the wind to really pick up while Justin and Shane took off for another hour out in the blustery conditions.

Justin Finn showing how to rock the singletrack!

It was amazing how different it was to ride with the wind absolutely ripping across the ridgelines. It was strong enough to grab the bike and push you around, definitely some of the strongest wind we've ridden in! Thankfully, the rain held off until we just finished up the ride. A nice quick change out of the riding clothes and fast camp tear-down ensued so we could be nice and dry in the cars for the drive home.

We had a hankering for some good heavy food and we got super lucky when we found a great burger spot called C & D Drive In in Boardman, right along I-84. So delicious! Order the Bozo burger with onion rings and a shake and you won't regret it.

C&D Drive-In, Home of the Bozo Burger!!

Mmmmmmmmmmm!! Anyway got the car fueled up and decided to take the curvy way home. Out on Hwy 19 heading south from Arlington, OR, we found a great rain storm. Insane winds and rain acted like a pressure washer and took our muddy bikes and had them clean by the time we were home. The wind got so crazy it actually tweaked one of the wheel forks on the car...I'd say we hit a bit of a crosswind! After the weather calmed down it was a nice relaxing and uneventful drive back home where our beds were calling our names after the phenomenal weekend!







Already looking forward to next year, we can't wait to do it again! Hope to see you there!