Echo Red to Red - 2014 Edition!

It's March and we've already begun the 2014 mountain bike season, holy mackerel!

The weekend before last, the Team's season opened with the always fun XC mountain bike race - Echo Red to Red. This event has it all, a tough, yet epic course, great organization, delicious racer perks (you'll read about that later) and most of all, community support! The folks from the little (pop. 715) town of Echo, which is stocked full of incredible history, come out in full force to help support the race - helping with traffic control, registration, on-course aid and more! It's wonderful to see!

Blue sky in Biggs!

Our (Shane & Sam's) trip began Friday morning as we headed out for the 3.5 hour drive up north from Redmond. The sun was shining and we were looking forward to a beautiful drive.......but when we hit Terrebonne (5 minutes north of home) we hit fog that got more and more dense as we drove! It was pretty nuts to drive in it, visibility was about 1-2 car lengths making for some very concentrated driving. You wouldn't see other cars lights, just suddenly a shadow in the fog and then BAM a car! Whew! Thankfully, the drive was uneventful and very minimal sightseeing, other than the yellow line and fog line. Haha. When we began to descend into the Columbia River Gorge, the fog dissipated into blue sky by the time we go to Biggs! Hooray!!!!

The last hour and a half of driving couldn't go by fast enough as we were ready to enjoy the nice weather on our bikes! When we finally pulled into the trailhead/camping area, we hopped out of the car and hastily laid out some of our camp gear to reserve space for our other checker clad teammates - Bob, Kodi, Jon & our awesome team support Natalie!

Cold toes LOVED the heater

Sam and I pulled on our kits, a bit nervous about only needing thin layers to ride in, after all the severe weather we had endured over the last few weeks at home! Nonetheless, we got decked out and rolled away onto singletrack heaven with some other Redmondites, Tyler and his dad Jerry Fox! The first place we checked out was the always dynamic river section that is a new trail every year, due to annual flooding. We then proceeded to recon the starter loop, which was going to be a crucial point early in the race. After getting some good insight, Sam pulled off to keep her legs fresh and began camp setup as I headed out to ride more trail! I am still in my Base phase for training so I needed some hours on the bike AND the conditions were impeccable!! I ended up riding every last mile of trail that we would be racing the next day and man I couldn't stop smiling!! By the time I got back, Sam had the entire camp all setup! I was super thankful, as the sun had dropped below the horizon and temperatures were quickly following suit! I hovered over the heater, as I ate some yummy food and changed into comfy and warm clothes before we headed into town with our new friends/campmates Starr and Matt.

Sam & Starr enjoying
the Koontz Building!

The atmosphere was buzzing with excitement as we picked up our packets and checked out the newly renovated Koontz building. This historic building was built in 1904-1905 and has been a renovation project of the Sno Road Winery. Over the last three years, we've seen the progression and it's pretty impressive to finally see the finished product in all it's glory! After some gawking, we headed back to camp to sit around the fire and fine tune the bikes before heading to bed for a nice and solid rest!

We awoke to another beautiful day Saturday, although a few degrees cooler, it was nothing like the gross weather the forecast had predicted. With the cooler temperatures, our heater was struggling to raise the temperature in the Team Tent, so we turned to the BBQ, that Bob had brought along, for some supplemental heat. The warmth felt wonderful while we changed and ate a solid breakfast before all the pre-race jitters and nerves descended upon our bellies!

Thank goodness for the BBQ!

I took a nice ride out towards the trailhead for my warm-up thinking that the gun would go off at 11:15am. I began heading back to the car to replace the bottle I had been using for the warm-up and make sure everything was situated before heading down to the Start Line. You can imagine my surprise, when about 1/4 mile from the Start, I see the lead car driving down the road with my Start Group rolling along in the neutral start. OH CRAP!!! I quickly flipped a u-ey and joined the peloton as it meandered along the paved road. I made a concentrated effort to move up to the front of the pack all while calming my freaked out nerves and brain before we had to turn on the jets and begin racing (about 1 minute). I was super stoked to have gotten to the front 15ish when we turned onto the gravel road where the race begins. As we rocketed up the gradual climb, I continued to push towards the front to make sure I was in the first group to hit the singletrack. Due to the technical nature of the Echo trails, it is tough to pass on the trails, so being in the front is crucial for a solid result. I had played my cards perfectly, as I was about the 4th rider to barrel down the short singletrack collector before a sharp hairpin turn into a steep, punchy climb that separates riders due to a slight bottleneck that forms on the climb. Immediately, I found myself in a front group that began to separate ourselves from the remainder of the field. My good buddy and training partner, Tyler, made an effortless pass around me as he chased after the two leaders that had formed a gap on our front group through the start loop (I would catch glimpses of him, but that was about it!). For the first half of the race, I was feeling super strong, duking it out with riders that I've never been able to battle with before. This made me feel really good for such an early race, but my legs weren't quite so excited about the effort needed to make these battles happen. They began crying about 1:15 hours into the race, forcing me to taper off a bit, and lose the chase group. As I plugged along, my early effort had put a solid gap on the rest of the field, making the loss of leg power a bit more bearable as I only gave up about 5 more spots through the rest of the race. As always, I got to post some big grins on my face as I pushed along the sweet, rolling, singletrack! As I cruised along the last segment of trail, the sight of the trailhead was bittersweet, it meant I was close to finishing, but also meant it was time for the last climb and long grade out of the 'valley' before cruising into town for the Finish. The hill was painful, as expected, but after digging deep, I rolled over the top and pushed all the way to the line where I was able to take a very welcome 4th place finish!!

Photographer = Wheelie Time!
PHOTO: KENJI SUGAHARA

Natalie provided much
needed moral and sugar
support!!

With some big time hunger pangs beginning to hit me hard, I needed some sustenance ASAP!! I quickly remembered Natalie and Jon had been prepared by bringing along some homemade brownies and M&M cookies. My tracking skills immediately surfaced and I quickly located Natalie, who had been heartily cheering me along as I rode the finishing stretch, as I knew she could lead me to the delicious, sugary treats! I don't know if anything could've hit the spot as well as that gooey, chocolatey brownie. AHHHH!

With a fresh sugar rush, I grabbed some warm clothes and proceeded to spin out my legs along the course so I could cheer on my awesome teammates! Although the course had been nice to me, the trails of Echo had some devious plans for my checkered mates. Poor Jon got his flats out of the way for the whole season with 4! He had to hike out and grab a ride back into town. UGH! The rough trails and cold weather took their toll on Bob, Kodi and Sam as they all battled hard to finish the brutal race!

Bob pushing hard for the
Finish Line!

We all were able to re-group over some tasty post-race food though! Homemade macaroni & cheese and pulled pork sandwiches was the food served and they helped bring spirits right back up! With full stomachs, we packed into the Koontz building for the awards ceremony and raffle and then headed back to camp where we gathered around the fire to stay warm as the temperatures began to drop and snow began to fall! That BBQ that Bob and Kodi brought came into play again as they grilled up some awesome steak that we shared with the few hardy souls that braved the evening's cold weather! After some hard racing, eyelids got heavy fast and we all retired to the warmth and comfort of our dry tents!

Enjoying the warm fire!

The night's weather had stopped by to deliver a nice coating of freezing rain, which was quite fun to knock off the tents in solid sheets! We made some breakfast and got changed to go and get a ride in on the trails. I also decided halfway through breakfast, to take part in the Poker Ride, er, Walk. The weather was getting super nasty so cards were handed out to see who could get the best hand to get their hand into the money pot! I got lucky and had the 4th best, getting me $17.00!! Sweet!!

Nice coating of ice from
the freezing rain.

While the rest of our crew smartly headed home, Sam, myself and Tyler headed out onto the trails to try and ride. We were bummed when we realized that the snow, covered in freezing rain was now melted from the drizzle that began to fall, causing the dirt of the trail to become the thickest, stickiest peanut butter EVER! The rear tire would hardly spin, thanks to the insane mud build-up. We quickly called it a day, and tore down camp in the just above freezing conditions. Our fingers were COLD, but the nice warm car helped to thaw them out!!

We caravanned with Tyler back to Central Oregon, but not before a quick stop at C & D Burgersfor our traditional burger and milkshake treat!

Back on the road, the drive was uneventful, aside from seeing the aftermath of a couple semi-trucks that had unfortunate encounters with black ice and slid off the road earlier in the morning.

Our first weekend of racing is in the books! It had highs and lows, but, as always, it was a wicked fun time for the Trinity Bikes Cycling Team athletes!! Next on the docket for a few of the riders will be their first road race of the season: Cherry Pie in Adair Village! Until next time!!




-Shane Johnson