Lost town in the hills

Just a reminder I need those post cards so I can start creating route sheets for all riders.

On Sunday I went out for a ride with Gregg and two guys from Team Dirt. Our ride started at Fort Hoskins and we rode out to Valsetz. What a great ride it was. The road was a well traveled dirt road following the Lukamute river with some great views. The ride offered some good conversation, mutual appreciation for the views, and having riding buddies made it a little more enjoyable.

I've wanted to go to Valsetz ever since I had heard of it. The idea that a hustling bustling town was completely obliterated is so hard for me to understand. Visiting the Adair Military Base is a weird place, but the choice for the military to close up shop and move else where is understandable and a common occurrence in our nation's history. The fact that here was a town in a little valley miles away from another town where there were over 2,000 people living here complete with a two lane bowling alley and a gas station and then one day the logging company just up and closed the town. Couldn't they have closed the mill and just let the town exist and do its own thing?

Well if you have the chance take a look at the website I hyper linked on the first occurrence of "Valsetz,"its pretty neat to look at all the old time pictures.


I think I need to go back and explore more and see what's left of the town. Maybe there are some lost artifacts or something there to tell a story about the life in Valsetz.

The route has been completed

I did the last of the recon today. Pretty tough ride for a single speed. As long as it was flat and smooth things were great. Once the route changed to soft dirt road things slowed down, but were still good, then the road turned into double track with golf ball to fist sized rocks laid every 20 feet or so in small groupings. I've ridden some of this portion of the route before and a geared cross bike handles it well, but maybe I'm a little ambitious with a 46x20 geared SS.

So I followed my planned route but soon realized the map I had showed some roads that existed at one time, but were now heavily over grown. So I followed some more traveled roads in hopes of achieving a similar route. My main concern is having the route on roads we all could figure out and not easily get lost on. So the map showed a large hill. I didn't know this large hill was just shy of being a mountain. The climb just kept going and going. Then at the top there is no gratifying look out, just lots of fir trees. The decent however was awesome. Really really fast with some wide winding turns and then just before you get onto a public road there's a sweet section of single track riddled with whoop-dee-dos and a creek crossing. The creek is about 7 feet wide and 7 inches deep. It's very rideable. But if you're going into it to quickly you're going OTB.

So after this portion I am debating on adding one semi difficult last short and steep climb. For me after 3 hours on the saddle I couldn't do the climb so I by-passed it. I can imagine what a short and steep climb will feel like after 5 hours in the saddle and I'm betting riders would prefer an easier way. The easier way is paved and is against all that this race is about. After the last climb it's flat with a nice long mellow down hill finishing at the starting point. So I'll debate with some people who've attempted this climb and see if a cross bike can do it.

Now since the route has been designed and traversed, it's time I attempted the route in one shot. I need to get the actual milage, real time gps route, and write down where every turn is per cumulative mileage.

Wish me luck! I might need two flasks for this.

Connections

This weekend I went out both Saturday and Sunday in exploration. Figured out a pretty straight forward route and we'll be passing by another general store which should allow most of us to fuel up just in case we passed up the first store.

The roads this weekend were wet, soft, and icy in spots. Both rides covered me in mud and road grime. One plus of both rides, my new Showers Pass jacket did awesome, kept me dry and warm. My Lake boots however got soaked both rides. The views from these rides were great. Long rolling ridge lines, swollen creeks, snow mingling with green ferns and moss covered trees. It's no rolling fields of corn and soy beans, but the smells here help weigh in Oregon's beauty.

Another thing I have left out in my previous posts, a "ride" day date. April 16th is the day I have chosen. For those of you interested in riding the Mudslinger this would make for a great training ride. ;)


PS. would you like to see what the route will be?

got lost, again.

Today I missed a turn on my recon ride and ended up finding very pretty views, but achieved little in discovering more of the route. Also I lost my Starker Forest permit and my Starker maps. All in all 4 hours on the saddle was a good time. I now have Tuesdays off now so I get to ride my bike and the route more frequently!


Something I missed in the previous post.
When you send your post card in, make sure you write your name on the post card.
Every other week I'll be posting the rider roster.

Get those postcards sent!

I am now ready to accept your postcard entries. The first 50 entries will get a direction packet and a "ride" prep baggy.

Best postcard design will get a Hamm's beer cycling cap with their race prep baggy.

Before I post the mailing address I need to list some "ride" day needs and remind you that this race is completely unsupported, not official or licensed or insured in any way, and much of the course will have little markings and has little to no cell signal. So be prepared for the worst. Being that this will be in April I'm planning for a rainy miserable day so dress appropriately.

This may be obvious but I need to state the necessary things for riders to have with you on the ride. I won't be checking you over, but if you're missing one of these pieces you may find yourself stranded.

Mandatory:

1. Cycling computer with trip distance functions.
2. Helmet. Don't be an idiot and show up without a helmet. No one wants to call the cops trying to describe where they are and have a helicopter to pick up because your smashed head wide open.
   
3. Handle bar map case. Cyco Active makes a sweet map case that Peak Sports will be stocking.
4. Cash. I'm pretty sure Burnt Woods general store takes credit, but cash is universal and a safe bet for a small transaction, plus it comes in handy as a tire boot or home made bandage.
   

Suggested:

1. Flat kit including a "tire boot" just in case your tire gets sliced open. It's happened to me out there.
   
2. Cell phone
3. Decent multi-tool
4. Food. Pb&J, gel packet, cliff bar. You're riding for 4-7 hours, prepare yourself.
5. Spare chain links.
6. Band Aids or maybe even a first aid kit if your planning on getting rad.
   

This isn't necessary to say, but training for this might help.

Lastly the address to which I will be accepting postcards.

Hell of the Northwest
c/o Andrew Pierre
1825 SW 49th st #185
Corvallis, OR 97333


I'll be posting updates and a "ride" date shortly. I'm thinking April 16th.

Happy New Year!

Happy F**king Holidays

Hope you're all doing well. It was a nice holiday weekend. Saw some movies, ate some good food, and played categories on Skype with some Minnesota friends. Here's an awesome clock my friend made for my wife and I.

oh you silly silly google maps

So I began recon on the planned route. Things went well. From the proposed start riders will be riding paved road for the better part of the first 7 miles, but you will be happily greeted by a well used dirt road that is the foreground to a nice 10-15 minute climb. Then it's off into the woods for a little taste of logging roads.
This beginning portion will be very easy to navigate and after the first climb I'm sure if there is anything in the ways of a pack people will spread out and there shouldn't be an issue of bottle necking. I know I know, I'm making this sound like its a legit race.

I got a little lost in this first section only because I had no map and was trying to remember how google maps had displayed this area. Turns out my gps device mapped a route that google maps had no idea existed. Well after a back track and probably unnecessary left turn which made a large u-turn, I made it to a small neighbor hood. And then immediately recognized where I needed to go. At this point I was confronted by a scruffy Jack Russel terrier who was friends with a Rottweiler who could have cared less about me. After a short negotiation with the terrier and explination that he should probably stay near his home I was allowed to leave.

Then I started the next section of my proposed route. This portion looked great on google maps. Even Starker Forests' map promised this area would be the beginning of a great climb. Well turns out the gate to the road I wanted to go up was electronic and had a chain lock comprised of almost only locks. I ended up checking the Starker map I had and realized I could get on this road via a road just south of here. So I back tracked found the other road and bypassed the gate. Then I ended up near a water treatment plant and was eventually stopped by a man in a county truck. I was pretty sure I was trespassing, but played it off like I was just following orders from my map and figured I'd be ok. He was nice enough to just tell me to turn around go back the way I came and if I wanted to go where I was planning just continue down a different road and look for the next Starker gate on your left. He also said, "If you get hassled by anyone else around here tell 'em you spoke to Jon." I road back the way I came bypassed the gate and then followed Jon's directions.

At this point I was a little off schedule. I had covered 15 miles maybe in almost 2 hours. I was hoping to ride the first half of the route in 4 hours. So at this point I was going to at least ride the first 1/3 of the route. The next section was pretty. Really steep spots and there were some fresh cut sections on hill side with a few single trees left. Everything was straight forward and would leave most people little doubt they were on the right path.
The rest of the route I rode today was straight forward and finished with an awesome decent.

Tomorrow I'll try to ride the 2nd 1/3 of the course.

Happy Trails!