9/27/13 Hood River Trailride
Posted: Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:31 am
On a whim, and after seeing the impending rains of Biblical proportions, Walt "Walterio" and I decided to go make a quick day ride over in Hood River. Dave "Dive" also got wind of it and wanted to go, since he would be at the Coast for the next couple weeks. Rocket Rick and DougH were also supposed to go, but plans got derailed for them and they had to bail. Also on the list were KellyA and RollieW, but the staging area was sketchy.
We tried to beat as much of the morning rush hour as we could and pointed the truck East. We arrived at our obscure destination and unloaded. Kelly and Rollie still hadn't shown after we waited a bit, so we left a tad after 10AM. (Turns out Kelly and Rollie showed up around 10:15AM - dang.) We took the usual trails up to the top, then I decided to change things up and explore some areas I had not been on in years, and pointed the bikes in that direction. Once we got off the main trails and into the obscure ones, we were pleasantly rewarded with almost unused trails that were rather grown over in many spots. It was a trip through memory lane for me as I hadn't been on some of these trails in what seemed like 10 years! Nary a whoop and it was rather difficult to find my way, but the GPS pulled us through. Saw plenty of deer, fowl and other critters too.
Dave Klug photo
At about the 35-mile mark, the clouds started to look threatening, so we pointed the horses towards the barn and headed back. Turned out it was perfect timing as we started to get sprinkled on en route to our way back. By the time we had our scooters loaded into the back of the trucks, the rains started to commence. From there we headed to the Sawmill Pub for liquid refreshments, chow and some great Blues music playing. After a bit, Kelly and Rollie showed up, but the looming PDX traffic had us exiting earlier than we wanted.
What a super day, great riding buds, no dust, no mud, no crashes (barring Dive's 2 tipovers) - dirtbike nirvana! And we did it all before the monsoon!
-Tom
<<<watch in HD mode!
We tried to beat as much of the morning rush hour as we could and pointed the truck East. We arrived at our obscure destination and unloaded. Kelly and Rollie still hadn't shown after we waited a bit, so we left a tad after 10AM. (Turns out Kelly and Rollie showed up around 10:15AM - dang.) We took the usual trails up to the top, then I decided to change things up and explore some areas I had not been on in years, and pointed the bikes in that direction. Once we got off the main trails and into the obscure ones, we were pleasantly rewarded with almost unused trails that were rather grown over in many spots. It was a trip through memory lane for me as I hadn't been on some of these trails in what seemed like 10 years! Nary a whoop and it was rather difficult to find my way, but the GPS pulled us through. Saw plenty of deer, fowl and other critters too.
Dave Klug photo
At about the 35-mile mark, the clouds started to look threatening, so we pointed the horses towards the barn and headed back. Turned out it was perfect timing as we started to get sprinkled on en route to our way back. By the time we had our scooters loaded into the back of the trucks, the rains started to commence. From there we headed to the Sawmill Pub for liquid refreshments, chow and some great Blues music playing. After a bit, Kelly and Rollie showed up, but the looming PDX traffic had us exiting earlier than we wanted.
What a super day, great riding buds, no dust, no mud, no crashes (barring Dive's 2 tipovers) - dirtbike nirvana! And we did it all before the monsoon!
-Tom
<<<watch in HD mode!