I enjoy posting pictures from my mountain biking trips, but I am always wishing that they would more fully convey the thrill of the actual bike rides!
I upload posed group shots, guys putting the bikes back on the rigs, doing things at the cabin, and scenery shots, but nothing that really shows action.
Until now!
On last weekend’s ride, I strapped my camera to my chest, and turned on the video mode. While the videos are cool (for me anyway), they are very jerky and dizzy-making. So when I got home, I decided to go through them frame by frame and take screen captures of the trail when the camera was able to focus on something! There are some very interesting effects, and I am pretty happy with the way these pictures capture the action of mountain biking! (These portray the downhill part of the ride anyway—uphill is a different story!)
In case you were wondering, Photoshop was not used on any of these pictures!
Enjoy…
Now multiply that times 22 miles!
You may have noticed one or two very different shots in the middle of the slideshow… One is of the tree that my shoulder glanced off of! (The camera focused on it on the very left edge of the frame right before I hit it.) The next one is the image that the camera captured of the underside of my chin at the exact moment of impact!
My next post will contain the the more typical pictures from the weekend biking (and hiking!).
The Men’s Mountain Biking Weekend in Central Oregon was last weekend, and was as fun as ever. On Friday morning Aaron and I went on a ride (10 miles or so) around Gray Butte, up behind the Smith Rock area, near Redmond. This is my favorite area, as I prefer the hot, dry climate, and the expansive views. I was not in as good of shape, so the two-hour uphill start to the ride nearly did me in! Aaron cruised up the hill, and then patiently waited for me here and there… The next 7 miles was either nearly flat, downhill, or screaming downhill, and took us another hour to complete.
On Saturday there were 8 of us that went down to the awesome Phil’s Trail complex a few miles west of Bend. We rode up Stan’s Trail to the Whoops! Trail. It is one we’ve been on before, but this time there were higher banked corners and more “whoops” (berms to catch air on). I choose to keep my wheels from going airborne… Saturday we rode 19 miles.
On Saturday we also went to check out The Lair, which is nearby. It is an area that is being built for more extreme biking. It was still pretty primitive, but it looks like it will be quite a deal when its done. It’s mostly jumps, plus some wood things to ride on.
On Sunday we rode over by Camp Sherman. We drove up to the lookout tower, and followed a trail down Green Ridge. It was awesome. and one I will definitely do again. It was a little-used trail, so it was tricky to follow sometimes, and the brush would whip our arms and heads in many stretches. It was obvious that it had been used mostly by horses, as it was rougher too. This ride was 15 miles long and “all downhill”. Kind of an inside joke, I guess. We drive to the top of something, and expect it to be “all downhill”. It inevitably turns out that there are some uphill parts (ravines or ridges). My legs were shot from the first two days, so I suffered a bit! Eventually we dropped down steeply and it was worth all the pain to get there!
At the end of the ride on Sunday, (and within the last mile, actually) two unusual things happened…
First, my rear derailleur BROKE OFF! We had just finished racing (25 mph) down the last part of the ride on a red cinder U.S. Forest Service road, and we came to the paved highway. There was a small hill to climb, and a sign, “Camp Sherman 1 Mile”. As I was riding up this last hill, it just broke off! I don’t know why! My chain also broke, so I took it off, bungeed the derailleur (still connected by the cable) out of the way, and pushed it to the top of the hill. The last 1/2 mile was downhill, so I was able to coast into Camp Sherman where we were all meeting. Or so I thought…
As Hans (a teenager who was behind me) and I rounded the corner entering Camp Sherman, I blew through a stop sign, hoping to continue coasting clear up to the store (about one more block. Well, unbeknownst to me, a Deschutes County Sheriff truck had just come up behind us, and there he was with his siren going. We pulled over. Busted! He had a speech ready which he sternly presented to us (Hans had not stopped either!), and he started with a threat to fine us each $297. After the lecture, he dismissed us with a warning.
So… after this full weekend, in the desert and in the deep woods–45 miles of wide open views and wild rides, I break my bike AND get pulled over by a cop! What a way to finish!!
Aaron drove the pick-up down from the lookout tower (He had hurt his leg on the Whoops Trail). What should have been a 1/2 hour drive down the mountain took him several hours, as the map he had turned out to be a pretty lousy one. He found the ends of several logging roads and ended up driving over 50 extra miles through the woods!
Here are some pictures… I forgot to take my camera on Sunday, so unfortunately there are no pics of that ride.
What a fun day! This year’s Bridge Pedal went WAY smoother than last year! (More details here.)
Here we are on the top of the Fremont Bridge. The highlight for me on this ride was just being with the family and especially that Deanne came! I thought after my first Bridge Pedal that someday it’d be fun if Deanne came too—and this year she did!
That’s Austin and Deanne on the left, and Alison on the right, coming down off the Marquam Bridge.
I spotted Rick Bauman, the event director, near the finish line, so I went over and thanked him and told him I appreciated all of his efforts. After complaining last year I had to let him know I felt this year was a great success. He told me I ought to try to get my name in the paper this year too, but i sure don’t plan to : )
Recent Comments