Every year around this time there is a lot of speculation on what trails are open and which are still under snow. The big question is always “Are the trails to Swampy open yet?” And the normal answer is no, not yet.
But this year, the waiting is not so bad. And that is because of Funner Trail. Brand spankin new, Funner was flagged, built and ready to ride all last summer. Of course there is still some work to be done, but already it is a fabulous trail that is making the wait to ride the higher elevation trails much easier.
Here are some shots from the trail from recent rides:
What a great family, 6 riders in all from 11 year old’s to grandparents and everyone was a trooper. We did 310 up to Whoops and then down Ben’s all the way back to Phil’s trail head. Smiles and stories all around and I have to say it was great from the guide’s perspective to hit the season running with a fun group of guests! Thanks! – Woody
Posted by Cog Wild Guide Crew at 5:23 pm:
No comments
It is final – Ellsworth and Cog Wild are teaming up to offer a 3 day camping trip outside Bend this summer for 24 riders. Being an Ellsworth rider myself, I am really excited for the trip and being a possee of Ellsworth riders out on the trail.
The details of the trip can be found on our website at www.cogwild.com/ellsworth, check it out and come ride! Just wanted to share the news, here are a few shots of Ellsworths out on the trails here in Bend.
Our good friend Steph is a third grade school teacher and she had her entire class out for an afternoon of bike fun and skills.
Mel and I from Cog Wild, James(steph’s boyfriend) and Kirt and Lindsey Voreis of Allride and Santa Cruz Syndicate fame all came out to help.
First was the safety talk and cantaloupe drop.
Kirt drops the helmet with the cantaloupe in it.
The drop was a very dramatic demonstration of how well a helmet protects your head. Lindsey held up the two cantaloupes. It was pretty clear which one was protected and which wasn’t.
one head survived, the other cracked, and the 'brains' spilled out.
After some skills courses for all the kids, we headed for the Slalom Playloop, near phil’s trail head. The largest line up I have seen at the top formed as the kids got ready to drop in.
Huge crowd at the drop in.
Everyone got a chance to ride, and the kids who were a little scared, received expert assistance from James. James helped build the slalom track, so he had great advice about how to ride it smooth.
James guides a student down the track
The kids had a great time, and I think we will see some of on the trail someday, they were all very excited to mountain bike more.
You can tell bike season is upon us with all the chatter around town about bikes. Not only riding bikes, but much more.
Friday night is the release of local Silver Moon’s Epic Trail Ale – a new Scottish-style ale to benefit Central Oregon Trail Alliance (COTA) as well as the Bend Paddle Trail Alliance and the Tumalo Langlauf Club. The party starts at Silver Moon at 6pm and should be a lot of fun!
Then in a few weeks is the first annual Bend Bicycle Film Festival on May 29th. We are all very excited for the festival, as locals are scrambling around town to get movies made, the rest of us are just looking forward to a night of celebrating our trails and road riding options. Here is a teaser for the night:
See you on the trails!! Or around town talking about riding..
Recently we were contacted by a woman names Ychiyo from Japan interested in our Sunriver Cycling Tour. We finalized the reservations once she arrive in Central Oregon and spent most of our phone conversation discussing the weather, which was 60% chance of rain on the day she wanted to ride, which was today. We talked again this morning prior to the afternoon tour, both watching it rain while talking. We were having a hard time deciding between trying again tomorrow or be adventurous and attmept to get out and ride today. We chose to be adventurous and I am glad we did – today was a lot of fun!!
Our first stop was Lava Lands Visitor Center. Yesterday they opened a brand new museum and we all really enjoyed it – it was full of facinating info about the lava lands Bend and Central Oregon is surrounded by and had great maps. Then off to the trails we went!
First we had to get ready to ride – helmets, gloves, bike seat heights, go over gears, etc. Yasuko, who was nice enough to be talked into joining us by Ychiyo, had never mountain biked before. Both Yasuko and I realized we did not have the right shoes, I had forgotten my cycling shoes and was in my Dansko clogs and she was wearing Croc slipper-ish shoes. Ychiyo was the smart one in tennis shoes:
Although it has been dumping rain as I drove to pick the women up, it stopped for us for a good portion of the ride. We started our ride checking out Benham Falls and both women could not belive that something so beautiful was not a far drive away in the mountains, but accessable to all the locals and visitors right outside of town. We definately are lucky!
The rest of the ride was great, Yasuko might have realized she is a natural born mountain bikers. We finally waved her on and she took off, with a huge smile obviously enjoying being on a bike. It did rain a little on us, but it was beautiful out on the trail and fire roads, so who can complain!
I am so happy with our new office. We are moved in and now working on interior decorating. Some big posters will be hanging in the main front room. Mel and I chose some of our favorite photos from local trails and tours, here is one that Mel took during an overnight trip.
hangin' in camp
As the snow around Bend recedes, I check out how far up you can ride. whoops and Heli-pad are snow free and very rideable. I love whoops and know it so well I could probably ride it in my sleep, or so I thought. I recently dove into one of the sweet berms a little too hard and slapped my face on the ground.
don't let your guard down
I’m feeling much better and the abrasions are basically healed, I’ll probably head up and ride whoops today, wahoo.
