Category : Uncategorized
August 6th, 2009
Riding in the Umpqua National Forest is a treat in itself, sharing it with people who have never been there is the icing on the cake.
Over the past weekend we had the pleasure of guiding 11 eager mountain bikers along the slithering trails that parallel the spectacular Umpqua River. Unfortunately there was a fire in nearby Glide, OR so we were unable to experience some of the lower half, but the infamous Dread and Terror section had the guests whooping for more.
After three days of epic riding, hot springs, bridge jumping, delicious energy food and beautiful scenery, everyone had a weekend to remember!
Allyson and her husband Peter from Napa were ecstatic, especially after Allyson expressed she pushed herself beyond what she thought was possible and is now committed to continuing her mountain biking adventures! Greg, Darren, Darin, Aaron, Kasey, Sherri, Ed, Steve and Billy all expressed their excitement and personal triumphs over the weekend. The North Umpqua Trail is awe-inspiring and leaves most people feeling accomplished and happy. Even the photos will inspire you… enjoy…
 Guide Lindsey Voreis loving the singletrack  Lower trails plagued by smoke...Bummer  Back at Camp, Greg, Darren, Ed and Kasey are happily exhausted after a great day of riding! Sipping delicious Deschutes Brewery beer helps regenerate those legs!!  Top of Dread and Terror! The best day!!!  Ahhh, the weeping wall...  Darren hoisting his bike over the giant fallen tree...  Peter rounds the bend to see the falls directly across from him...  Creek running down the trail...  Allyson, Lindsey and Sherri... Ladies in the house!! I am still trying to recover from the last two weekends of racing. Sven and I went to the Mega Avalanche in Alpe de Huez, and then across the valley to the smaller, but crazier Mountain of Hell in Les 2 Alpes, the following weekend. Both races start on glaciers way the hell up at crazy altitudes where it hurts to breathe, and both of them have mass starts with loads of riders hurtling themselves down massive amounts of elevation.
At the Mega, they have the women start separate to the men, because there are so many people – about 3000 entries of which 80 of them were women. The track was 32km long and it took me 1h15min to finish – ending up in 7th place overall with Anne Caroline Chausson taking the win. I was super happy with this result, as the competition was tough with loads of big name pro’s out there trying to get on the box, and I beat quite a few of them!
As if doing one of these races a year isn’t enough, we drove across the valley to Les 2 Alpes to race another one – The Mountain of Hell. This race was way smaller than the Mega, but it really lived up to it’s name. Sven had to cover the race for Dirt, so we had no choice, but to throw ourselves down yet another glacier at warping speeds with hundreds of people flailing around you.
Our qualifying race was cancelled due to a large amount of snow, which meant that there would be no seeding for Sunday’s big race down the glacier. They lined up the women in row 15 – which is far back from the front line and any hopes of getting down the glacier in a straight line with no people around was thrown out the window. Because this event is so much smaller than the Mega, the women have to start with the 500 men, and it is pretty much just survival to get to the bottom of the mountain. People were crashing and sliding everywhere, elbows were flying, T-bones were had, Frenchies were swearing, it was chaotic and you just had to try and stay with your bike and get to the bottom. Another “entertaining” detail about this event, was that you couldn’t practice riding down the glacier until race day, and you couldn’t ride the last 5km of the trail until race day – they were only the hardest, most technical two sections of the entire track! Nothing like racing down a sheer cliff – blind and on a snowy track with 500 other people!
I ended up finishing in 3rd place, after getting held up by so many guys on sections where passing was impossible. I managed to get by about 350 guys to end up 179th overall. Not too bad for starting in the 15th row!
I still can’t quite comprehend the craziness of the last two weekends. The abuse on our bikes and bodies. The altitude. The mountains & trails that never end. Two feet of snow in July? The amount of people out there loving life and just riding their bikes because they love to ride their bikes. It was amazing, and after swearing that I’ll never do 2 of these events back to back again, I think I’ll be back for more next year.
O, and by the way, my NOMAD is the sickest bike EVER!
Cheers!
Anka
At the start of the Mega – getting ready for some elbow action at the startline
Graceful glacier sliding
and then piling up
Endless perfect singletrack
Endless perfect views
The top section of Mountain of Hell track – sooo rough & barren – was covered in snow on race day
This was the top of the glacier – Mtn of Hell, trying to get a feel for ice at 6am in the morning!
More endless singletrack
We all survived the crazy race – Sven & I with the Dirt Mag crew
Stoked to get on the box!
Posted by Cog Wild Guide Crew at 1:12 am:
1 comment
Bend is not only great for mountain biking, but evening cruiser crawl’n. Thursday night has turned into the night that folks meet, with costumes or funky apparel if possible and cruise the streets.
Of course 80’s music piped through an old school boom box from an iPod shuffle sets the tone. Last night, cruising downtown with Michael Jackson’s Thriller pumping seemed very appropriate, people hooted and hollered and of course stopped to dance as well.
Join us next week – 7pm at Riverside Market. Bring some brews, funky attire and be ready to ride the streets!!
 The important factors: boom box, brews and funky clothing!
 Music booms best in a tunnel! Dance Party!
May 22nd, 2009
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
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