Lava Lovers Lounge

[LittlePosum]

When I woke up early yesterday morning even the inside of the house smelled like a camp fire. Hazy amber filtered rays of sunlight barely illuminated the living room. I made some coffee and decided that I needed to get the hell out of the Pole Creek death smog. So I charged east past Alfafa and weaved down to the southern end of Prineville reservoir... Still smoky. Going north on hwy 27 was really a pretty ride up the Crooked River and the air was starting to clear. Had to make a stop in Prinetucky for some much needed snacks and then headed north east to my intended destination of Walton Lake. The air was so clear and it was just so nice there that I unrolled the therma rest and stopped and took a nap by the water. If it weren't for the lure of a friends homemade pizza back in town I might have camped out for the night. I took the old Oneil hwy out of Prineville toward Terrebonne the setting sun was relentless in my eyes until it dipped behind the great wall of smoke and it became so tame pink and beautiful that I almost couldn't look away. Cline Falls hwy passing through Tumalo was smooth and then I had a really nice forked buck cross the road in front me just above Shevlin Park. After seeing Bambie I toned the speed down a notch and rolled in to town just before dark for pizza and beer with some friends. I guess I've had worse days!

[MadChap]

LP: Sounds like a great way to clear the lungs and the mind at the same time.

I brought my Vstrom over to Portland to have something to do other thean just sit in my dads hospital room waiting for him to recover from surgery. So Sunday I rode along the Columbia then across to Longview then up to St. Helens volcano. I'd never been there. On the way back I took Skyline Drive all the way in to Portland. What an awesome road.

I'll be back home in Madras tonight after being at OHSU for a week. I don't like Portland traffic!

[LittlePosum]

Hi MadChap, I hope your pops is healing up well!

[K_N_Fodder]

I'm tired of the smoke. Bend was just crap-tacular today, I think the plume was right over us.

Last Tuesday or so...


Tumalo Res.


Went up on Triangle Hill on Thursday... it was nasty.


As we were up there, the wind shifted and the entire mass came right over us as the sun set. Made for a pretty opaque ride home. Here it comes...

[Apple Jam]

Coming back from Bend's KTM Rally, Ladukebob and I found some great old dirt roads near the South border of the Res.

Trying to find the Green Ridge lookout, put us on Green Ridge Rd.
We never got to see the Lookout behind the locked gate, but that was OK,....
...It's pretty much 2nd gear big bike dirty heaven, with a view.




Next we get to Squawback Rd, which turns into a faster 3rd gear dirt road paradise, with more views.....




Heading across the Crooked River grasslands towards Lake Billy-Chinook,
we see this distinctive ridge, that called to have it's picture taken..




This trip was also the first time I have seen Tumalo Falls, just 10-ish miles out of Bend.
Right off a Postcard, I tell ya!
....if you've never been there, put it on your list....

[lost...]

Originally Posted by K_N_Fodder

I'm tired of the smoke. Bend was just crap-tacular today, I think the plume was right over us.

Last Tuesday or so...


Tumalo Res.


Went up on Triangle Hill on Thursday... it was nasty.


As we were up there, the wind shifted and the entire mass came right over us as the sun set. Made for a pretty opaque ride home. Here it comes...

Um... dude? what happened to your head?
Creeeeepy!

[K_N_Fodder]

Originally Posted by lost...

Um... dude? what happened to your head?
Creeeeepy!

hehe... Kurt was messing with his camera ;)

AppleJam did we meet at the Rally? Probably crossed paths a few times. That's some good looking stuff you ran on the way home, almost looks like CDT in that first pic but couldn't be, that area is burned...

[wachs]

OMG it's pouring rain and my leg is still broken dang it! Riding today will be awesome if it keeps up.

Nice shots AJ - that Green Mt/Squawback area is cool huh?

[Apple Jam]

Originally Posted by K_N_Fodder

.........AppleJam did we meet at the Rally? Probably crossed paths a few times. That's some good looking stuff you ran on the way home, almost looks like CDT in that first pic but couldn't be, that area is burned...

Uh.....maybe?? Were you the guy on the KTM?

There were so many of us hooligans there,
....it was hard to meet all those I wanted to meet.
Come to our Hood River Valley Rally, you'll get another chance

Originally Posted by wachs

OMG it's pouring rain and my leg is still broken dang it! Riding today will be awesome if it keeps up.

Nice shots AJ - that Green Mt/Squawback area is cool huh?

First time riding North of Hwy20 for me.
I could spend a few more days there sometime,...maybe next year.
Rain? We got 50 heavy drops Friday night, and some lightning,
but not enough here to keep the dust down.

[K_N_Fodder]

Originally Posted by wachs

OMG it's pouring rain and my leg is still broken dang it! Riding today will be awesome if it keeps up.

Nice shots AJ - that Green Mt/Squawback area is cool huh?

I'm dyin... I rode yesterday in clouds of dust so the wife is the one who gets the moist dirt, not I.

[Crash.Gordon]

Originally Posted by wachs

OMG it's pouring rain and my leg is still broken dang it! Riding today will be awesome if it keeps up.

Nice shots AJ - that Green Mt/Squawback area is cool huh?

I was thinking of your leg when I saw the rain this morning, guess I can't cash in on your offer. Dangitt Wachs!!

Seriously, heal quick. What's the status. When do they expect a full recovery? Take it easy, enjoy an excuse to watch football and cash in on the offers to bring you by a brew.

Cheers-
Crash.

[Crash.Gordon]

[QUOTE=K_N_Fodder; the wife is the one who gets the moist dirt, not I. [/QUOTE]

[wachs]

Originally Posted by Crash.Gordon

Seriously, heal quick. What's the status. When do they expect a full recovery? Take it easy, enjoy an excuse to watch football and cash in on the offers to bring you by a brew.

3 week visit & x rays tomorrow afternoon, ankle looks way better, fibula is sore but I'm usually a good healer so…my buddy Kent came out w/brews that I still haven't finished. I'll keep practicing though

[K_N_Fodder]

I hear rumors that Wachs has gone to the dark side, traded his jersey for a wife beater and is riding a Quad in the desert with a cooler full of Silver Bullets strapped to the back....

Anyway.

I snuck out Tuesday after work to run up Three Creeks Butte (never been) and check out the Pole Creek fire for a possible recon ride. I got a little more adventure than planned.

Anyway... I intended to run forest roads on the way out and take it easy since I was solo... so didn't wear the Leatt. First mistake. Second mistake was deciding that the single track was just too yummy to be ignored. About 15 minutes in I managed to catch a sapling on my right handlebar on a straight section of trail (yeah... dumb) which deflected me hard right and then hard left after the sapling disengaged. I managed to avoid the first tree (flailing now, things are happening fast) but I literally centerpunched the second tree.



I had time to get my head down and that was about it. The raw stuff on the bottom is from my front wheel and the patch on the top is from my head. Rung my bell pretty good and I spent some time collecting myself and the bike. Surprisingly I was walking and talking and the front wheel wasn't square.

I got going again but was losing time on the ST before I managed to find some forest roads going in the right direction. The sun started setting as I approached the bottom of Three Creeks Butte but I was too close to turn around now. I found a little spur road heading up and grabbed it, winding up between the rocks and manzanita while the colors did amazing things to the West.



I could only catch little glances of the scenery, for fear of bailing off the side of the road.

After some careful flogging I made it to the top and was able to soak in some post-sunset view.



What a great spot, awesome vantage point. Felt really remote at this point, with the sun fading.



I grabbed one more shot towards Broken Top I believe, showing the last few small plumes of Pole Creek smoke and then turned tail and ran for town.

The light faded on the way down and then it was riding by Braille with my crap stock KTM light. I followed the course plotted by my GPS towards 4606 and then deviated towards Tumalo Reservoir after passing a familiar sand trap. It was kind of exhilarating riding the whoops in the Res at night, shades of Baja, except with a much shittier lighting system. Once I went "feet dry" I called in a sit rep to the wife and then hauled ass (at a perfectly reasonable deer-avoiding crappy headlight speed of 40 mph) to Bend Brewing Co for cheap Local's Night pints. It was nice not to be spending the night in my little survival bivy. Learned/reinforced a few good lessons that I already knew and/or just hadn't taken action on.

1. Trees are hard and non-compliant.
2. Even at 20 mph.
3. Always wear your Leatt.
4. Yes, you need to spring for a steering damper.
5. While you're at it, get a PLB.
6. KTM stock headlights suck balls.

Good times :)

[MadChap]

Originally Posted by K_N_Fodder;19697349[LIST=1

[*]While you're at it, get a PLB.

[/LIST]I'm assuming PLB is Personal Locator Becon?


I ride solo probably 90% of the time. The SPOT I have, has given my wife much peace of mind and has given me the freedom to go wherever I feel like. I used to give her a general ideal of where I was riding so if I didn't show she would at least have a basic idea of where to have them start looking for my body. I felt like I had to stick within a certain area. Now I turn the SPOT on, check to make sure it's working with my phone, then ride wherever the road takes me. I leave it on Tracking so if I crash and am incapacitated so I can't push the SOS button, at least she will know my location once the "worry factor" kicks in and she calls search and rescue. Freedom!

Glad your get off wasn't worse.