Looking To Cure The Winter-time Bike Racing Blues?

This year in the Pacific NW is going to be revolutionary. Not only will you be able to shred (or ski) sweet cherry-cherry Pow pow, but you can also grab your bike and race 'Indoor 4X' at the Port Orchard WA Peninsula track. National 4X Sport Champ Jason Gibbs is designing a track that will be weather-proof racing. If you don't mind the 2 hour drive from Portland (3 from Hood River) then you should scope out the Go BMX website here.

Bike Demos by Transition, Corsair, Kona, Redline and Cove on select race dates. Prizes for end of race raffles are piling up and worth the enrty fee/participation factor. Bring your love for bikes and friends, it will be a good time. Not to mention you can stay the night up there and ride Colonnade (at Seattle WA Lakeview Exit under the I-5 bridge) A place everyone must see and ride!

'Freedom Fighters' Show Price Reduced to $5!

In a last minute effort to make the show a good time- the organizers have aggreed to lower the show's admission from $8 down to $5 (SAVING $3!) All the proceeds go to IMBA for their tire-less work in behalf of Mountain Biking.

Hood River Saloon on Sat Oct 24th at 9pm. Come support trailbuilders and all their efforts. See ya there!

'Freedom Fighters' Showing at River City Saloon Oct 24th

Proceeds to benefit IMBA

Freedom Riders are a core group of riders from Jackson Hole Wyoming, who evolved from covertly building rough unsustainable trails, to creating a precedent setting relationship with the US Forest Service by creating some of the best Freeride trails in the country. Take a look at the evolution & progression of trail building in the US and see the inside story of a group of riders that would never see their passion die.
They are the Freedom Riders.

Sat Oct 24
9PM
River City Saloon
207 Cascade Ave, Hood River
$8 (at the door)
Contact: Shawn Roberts - 541-387-2583


Link to films website here.

Don't Wear Your Antlers!

Sept 15th to Dec 15th is the Annual Hunting Season in Post Canyon and all Areas were trails exist, including Syncline. Its the annual warning basically. Wear bright orange, yellow or lime sweatshirts. It also helps to sing loudly like Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' or Oingo Boingo's "Nothing To Fear But Fear Itself' works for me. And that's today's 'Head's Up!'

Title of todays post credit goes to Discover Bikes Bari Stockton!

New World Disorder TEN! Premiers In Portland Oct 3rd!

Its the final New World Disorder! The #10 is the final chapter in the long NWD MTB film series. So plan your attack with these details here and I'll be at the Under 21 showing with my daughter because I have to see footage from Blackrock and other spots in Oregon with Kurt Voreis. Come out!! (Note: the above flyer is snagged from the web and is obviously for the Whistler crowd)

Portland, OR

October 3, 2009

Doors Open: 6:00 pm
Show Starts: 7:00 pm

Clinton Street Theater
All ages show starts at 7 PM
21 & over show starts at 9 PM
$5 for the all-ages show
$10 for the 21 & over show

Callout for Trailbuidling On The #140 Hybrid Trail

This was emailed out to CAMBA members this morning from Douglas Van Zandt!

CAMBA members,

Here is a great opportunity to help expand the trail network in Post Canyon. Trail 140 will eventually go from Post Flats Staging area ( Spaghetti Factory extension goes around this area) all the way tot he top of 3-Blind mice and Two-Chair. This is a trail that is open to all users. The upper section is done and great to ride on a Mt. Bike.
Here is a link to a map of the whole Post Canyon area.

Douglas Van Zandt

The Columbia Gorge Off-Road Association is having two trail work party/trail rides at Hood River, OR.

CGORA Trail Work Party/Motorcycle Trail Rides
Post Flats Staging Area and Trail #140.
(Northwest Hood River County Trail Area)
Hood River, OR.
Sunday Oct 11 and 18, 2009
9:00am – 1:00pm Work Party
1:00pm Trail Ride

This CGORA Work Party will open up more of Trail #140 that was closed due to logging. This is a popular single track trail that will add more of the new “Hybrid” trail that the five previous CGORA Work Parties completed last year. We will be building new single track from the Post Flats Staging Area on Trail 140. Bring water, lunch, gloves, hand and chain saws, and other trail tools if you have them. We will be providing McLeods, Pulaskis, Rakes, Loppers etc. Bring your bike and be ready to ride at 1:00 after the Work Party.

Directions to the Trail Work Party Area:
From I-84, exit at Hood River exit (exit 62), go south (east) on Cascade/Oak St., and immediately make the next right turn (west) on Country Club Rd. Take Country Club Rd to Post Canyon Road and turn right (west). Drive up Post Canyon Road 2 miles from the end of the pavement to the Post Flats Parking Area. Meet at 9:00 am sharp!

Heavy Equipment WARNING for Post Canyon

This might be a little bit late- but there has been some logs being salvaged all over Post Canyon. Just proceed with caution and keep your iPod turned down a bit. Lots of trail traffic all over has created some nasty ruts so be careful out there!!

Cove Bikes Hosts Bike Demo at Family Man

On Tuesday Aug 25th, Cove Bikes hosted a small bike demo at the Family Man Skills Area. Anyone and everyone was invited that could make it to Family Man during the hours of 1pm to 6pm. Texts went out, people responded. Mike Estes' NW Cove Rep took riders to 8-Track for a good long ride back down to the Cove Bike Tent on the 2009 demo fleet that included the famous Cove Shocker, The STD, The Hustler and The Sanchez. You can jump to Pinkbike's Photo Album to see all the images from this event here.






The Northwest School of Freeride was there to scope the new Cove Hooker 4 inch Slopestyle Bike and campers were out for laps on 'Middle School' and 'Dropout' coming back with smiles. Several people came out for a test ride and I thank each and everyone who did attend. Shout out to Dirty Fingers and Discover Bikes for sending up riders..........






Events Coming Up!
Sept 12th and 13th is the Mt Hood Super D hosted by Momentum Bike's/Hurricane Racing. This race starts at the Timberline Lodge, rips down the sandy/rocky Glade Trail, to the Crosstown Trail to the famous Pioneer Bridle Trail and down to the 'tunnel' at the top of Kiwanis Camp Road. This is a long demanding trail and should turn into a world class event, almost 12 miles of descent and sweet singletrack awaits all DH/FR rigs,Trail Rigs,Hardtail XC and all grommies with disc brakes ...information for the event can be found here. You can preregister on Ski Bowl's website here. Entry fee is $50 bucks and that includes the shuttle service on Saturday for practice and the results and timing by Hurricane Racing are world class (they operate the NW Gravity Cup Series called The Fluidride Cup.) Stay for Raffle and Awards hosted by yours truly........should be a great race and the beginning of Oregon's most famous year of bike racing. Bring your cowbells!

Transition Bikes Features Dirty Fingers On Blog

Congrats to the crew at Dirty Fingers for scoring a great blog here on the Transition Bicycles website.....enjoy the read. And don't forget they host the Post Pint Hotlaps on every Thursday evening- more information can be found here.

Bike Races and Bike Demo's

Hey all- Just wanted to inform you all of 3 events this upcoming weekend. The Oregon State DH Championships and Fluidride Cup #4 are being hosted at Mt Hood Ski Bowl on July 10th, 11th and 12th. Double the points and double the pro prize purse.......

In Sandy Oregon, A Dual Stunt Event hosted by Momentum Bikes on Saturday July 11th. $20 Entry, Duplicate, side-by-side courses and 7 classes from Beginner to Pro's. Its held during the Sandy Mountain Days Festival at the Ceder Ridge Middle School.

But, here in Post Canyon on Sunday July 12th will be a Pivot Bicycles Demo at the Family Man Skills Area from 11am to 4pm.....FREE TO DEMO! But, you must provide a CC and ID to assure the guys you will return the bike. Tell Vic the GFRA sent ya- So get outside and enjoy the weekend, there's no excuses!!

Trail Work Day, June 27 - Cook's Meadow Trail

(From Ranger Jim Thornton)


Hello all,
I wanted to get the word out early about an upcoming trail work day. I know that the SuperD is happening on the same day at Post Canyon - hopefully this doesn't present too much of a conflict in folks' schedules.

National Trail Workday - Barlow Ranger District
Cook's Meadow Trail (along the FS44 road)
Saturday, June 27, 2009

Project:
This is new trail construction. We'll be hand-building new tread. The plan is to have the trail roughed in by autumn. June's work day is the first stab at it.

When and where:
Meet at 9am at Dog River Cycles in the town of Mt. Hood (on the west side of Hwy 35).


We'll group up, talk about the project, safety and figure out carpooling up to the trailhead. I'd think that we'd be up at the trailhead by 10am.

Please bring for your own safety, comfort and general happiness:
Lunch, water, long pants, hiking boots, gloves, bike helmet(or hardhat for you burly construction-worker types)

Tools to bring:
Rakes, shovels, picks or your favorite trail tool (wise trailmen mark their faves with tape or a sharpie). The USFS will provide some tools depending on the number of people.

Wrap things up:
Around 3pm

Things to remember:
It could be hot, it could be cold. It's June on the Mt. Hood National Forest. As of June 9, there is still 2 feet of snow on the 450 trail. Cell phone coverage is spotty at best up on the trail.

Hope to see you out on the trail,
Jim Thornton
USFS - Barlow RD

June 6th Super D 'Prep' Work Party

On Saturday, June 6th, 2009 we're holding a staff/volunteer/sponsor/athlete work party up on the Super D course. We will meet at the Binns Hill Staging Area at 10am.



Binns Hill Staging Area:

From I-84 eastbound take Exit 62. Turn right onto Oak Street. Make an immediate right turn onto Country Club Road and drive for ~6.1 miles. Drive through the intersection and make a right turn onto Binns Hill Road and drive for ~2.5 miles until the road turns into gravel. Travel for ~0.5 miles to the staging area. The staging area has two entrances on the right hand side of the road.



This work party is intended to get pertinent partners familiarized with the entire course and start/finish line areas and also understand roles, positions and race day logistics. Furthermore, we will be cleaning up all areas of the Super D footprint.



We will also be shuttling those who want to ride the course all day with our own vehicles and will most likely camp in the area that same night. This will build some good camaraderie going into the event.



Please contact Brandon if you have further questions or need help with anything.

Cheers,
Brandon Ontiveros
(503) 502-4531

Egghunt Gets A New Addition

Hello Hello,

I've replaced the jump after the Barn Door with the luminary help of Ryan Arndt Engineering/Euthenics and Design to make a feature more of us can truly enjoy after the already awesome sensation of the dropping off the Barn Door. The new design has a 22 foot radius with 5 feet of flat to the lip so your suspension can settle preventing being bucked. It was installed while being filmed yesterday and test ridden with four great riders with different styles from three countries, we feel the gap (13') is a suitable distance until I rebuild the landing. The new landing will be made out of wood with a safety platform and constructed in due time.

Enjoy the ride!

Douglas Johnson

End Of May Trail Report!

2 Chairs 2- New features to scope out-OPEN.
3 Blind Mice-OPEN.
X Chourus X-OPEN.
FMX Jump Line- ALL OPEN!
Hidden Trail to Borderline- ALL CLEAR! OPEN!
Egghunt- New Feature going in below 'Barn Door'- otherwise its OPEN!
Extended Play- SESSIONS NIGHTLY! OPEN!
8-Track- New features/ skinnies abound. come explore OPEN!
Lower GP- Lots of work on GP going on still, Its OPEN, but ride aware.
8-Track 'Basement'- Once again, the old lowest part of the OG 8-track is open.
Spag-Factory- (XC Route to Mitchell Ridge from Blue Car junction) Open, with re-routing up the 'Post Flats' ATV Staging Area. Only 15 minutes to 'Frankenstein' and another 3 minutes your at 'Postal and East Jesus'.
Drop Out- New Step-up jump, Elsmore is banging out the huge 'Grampa's Kitchen' Wallride. Ride this trail with care, projects on-going. Otherwise OPEN!
Middle School- Perfect, OPEN!
Frankenstein- At this time- TRAIL IS 80% OPEN. But drying up. New features being installed- so ride aware and in care.
East Jesus- No longer there- Decommissioned on April 13th 2009.
Postal and High Ball- Both are old, run-down, and lots of debris everywhere- currently under a full rennovation, CLOSED!'High Ball' will now be called 'East Jesus' as we felt mixing herion and cocaine isn't cool at all........
Family Man Skills Loop- OPEN! 'Rhythm Trail' Pumptrack is OPEN! Come bring out the hardtails and kids. Its a total hoot!
Psychosis DH- OPEN! Ride it with full armor and expect to go down! Big bikes only!!!


Donations of materials and cash are always welcome, contact us at gfra@gorge.net if you can contribute to the most amazing mountain bike destination that is 2nd to the Whistler Bike Park! If your tires are rolling, we doubt your frowning. See you on the trails!

Whoopee Trail Work Party Sat May 30th!

Just shooting a reminder out for the work party on the Whoopdee this Saturday 5/30 at 9AM.

We are working on a re-connection between the first little log bridge
near the Elder road starting point and about the second whoopdee. The new trail has been been 80% cleared using a DR brush hog but still needs tread work and more brush clearing.

We need as many people as we can get for this please. We can break up
into smaller groups so we need the experienced trail crew leaders as
well. I am there to work and learn how to work with larger groups and as
a crew leader so your help is appreciated.

We all need the whoopdee open. Even if it is not your favorite trail, we
need it to relieve pressure from Hospital Hill, Syncline and Post
Canyon. This trail is a couple of work parties from being open. It will be rough
but it could be open.

No wind Saturday so there goes half the excuses!!!

Put the word out.....See you there......Thanks

Steve Dunn

More info from the CAMBA website:
When: Saturday May 30th, 9:00 AM

Where: Whoopee Trail, about here: http://tinyurl.com/qph8wc. Look for
the white Sportsmobile Camper Van along Elder Road.

Why: To start the reconstruction of the missing piece of the Whoopee
trail.

We will be grubbing, clearing corridor and starting tread work. Tools
needed are pulaskies, mcleods, shovels, grub hoes, axes, loppers,
saws, etc.

Please bring water or the beverage of your choice, sunscreen, and wear
closed-toe-shoes and long pants - there is poison oak in this area!
We will be working for about 4 hours, and it will likely be a warm
day, so be prepared.

Please note that this is private land and if you are cross posting
this notice, we are NOT supposed to publish the location of this trail
- ask your friends to meet you early and bring them up. (And please,
by all means, ask your friends!)

The whole story:
The forest had a beetle infestation and the owners decided to do some
massive logging in order to remove the infected trees. Many parts of
the trail were obliterated - one chunk was turned into a logging
road. CAMBA has signed an MOU with the land owners and are working to
re-develop this trail while following the owner's few and reasonable
requests. By putting in a sustainable trail now, even using large
patches of clearcut, in a few years we will have a spectacular wooded
trail nearby. More details will be available from your crewleaders at
9am as we get ready to hit the trail.

'Rhythm Trail' is OPEN! (well, Phase One)

It brings me absolute joy to inform you all that the 'Rhythm Trail' at Family Man Skills Loop is complete and functional. I personally pumped myself silly today trying it out and its a total hoot. You can ride it both ways- clockwise and counter clockwise. I intend to fine tune the dirt in certain areas and make the area look a bit better. I still need to connect the drains and finish filling the drain holes with rock. I also plan to go back to the first berm and beef it up to accommodate all that speed you get from the first section of rollers. Enjoy 'Phase One'!







A video walk thru.......

Cam Run: 'Extended Play'

Enjoy this little ditty I filmed on 'Extended Play'.........

FMX is RE-BORN!

Late last fall- FMX was vandalized.


Repaired and ready to rip it up! (Thanks Douglas!!)

This post is dedicated to 'The Green Grinch' Max Miller!

FMX is officially re-open- both sides are flying again! Wear your armor kiddies!

Post Canyon MTB Trail Report for April 2009

Boys and Girls, Men and Ladies- Its time to announce the trail report for the MTB 'dedicated' trails. Here we go!

Snow is reported to be just above the 2 Chairs 2 and Blind Mice FR Trails. Be warned if you come down Binns Road Drop Off- could be nutty in the shade.
2 Chairs 2- Buff, Raked and Clean! OPEN.
3 Blind Mice- (New Trail!) 14 features with several snaking berms. Buffed, Raked and Clean! OPEN.
X Chourus X Buffed, Raked and Clean (there was a tree down above the rounda-bout, removed recently) OPEN.
FMX Jump Line- Right side is closed and under repair, all stunts are shut down. Leftside is OPEN!
Borderline- SNOW! CLOSED!
Egghunt- Raking is planned, its ride-able, 'Barn Door' is clear of snow. 'Never-ending Skinny' is still there- solid as ever. OPEN!
Extended Play- Fully re-born, 2nd Jump has added dirt and not so 'lippy' anymore- Hardtails are seen up there ripping it alongside FR/DH bikes- Best 24 seconds in Post Canyon. OPEN!
8-Track- New re-route is done, trail is OPEN!
Lower GP- Lots of work on GP going on, New re-route after 3 jumps into some sweet berms, step down's are going to change, ladder drop is closed and rotten, heard its coming down this evening for a new dirt jump over the tree. (HELL YEAH!) Lower step up is now allot safer and won't buck anyone anymore....then all the way down to Blue Car is the new sweet section of trail- lots going on there too. Its OPEN, but ride aware.
8-Track 'Basement'- Once again, the old lowest part of the OG 8-track is now open again and it now connects with a re-route to 'Sunday Driver' (Unofficial Name, if your riding behind a DH rig) to the SE corner of 'Family Man Skills Loop.'
Spag-Factory- (XC Route to Mitchell Ridge from Blue Car junction) Open, with re-routing up the 'Post Flats' ATV Staging Area. Only 15 minutes to 'Frankenstein' and another 3 minutes your at 'Postal and High Ball'.
Drop Out- Upper trail has new drop and updated first corner, rest of trail is open until you see the giant wallride. Most likely you will see Chris Elsmore diligently building a huge left turning wallride dubbed to be the largest wood structure in Post Canyon. Its OPEN, but ride with care!!!
Middle School- Perfect, OPEN!
Frankenstein- The only trail we advise for 'Experts and Pro' level riders. Armor and balls of steel required to safely make it to 'Seven Streams' in one piece. Several projects going on- At this time- TRAIL IS 80% OPEN.
East Jesus- No longer there- Decommissioned on April 13th 2009.
Postal and High Ball- Both are old, run-down, and lots of debris everywhere- currently under a full rennovation, CLOSED!
Family Man Skills Loop- OPEN! Work is progressing along on the added 'Rhythm Trail' Pumptrack and should be complete by middle of May for the next GFRA Trail report!


If I missed anything, feel free to leave a comment below. Donations of material, clean fill dirt, and financial contributions are always welcome. Contact the area builders at gfra@gorge.net to discuss your bike 'karma!' Ride aware, ride with care.

*FREE* 2009 Columbia Cascades Trail Skills College Planned For June 5th,6th and 7th.

This little tidbit of trailbuilding news comes from Jill Van Winkle of CAMBA:

Hey everyone,

PCTA and Trailkeepers of Oregon are putting on a trail skills training workshop in Cascade Locks. Please check out the website to see if you're interested. A great opportunity to work with the hiking and equestrian communities, while also getting great training, including first aid certification and/or chainsaw certification.

Happy Trails,
-Jill

Kreps Cows Return To Syncline

I just received an email from CAMBA's Ann McDonald regarding the current conditions over at Syncline.

The cows are in at Hospital Hill 4/6/09. Please don't park at the corral during this time period. Today 5 cars parked there even with all the cattle rigs in sight. It really annoyed the Kreps. We want to be able to ride while the cows are in the pasture, so let all your friends know to not park there right now! Also, they have posted no dogs during this period. Thanks.

Thanks for the heads up Ann!

Hood River County Approves Hi-Speed Quad In Post Canyon!

In an amazing 9-0 vote today, a high speed quad person chairlift will be installed starting April 1st 2009. The Mt Hood National Forest has sanctioned Post Canyon as the next "Whistler-like" Bike Park and local businesses are celebrating. Local bike shop owner Wags Histail said this to GFRA News "We already have sales on season passes!" The local bike community is allowed to purchase a lifetime pass for $1000. Only 100 of them will be sold, after that- day passes will be $64 with proof of health insurance and yearly passes will be $1500. We are looking for volunteer 'Bike Patrolers' and lift attendants.

Cedric Gracia has reportedly wired his paperwork to secure his lifetime pass and several other top MTB'er such as:
Wade Simmons, Paul Bas, Brandon Semenuk, Cam McCaul, Tyler McCaul, Kyle Strait, Cameron Zink, The Athertons, Steve Peat, Sam Hill and Steve Smith (US Open DH Champ).

The chair will be operated by soley on 'green' power from the John Day Wind Farms.

Post Canyon Clean Up Day April 18th!

It will be Saturday April 18th , the meeting point will be the lower Seven Streams kiosk at 8am. Bring gloves, water and expect to find some interesting treasure troves.

Jason Wells Work Party For March 29th!

Come out and learn from IMBA's Chief Of Trailbuilding Guru Jason Wells this Sunday March 29th from 9am to Noon. In his own words to me he wrote "This will be educational and fun for down hill, freeride, and xc riders. I want to connect lower gp to spaghetti factory and fill in some berms and jumps."

Bring Gloves, Water and your tool of choice (Pulaski, McClouds, Lopers, Handsaws, etc) and help finish one of the most anticipated trails this year!

Meet at Family Man lot!

Work Party For March 28th-UPDATE!

EDITED AND CORRECTED INFO AS FOLLOWS:
Douglas Van Zandt will be leading a re-route on the 'Spaggetti Factory' trail this Sat March 28th.

All, I'm having a work party!
We may be loosing miles in some places, but we are gaining in others. Come help grow the miles in
your back yard! Spaghetti Factory in Post Canyon is growing - by a 1/3 of a mile.

When:Saturday the 28th (of March) from 9am to 1pm
Meeting Place: Post Canyon Drive/ 7-streams trail head where pavement meets the dirt.
Tools needed - Polaskis (most important) axe or hatchet, hand saws, pick mattox, mcLeods, and your gloves and safety glasses. If you have a special tool to remove root balls bring that.
Goal for the day - get the vine maple root balls that are in the way out of there. If that gets knocked out there is some more tread work to do.


What is the trails current status? The route has been completely brushed out, initial tread work has been done on 85%.
What is left after the work party? 2 to 3 more work parties:
1) Final tread work day and prep or do work party 2 depending on the turnout
2) crib wall building, closing of the old trail and opening up the new section day. The new trail
crosses the old trail in three places and we need to build some structure to make that happen.
3) trail decommissioning day - as part of the requirements to add miles we need to decommission
sections of old trails or roads. It is relatively easy and the sections are already identified.

Come help grow your trail system!
Douglas Van Zandt
--

Below is a tip I found on IMBA's website to control erosion. Its this months "Trailbuilding Tip Of The Week!" , enjoy.

Hood River County Trails Meeting Reminder!

We have a Forest Recreation Trails Committee meeting scheduled for next Tuesday 3-24-09 at 4:00pm in the Forestry Department Conference Room. It should be an interesting meeting and I hope everyone can attend!

Let me know if you have any questions.


Henry D. Buckalew
Trails Coordinator/Forest Technician II
Hood River County Forestry Department
office: (541) 387-7089

30 Days Of Silence-Interrupted

Sorry for not updating the blog. Its been a very busy time for all trailbuilders in the area. I took some photos to show you all how its looking out here..........enjoy! 

Lots of work on 'Grand Prix' by Jason Wells (from what I've personally seen) this trail will be most popular for the upcoming 2009 'dust bunnie' season. Notice the new shape of a take-off. 

And notice the nice new landing area. 

Extended Play looks like a snowboard terrain park with no snowboarders...............or skiers. 

Table-top town or is it 'Extended Play's' last 3 gaps? Where's my snow sled? 

Entry into 'Grand Prix' has changed a little...........I wonder if Wells will make this into a skinny?

As of this posting- No official "Work Parties" are planed. 

Donations are accepted, if your able to donate materials or monetary contributions please contact the GFRA at gfra@gorge.net

 

CAMBA Calls For Meeting Regarding Syncline Mountain Biking

                 photo by Carl Warren

Sorry about the short notice, but we have scheduled a meeting to discuss the Syncline and any other local bike issues that need attention.

When:  Thursday, Feb. 12
When:  5:30 PM
Where: Double Mountain brew pub

We hope to see you there for an in-depth discussion of the proposed management plan for the Syncline and how it will affect mountain biking in the area. 

Source Kay Kucera, CAMBA

Columbia Area Mountain Biking Association