And I need a rest. The insanity began May 28. Today is my first day doing “nothing” (I rode 36 miles, did 1568 chores, worked an hour, and spent far too long putting this post together).

Sisters Stampede

Kind of got duped by a teammate on this one, but I’m happy for it. “Mike, sign up for this Sunday afternoon race. I’ll drive.” I did. Later into the week she informs me she’s leaving mid-day Friday. Whaaaat? New job and no thanks anyway. I ended up driving myself 🙂 A+ dupage (new word).

I didn’t know what to expect as I’d not ridden in the area or in any real mountain bike race in years and years and years. Things turned out pretty well with a 13th place finish. I was really strong on the flats and uphills, but wasn’t skilled enough and didn’t have the right tires for the sandy descents. I’d laugh with the folks around me as we’d blow by each other depending on whether the terrain was going up or down.

Good race, super dusty, and pretty hot. Next year I’ll show up on some knobbier tires and things should go much more smoothly.

McKenzie River/Pass/Trail Camping and Riding

Then the next week… Each year my team spends a long weekend at Paradise Campground on the McKenzie River. I arrived first out of everyone because I wanted to get a lot of mountain biking in, and I did, finishing the weekend with three mountain rides and one road ride over a mountain (McKenzie Pass to Sisters and back). The weekend included a few dips in the ice cold river to bathe, and a visit to Belknap Hot Springs for a proper cleaning. I’ve concluded that this place and weekend are some of my favorite things in the world.

White Salmon and Klickitat Rafting

Then the next week… Each year Chris puts together a water-based trip. Before him, his dad did so it’s been a very long tradition. We used to canoe and camp on the Rappahanock, which happened about ten times, but then Chris moved to Seattle and at was the end of it. When I moved to Portland, the tradition was reborn, with this being the second West Coast edition. We’ve also gone from canoeing to white water rafting as well. More intense, less overall effort, probably more fun.

This year we hit the White Salmon and Klickitats with Wet Planet. The two days couldn’t have been more different. The White Salmon was a half day in big things with more time to rest in-between, and in an unforgiving granite gorge. The Klickitat was a full day of endless small rapids and some amazing scenery. I greatly preferred the latter, and not merely for the chili bread bowl lunch that was supplied.

The first night we spent in Hood River being boys – visiting all the breweries and riding our bikes down steps and all over curbs. Lots of fun.

The second night we spent just inside Gifford Pinchot at Moss Creek Campground. I got to try out my new hammock and went on a super casual mountain bike ride with no destination in mind. I ended up climbing a mountain via a gas pipeline, found a nice clearing, and kind of turned my brain off laying in the grass taking in the scenery and the fact that there wasn’t a human likely within miles of me.

Stub Stewart Camping

Then the next week… I spent Friday night at Stub Stewart because I could. Left work a touch early and was at and setup in camp by 6pm.

The camp was hike-in, which was a first for me and very cool. My particular campsite was in a cluster of about six, which were all booked, but none of the others showed up so there was a massive space and shared firepit for yours truly.

The next morning, made breakfast and coffee, and went out for a mountain bike ride. The trails were super slippery and more difficult than their markings would lead you to believe, which was frustrating and not as fun as it should have been.

On the way back to town Saturday afternoon had an outstanding lunch at a hole in the wall in Banks and picked up some fresh berries because that’s what you do around here. Nice little way to break out of work on a Friday and to welcome in the weekend.

Mount St. Helens – Worm Flows Summit Hike

Then the next week… I took Dad and organized a group of 17 others to go up Mount St. Helens via the Worm Flows Route.

The 8-10 hour hike ended up taking Dad and me 16 with a finish at midnight. Suffice to say, it was a difficult day but it is done and I couldn’t be prouder of him for making the summit and making it back down to tell the tale. Yes, that was questionable at points.

The Worm Flows route is the winter route and starts you another two miles down the mountain from the summer route I’d taken previously. The bottom 3/4 of the route differs as well, taking you through a nice area of falls and water flows.

Overlooking the challenges specific to our hike, the winter route felt much easier and will likely be my preference when I hike again. The snow is much more predictable than the loose sand/dust found in the summer. More snow also means more glissading too.

Dad and Karen Visit

The same week… Dad and Karen came to visit. I don’t think he’s been in town for a year and a half so I gave him considerable grief over that. With my new job I wasn’t able to spend too much time with them, but I think that was best for all as they got to explore on their own and at their own pace. Of course, I provided them detailed itineraries for each day – in town, Coast, Gorge, and wine. I got to join them for the wine wine and even coaxed them into become members of a winery too. A++ for me getting all the benefits of that.

I think they had a pretty good time so hopefully they’ll be back sooner rather than later. I certainly laid the bait with two vegetarian dinners (Karen is an OG veg) and the day of wine, both of which Dad surprisingly seemed to enjoy. The man is turning a new leaf in his mid 60s. It’s good to see.

Other

In the meantime, a lot of racing has been going on and it has been going very well. I’ve been focusing on my diet (no, not “dieting”) very well and am down six pounds in the past month. Four more to go for Leadville target! More on racing and diet to come.

Next

Last night was “goodbye” to Dad and Karen, today I’m catching up on all the things, first weekend in July is a two day race in Bend, Fourth of July I’m hiking Mount Adams (12k+), middle of July is a road trip to Tahoe for a 100k mountain bike race/test/corral qualifier, and mid August is a road trip to Leadville for the main event. In September I’ll take a nap, but not for too long because ‘cross season.