Stop Trail Sanitizing

There is a growing trend in MacDonald Forest that is very disturbing, that of "trail sanitizing."  It started last year when someone destroyed the jump on Endo, but in the last few months Bombs Away, The Tower Trail, and Poison Ivy have all had long time log crossing obstacles removed from the trail.  These are "unofficial" trails that are not maintained by OSU, so it must be someone from the Mountain Bike community.  These are logs that be came part of the trail, and for years riders have gotten better learning to clear them.  Now it is not a trail with character, but just something you fly through (which isn't always the best).  Who ever it is, please ask before doing something that drastic.

11 Days of Fun

One of the things I like about mountain biking in and around Corvallis is that you can do it all year long.  I have friends and family in other parts of the country who have to put their bikes away in the winter, but not here.  So over the Christmas holidays I had 11 days off and went riding every day but Sunday.  I still kept my same schedule of 7:00 a.m. rides and Thursday night ride.  The weather was very cold for Corvallis, in the 20's which resulted in getting "frost nip" on one toe, which was interesting because I wasn't out more than two hours at a time (swelled and turned red like a blood blister, but didn't turn black, and felt like some one had stepped on it).

I was able to ride Christmas morning and New Year's morning, in snow, rain, clear nights and cold mornings. Sometimes with great friends and sometimes by myself, and all of it fun.  Some rides were long, some short, and some were on the Single Speed, but it was worth it for the views and getting outside. I even found a few new trails. The result was over 75 miles of riding and 10,000 feet of climbing.  Another great thing about mountain biking in Corvallis are the great views you have, the hard thing is trying to capture them. Here are a few shots, it was a great way to end and start the new year.

From the Saddle to Dimple



Top of Dan's



Perfect

Are we in Corvallis?