Growlers Gulch Racing Hits MBO

For the second consecutive year, Growlers Gulch Racing had the most riders – and bash guards – at the July 16th-19th session of Mountain Bike Oregon in Oakridge. Seventeen GGR riders or affiliates made the trip.

Disclaimer – I received plenty of shots of the campground, the bus, and the beer garden but relatively few of anyone actually riding a bike. I know this might come as a shock to you, but – in typical Growlers fashion – none of the slackers were willing to stop long enough to dig their cameras out of their packs.

Thursday – Larison Rock & Salmon Creek 

Sam schools Eric at Larison Rock

Paul, Mel, Jeff, Dara, Rob, Lance, and Jack – along with Paul and Mel’s friends Vern and Kim from Tuscon – rolled in on Wednesday night to set up camp. Eric, Sam, Dave, and I met them Thursday morning.

Randy from MBO shuttled us to Larison Rock. Once you got out of the van, there was no pedaling. You simply pointed your bike down the trail and let gravity have its way. The tread was narrow but in great shape. We jetted through old growth – at least I remember trees of some type whizzing by – for six wonderful miles. The big exposure freaked Kim out, but to her credit she managed to hang on and ride it out.

After lunch, we did an out-and-back along Salmon Creek. It was only 10-12 miles but well worth the pedal. The tread was great and Salmon Creek is as beautiful as Siouxon.

Salmon Creek cool down

That evening, Mike Patterson, Clayton from Spokane, Mike, Denise, Monte, Ann, and Monte’s nephew Tyler showed up.  Mike, Denise, Jeff, Dara, Tyler, and I hit the local pump track.

An eight-year-old kid on his mom’s commuter bike thought he was going to put the hammer down on me, but I edged him on a tricky corner right near the end of the run.

Friday – Alpine/Tire Mountain/Winberry

Dave on the Alpine Trail

Instead of doing the standard Alpine run again this year, we opted for the “advanced” ride. On the bus ride up, we connected with Gwen and Will from Portland, who were still talking about Native American expert Paul Norris’ 2008 explanation of the correct pronuncation of “Puyallup.” This year, Paul lectured on the origins of the  ”Tillicum” tribe.

We stayed on Alpine through the Jedi section, then turned onto Tire Mountain. By that time, one guy who evidently wasn’t “advanced” had already been sent back because he was lagging so badly. 

What a beautiful, flowing trail. Eric, Monte, Jeff and the other guys in the front group were screaming.

The temp was in the low- to mid-90s and by the time we reached the tough climbs on Winberry, people could feel it. We had one minor glitch – Denise “Wrongway” Livingston got separated from her group. She eventually re-connected with them, but by then Mike, Mel, Sam, and Kim were looking for our lost puppy.

Fortunately, everyone made it back safely.

Tire Mountain

Our guide said we descended 4,800 feet and climbed 2,100 feet over 17.2 miles. We all agreed that it seemed like a much longer ride.

That night, we hit the beer garden – Ninkasi Total Domination IPA on tap – and stayed up late talking about nothing and laughing until our stomachs hurt.

By now, it was clear that Monte’s newphew Tyler was not an average 15-year-old. All of us were gassed but Tyler was doing stunts in the parking lot. That kid is already dangerous!

Saturday – Middle Fork

Jeep on the Middle Fork. No broken crank. No broken thumb. No broken chain.

We celebrated immediately when we saw that we again had Fast Eddie as our bus driver. Eddie knows only one speed – wide open. We could have used suspension on our bus seats because every time Eddie hammered through a pothole people were whacking their heads on the ceiling.

The upper-third of the Middle Fork ride was not Growlers friendly. To her credit, “Wrongway” Livingston actually stayed on the same trail the rest of us were riding. Unfortunately, she did not stay on her bike.

She wisely dismounted on the first of two loose, steep switchbacks, then inexplicably tried to get back on just before the second one. This did not work well. She generated enough speed to make the corner but her front wheel hit a big rock and she went over the bars hard.

I was following her. When I noticed that she was still semi-conscious, I considered riding on. Then I saw that she was bleeding from the nose and chin and not bouncing up real quickly so I decided to stop. One of the guides came along to babysit her and get her out to the pavement. She ended up being shaken but fine.

Mike’s comment? “This is just another day for Denise.”

In most cases, tree hugging is not a crime against nature.

I immediately got on Jack’s wheel and transferred the bad karma to hit. He lost his line on a creek crossing, whammed into a stub and went over the bars. Bike and rider survived with only minimal damage.

Not long after that, Jack, Monte and I all got stung by yellowjackets. Monte looked a little out of it after hitting himself with the Epi-Pin, but he got back on his bike and kept rocking.

Lance lost his camera when he attempted a left-side step-out in an area with a big left-side drop. It’s amazing how far a 62-year-old can roll.

Middle Fork

After being on his best behavior on Friday, Dave reverted to 2008 form on Saturday. About seven of us got stuck behind a guy in his 30s with small-man syndrome. He couldn’t make hills and when he got off, we couldn’t get by. Then he’d get back on and it would all start over again.

Dave made several rude and unwarranted comments about the guy’s parentage. Finally, after several miles of us hanging half-an-inch off his wheel, he got flustered and pulled over. We didn’t see him again until we were drinking a PBR in the parking lot (Sometimes you take what they give you).

GG Racing working hard at the beer garden

Everybody put the hammer down on the fast, flowy 10-15 miles near the bottom. At about the 25-mile mark of the 30-32 mile ride, we started riding people down. It made all the pain f the 5K and REA almost worth it.

Sunday – Hardesty and Larison Creek

Jack at Larison Creek

We split up on Sunday. Monte, Tyler, Eric, Vern, Jeff, Dara, and Paul did the big, sweet DH at Hardesty.

Jack, Rob, Lance, Mel, Kim, Dave, Mike, Denise and I hit Larison Creek for about a 10-mile out-and-back.

The tread at Larison was sweet and the trees along the lake were huge. We were all a little tired, but about a mile in the usual behavior kicked in, the pace picked up, and we hit the climbing hard. The ride back to the car was snappy and fun.

Notes: Dara “Hardball” Hartman moved that GGR adopt the tagline We don’t play well with others. There was no objection. Dave and Rob were unanimously elected as our poster children . . . Lance insulted the guys at the local brewery when he declined one of their brews – which he’d been offered for free – and said he’d rather pay for an Alameda IPA . . . We got a wave and a nod from the legendary Jeff Jones of Jones Bikes . . . We kicked the celebration into even higher gear on Saturday night when we learned that Darrell and Chase Jamieson had won national DH championships in Sol Vista, Colorado . . . We told Tyler he needed to delete everything he heard during the weekend and that he was absolutely not allowed to tell his parents about anything discussed during the evening GGR get-togethers . . . Paul said there was nothing for Tyler to forget. “It was like being on a Bible retreat,” he said . . . During our four days at MBO, several people we rode with said, “Who’s that guy in the white helmet (Eric)?” Oddly, they were having trouble keeping up with him . . . Despite rumors to the contrary, Denise did not get lost in the beer garden . . . Jack’s tent – the Taj Mahal – drew rave reviews until the Loneys pulled in and set up the outdoor equivalent of the Trump Towers . . . Paul raised the eyebrows of two girls on the Middle Fork shuttle with an accounting of the writing on the wall of the men’s restroom, which involved a green Ford and several sexual activities that are illegal in all 50 states and the District of Columbia . . . On Sunday, Patterson emerged from his den.

Video of Larison Rock DH:

Mountain Bike Oregon from Jason on Vimeo.