The Salsa Warbird Ti was a great bike choice for 85% of the route. 40mm tires bogged down in the soft gravel but overall the setup was light (42lbs with full camping gear and water) and fast.
As soon as I saw Donnie and Gabe’s pictures from their Outback scouting trip last year I knew I’d be at the starting line for the event. I’ve done a bit of bikepacking and plenty of long rides, but 360 miles of mostly unpaved roads is still a hell of an undertaking and this year it turned out to be a bit more than I could handle in the three days I allotted.
I rode 300 miles in three days and called it quits due to nagging pains and family commitments, but still had a great ride on a great route and you can bet I’ll be there again next year.
My ride in pictures:
Rolling out of Klamath Falls on the paved section of the Oc&E trail
The OC&E trail has about a million cattle gates.
120miles in to my day and ready for food at the world-famous Cowboy Dinner Tree
32oz steak. This was also breakfast and lunch on day two
First night’s camp in Silver Lake community park
The Etowah gear sil-nylon tarp makes a great shelter as long as it’s not too cold or buggy. 11oz for tarp and stakes
A guy from Hutch’s bikes in K-Falls took this picture of me “holding” Fort Rock
The long mellow descent into Fort Rock Valley, tucked in behind the bar bag for aero advantage.
After Fort Rock the riding was hard for about 50 miles and I suffered too much to shoot photos. This was when I finally hit pavement on the Crooked River highway. Still had 25 miles of headwinds before Prineville at mile 102.
After dinner #1 I stopped at the quick-stop for more recovery drinks and food.
After Prineville I knew I wouldn’t finish in 3 days so I hooked up with a great crew for a more mellow pace and rode 70 miles to Shaniko. Thanks for the miles Tyler, Jessica, Joe and other guy whose name I forget.
Tyler shredding the 10 mile gravel descent out of the Ochocos
After the descent the road tilted up for a while and we ground out the miles.
There were some beautiful views looking north along lower Trout Creek.
The road dipped through a valley then climbed to Divide road and the best views of the entire trip.
The end of the line for me in Shaniko. See you next year on The Oregon Outback
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