The Oregon Stampede is ON!

Oregon's best one-day gravel ride is happening again this September 12. As in years before there will be camping the night before and the night after at the Deschutes River State Recreation Area and we will be bringing out the post-ride brews. The route is an awesome 127 miles of gravel and pavement with beautiful views, heady climbs and screaming descents.

We will likely be riding the route Clockwise again this year, because it's nice to roll through Dufur on the last third of the ride for bottle fills and ice-cream sandos.

Check out Velodirt for route info and we'll see you out there.

The Gifford Gravel 50 - aka the Ice Cold Hot Case 8000

New dirt road rides and routes are popping up all over the place. May 2 will see the first "official" running of The Gifford Gravel 50 in the mountains Northwest of Vancouver WA. Last weekend, I went and rode the route with shop buddies Howard and Brendan. It quickly became apparent that the GPS track's promised 57 miles and 6.5k of climbing were going to prove inaccurate. Also, there was a bit more snow at 4,000 ft than we bargained for. Despite taking a bigger bite than we planned, the day turned out to be nice and the route is great. Tough, but abounding with awesome views of SW Washington and the high Cascade volcanoes. This is one to go and check out, as long as you pack some big tires (35mm+) and plenty of H20 or water treatment.

Howard and Brendan

Starting the day with a cool spin through some timberlands

Climb 1.2

The first 12 miles of the route point steadily uphill

Kitty?

A big bobcat? A small Cougar?

Skiddz for Dayzzz

Decent Descents

Climb Time

The route manages to squeeze in a number of punchy bonus climbs.

The road ahead

Unlike so many rides in the area, your can see the road across the valley.

Reaearch Groups : Goons

Portrait of a Dirt Roadie Pt. 1

Will there be more climbing?

Yes.

Snow Problem

Snow Day

Snowzone Layer

The high zone

Ripping Down

Back in the temperate rainforest

By the end of the day, we were all a bit chilly, tired from 8k of climbing and dreaming about the cheap hot case food in Yacolt. Here's the route if you like. May 2 is the "official" ride day.

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Surly Disc Dirt Speed Trucker

We like the Surly Disc Trucker, but sometimes feel the sweet geometry of this big stable sled is hampered by the overtly robust build. Sure, it's great if you're touring to Tierra del Fuego or Outer Mongolia, but for so many folks Truckin' around Portland, the bike is a little pokier than it oughtta be. So we took a 54cm 26" wheel Trucker frame and shod it with slightly larger 650b wheels and some big fast cushy 650x2.0 tires. Also, hydraulic brakes for when you're trucking a little fast. It ended up not so-heavy and way more fun to jam around town (and maybe on dirt) than the standard Disc Trucker. Sure you might want more gears and heavier duty bits if you're going to the end of the Earth but for sporty daylong expeditions on roads with any kind of surface this is stable fast and fun. This was a shop build done in Fall 2014 and sold sometime thereafter.

Build Highlights

• Downtube Shifters and 2x10 drivetrain with 1x1 low gear.
• TRP Hylex full hydraulic brakes
• Shimano/DT Swiss 650b wheelset
• Custom decal treatment