Surveyor's ridge

Two mountain bike rides in two days here in Hood River. The first was a short but fun one up Post Canyon, which boasts several miles of pump-track style buttery smooth singletrack along a creek. After a bit of a climb up out of the canyon, we reached a playground of teeter-totters, skinnies, and log rides. Ccup rode many of them, and I watched, very impressed. Both of us were impressed by two locals hucking it huge off of some 15-foot drops. WOW. Back in town, after a yummy fish dinner with bike racing friends (they're doing the Mount Hood Cycling Classic, a burly 5-day stage race. Go team!), we stayed at a yucky motel with cheetah-patterned bed sheets. I think we'll camp from now on. Today: Epic mountain bike ride: 5hrs, 23miles, >3000 ft climbing, perfect weather. It started with a grunt of a climb for the first couple hours up the Dog River, followed by a lovely ridge ride on Surveyor's Ridge with meandering climbs and fun twisty descents. We were treated with stellar views of Mt Hood all day: it was huge, triangular, glaciery, and right in our faces just across the valley. And that's right, we forgot the camera. OOPS! After about 10 miles of ridge running on smooth forest duff, we headed down Oak Ridge for a hair-raising descent on loose rock/sandy switchbacks. We made it back to the car just in time to miss the squall moving in off the mountain. Lovely views of Mt. Adams on the drive back to town. After a delicious dinner with friends and homemade ice cream, we are spent! Looks like a rest day is ahead of us tomorrow.