North Umpqua, Dread & Terror with bonus Hot Springs!

The ADD version:
More Dread than Terror.

The real version:
My plans to ride the Lewis this weekend fell through on Monday. Cruising
through mtbr (yes, JD, please spank me) I espied an announcement of a ride
on the N Umpqua Dread & Terror section for this weekend. I've been
wanting to scope it out as a possible location for a reunion tour for some
college mtb buddies, so hopped on the trip.

(Note: Dread & Terror is named after the Dread & Terror ridge above the
trail, although a lot of people apply the terms to the trail itself as
well.)

The Dread: Perusing the trail map, I discovered that the "Dread & Terror"
section was rated "Expert." Yeesh. I'd heard various reports from "piece
of cake" to "you will die if you ride that!" so was a bit flustered the
night before.

The Terror: Sat morning I met up with JB and Charlie, my group for the
day. We picked up two others in the parking lot, but they bailed after a
couple of miles because they had to get back to their family (IOW had to
get back and lie in the sun & drink beer & fish. ). Group of 5 & a
starting time within 15 minutes of the appointed mark - can't beat that!

The D&T section is overall downhill, but there is quite a bit of climbing.
I love those uphill switchbacks. This trail is dead-on gorgeous - big
trees, flowers, blue sky, pounding water, blah blah blah, classic Oregon
singletrack *yawn* right? The rhodies are in bloom now - get 'em while
they're hot - orchids too, and there are bluebells & bleeding heart down
along the river.

We rode the D&T plus the Hot Springs section (baby-butt smooth singletrack
through some big trees) in just over 4 hours, which includes a couple of
meal stops, a busted-chain stop, and a baker's dozen photo ops.

Many thanks to JB's lovely wife for doing shuttle bunny duty & having cold
water for us at the end of the ride!

----
Trail notes:
This trail is exposed. However, there were really only two short sections
where the exposure bothered me. Those two sections were both sand/gravel
and pretty much washed out - it was "point the bike & pray" but they were
only about 15 feet long. Honestly, I think the Gorge 400 Trail & Dog
River have worse exposure overall.

It is technically challenging, but JB and I agreed that it did not seem as
difficult as the top 7 miles of the MRT. Probably because it was not as
unrelentingly technical as the MRT. In all but a couple of sections, you
have plenty of time to recover between roots & short rock gardens. The
exceptions: there are two spots where springs run on the trail for quite
a ways. This makes for some slippery rocks. The water's nice & cold &
good to wash off all the mud you've accumulated.

Speaking of mud - there was a lot of it. Come prepared with plenty of
chain lube & tires that shed mud well. Trail conditions vary widely
though; we hit mud, perfect pine duff, sand, and ashy dirt, sometimes all
within 100 yards, so stay alert.

I was a bit disappointed in the Treadmaps map of the area. (A big
thank-you to the guys at Fundamental Bikes in Roseburg for holding a copy
for me!) I was expecting a bit more topo detail (hard to figure out what
the elevation line increments were), an explanation of the rating system,
and perhaps close-up views of tricky trail intersections.

"gabrielle" wrote in message
news
The ADD version:
More Dread than Terror.


Trail "x" eh?

maybe when I've recovered we can do it...

"gabrielle" wrote in message
news
The ADD version:
More Dread than Terror.

snip good stuff

Many thanks to JB's lovely wife for doing shuttle bunny duty & having cold
water for us at the end of the ride!

water? harummmphhhhhhh.

where was the Obsidian?

JB needs to have a talk with that girl........

Gary

gabrielle wrote:
The ADD version:
More Dread than Terror.
snip good report as always

Your reports are always so thorough. It really gives one a good sense
of the ride.

Is MRT really that technical? I'll be there in August. what do you
mean by technical? Rocks I can deal with, exposure sickens me.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

Ride-A-Lot wrote:
gabrielle wrote:

The ADD version:
More Dread than Terror.

snip good report as always

Your reports are always so thorough. It really gives one a good sense
of the ride.

Is MRT really that technical? I'll be there in August. what do you
mean by technical? Rocks I can deal with, exposure sickens me.


Top is very technical, no exposure, lava rocks. There are small
sections of exposure later but they're very buff, fast trails and I
don't think the slope is steep enough for you to get sick. I'm in the
same boat as you with exposure and MRT is a piece of cake exposure-wise.
There are very few times you get up-and-away from the river.

The top, however, is a pointy, abrasive tech rock-fest in a couple of
places. It would be a nicer ride if there was a little more stuff like
that in the bottom two thirds.

Oh, yeah, I assume you guys mean McKenzie River Trail by MRT.

http://www.2fortheroad.net/2002trip/blaine_cyn.html

This is a smooth section up towards the top but as you can see, both
sides of the trail here are lined with volcanic rock. Most of the time
your doing little pitches up and over the stuff.

Greg

--
"All my time I spent in heaven
Revelries of dance and wine
Waking to the sound of laughter
Up I'd rise and kiss the sky" - The Mekons

On Sun, 25 Jun 2006 19:39:34 -0700, GeeDubb wrote:

where was the Obsidian?

Oh man, you got me *totally* hooked on that stuff! The Obsidian was back
at my cabin in the fridge. I came away with the impression nobody was
interested in beer but me.

gab

On Sun, 25 Jun 2006 22:52:35 -0400, Ride-A-Lot wrote:

Is MRT really that technical? I'll be there in August. what do you mean
by technical? Rocks I can deal with, exposure sickens me.

First mile is lovely, mostly roots IIRC, then you head into the lava beds
around Clear Lake. Penny has a picture somewhere of my leg with a
big ol' goose egg on it & some blood. After that you have lots of
step-uppy type rock gardens and they are pretty thick.

Let me know when you're there, if I'm around I'll come ride it with ya.

gab

On Sun, 25 Jun 2006 18:42:32 -0700, small change wrote:

maybe when I've recovered we can do it...

Yeah, let's head down there for a few days. I want to check out some
other sections as well.

gab

On Sun, 25 Jun 2006 20:56:50 -0700, G.T. wrote:

The top, however, is a pointy, abrasive tech rock-fest

pointy & abrasive. I like that.

gab