Figuratively my body. Why I call Bend a “Repair Stop”. I have done enough time and made connections here to go to providers, I am an established patient / customer. Van has new remanufactured transmission and drive shaft to enable its true 284,000 miles nature. Import Performance here is the van’s care giver with its history. I am known at chosen bike shops, The Hub Cyclist is the Revel dealer plus fixers of bike woes. Medical community: I’m am established patient now which opens access to specialists to further care. Elbow Dave is preferred PT as needed. Dentist.

Wobbling:

My headache continues. Head to be CT examined next week. Soon to be requested is Ears, Nose, Throat exam. appointment will be when? How far out? Presently on short term steroid to see if relieves pain from possible sinus infection. Head ache is annoying but not limiting or having a noticeable effect.

Big WOBBLE:

During Sunday’s solo ride up on Road 44 trails I tore a meniscus on my right knee. Maybe for years this knee would sometimes act like it was compressed like a finger that would respond by pulling on it. My leg seemed that way at times that if I would extend my leg the leg would “grow”. Suffice it to write that it has had a history of popping sounds. Mostly noticeable when pedaling with seat lowered and englishing a turn. which is when the tear occurred. Pain low level, no swelling or locking, or tenderness. Just pain. I rode Storm King climb etc listening to pain signals of which there was a slight almost constant pedaling burn. I needed qualified medical evaluation.

Discovery:

A local orthopedic clinic has an urgent care clinic to which I entered their system, now treated as a patient, on Thurs after laundry. X Rays taken and examined. PA manipulated my leg, learned of what might have happened, and read X Rays. 1) said my knees are in excellent condition for my age, knee is stable. One clinical move he made caused pain and grit. 2) Short story is I have a small meniscus tear on right knee. Suggestion is to leave well enough alone to learn if my to be gentler care will heal the tear. If not a look under the hood by MRI. I googled condition finding and reading many of them. Their take was see if tear heals, only if stronger knee signals are sent such as locking or swelling would suggest MRI. Treatment for me is to rest it 4 to 6 weeks.

Treatment:

Stay off my feet as a steady state and not use my leg. Maybe use it but at lower stress performance. Today I rode a piece of Catch and Release from anchor spot out and back listening to my knee. I have low level pain now this evening. Will the tear heal under reduced ride time maybe every other day and shorter miles. Or, will I really have to drop anchor and recover?

Prognosis:

I need to occupy my time from the time I get up to the time I go to bed. Mountain biking has been that time consumer and to the exclusion of just about everything else. I read a bit. I have completed three extended recovery episodes so I have experience. This one is giving me the willies as it affects my legs and my mobility. I am able to amuse myself in the small space of my van, carrying water is possible issue. Getting it is also added. I could anchor on my property to sit which spends no $ on expensive diesel. I could road trip tourist and spend money. Fall is here, winter is coming on. Bend is easy living.

To do:

Ride less frequently, shorter distances. And only pedal when seat fully up and don’t  english leg moves.

Still in upper 70s here and chilling enough for heater supplied comfort. 8:23 PM, 3932′ the temp is 53 degrees. No wind. Open side door that I will now slide shut and switch on heater at lower setting. Sundown 6:09, sunrise 7:03. October 7.

Cedar Creek fire is becoming more contained which is reducing number of fire putter outers. This fire is more create defensible space and let fire burn to it, back fire as conditions permit. Not all of periphery, there was line created either my backs or machines. Lots of fuel and steep terrain. Oakridge trails will be west of town. Appears that Dead Mountain trail burned again, hence the mountain’s name. Waldo is toast.

This spring after I destroyed my SRAM GX derailleur, it was replaced by SRAM NX, a lower level part. It is what it was as putting it on allowed me to ride the next day. And a bunch more. I put up with its slower shifting and more overshifting then back shifting to get the gear I wanted. I asked The Hub TJ to order and install a GX. Today I rode the GX. The ride was as great as driving the Sprinter with its remanufactured transmission. I knew what I had, I knew what I lost in the replacement, and I am reacquainted with what I knew.

So, that is all for tonight.

 

 

 

 

Had to have gone up. How we do the going up has choices from all the way from riding up what you will descend to other end of choices  to paying for the hoist. I use all 3 situation dependent, I do pay for Oakridge shuttles on Alpine. I prefer to find another way up instead of pedaling up the to be down. Sometimes the direction of travel could go either way. I seek to lessen my effort as direction choice.

How did I get there?

Back in Bend seeking established patient treatment to figure out my headache. I left Spokane Friday morning. I took the more scenic state highway 27 down thru S Spokane county and beyond going thru the Palouse region of rolling hills of loess now cultivated to growing dry land wheat. Crop has been harvested, primary color is golden brown stubble. Something to see: miles and miles of square miles of tilled land.

I chose making multiday trip to bend for a requested Wed DR appointment. Route choice was to ride Moscow Mtn above namesake town. Back when I was living in Spokane I traveled to this riding area hosted by the guy who negotiated permission of the private timber land owner to allow bikes and to build trails. His results continue to grow. The trails are purpose built for mtn bikes as sole user albeit horse and hiker are allowed. Sustainable. Fun and challenging to ride as a mountain biker. I will say that this system is my most favorite trail system.

I rode the western trails as only a short piece of dirt road was needed to TH. More trails are further east accessed from another TH requiring miles of gravel, or lengthening ride from this end. I have ridden here maybe 3 other times. For me one strike as there is no nearby camping so I could ride for several days. Ride starts out climbing steeply right away, warm up in now.  I picked a Trailforks route to follow which takes out my figuring trail and direction choices. Worked for me.  10.5 miles climbing 1886′, average speed was 5.99 mph.

The drive from Moscow to Hood River is over private land. I planned on bottom out camping at Rufus on the Columbia but just off I 84. I checked campgrounds along the way finding no openings. I mapped my route going S thru Moscow. For information sake I asked Google for directions. Route came back different than my plan which avoided road construction delays. reverse direction going back thr Moscow which is Home to Idaho Vandals. Continued north back to Spokane then turned west at Colfax.  Afternoon was getting late, I started looking for a sleep spot before Rufus. Road signed for airport. Drove short distance to it to see it was not public anymore and difficult to see how it could perform as an airport. Back on the highway. Shortly I spied a CXT outhouse off the road. CXT outhouse indicated developed parking site. I turned left on the side road. I spied a white SUV with a light bar on top stuck in  road side ditch, no shoulder. I parked in the TH parking lot which is for Panda Pond. No posted can’t sleep here signs. I walked out the road to check on the rig in the ditch. A state trooper greeted me who was the rig driver. He was stuck needing a tow. He said he attempted a turn around thinking there was a shoulder. Not so. So I did most of the talking with him as he waited for a buddy to show up and pull him out. Buddy arrived with pickup and chain, in 1 pull car was back on road. I asked about camping at pond and he said it was state land and it was OK to stay which I did.

Sat I continued drive to Hood River for visit at Dirty Finger, Mitchell’s shop, and provisioning for 2 days of riding up on RD 44 trails. Visited with Mitchell who has seen me 3 times this year, 2 more than normal. I carried tap water 1 gallon at a time from his sink tap to the fill port of my water tank. I filled fuel, 26 mpg. I drove uphill and up mountain to preferred camp site off rd 44. I hoped that it would be empty which is was. Whew, one less problem to solve. Spot is right where Super Connector goes by which accesses trail system. Ride from camp.

I Invited Lee from Hood River to join me for a Mon ride while I was in cell coverage.

Sunday I repeated an earlier ride of Bottle Prairie etc. Bottle is a going down trail, would not be a pleasant climb. Climbing back up Knebal etc lessened the effort. Choice. Down towards Knebal I noticed copious numbers of these whatever,

nature dropped them here, what are they?: Golden chinquapin.

Never seen them before and the present trees of P Pine, tamarack, fir, and Doug fir were known by me to produce these bundles which were well armored with spines all over.

Imagine figuring a trail thru the likes of this tree cover. And this is flat land.

Spring flowing at Knebal, sign says stock only. Per FS info they do not test the water so they have to state non potable. However, this water would be fine if filtered for safety and prolly pure enough to drink straight from the tap. Years ago Ian joined me on rides here, one ride passed by this spring. very hot day. Ian was out of water, we detoured to the spring for his hydration. We got there, the incoming pipe was just a dribble. I shared my small remaining water, enough for us to get back to camp. This summer the spring pours forth. Nobody in campground. Climbing out a solitary woman rider descending came upon me as I was sessioning a root problem. She had to stop, good for conversation. She has a Sprinter paid conversion and is short time employment as she is retiring in a year to travel.

Further up I came upon 2 guys off their bikes. One asked me if I had a pump which I did. One guy’s front tire was not holding air. One guy said they left a pump behind because they never used it before. I asked about a first aid kit. One produced a large kit, bigger than mine. I asked how many times they used it. Never. So guy pumped satisfactory pressure into his tire. They thanked me and continued their way, same direction as me. I remained behind resting. I pedaled away then found them again with the tire flat and no pump. My van was about 100 yards trail distance away, I said push your bike to my van and my floor pump. I relearned tube changing as he was not tubeless. Put in his spare tube then pumped it up, air went in but didn’t stay. Fortunately he had another tube and this held air. Their route was down Surveyors ridge and the end of the ride. At my van trail choice was either direction. I told them the shorter way was going my way which would eliminate distance and climbing to pick up Surveyors further down. I didn’t see which way they went before I left. Duh? We come upon each other, now a 3rd meeting, guy still had air in tire. One of them wrote a comment to this blog. Happy you guys made your ride  and acquired lesson learned.

I finished my ride. I changed out my stem to a shorter one in hopes of keeping the front wheel on the ground on climbs and eliminating my sawing of the bars. I had that stem in the JOBOX. Shade tree mechanic made the swap. I also swapped out the Formula front brake rotor that had a small wow in with a galfer that was in my parts stash. Torque tightened fasteners.

Spent the night same spot. Lee drove up while I was part swapping. He wanted to know where to meet for tomorrow’s ride and also for a short ride for him. Lee talks, my ride was done, evening was coming on and he had not started. Go Lee, get it in while you can still see which he did. We visited till twilight.

Plan for our ride was created once he arrived on time the next day, yesterday. Lee is a local. He proposed riding Cooks Meadow down, contrary to my direction. I was agreeable. The descent of 8 mile had several steep pieces that would have to be pedaled up. The trail is a widened single track, like a legacy hiking trail. Descending it was fast, I didn’t look forward to pedaling up. The attraction was descending Cooks Meadow trail that I had only climbed. We rode the route in reverse of my previous rides. I did push my bike up several times. Once on Cooks real fun started. Purpose hand built deep tree cover single track letting gravity provide locomotion. Seemed like forever to get down albeit shorter than climbing time. Future rides will go in this direction. I can put up with climb to get the descent. Ride data was 6 mins slower this way but more fun.

Spent the night, 4235′ 36 degrees this morning.

Today I finished the drive to Bend. I did not get my tomorrow DR appointment. Going to be here until head ache solved. Still hot and dry, October 4, upper 70s fall weather.

Trails at RD 44 are on pumice dirt, just as fine as ST Helen’s ash in Spokane. Riding by myself I never seem the dust plume I kick up. Riding behind Lee I learned of the cloud that alters the view of the trail in front of me. He takes his young dog along, her paws sent up dust.

Bend living.

I bought my own loppers today.

Velocity aids stability when not misused as a crash cause. Starting on an uphill from a dead stop seeks velocity. The power leg is poised at 1 o’clock, the other creating balance. A moment of truth happens at push off, success is getting the other foot on its pedal then contributing to forward motion, Some times it is easier to push the bike.

Having a sinus issue causing concern of other source. Tried an UC in Spokane yesterday, seen by a PA. I learned that they are only able to treat the symptoms as they lack testing equipment. He prescribed a different anti which I started. Thing is the pain is not constant, while riding other demands push its signals to backstage. If imaging is needed I will return to Bend to be under care of primary provider.

Sunday’s ride on MT Spokane left lingering overuse. I rested on Monday. Tuesday after UC I drove out to Seven Mile for a ride that I struggled with convincing myself to pedal. I would ride because that’s what I do to consume time from wake up to lay down. Today I ended up still riding with gusto, the data reflects that but I was casual. I rode down stream to Sharp Stick in the Eye area of basalt cliffs and gardens. I found more unknown trails. This area is basalt:

Wandered around for 13.6 miles climbing 1214′ on river bottom.

Randy did the work, I just completed the sea to mouth journey of a piece of his salmon.

The last crown of the Spokane area rides is MT Coeur d’Alene, east of here. It is on my way east leaving Spokane. Or, it could be an over and back. Driving directions said 48 miles each way. That’s 4 gals diesel and the van runs great. If I over and back and did the ride my travel direction would be open. I drove over, busy Argonne, and I 90, traffic along twisty lake shore highway was light. Turn upstream on Beauty Creek road with broken patches of pavement. Recently hard packed dirt was placed in those holes eliminating creative steering to avoid wheel sucks. Arrived at parking spot under 2 large cedars. WTF? 2 pick ups occupying the spot. Parked on other side of road. 2 guys where standing outside talking, I saw mountain bikes which lured me to a conversation. Didn’t recognize either. One spoke up asking me if I remembered him from past rides. His voice triggered memory recall as it was Tim, a local. Over the years we have happened upon each other and shared a ride here. Last several years we didn’t connect, every time I always wondered if we would meet up. Well, today he and buddy were going to be pedaling up the road, as I was going to do, instead of pedaling up single track 257. I matched their younger bodys’ pace and able for short sentences. We chatted. He told of his huge effort of cutting out trees on these trails. I told my route, he told me the trail was clear. A road turned right for his ride and mine turned left to go down 257 to the Hole and the start of the pay back. Old legacy hiking trail that dirt bikes have been banned. Deep wild forest. Cedars. 2 large trees had fallen across the trail requiring high lifting or a rough go around. No pics taken. Trees are skinny straight tall perhaps competing for sunlight. Views are of tree trunks. Some years prior when I first rode these trails dirt bikes were allowed and for their interest they cut out trees as carrying a saw on a dirt bike is way easier than on a pedal bike.

My right shoulder has little strength for lifting. I have a difficult time lifting my bike over obstacles. I can not lift it over a regular height 3 strand barb wire fence. Fallen trees could be even higher. Today one fallen tree was bypassed on established tread, the other was on the trail about chest high that was overcome thru several moves. I so wanted to continue my direction versus a blockage too great for me to overcome causing retreat.

For today’s climb out I chose the go around which is on abandoned logging haul roads, bordered and thru sapling regrowth. I followed faint track. Tim showed me a climb out that I anticipating taking that is more direct. However, I pedaled right by that spur as regrowth covered it. I kept pedaling and pedaling. Finally I stopped to look at Trailforks to be found. I was were I was to be. Next time I will ride the trail pushing my bike on steeps which is more direct. I finally finished back at pass where I left Tim and Mark. Funny, a short pedal up the road to the summit there was those 2. My plan was to ride to summit then descend Caribou Ridge which still required about 30 mins of uphill pedaling. They had been sessioning trails, they were finishing their day with descent of entire 257. I put a cork in my mouth to stop visiting so I could get on with my ride. I summited where formerly there was a fire lookout tower. Descent was brisk, arrived at abandoned FS campsite, crossed over road picking up Caribou Ridge that continues descending ultimately to a red colored trailforks difficulty rating, local name is Scarabou. Rating is enough to avoid. Just before trail gets nasty a side trail offers a longer way back down. Forest canopy single track joins another haul road that has been better cut back. Long way, seemed long time to intersection of 257 part way down. 257 is downhill on deep forest cover legacy hiking trail. Dirt was firm, no dust. Whooppeee. Finish on pavement screamer to van, hit 28 mph. Another limit pushing ride of 21.2 miles climbing 3212′ pedaling for 3 hr 22 mins, average beats was 120, recovery was 62 hrs.

Inland Northwest has deep forest cover, moisture, lots of vertical, and lots of people albeit not on trails. Growth is continuing, way too busy for me. While I lived here I was like the frog in cold water being heated until cooked. Present visit is like a frog dropped into boiling water. Just way too busy. Traffic moves along as I drive about the speed limit being frequently passed only to arrive on their bumper at upcoming stop light.

Rain started before sunrise this morning, nice gentle rain, showers continued during the afternoon. Tomorrow will be hero dirt with puddles over hard pan.

I will start my going south travel plan.

Take away of Inland Northwest riding is lots of climbing rides.

Why riding downhill is so much fun is because we go fast with no effort, its like riding a dirt bike but without motor. Shuttles and  lift serviced bike parks eliminate the earning of your turns, either earning or paying result in gravity assisted locomotion.