After a week of tests, stress, no sleep, and exceptionally good weather (not to mention a brand new, unridden bike) I was ready for a ride. With the costal range being muddy beyond belief the logical place to go for a rip around Portland, OR is out to Bingen, Wa and the Syncline trails. Grabbing the gear, the lady, and some bros we were off.
The new ride, my first ever S-Works. Time to see what it can do.
After the hour drive and a stop at a hidden burger spot along the way we crossed the frighteningly narrow toll bridge to the Washington side of the river and made the short run up to Syncline. My lady friend was nice enough to shuttle us up to the top before getting her mad trail run on down at the bottom.
The view from up top is amazing. So is the wind chill, got to keep your hands in your pants.
We got our gear all hooked up and proceeded to rock down. The trail starts off on an old skid road through the trees. After ripping some gentle corners and getting the two wheel drifters on at 30mph through wet leaves for about five minutes you get spit out onto a huge open plain along a cliff edge.
The trail starts in the trees up on the far left and follows the edge of the cliff all the way down to river level.
We stuck to the cliff-side single track where possible and hitting the wide open abandoned jeep track when the trail disappeared.
Me pinning it through a cliff side berm/rut. Some of these corners are less than two feet from the edge. It really motivates you to nail it.
It is hard to both enjoy the views and pin it down this delicious old moto trail. Even though the stutter bumps are out in force the dirt had just the right amount of moisture in it. braaaaaap.
Our man Kyle (in the flannel) was out on a mountain bike for the first time in years, and on a serious trail for the first time ever. His background in street bikes (the motorized kind) served him well and before long he was letting the brakes go and pushing it to the edge. My roommate, Chris, on the cannondale and looking goofy, is a converted road rider. He has been working bigger and faster for six months off road and is getting to the point where it is hard to catch him.
Chris leans it in.
Not bad for your first time out. If this guy keeps it up he'll be the next Aaron Gwin.
About half way down the hill we broke off away from the cliff and hooked up with some sweet single track to finish the lap off. A few short ups were repaid with glorious sweeping turns all the way down the hill on the most perfect, tacky dirt.
Duck, dip, dive, and dodge. Luckily there is a nice sharp corner just before this tree to get you on your toes.
The trail follows this pretty creek all the way down, cutting back an forth across the meadow.
Where the two main trails meet at the bottom of the hill is a small area known as "Mini Moab" where the grass is relatively free of wheel-eating rocks and there are a bunch of fun jumps and drops. We scouted out a few lines and hit them till our shuttle driver had her fill of running the trails.
Think the stumpy is an xc bike? Think again.
Chris has been working his drops and is getting where he is going after bigger and bigger lines. It is pretty cool to watch his progression.
After one run in Kyle hucked his first drop ever. Pretty rad. Before long he was throwing down all sorts of lines.
After running through the drop a couple times I decided to try this wall ride with Kyle training behind.
The world's number one shuttle driver looks on as I drop the bigger line.
This is actually the first line he ever hit up on a bike. After this it wasn't fun unless he was catching air.
We headed back to the car and up for one more run before calling it a day and driving back to town. I leave you with gratuitous heavyhandedly edited pictures. Stay tuned for a review of the stumpy some time soon.
Cheers
The new ride, my first ever S-Works. Time to see what it can do.
After the hour drive and a stop at a hidden burger spot along the way we crossed the frighteningly narrow toll bridge to the Washington side of the river and made the short run up to Syncline. My lady friend was nice enough to shuttle us up to the top before getting her mad trail run on down at the bottom.
The view from up top is amazing. So is the wind chill, got to keep your hands in your pants.
We got our gear all hooked up and proceeded to rock down. The trail starts off on an old skid road through the trees. After ripping some gentle corners and getting the two wheel drifters on at 30mph through wet leaves for about five minutes you get spit out onto a huge open plain along a cliff edge.
The trail starts in the trees up on the far left and follows the edge of the cliff all the way down to river level.
We stuck to the cliff-side single track where possible and hitting the wide open abandoned jeep track when the trail disappeared.
Me pinning it through a cliff side berm/rut. Some of these corners are less than two feet from the edge. It really motivates you to nail it.
It is hard to both enjoy the views and pin it down this delicious old moto trail. Even though the stutter bumps are out in force the dirt had just the right amount of moisture in it. braaaaaap.
Our man Kyle (in the flannel) was out on a mountain bike for the first time in years, and on a serious trail for the first time ever. His background in street bikes (the motorized kind) served him well and before long he was letting the brakes go and pushing it to the edge. My roommate, Chris, on the cannondale and looking goofy, is a converted road rider. He has been working bigger and faster for six months off road and is getting to the point where it is hard to catch him.
Chris leans it in.
Not bad for your first time out. If this guy keeps it up he'll be the next Aaron Gwin.
About half way down the hill we broke off away from the cliff and hooked up with some sweet single track to finish the lap off. A few short ups were repaid with glorious sweeping turns all the way down the hill on the most perfect, tacky dirt.
Duck, dip, dive, and dodge. Luckily there is a nice sharp corner just before this tree to get you on your toes.
The trail follows this pretty creek all the way down, cutting back an forth across the meadow.
Where the two main trails meet at the bottom of the hill is a small area known as "Mini Moab" where the grass is relatively free of wheel-eating rocks and there are a bunch of fun jumps and drops. We scouted out a few lines and hit them till our shuttle driver had her fill of running the trails.
Think the stumpy is an xc bike? Think again.
Chris has been working his drops and is getting where he is going after bigger and bigger lines. It is pretty cool to watch his progression.
After one run in Kyle hucked his first drop ever. Pretty rad. Before long he was throwing down all sorts of lines.
After running through the drop a couple times I decided to try this wall ride with Kyle training behind.
The world's number one shuttle driver looks on as I drop the bigger line.
This is actually the first line he ever hit up on a bike. After this it wasn't fun unless he was catching air.
We headed back to the car and up for one more run before calling it a day and driving back to town. I leave you with gratuitous heavyhandedly edited pictures. Stay tuned for a review of the stumpy some time soon.
Cheers
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