Oakridge: Mountain Bike Mecca?

Meadow, top of Alpine

I had heard about the mountain biking in Oakridge from a number of sources, so it would be rude not to go for a look. It was an easy drive up the i5, where we discovered that it’s illegal to fill you own petrol in Oregon. After filling with gas, Simone wanted to put some music on and we continued our usual system of playing songs alphabetically, choose a song and off you go. Today she randomly started with The Angel’s, Am I Ever Going to See You Face Again (studio version!), that evening I read in the paper Doc Neeson had passed away!

Alpine, only down from here

We turned east just before Eugene and drove the 30 miles to Oakridge. Oakridge is surrounded by millions of acres of national forest and green is all we saw on the drive in. It used to have an economy based on logging that ended long ago, driving into the main street there was no wow factor. It was straight to the bike shop as my forks had blown a seal (sitting at 30% sag - for those this means anything to!) and it was also time to have a rear shock service. I left without a bike but with a map to try and work out what trails out of the 300 mile local network of maintained singletrack to ride! We then drove the 3 miles to Casey’s RV Park to camp at a stunning spot overlooking the Willamette River and of course forest.

North Fork Trail

The next morning was school work and a wait with anticipation for a call that the bike is fixed. It eventually came at 1pm. Great work Eugene (mechanic), the bike felt new again. That afternoon was a quick 2mile ride to the North Fork (Willamette River) Trail. Oregon is famous for its river trails. In contrast to the ramshackle Oakridge, the ride commute goes through the picturesque village of Westfir, complete with a covered bridge. On the trail I went two bridges and 6 miles up, river trails here have many cut in options and I could have ridden up the road that is on the opposite side of the river. The trail was rolling singletrack that gradually became more technical up the river. The run down was fun, starting to try and find the grip limit of the wet loam soil. The scenery was stunning, crystal clear river and forest that could not be greener. That evening I went back to Westfir Lodge for a meeting, I had signed up as a trail guide for a kids' MTB day. We sat outdoors with a view of the covered bridge and surrounding hills, did the official stuff for the ride day and then I chatted to some locals (gained some great local knowledge of course).

Westfir Lodge and covered bridge

One of the ‘locals’ (relocated 6 weeks) was Dan, I suggested we ride the famous Alpine trail the next day. He hadn’t done it yet so we locked it in. Next morning was a warm up ride to the shuttle and a ride up to Kate’s cut in at 4700ft. The first part of the trail we did what’s called the chrome toilet section, just a smashing 3 mile descent to warm up, awesome. Then it was the 3.5 mile forest road climb back to Kate’s cut in, followed by another two miles of climbing. The climbing ends at an alpine meadow. We rested, took some photos and gazed at the six inch wide singletrack weaving across the meadow into the forest. Giving the descent a spot in my all-time top five list goes some way to give an idea of how good this trail is. Old growth forest, views of the snow topped Cascade Mountains, perfect trail conditions and flowing singletrack. There are some blistering quick sections that are so fast that it became hard to stay focused on the trail. The day ended with another ride on the North Fork trail with Fiona and Symi. We stopped at the lodge for an ice cold beer and had a great chat with a couple guys who had just commenced an across America ride.

Kids MTB day

I did the Alpine trail again the next day! On the shuttle were three guys from Berkley. One, Larry, owns a plane and flies to bike destinations, like Oakridge. How good is that? I rode with them and repeated the same ride. Today was different as these guys rode quickly, Larry in particular. I was relegated to third position for a while, not normal. Further down the trail I had a go following Larry on the Jedi section. This was crazy fast, clocking nearly 60kph on narrow singletrack in dense forest. I stayed with Larry but only by leaving the braking late and pushing harder than I ever have. The downside to this ride was constantly dropping the chain, it was bent by the end. So it was off to see Eugene, the decision was a single chain ring up front (30 tooth) and new chain. We realised the clutch on the rear mech wasn’t working as well (after much stuffing about I have installed a new cam mechanism, the bracket holding the cam had snapped. Freebie as Shimano knows there are issues with the bracket).

Converted, unlikely to go back

Sunday was the kids ride day. We started at the local jump/pump track. Luckily Symi met another 10 year old girl and had a great time. After lunch it was kids shuttle time. We went to the top of Aubrey Trail. Symi had a blast and was long way out in front of her peers.The day finished with an adults shuttle to Larison Rock Trail, just another off the dial Oakridge descent. I chatted to a Eugene local (Ed) during the day and we set a date to shuttle his favourite Oakridge trail. That evening we drove out to the Middle Fork of the Willamette River to camp, Symi was exhausted. We arrived at an empty Sand Prairie campground to a choice of any site.

River 10ft in front of RV, Middle Fork Willamette River

Monday morning we moved 10 miles up the river to Campers Flat, another deserted campground and parked right next to the stunning river, ones of our best campsites yet. That afternoon it was up the Young’s track that started next to the campground. This was a very steep push/ride up 3000 ft in 5 miles. The turn-around was Moon Point for an amazing view of the endless forest and Young’s Rock. I was a bit worried about the descent as the track is isolated, steep, has many exposed switchbacks and there is no phone reception. So it was back off. I shouldn’t have worried, 30 minutes of

Moon Lookout

descending later I was blasted out the bottom of the trail eyeballs jumping out of their sockets on adrenaline. A swim in the freezing river quickly calmed me down. Tuesday started with a 10 mile, 1000ft climb up the road before riding down the technical upper Middle Fork Trail. I stopped at the camp for lunch then we all continued down the river. I jumped out after 5 miles to grab the RV to shuttle Fiona and Symi who continued the remaining five miles to Campers Flat. Just another day of stunning green scenery and singletrack.

Young's Track

 Wednesday we relocated to another beautiful campground, Black Canyon six miles west of Oakridge. We met Ed at 5pm and shuttled Hardesty trail once, then the top section of Goodman five times. What a blast (Fiona and Symi came as well and had huge smiles!), the trail is not steep but fast and

Shuttles Goodman Trail :) :) :) :)

flowing with plenty of trees roots and little jumps to keep you entertained. It doesn’t get any better than this, riding with some locals on their favourite trail. They were quick as well, it was good to follow and learn their lines. Maybe not so smart as the light in late of the day was marginal and I nearly crashed at warp speed. Next morning it was off over the Cascades to Bend, we stopped on the way for a soak in the McCredie hot springs and also had a look at the 298 foot Salt Creek Falls.