Viva Durango pt. 4

I haven't written much about the Durango trip because I was hoping Dabby would pull it together and pay his debts to Disco and I. Unfortunately my optimism and trust in my fellow man was unfounded this time as Dabby proceeded to lie his way across 4 states and back.

But let's focus on the high points. It was a fun trip overall, lots of challenging riding, great weather the whole time, a great polo tournament and lots of new friends. Durango seems to be full of fantastic people. I heard the word special applied to Doom, Bailey and Chad over the weekend and I think it fits. They are all creative, enthusiastic, and incredibly skilled on mountain and polo bikes. Thanks for putting on an incredible event, I can't believe you drew so many people in such a small town.

I'd also like to thank Heather, Thad, Doom and Colin for putting us up on various nights, if you ever find yourselves near Rickreall don't hesitate to stop by. Also thanks to Russell and the Durango Cyclery and all the volunteers. I'll be back next year with a bigger and more reliable posse.

Bailey and Doom with the polo trophy. I hope Chad spells my name right when he engraves it.

At Phil's World. In my opinion the most fun of all the trails we tried. The Ribcage at sunset was intense.

A carrot made of tires and hubcaps.

Doom and Dabby at Phil's World.

We rode Greg Herbold and Bicycle Bob out of town on their way to Phoenix and Costa Rica.


An emu at Hole in the Rock.


I can't remember this guy's name but I like his style.

Double Walk Out

Friday's Team Wreck ride was fraught with challenges but we overcame most of them. We had intended to get an early start and make it out to the Wilson or Washougal rivers. To that end I got up early, packed up and schlepped two backpacks, a Zo bag, my IF and an anxious dog 2 blocks uphill to the car. Wait...didn't I park here 3 days ago?...Why are the streets all wet? Fuck. Apparently in NW they clean the streets 3 times a year and if you don't move your car it gets towed. The nice woman at the neighborhhod association explained that fliers were sent out at the beginning of the year. Not much help for me as I moved in 3 weeks ago. The nice woman with the police dept. explained that it's against the law not to move your vehicle every 24 hours. I asked if it wasn't in the city's best interests for me to park my car during the week and ride a bike instead? But of course she doesn't make the rules she only blah blah fucking blah. Riding down to the impound yard I got a flat and had to walk back to get another bike. Anyway 2 hours and $189 later we were on our way. Or I thought we were. I collected Dabby fairly easily. The delay gave him a chance to pull it together. (he is slow...It took him close to 3 hours on Sunday to make pancakes...but they were worth it). Mary Lou wasn't quite as prepared. Having just fallen asleep after a night of heavy drinking and petty crime he needed a little persuading and his (my) bike needed a new chainring and shorter chain. Only one of the bolts was stripped out, so after some futile wrenching, some bloody knuckles, and a trip to NoPo bike works we finally gave up and drove back to NW to get another set of cranks and a crank puller. Mary Lou was worried about sobering up so we went to the Lucky Lab to swap the cranks. That proved to be a good choice as we all relaxed a bit after an imperial pint.

By this time a long drive was out of the question so we went to Scappoose again. The trails were in perfect condition, dry and fast. There were quite a few other riders out there which is weird for a weekday but I guess it's spring now. We got on the trail around 1:45, right on schedule!
We got in some good riding before I got my second flat. All the trails are signed now so it's easier to navigate. We climbed on the road up to Purple Haze, took it to CT3 then down Kamikaze, which we formerly knew as the bottom of the Nettle trail, and which Dabby once bombed on a polo bike.

He couldn't make the switchbacks with only a rear brake so he just went straight down. I still think his blog should be called "the fall line" or "a huge pit of irony" or really anything that doesn't conjure a mental image of Dabby defecating. Anyway I got a second flat (a valve stem tear) and had to walk out, having already used my extra tube.


We made it back to the parking lot and Dabby bummed a tube off someone and we went back out. We got in some more great riding, and I cleaned the hill up to the North Shore for the second time ever. Dabby took a good video of Mary Lou jumping a gap, maybe he'll post it some day. Then, as predicted, my tire blew out again and I had the rare double walk out. Personal Record!
Dabby thinks the Ritchey rim strip that came with my wheels is to blame, it lets a little bit of metal show, so now I have another reason to hate Tom Ritchey.