Mountain Bike Oregon did not disappoint again this year! My friend Peter and I arrived late Thursday night and found a flat spot in the growing sea of tents to make camp.
I was a guide this year, so I had to get up early to check in and get my ride assignment for the day. My ride schedule couldn't have been better: "The Epic" on Friday, followed by mellow North Fork on Saturday, and long Middle Fork Sunday. Two hard rides with a recovery day sandwiched in between.
MBO is like summer camp for grownups. You show up with your tent and a bike and they do everything else for you. Your biggest responsibility each day is packing your lunch and getting to your shuttle on time. It's become so well known and loved that both July and August sessions sold out this year.
Notable improvements over last year were added ride options and a new and improved beer garden with all local microbrews. The morning routine is pretty much like this: crawl out of sleeping bag and stumble toward the coffee station; coffee in hand, go inside the pavillion to make lunch from the spread provided; cruise over to the vendor area to secure a demo bike for the day (see, you don't really even need to bring a bike!); refill coffee and stand in line for breakfast; fill up Camelback; get bike and self ready to ride; ride short distance to shuttle.
Afternoon routine: arrive back in camp, either from shuttle or riding in; collapse in chair next to tent to marvel at the surrounding beauty and the wonder of MBO; chat with neighbors; visit beer garden for post-ride beer; catch shuttle to cold showers at the high school; return to beer garden; eat dinner in beer garden; participate in evening festivities such as bike toss and Kiddie Bike Criterium; crawl into sleeping bag.
What more could a mountain biker ask for?
2 comments:
Sounds heavenly! We're enjoying your blog posts, Susan. Keep writing!
Bon
Yeah! Sounds Awesome! I should give that a go sometime soon.
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