Oregon Outback

[Brian Hanson]

I just finished the Oregon Outback on my 54cm Hunqapillar. I used a hodgepodge of bags (Riv Med SaddleSack, Swift Paloma, and Orlieb) to carry the often times large loads. After 360 miles of rain, mud, dust, and lots of gravel roads, I am happy to report no mechanicals. The Hunqapillar was rock solid. There were 40+mph downhills with 30mph wind gusts, and I never felt under biked. Kudos to the 2.1" Thunder Burts. I had an almost flat the first day, but a little air and spin, and the Stan's sealant did its work. No problem for the next 300 miles. I will get a better write up with pics in the next few days. No other Rivs sighted, but I heard there was an Atlantis on the ride.

P.S. Thumbs up for fenders. Mine was the only fendered bike I saw, and they kept my water bottles usable.

Brian Hanson
Seattle, WA

[Deacon Patrick]

Awesome! I look forward to your write up and photos! Mud contains probiotics and it good for your water bottles! Grin.

With abandon,

Patrick

[Anne Paulson]

Fantastic! There were some other people on this group who said they
were going to do the Outback. I hope we hear from more of them.

(Oh. Yeah. I said I was going to do it. My friend wimped out, so I
didn't go. Next year.)

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-- Anne Paulson

It isn't a contest. Enjoy the ride.

[Pondero]

Well done, and glad to hear the Hunq performed well. I know Mark Reimer did the Outback on his excellent Atlantis, and apparently it was a bit of adventure. Hopefully, he chime in here on how the Atlantis performed.

Chris Johnson
Sanger, Texas

[Allan in Portland]

FWIW, yesterday I shuttled an Atlantis from Deschutes SP back to PDX. I don't recall his name, but it was owned and operated by a Canadian.

Cheers,

-Allan

[Mark Reimer]

That was me! Yes, I did it on the Atlantis. It was excellent. I snapped my derailleur in half at the bottom of the descent out after Prineville, single speeded it 70km until a nice fellow sold me the derailleur off his bike after calling it a day. I was looking for other Riv's, didn't see any! Were you in the parking lot at the start?

I also saw a number of fendered bikes. A number of guys I rode with had them actually. One was a custom bike with 42mm Compass tires (rear tire was slashed and destroyed right where my derailleur died. He had a backup, which was later slashed as well!), the other was an Elephant with the same tires. They were pulling mud out of them fairly often though. Oh, also there was a Nobilette-built Velo Cult rando bike with honjo's. It was gorgeous. 

I'll be posting a full report in the next few days, just need to decompress, download the 1,200 photos I took... and do a write up. Also, my Atlantis never arrived on the plane with me coming home... I'm hoping to find out where it is today.

[dougP]

"Also, my Atlantis never arrived on the plane with me coming home... I'm hoping to find out where it is today."

Lost over-sized luggage usually shows up at 4 AM a couple of days after you get home.  Don't turn your phone off.  My Atlantis has gone missing this way a couple of times.  Despite all the tagging & bar coding, somehow the airline has difficulty locating it. 

Really looking forward to your report & photos.  That sounds like a wonderful ride, if a bit hard on tires. 

dougP

[Ryan Fleming]

Oh, dear....I sure hope your Atlantis comes back unscathed. Looking forward to hearing about your adventures

[Mark Reimer]

Atlantis is found, and en route from Vancouver to Winnipeg. So that's good news. Now I've just got to wait and see if it arrives unscathed. 

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[Lungimsam]

Congrats on the successful rides!

Must have bee a lot of fun. 

[stonehog]

Here are the pics from the ride.  @Deacon - it wasn't exactly "mud" - let's say there were probably some serious bacteria in there - lots of cows around.  @Mark - I didn't make it to the start - we were in a hotel a mile down the course and left from there.  Glad to hear you were able to replace that derailleur - that ride would be rough on a single speed, especially at the tail end. 

https://flic.kr/s/aHskcFpzhQ

Brian Hanson
Seattle, WA

[Mark Reimer]

Love the photos!! It's so cool to see them because many of the sections you rode in the daylight I was passing through at night. We rode 7am to midnight the last two days, so the climb after prineville was dark, and everything after the rollers leading toward the gorge was in the dark. Looks like I missed some beautiful country. 

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[Deacon Patrick]

Well, no wonder you finished a day and a half early! Grin.

With abandon,

Patrick

[Mark Reimer]

Hah! I really wanted to finish in three days. The last day we rode for 17 hours, only stopping for more than a few minutes when I swapped out the derailleur. I feel like thatt ride expanded my capacity for long distance riding substantially. 

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[Shoji Takahashi]

I've got to do this ride at some point. Nice pics, Brian. And looking forward to seeing yours, too, Mark.

shoji

[cyclotourist]

Great set of photos! What an amazing ride. I like seeing the
different bike set ups out there. It looks like both the Hunq and the
Surly (KM?) performed as intended!

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Cheers,
David

Member, Supreme Council of Cyberspace

"it isn't a contest. Just enjoy the ride." - Seth Vidal

[Mark Reimer]

I hope to write a proper report this weekend, but if you want to see a few more photos (including the Atlantis with the destroyed derailleur) I've uploaded a lot of stuff to my Flickr page. 

Keep in mind, this includes riding to the start line from Seattle, so the total ride was 1,150km in 7 days, 38,000 feet of climbing.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/theworldisours/sets/72157651333549763

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[Deacon Patrick]

Awesome pics of the OOB, Brian and Mark! Wow! Thank you!

With abandon,

Patrick

[Ryan Fleming]

Wow!

 

Did your bike come home safely?

 

Looking forward to your report...your stories and photos are always so entertaining!

[Steven Sweedler]

Great pictures, any comments on riding it north to south. Thanks, Steve

Plymouth, New Hampshire

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Steven Sweedler
Plymouth, New Hampshire

[Mark Reimer]

It would become progressively more interesting. South to North went from forests to rolling prairies. 

[Chris Chen]

Son, you got a licence to ride that Riv?

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"I want the kind of six pack you can't drink." -- Micah

[tim clark]

I was part of the fendered crew (shake-down ride on the Nobilette!).

Made it to Prineville the first night (or was it morning? -- 3:30am). I was so blown from the rain, squishy roads and fatigue that I decided to call it and ride to Bend.

In hind sight, it wish I brought camping gear so I could have pushed on and broken up the last 140 miles if needed. But as it was, it was do or die. and I wasn't willing to die! :)

Looking forward to seeing your trip report -- you guys had a solid crew!

Best,
Tim Clark

On Wednesday, May 27, 2015 at 9:51:39 AM UTC-7, Mark Reimer wrote:

[stonehog]

I'm putting up my recount of the trip by day.  The first couple are up:

http://stonehog.com/2015/06/07/oregon-outback-2015-day-1/

http://stonehog.com/2015/06/08/oregon-outback-2015-day-2/

Still thinking about this trip!

Brian

Seattle, WA

On Tuesday, May 26, 2015 at 6:13:43 PM UTC-7, stonehog wrote:

[Anne Paulson]

Excellent recaps. I like reading about riders who did the Outback
without racing. Nothing wrong with racing, but I like reading about
riders who rode it the way I'd ride it.

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[James Warren]

Brian. Incredible. How did you like the SA saddle on the trip?

-Jim W.

James Warren

jimcw...@earthlink.net

- 700x33

[Lynne Fitz]

Great writeup; I look forward to the next installments!

(But I want to know how those riders got an unboxed bike on the Coast Starlight!)

[Eric]

What a great ride!

I did it in 6 days on my Igleheart 29er. I couldn't image going any faster, just the perfect mix of riding & fun.

I saw Stonehog out there & complimented on his Riv.

I believe I saw an Atlantis in Prineville but I was thinking I'd see alot more based on the chatter on the group after last year's ride.

Anyways, I think I'm going to do this ride next year but before the mass start. Maybe I'll see ya?

[Anne Paulson]

They made a special arrangement with Amtrak, just for that trip,
because there were going to be so many bikes.

> (But I want to know how those riders got an unboxed bike on the Coast
> Starlight!)

[stonehog]

Amazing as always.  Love the SA saddles.  No sores from the get-go.  YMMV...

Brian

[stonehog]

Next segment up: http://stonehog.com/2015/06/09/oregon-outback-2015-day-3/

Featuring less photos (more riding), Fort Rock, Sage Hollow, Bear Creek, Crooked Creek, and Prineville Reservoir...

Brian Hanson

Seattle, WA

[Alex Moll]

Excellent report, Brian - THANK YOU! I really want to do this ride. You seemed to enjoy the hammock? I'm curious about them, as I don't do so well sleeping on the ground.

Alex Moll

Marysville, WA

[Mike Shaljian]

So who won the Outback? Is it a secret from the internet until 6 months have elapsed? Not that racing this would be my thing, but I'm interested to know what the rig strategies were with the top finishers this time around.

[Anne Paulson]

Billy Truelove in 30 hours, 46 minutes.

http://www.oregonbikepacking.com/the-oregon-outback-2015-in-aggregate/

On Wed, Jun 10, 2015 at 10:47 PM, Mike Shaljian <mikesh...@gmail.com> wrote:
> So who won the Outback? Is it a secret from the internet until 6 months have elapsed? Not that racing this would be my thing, but I'm interested to know what the rig strategies were with the top finishers this time around.
>

[stonehog]

Next installment up: http://stonehog.com/2015/06/10/oregon-outback-2015-day-4/

This was an amazing day - most scenic and fun riding of the trip, for me at least.  

Brian Hanson

Seattle, WA

[Shoji Takahashi]

Hi Brian,

Thanks so much for posting your days for the ride. I'm really enjoying the pics and need to ride out there someday.

shoji

Arlington MA

[cyclot...@gmail.com]

Between the earlier photos, and these write ups, this is looking to be the best event of the year!

Excited that such a great ride is receiving such positive press.

[stonehog]

Here's the last day's post.  http://stonehog.com/2015/06/11/oregon-outback-2015-day-5/

In summary, this is a great, humbling route that really shows the beauty and remoteness available to us in the Northwest.  I can see doing rides like this in several areas across Oregon or Washington (to say nothing of other large empty western states), and this route made me start looking at maps in a different light.  Places like "Horse Heaven", "Fern Hollow", "Buckskin Canyon" - man they are just calling out to me!  I thought I had to go to Utah to get into this kind of country, but it's much closer...  

Mixed terrain rides are really rewarding - you can go way out there and get to places most drivers never venture to.  It's not easy to ride most of a day on gravel, but I didn't find it to be more difficult than a typical randonneuring ride, and felt much more relaxed due to the fact that we could just sort of camp wherever or whenever the mood struck.  Freedom!

Brian Hanson

Seattle, WA  

[John]

Thank you Brian!

I have got to ride this route someday.

John

[Deacon Patrick]

Brian,

Great writeup and photos of the OOB! Thank you. I love the stream crossing shots. Those are always fun, less the pinch flats of course.

With abandon,

Patrick

[tim....@nike.com]

Really enjoyed your write-ups! You guys did it absolutely right. I had to chuckle when you described the conversation in the Silver Lake store of the hypothermic Lycra riders and the concern for their fate.

I was one of those dorks and, if I had to do it all over again, I'd do it just like you did it!

In fact, last year we did the route in the summer in four-ish days and it was a wonderful adventure. What stuck out to me was meeting all the great people in the most unexpected places. Great people. Beautiful, big country too.

Thanks for taking the time to share, really good stuff!

Tim C