Green Peter Reservoir - January 19

The valley had been fogged in for weeks. I knew the sun had to be out if I was willing to drive into the mountains. Turned out to be well worth it. A beautiful day on a quiet scenic road.

Summit - March 1

Exploring, and discovering, new roads in the Coast Range. I was scouting a route to the coast, but ended up finding a great gravel road back to Kings Valley.

An idyllic road into the Coast Range

Newport - March 22

Now that I had scouted the route it was time to load up the Mountain Trucker and head to the beach. I was setup semi bikepacker style with a Revelate harness in the front, and my trusty Arkel panniers in the rear. I could have done this ride on the Saga. There was only about a mile of gravel. But the Trucker did just fine.

Heart of the Valley - April 26

No pictures but it was a great ride. This was my second time doing this event and it is a great way to get in an early season metric century with other people. This year I just just put some new, faster tires on my Soma Saga and was able to really take advantage of the tailwind on the way back.

Train ride to Washington - July 21

Not a lot of riding but I did get to experience taking my bike on the Amtrak. I had done this once before but this was the first time fully loaded. I rode to Albany, got on an Amtrak bus to Portland, where I transferred to the Cascades train. It made every stop along the way, and hugged Puget Sound for many miles on the way to my stop in Mt. Vernon. From there I had a 12 mile ride in the dark and rain, to a place way out in the woods where I had only been once before. I found it just fine and it was a great experience. This will definitely be my mode of travel the next time I go to Washington.

Loop Tour day 3 - July 28

This was one of the most scenic days of the tour, with the Three Sister's mountains getting closer and closer. Much of it was on the Smith Rock - Sisters Scenic Bikeway

Loop Tour day 6 - July 31

Somehow I managed not to get any pictures of this stage of the tour. Never the less it was a beautiful and challenging ride from McKenzie Bridge to Oakridge, through some of the lushest part of the Willamette National Forest, on Aufderhide forest road. I had ridden this road once before although not as far and without a full load. The steepest grades of the tour were on this stage as we crossed from the South Fork of the McKenzie to the North Fork of the Middle Fork of the Willamette.

Champoeg Park - August 16

Vey scenic ride though the Valley for onenight of camping just south of Protland.

Beachside State Park - September 6

This was my epic ride for the year. Left at dusk, road old logging roads with my mountain bike lights. Followed aa route through the Coast Range that I had never been on, and didn't get lost. Saw some new places and covered a lot of miles. Great experience, but alas no pictures.

Eugene - September 27

I had wanted to repeat last year's 200k ride and now I had the right bike to do it. Left very early and rode several hours in the dark at a 16-17 mph pace. Got to Eugene by 8:30. Amazed myself. Long meandering ride home. 

Christmas Week

I ended the year strong, with 4 rides in a row the week of Christmas. They weren't long rides, 32-38 miles, but each day I was feeling stronger. I really felt good to finish the year strong. I met my yearly goal of 5000+ miles and got the most miles I ever have for December. I'm feeling stoked and ready for another good year of riding.