liv2day
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Spring riding in the Tillamook State Forest (aka Oregon coast range) doesn't get much better than this past Saturday; what an amazing day to be out in the woods enjoying the trails. I hadn't been out on the Gasser for a couple months and the last ride was a slop fest in the rain out of Diamond Mill. While that was still fun, there's nothing like getting to rip around with a great group of hooligans under blue skies and sunshine.
Before jumping into the report, I want to throw out a short review of the new Kenda hybrid tire I recently spooned onto the little GG. A bunch of buddies have been talking about trials tires and how well they work and after using the last knobby I had sitting in the garage, I figured what the heck. Although I only have one ride on it thus far, I'm 100% sold. The difference in feel (as compared to a knob) takes some getting used to, but holy carp the thing gripped like crazy and made rocks, roots, slick clay, and everything else a complete breeze. I noticed the difference right off the bat going up the new section of Log Jam, one of our guys had to back down after a jam on the switchback as he was on a knob. Not the GG, I feathered the clutch and made my way up the slick slope without issue. The tire performed awesome throughout the ride and about the only drawback I found was braking wasn't quite as solid compared to a knob. It still stops plenty well, but doesn't seem to offer the same amount of stopping power. I'll be putting this tire on my bike from here on out; like a buddy says, it really is like cheating...lol.
So, back to the ride report. The plan was to meet at Lyda camp and head out for a 55-60 mile loop that would take us toward Jordan Creek and loop us back on a whole bunch of trails; some of which I'd never ridden. I was a few minutes late to staging, glad the guys waited for me
. Unloaded and geared up and immediately headed up the new section of Log Jam (which is a great way to avoid a bunch of logging road time).
We blitzed up that and then started making our way through sections of Hogsback and Firebreak Five (at least, I think so). It was nice to just follow the leader and not have to worry about navigating, only issue was I didn't pay attention to the trails...lol. Pretty crazy to see snow in parts of the forest, I figured it would have been too warm of late for that to hang around, but it's still there. I know it made going down 7-Up interesting, that's one section where the Kenda didn't do anything but slip-n-slide the whole time...lol.
Not sure how we ended up on this plateau, but it was a great place to stop for a break and check out the views.
Before jumping into the report, I want to throw out a short review of the new Kenda hybrid tire I recently spooned onto the little GG. A bunch of buddies have been talking about trials tires and how well they work and after using the last knobby I had sitting in the garage, I figured what the heck. Although I only have one ride on it thus far, I'm 100% sold. The difference in feel (as compared to a knob) takes some getting used to, but holy carp the thing gripped like crazy and made rocks, roots, slick clay, and everything else a complete breeze. I noticed the difference right off the bat going up the new section of Log Jam, one of our guys had to back down after a jam on the switchback as he was on a knob. Not the GG, I feathered the clutch and made my way up the slick slope without issue. The tire performed awesome throughout the ride and about the only drawback I found was braking wasn't quite as solid compared to a knob. It still stops plenty well, but doesn't seem to offer the same amount of stopping power. I'll be putting this tire on my bike from here on out; like a buddy says, it really is like cheating...lol.
So, back to the ride report. The plan was to meet at Lyda camp and head out for a 55-60 mile loop that would take us toward Jordan Creek and loop us back on a whole bunch of trails; some of which I'd never ridden. I was a few minutes late to staging, glad the guys waited for me
. Unloaded and geared up and immediately headed up the new section of Log Jam (which is a great way to avoid a bunch of logging road time).
We blitzed up that and then started making our way through sections of Hogsback and Firebreak Five (at least, I think so). It was nice to just follow the leader and not have to worry about navigating, only issue was I didn't pay attention to the trails...lol. Pretty crazy to see snow in parts of the forest, I figured it would have been too warm of late for that to hang around, but it's still there. I know it made going down 7-Up interesting, that's one section where the Kenda didn't do anything but slip-n-slide the whole time...lol.
Not sure how we ended up on this plateau, but it was a great place to stop for a break and check out the views.
