Our rides number 5 and 6 were based out of the small and friendly town of Oakridge. Loved this place and the helpful folks that call it home. A quick drive through town and we found a bike shop, a brewery, mexican food, chinese, a pizza shop and a grocery mart....all the essentials. So we headed for the most essential of them all and stopped in at the local brew pub, and even more importantly loaded up with fantastic information about what to ride and where to camp. Thanks to the fellas at the Brewers Union for the assistance.
So ride umero numero one in Oakridge was the Alpine Trail...our ride started from town and began on the North Fork of the Willamette for about 6 miles of lush riverside trail (also were i picked up a little bit of the poison oak too) and then we started in on our grinder of a climb up to the top of the Alpine Trail. The singletrack that awaited us up top motivated us during the climb. About 3 miles into the 11 mile climb and just as we were just settling in to a good pace a van full of mountain bikers shuttling to the top passed us by. Tracy questioned our sanity as the van and waving passengers passed us by.......a switchback later and the van was pulled over on the side of the road and another one of those friendly Oakridge folks greeted us with a smile and an offering for a free ride to the top. Before i could even think the proposal over Tracy was already handing our new buddy, Marcello her bike to be loaded. Ha ! Oh well......another thank you to the Willamette shuttle service and to Marcello, Heidi, and Steve for guiding us around and showing us the sites. The trail was amazing......a must do ride and initially i was thinking of doing it again the following day, it was that good. Here's a few pics:
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