Bend is SICK!

Jarred went to Bend earlier this summer for a "boys" weekend. He came back all excited about the riding, repeating over and over again that "Bend is SICK." I told him we had to get down there before winter. Summer in Bend is hot and dusty so early summer or fall is the best time to go. We thought it would be fun to have some of our biking friends join us, so Jarred sent out a mass email inviting anyone who wanted to come. We ended up with 14 people wanting to come to Bend. I kept thinking to myself as the emails kept rolling in, this place must be GOOD. Jarred loves to plan and he found a house that slept 15 close to the major trail systems. We all headed down Friday. The weather was awesome and we got some great riding in on the Phil's trail system. Saturday's weather proved to be outright crappy but since it wasn't too cold, we decided to stick with our original plan to ride around Mt. Bachelor. We figured we were in Eastern Oregon, it wouldn't rain all day. WRONG. This was the dirtiest I've ever been. While the ride was fun, I ruined my brakes, ate enough grit to feel pounds heavier and worried that the skin on my butt was going to be rubbed raw. Because of the weather, we had some technical difficulties with equipment (flat tires, lost contacts, non-existent brakes and cold bodies) but overall Saturday's ride was fun and as I kept having to tell my friend Danielle, who decided she should have gone climbing somewhere sunny after 15 minutes of rain, that this was a character building experience and she would appreciate it later. The weather improved Sunday and after putting the washer at the house to the test...imagine 14 grubby bikers, 14 grubby pairs of shorts, socks, shirts..... we were ready to ride on Sunday. In my opinion, Sunday's ride was the best. We rode some short but well built trails and the were some of the best trails I've been on. Fast and fun. I now agree with Jarred, Bend is sick.