Ride Journal: E. Washington Adventure
Bruce Brown, Mark Adriance, Mark Belles,
Steve Hindman, Zippy Lane, Mike Fleenor,
Scott Fleenor, Cathy Crouch, Missy Belles
& Andy Nelson
10/2-7/2000
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Mark Adriance on the trail to Klone Peak the day he
forgot his helmet, and (below) at the fork in the trail to Middle Fork Tommy Creek.
The view here is east across the Columbia toward the Rockies.
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Zippy and Bruce cutting up with Starvation Mt.
in the background; Zippy (below) on the trail.
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Mark and Steve on Klone Peak, and (below) Mark on the trail with the Tommy Creek drainage in the background.
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The Fleenor Brothers rippin' Bear Mt...
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...with Andy Nelson in hot pursuit...
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...And Cathy Crouch closing quickly.
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Rode six days in a row in Eastern Washington with Mark Belles and a shifting cast of
characters.
We rode Bear Mt./Middle Fork Beaver Ck. (Day 1), the Golden Stairway (outside
Concunully on the road that winds around the far side of the lake) (Day 2), Klone Peak /
Middle Fork Tommy Ck. Epic (Day 3), Sun Mt. (Day 4), Cutthroat Pass (Day 5), and Bear
Mt./Middle Fork Beaver Ck. again (Day 6).
My highlights were probably:
- breaking my helmet on a hidden branch on Bear Mt. on Day 1
- making the big rock rollover (which had lots of roundish, brain-like nodes) near the top
of the Middle Fork Tommy drop on Day 3
- running away from everybody with astounding ease when I got on the Specialized Stumpjumper FSR XC at Sun Mt. on Day 4
- following Mark Belles all the way down from Cutthroat Pass at full rip on the Cannondale Jekyll (last year, he had left me within 10 seconds on the fly down from Klone Peak)
- acing the 2 1/2 foot root/rock drop on Middle Fork Beaver Ck on the last day (Cathy was my witness) which had hammered my nuts on Day 1
Steve Hindman had the funniest line of the trip. It was the second day and we had just caravanned into the tiny town of Okanogan so I could replace the helmet I shattered the day before, and there on the main street was a beauty parlor with a large hand lettered sign that read, Whack 'n Yack. I thought this was pretty funny, but when I looked over at Steve Hindman sitting next to me, I almost drove the car off the road. Steve started pantomiming masturbation, or whacking off, and said to me in his best conversational tone, "So Bruce, have you read any good books lately?" Whack 'n yack, indeed!
Approximately 18,000 verts combined over the six days. |
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 Days: 365 |
Rides: 220 |
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Total vertical feet climbed: 404,900 |
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