Racing the Oregon Timber Trail 300: I almost made it!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ย. 2023
- 300 miles in the forest of Oregon, from the California Border to Oakridge. This was my first proper bikepacking race, far from civilization: just one resupply point in route, at miles 200. No cozy gas stations every 60 miles, this was really in the backcountry!
I ended up scratching (DNF) because of time, but I ended up biking to Oakridge on my own, while doing most of the trails. See what happened :)
The race follows the Oregon Timber Trail, for the most part. Several trails were inaccessible because of fallen trees, so we were re-routed on forest roads on those section. We still have about half of the miles on singletrack!
The lesson learned is really how slow progress can be on rough terrain. I had estimates and spreadsheet on how far I would go, based on riding on my local trails, and I had to throw everything away. The trails were so steep (at least with a loaded bike) that walk-a-bike was a routine.
I had to scratch from the race as I had to cut short, because of the unexpected "slowness" I didn't give myself enough time to do this, and I had to get back home to take care of the cats. I still got to bike to Oakridge, but I skipped two singletracks.
Overall, an amazing experience! I'll do more bikepacking races from now on.
#bikepacking #oregon #timbertrail #mtb #ultraracing #ultracycling
Great video! Thank you
Thank you! I am happy to hear that!
Wow, amazing Mirko! I have tons of questions for you, maybe I'll see ya on a brevet and I can pick your brain??
Thank you, and of course!! Looking forward to meeting! Let me know which brevet you think you'll do
Respect on this achievement. That trail looks awful though tbh
Awful? Nooo it was actually amazing! Yes it was hard, but being on such remote trails was a great experience. And there was plenty of regular riding and fun downhills!
I have done many long distance rides, but none was as interesting as this.
Congrats Mirko! Thanks for sharing this wonderful trip. Can't wait to see where the bike takes you next. Bravo!
Thank you Alejandro!! It's great to hear from you!
Thanks for the video! How much water did you carry at the beginning of the race? I am planning to do the Grand Depart July 13th and am trying to figure out how much water I should carry (Thinking 6 Liters)
I had a 4 liters. That year riders had a spreadsheet with streams and springs for refill, and I relied on that. Streams were full that year, but I had trouble locating a few of the early springs and I had to skip those.
I conserved water a couple of times, and the time I run out was because I skipped a planned refill as I mistakenly thought there was another stream a few miles down the road, but I had misread the sheet.
Good luck with the grand depart!! It will be fun!
@@randosquirrel Thank you for the response!